Stretch tuning

[Richard Offen]

--- In bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com, "Bill Hibbert" <bill at ...> 
wrote:
>
> Mark Regan:
> 
> > The best 12s with stretched trebles for this period are Pier Head 
> and Evesham. Their figures may help...
> 
> I don't have the figures for Pierhead. Evesham are interesting, the 
> back ten are not stretched at all. The trebles have tentative 
> sharpening (21 cents in the treble, 13 cents in the second) but not 
> full stretch. Here's a list of peals and dates, the figure quoted 
is 
> the average stretch in cents per octave:
> 
> Evesham (1951) - 0.06 cents back ten, 7.1 cents all 12
> Cambridge (tuned 1952) - 25.4 cents
> Tewkesbury (1962) - 25.8 cents
> Melbourne (tuned 1962) - 27.1 cents.
> 
> I could go on at length about this, with more examples ...
> 
> However, I asked a different question. Does anyone know the 
approach 
> used in Taylor's foundry / tuning shop to decide how much to 
stretch 
> these peals? A first-hand account would be brilliant.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Bill H
>

I too would be interested to know how the extent of stretch was 
decided.   We have the most excruciating example of it here in Perth 
at St George's Cathedral (Taylor, 1975), where the nominals are tuned 
thus:

Tenor: G  +5.5 cents
7      A  +5
6      B  +11
5      C  +9
4      D  +10
3      E  +24
2      F# +27
Treble G  +29

Our former Organist and Master of the Choristers once remarked to 
me, "the bloke who tuned those had cloth ears!"

Richard