[Bell Historians] Bell frame for sale (of no practical use)

[Peter Trotman]

As a native of Chipping Sodbury/Yate (grandparents in each town, parents
overseas) I'm pleased to read of Horton's revival, following on the
excellent rehanging and augmentation at Chipping Sodbury in recent years.

Perhaps Yate will follow suit? I can attest to their being "tough" now,
having rung there last summer. I don't remember them being difficult when I
learned to ring in the mid-1950s, but that *was* a few years ago!

Peter Trotman.

On 3/16/08, matthewhigby at q6i0TaaA4ET2EFZfg8aEOJDbNIECdBhRJjtIkbbXQ5Lf9t5g2t4nsQcGoWXAQWZlcJMBVboHWqlO90DT30R2.yahoo.invalid <matthewhigby at q6i0TaaA4ET2EFZfg8aEOJDbNIECdBhRJjtIkbbXQ5Lf9t5g2t4nsQcGoWXAQWZlcJMBVboHWqlO90DT30R2.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
>
>    Dear All,
>
> I feel it is a shame that Andrew has burst into a "rant" about this
> project, when he obviously doesn't know the facts of the situation,
> particularly regarding the professional side of things.
>
> To my knowledge, two firms were approached and quoted for this job, and we
> have been given the contract for the work, which will be completed this
> year. Various schemes were considered and the final scheme as settled upon
> for a number of good reasons, including heritage issues. Rev Dr Gordon
> Edwards has worked very hard on getting this project through, and has taken
> things as far as the Consitury Court.
>
> Regarding the tenor bell. This bell is undersized in respect to the
> remaining bells, particularly the 4th of 5. The bell is badly cracked in the
> soundbow and waist and has totally lost its tone. The front 4 of the ring of
> 5 are 17th C and 15th C and are listed, therefore the retuning of the bells
> has been an issue. Having studied the tenor bell in great depth, we feel
> that if it is welded, it would be flat of the required note, meaning that
> the other four would need to be tuned down significantly to produce a well
> tuned peal. The DAC did not like this idea. Basically the PCC could fork out
> about £3k repairing a bell which might not be a suitable note and/or sound
> any good (Pretty important if it is to be the tenor of a proposed 6!)
>
> Remodeling the ring was also considered, but dismissed by the DAC who
> would only approve minimal tuning of the other 4 bells.......
>
> So the Ex Writtle tenor was brought on line - a fine sounding bell with
> near-true harmonics, and a better size than the original cracked bell - and
> (this is the best bit) it comes free! It's a no brainer really!
>
> I can confirm that all six will fit on one level with space to spare
> (sadly not quite enough for 8!). The tower is a large sturdy structure which
> has been assesed by a competant structural engineer.
>
> The old frame is to be recorded and dismantled. It will be stored in the
> Churchyard (under plastic sheets) until a decision as to its future has been
> decided.
>
> I feel that it is a great shame that the Wootton branch are not 100%
> behind this scheme. It is a good one that has been well thought through
> (over a period of about 5 years). The Horton PCC have gone the extra mile to
> take on the heritage bodies head to head, and have come out on top. Its a
> shame that other PCC's don't have the guts to follow things through just as
> Horton have. Currently the likes of EH and SPAB are trying to get away with
> keeping rubbish - I wonder if Dr Edwards would like to move to Great Malvern
> when he retires!
>
> Ho Hum (from an Cyber Cafe in Dublin)
>
> MRTH (Who learned on a hard going 20cwt peal of six!)
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Bull <a_m_bull at -jYSB71ZKZbjJitdNlLqSqx9urtG1w_pPpFmIdwH0ogb9xeimeWAcIgEHf3J53eh8yFV4PJ1nmtnkw.yahoo.invalid>
> To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 5:01 pm
> Subject: RE: [Bell Historians] Bell frame for sale (of no practical use)
>
>    So will these "quite a few people" be prepared to teach the locals to
> ring on an 18 cwt ring of six, or are they just after somewhere more
> interesting for their peals and quarters? Perhaps, then, the best plan would
> be to weld the existing tenor (I doubt if the Reverend Doctor has considered
> this) and leave them as a five?
>
> I suspect that the ex-Writtle tenor, which I now find was recast by Mears
> & Stainbank in 1917, will be somewhat larger in diameter than the existing
> Horton tenor, which is 44 ½ inches according to Bliss & Sharp. No doubt
> someone will be able to shoehorn a heavy six into the tower, but so far as I
> am aware no professional hanger or founder has inspected the tower or
> analyzed the bells, so I would suspect that the feasibility of the proposed
> project is for the moment an matter of pure speculation.
>
> Andrew Bull
>
>  ------------------------------
>  *From:* bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com [mailto:
> bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com] *On Behalf Of *sweb1
> *Sent:* 16 March 2008 16:38
> *To:* bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com
> *Subject:* Re: [Bell Historians] Bell frame for sale (of no practical use)
>
>   Have spoken to quite a few people about this, and the general
> consensus is that they don't want ANOTHER 10cwt 6. There's far too
> many of them around as it is, why have another? I count 7 c10 cwt in
> the branch, what excuse is there for another? Why not have an easy
> going heavier ring (Yate are very tough)...
>
>
>      ------------------------------
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>  
>
           
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