[Bell Historians] Christchurch Cathedral and St. Paul's, Papanui; Canterbury New Zealand

[Richard Offen]

Hi Alan

 

I will try and find out if all or only some of the bells rang themselves
down.

 

Best wishes,

 

Richard

 

  _____  

From: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com [mailto:bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Alan Ellis
Sent: Saturday, 4 September 2010 9:26 PM
To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Bell Historians] Christchurch Cathedral and St. Paul's,
Papanui; Canterbury New Zealand

 

  

Hello Richard,

To hear that the bells rang themselves down confirms the stories of bells
ringing in an earthquake.   Ours at Holy Rosary Cathedral  here in Vancouver
would do the same, as we leave them up.  Vancouver is also located in an
earthquake zone and we know that the BIG ONE is coming. 

I'd be interested in learning whether all bells rang themselves down or
whether only those in a certain direction.  That is all the east-west bells
and not the north-south bells, or vice versa.   As ours all swing in an
east-west direction, an earthquake with forces north-south may not cause the
bells to ring down. 

IMHO the bells at Papanui should be fine as the  tower is a steel frame and
not masonry.  Unless it was shaken off its foundations, it ought not to have
received any damage in the shaking. 

Best wishes

Alan






Richard Offen wrote:

  

The following has just been posted on 'Look To', the ANZAB group, from Chris
Oldham in Christchurch:

 

Cathedral bells rang themselves down  I don't think any damage.  We'll
inspect  during the week.  Tower is closed until structural engineer has had
a good look, so no ringing there until further notice.  I haven't heard
anything from Papanui.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

Richard


  _____  


From:  <mailto:bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com>
bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com [mailto:bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of s.pilkington at XDQu31Ze6IHhJAA3_vqUUak7hRkZXU63bUz_7e0_mueQ_ssojU0SiTsKER_torYo6qzU13hb9q5w0bijnioH9rXHyQ.yahoo.invalid
Sent: Saturday, 4 September 2010 12:28 PM
To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Bell Historians] Christchurch Cathedral and St. Paul's, Papanui;
Canterbury New Zealand

 

  

Hi everyone,

 

I'm sure by now most people have heard about the 7.1 richter scale
earthquake that hit Canterbury, NZ this morning. Photographs taken so far
indicate that parts of the city, particularly the CBD have been flattened
and other parts significantly damaged. No loss of life, but water, sewerage
and power are suspected damaged, and a storm is expected to blow in tonight.
I am sure our thoughts are with the people of Canterbury at the moment.

 

I was wondering if anyone has heard whether Christchurch Cathedral and St.
Paul's, Papanui are intact and ok? 

 

A church just outside of Christchurch apparently had its steeple shifted by
10 cm along the roofline and a crane will come on Monday to lift it back
into place. If something like that happened to the churches with rings in
them, it could topple, and it does raise the question of whether it will be
safe to ring tomorrow morning or not.

 

Any thought or comments?

 

Kind Regards,

Scott Pilkington



           
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