re short hamdstrokes

[fartwell2000]

--- In bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com, John David <johnedavid at ...> wrote:
>
> 
>  
>  
> The old bells of St Peter Port, cast by Brocards of Lorraine in 1736 but hung in an English-style frame of uncertain date, had garter holes offset from top centre of the wheels (bells down) by 13,11,11,11,12,14,14,12, 20" on wheels varying from 73½ to 90" dia. The rope rollers were in more or less the standard position, so the handstrokes must have been very short. 
> The garter holes of 2, 6, amd 8 had been moved to 18½, 24, and 24", and the 2 had an extra hole at 0" 
>  
> John David
>

Wow, those wheels are whoppers, given the various sizes of the old bells.

At St Mary, Arkengarthdale, North Yorkshire, there is a ring of three.

Bells one and three have garters at "ten past twelve" position and the second has a garter hole that is a "few minutes past twelve", but it is near vertical.

Everything is over-engineered, and the bells will go full circle, but sound really weird, mainly due to the unusual shape and difference in sizes.

If Arkengarthdale was closer to me, I'd take an active interest there-the area is a bit of a desert when it comes to ringing bells.

Alan