[Bell Historians] Christ Church Cambridge MA

['George Dawson' george@gadawson.wanadoo.co.uk [bellhistorians]]

George Dawson wrote:

<<Talking of MIT they rang Plain Bob Major at Christ Church Cambridge MA 
for graduations in 1981 (RW 19/6/1981, p.528). As the bells in that 
church are hung American style, I assume it was on handbells? Anyone 
from that area & era remember anything??<<

There is a chime of 13 bells at Christ Church (Henry Hooper, 
1860). They certainly were from a US foundry, but I would have thought 
that a chime would have been hung the same anywhere, much like the way a 
typical carillon is hung (dead). In the 1980s, at least, they had 
something similar to an Ellacombe apparatus. I presume it's still like 
that, but I haven't been in the tower in ages. There was a handbell 
band made up of parishioners, but there was a lot of overlap between 
those ladies and the handbell ringers of the MIT guild. There also were 
occasions of change-chiming on the tower bells. The procedure I recall 
is that it was treated like handbell ringing - each ringer had a pair of 
the cables (?) comparable to a handbell pair. Ringers lined up all in a 
row, trying not to bump elbows. I suspect the PB in question was on 
handbells, but I will try to track it down. Or you could email me the 
names of the ringers, and I could ask one of them.

Laura Dickerson

Theres no names mentioned in the article!

The bells are hung for swing chiming, with heavily balanced headstocks & full wheels but the clappers have loops on the bottom of the flights to connect to the Ellacombe rack. I have photos taken in November by Andrew Mills & chris Woodcock when they passed by.

Any further info is always appreciated.

 

George

 

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