Twelve working weeks have been put into the tower so far, thanks to various contractors with support from Tower Members.
We now have a walkway next to the upper bell frame that will make it easier to maintain the bells. There is new electric wiring throughout the tower, with lighting now going right up the spiral staircase to the roof - so when you visit the tower again it will be much less daunting when going up to the top. We also have fire detection and alarm, plus new lighting in the bell and ringing chambers.
At the time of writing we have had two weeks of work from Taylors of Loughborough, one of the oldest
companies of bell hangers in the country. They are replanning the location of the ropes as they hang in
the ringing chamber so they make a circle that will make it easier for ringers to see each other. Bell ringing is very much a group activity, and it is essential for good striking for ringers to see the others, each ringing his/her separate bell and coordinating with the others.
To overhaul and do the re-aligning, all the old fittings have had to be removed, with a lot of them being
taken up to Loughborough. The Second and Third bells are being swopped in position. As a part of the overhaul, all the bearings of the bells have been removed, checked, repacked with grease and replaced.
One of the bearings of the Tenor bell had a cracked ball and had to be replaced. Taylors quoted us £410 plus VAT for a replacement, so a worldwide search for a less expensive new one, thanks to the
internet, found one remaining manufacturer still making that bearing - the principle market for it being the biggest operator of "Imperial" heavy duty technology - the Indian railways.
The new bearing has now arrived, from Springfield Massachusets. Andrew Mills has done excellent
work, removing the old louvres, cleaning, strengthening, treating and replacing them. The lower tier of
louvres, apart from the north-facing ones, proved to be too rotten to justify this treatment, so we have had new ones made. We hope to have operable bells by 21 May, so should be able to ring for weddings from then on, although the ringing chamber will not be ready for practices until early June.
We hope to recruit a new band of ringers this Summer, so we can ring all ten bells and return to the glorious rolling sound of bells rung in the way they have been for hundreds of years here, in a great tradition.
Philip Kinsman
Steeple Keeper and Vice Captain
