The Bristol band practicing for the 2022 National Twelve Bell Contest Final, which was held at Guildford Cathedral, Surrey. The Bristol band finished fourth out of ten teams, behind Birmingham (winners), the Society of Royal Cumberland Youths, and Cambridge.
The ringing here, recorded in June 2022, comes from one of the band's practice sessions at Winchester Cathedral. The test piece for the competition, the entirety of which can be heard on this recording, comprised 252 changes of Stedman Cinques.
The original mono recording of the team's practice piece at Winchester was kindly provided by Philip Pratt and has been reused here with permission, following conversion to stereo format by myself. The photos that accompany the recording are all mine, taken over various visits between 2014 and 2020. Neither the photos nor the recording are to be used without permission.
Winchester Cathedral is rightly regarded as one of Europe's finest buildings, and with a total length of 558 feet, it is the longest medieval cathedral in the world. The deceptively massive central tower, some 50 feet square and 150 feet high, houses the only diatonic ring of fourteen bells in the world hung for change ringing.
The cathedral tower was originally a lantern, as with the present central tower at York Minster, open from floor to the roof timbers to let light into the crossing below. In 1635, wooden fan vaulting was installed at the level of the existing nave vaulting, and floors were inserted in the tower to form a belfry. In 1735, a massive wooden frame, manufactured by John Williams, was installed in the belfry to house a peal of seven bells.
This frame was extended and strengthened several times over the ensuing centuries so that it held eight bells by 1883, ten in 1891, and twelve in 1921. In 1936, the old mixed peal of twelve were taken down and the aforementioned frame extensions were removed for complete restoration. The bells were recast and increased in weight by John Taylor & Co early in the following year to form a very fine 36cwt ring of twelve in the key of C, though not before the abdication of Edward VIII meant the tenor bell inscription had to be hastily altered to make reference to George VI.
The heaviest eight bells were hung back in John Williams' 1734 frame and a new lowside metal frame was provided for the front four. In 1967, a redundant bell from St Lawrence's Church in Winchester was transferred to the Cathedral and hung in a new cast iron metal frame as a flat sixth. This bell was cast in 1621 by Anthony Bond.
In 1992, following the restoration of the belfry floor, which was found to be moving alarmingly when the bells were rung, the bells were augmented to a ring of fourteen with two trebles by Whitechapel, who also provided a fifteenth bell to be used as a sharp fourth, providing an alternative light ring of ten to the middle ten which uses the flat eighth. A new wooden frame was provided to house the lightest seven bells, the back eight continuing to be hung in Williams' frame.
Much work has been done on the acoustics of the bells in recent decades, and the replacement of the heavy SG clappers in the two tenor bells with wooden shafts in 2021 has made these bells, especially the back twelve, a real delight, with plenty of hum and deep strike notes.
The bells go well individually but are still a little tricky to get good ringing on, due to a massive rope circle and the old wooden frame, which moves around as the bells are being rung. That being said, these bells, the heaviest in the Home Counties, are well worth a visit for any Taylor fan. Enjoy some excellent ringing on some excellent bells!
Tenor 35cwt-2qr-6lb in C.
dove.cccbr.org...
5 окт 2024
