The final video in this short series from my home-when-at-university, Clifton in Nottingham. These are the proper bells in Clifton, in the tower of St Mary the Virgin, which resides at the north end of Clifton Village (the posh bit!) and is the closest to the university campus. It is also the usual tower for practice nights, and is the second of the two Clifton towers that are rung on Sunday mornings.
There are a few notable things about this church. Firstly, the Hall next door (seen at the very beginning of the video). Clifton Hall was resided in by the Clifton family from the 13th century, having been built in a good, defensible position at least two centuries earlier (it is noted in the Domesday book). It overlooks the River Trent, which is the border between North and South in the area (making Clifton in the South and Nottingham itself in the North!). King Charles I stayed in the Hall in 1632, but the Hall he stayed in was heavily rebuilt in the late 1700s by Sir Gervase Clifton, and the house has undergone various alterations since. Sold by Lieutenant-Colonel Clifton in 1958, it became Clifton Hall Girls' Grammar School which remained open until 1976. Nottingham Trent University then bought it, and used it until 2002 when it went into private hands. There is a legend that the Hall is haunted, with the multimillionaire businessman who bought the hall in 2007 reporting multiple instances of paranormal activity. The family of the businessman left after drops of blood were found on their 18 month old baby's quilt...
There have been two sets of bells in the tower, both of which still ring out today. The first bells were cast in 1894 by Taylor's, and were a 16cwt six. They were hung right at the top of the central tower, and some years later the forces thrown around by the heavy, high-up bells were too much for the tower to bear, and it cracked on all four sides. The bells fell silent, until they were removed and rehung in the tower of Plumtree, also in south Nottinghamshire and a video of Plumtree bells is on this channel, filmed just after two new trebles were added to make an excellent eight.
In 1991-2 a new peal of six was installed in the tower, but this time underneath the clock. The internal layout of the tower is now unusual, with the low altar directly underneath the ringing chamber, the bells directly above, and the clock and roof directly above the bells, with the original belfry floor no longer in existence. This six were augmented in 1997, making a full Taylor eight which go really well and are pretty easy to ring and strike.
I'll give you three guesses as to what the method is... These bells do like their Grandsire! I managed to escape and drum behind this time though! With guest cameraman Andy again, I don't know why it goes fuzzy and out of focus partway through. Ah well, it hides our ugly mugs!
The outside filming is of a peal of London Surprise Major, rung for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee (www.campanophile.com/view.aspx?142797).
No more uploads until the Olympic Games opening day, where I have filmed one of the specially-composed Olympic methods, and will wait until the appropriate day to upload it, tough! (You know you love the suspense, hehehe)
19 сен 2024
