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BELLS ON SUNDAY DIARY 2004 From January 2002 a list of towers featured, in advance if possible, otherwise in retrospect... with announcers/website text in blue "…" and my comments in red! The listen-again page now features a really nice photo of Carlisle Cathedral bells thanks to Charles Thornton, and some Related Links. Listen Again online |
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26 December 2004 Chislet, Kent. St Mary the Virgin. 6, 15-3-9 in Eb. Stedman Doubles.19 Dec 04 Birmingham Parish Church, 16, tenor 39-1-19 in C. "Also known as St. Martins in the Bullring - due to its location in the ancient market area of the city. From 1772 the tower contained a ring of 12 bells from which the first ever broadcast of change-ringing was made. In the early 1990's a completely new ring of Sixteen was installed, which has proved a considerable success."
12 Dec Exeter Cathedral: 12 bells plus 2, tenor 72-2-2 in Bb. "For two hundred years the tenor bell at Exeter was the heaviest ringing bell in the world. There are fourteen bells in the tower, allowing a light ring of ten to be rung as well as the heavy twelve. They ring Steadman (sic) Cinques." Now the second heaviest ring in Britain after Liverpool Cathedral. We got just 23 changes after lots of rounds this morning, and the poor old announcer, Zeb Soans, introduced it as "Stedman Sink" 05 Dec LONDON St Sepulchre, Holborn Viaduct: 12 bells, tenor 28-2-16 in C# The present church, although much restored, is basically the same as when it was enlarged in 1450. By 1675 the tower held one of the first ever rings of ten and was very popular with London ringing societies - the tenor being tolled at the time of the execution of prisoners at nearby Newgate gaol. We hear them ringing Stedman Caters.28 Nov BRISTOL, St Mary Redcliffe: 12 plus flat 6 and 0 bells, tenor 50-02-21 in B. Most of the 12 bells were cast in 1903 with numbers 8 and 10 dated 1763, and number 11 from 1622 with the last two bells added in 1951 and 1970. The full 12 bells are heard now in the 176 changes from Little Bob Maximus.
21 Nov KINGSBURY, Warwickshire: SS Peter and Paul: 8 bells tenor 17-1-0 in E. "Bells on Sunday comes from the church of Saints Peter and Paul, Kingsbury, in Warwickshire. The first bells were installed in 1610 but the current ring of 8 bells were renewed by Taylors of Loughborough in 1969. We hear them ringing 'Scientific Triples'." This is a NEW RECORDING for BOS, getting it played on BOS at last is the result of much effort on the part of Gordon Lane, Tower Captain. 14 November 04 Skipton, Yorks. Holy Trinity, 8 bells tenor 22-0-17 in Eb. 07 November 04 St. Olave, Hart Street, London. 8 bells, 11-3-23 in G. "Built in the 15th Century, this small but interesting church escaped the Great Fire, and is famous as being the church where Samuel Pepys worshipped and was buried. Its eight bells were destroyed when the church was bombed in 1941, but a new ring of eight was cast in 1953 at Whitechapel out of the metal of the old bells. Since that time, the tower has been the "home" of the University of London Society of Change Ringers. We hear them ringing Stedman Triples. "31 October St David, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire. "The eight bells are hung in a steeple which was built a little over a century ago. The tenor weighs 10 cwt and is tuned to the note of G. They ring Kent Treble Bob Major." 24 St Paul's Cathedral, London, the heaviest 12 in the country, tenor 62cwt; ringing Stedman Cinques. And a lovely long piece too - thanks, Mr Continuity Man. They are bells which float around inside your head. 17 October Durweston, Dorset. " The present ring of six bells was hung in 1911. The tenor weighs 10 cwt. They ring some call changes. "10 October 2004 Loughton, Essex. St John the Baptist. 8 bells, 18-2-19 in E. They rang Grandsire Triples, a nice long piece, clear and mainly fairly well struck, but with some glitches!Oct 03 2004 St Michael's Church, Whichford, Warwickshire. 8 bells, tenor 12-3-23 in G. (link to website about Whichford bells). Will this yet again be a recording of the new 8, or just the same old 6 bell recording which the BBC has used many times before? They have been sent an 8-bell recording to use. We wait in hope… So, it was indeed still the old six ringing Grandsire Doubles, and correctly introduced this time.Sept 26 - From St. Chad's Church, Farndon in Chester. 'The present bells date back to 1841 and were restored in 1889 to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887. There are 8 bells with the tenor weighing 12 cwt tuned to the key of F. We hear them ringing now, 'Plain Bob Minor'. 'Sept 19 - Sandhurst Kent - 6 bells tenor 12-1-10 in F# Anticlockwise, Grandsire Doubles but only a quick snatch!!Sept 12 2004 - St. Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside , London. 12 bells, 41-3-21 in C. "Arguably the most famous ring in London, there were 12 bells in the tower by 1653, but these were destroyed, along with the church, in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The present ring of 12 were cast in 1956 at the Whitechapel Foundry and replaced those which were destroyed during the Second World War. The present tenor bell weighs 42cwt. They play (sic) Bristol Surprise Maximus. " As last time they played these, in March 2002, Bristol Surprise Maximus was announced. Again there were clearly only 10 bells, ringing Caters, probably Stedman Caters. This time the announcer corrected 'play' to 'ring' and commented on the smooth ringing and the fact that Bristol made a nice change from all the Grandsires and Stedmans! Perhaps he is a ringer?!05 September 04 Oxford, St Thomas the Martyr. 10 bells, 11-2-6 in G. "The bells have gradually been replaced over a period of five years and there are now ten bells. The tenor weighs 11 cwt. They ring Splice (I guess they mean Spliced) Surprise Royal."29 Aug Hanbury, Worcs, St Mary the Virgin. 8 bells, tenor 12-1-15 in F#. I believe these are the bells which are used for the Archers' Ambridge. Could this be to celebrate the wedding of Emma Carter and William Grundy? If so it looks as if the wedding will really be 'on'. Listen again to the latest instalments of The Archers on the Radio 4 website if you don't know what I'm talking about!!22 Aug Far Headingley, Leeds, St Chads. "From from St Chad's Church, Far Headingly, Leeds. The church was built in 1867 and its spire reaches 186 feet high. There is a ring of eight bells and the tenor weighs 18 cwt and is tuned to the key of E." Last time they were ringing called changes.15 Aug Guildford Holy Trinity " The tenor weighs over 23cwt and is tuned to the key of D. It has a ring of 8 bells. The bells will ring Grandsire Triples". Well the last twice they used this recording we were treated to a full minute of rounds…. ! There was a very tongue-in-cheek bit on Radio 4's Feedback about this. I wrote, once again, to the broadcast assistant to explain the problem. Lets see if they get around to the Grandsire this time?Yes, just a couple of rows at the end.8 August 04 Bridlington Priory Church of St Mary, Humbs. 8 bells, tenor 26-2-14 in D. "From Bridlington Priory, East Yorkshire. The ring of eight bells was cast in 1902 and an old penny was cast in the head of each bell. The original three bells were hung over 250 years ago and the tenor weighs 26cwt. They ring rounds and call changes." This is the second time they have used this very poor recording. Apparently there was an outside broadcast team recording a service and asked for a bit of ringing but used the first bit 'before the ringing settled down'. Oh dear, no doubt perfect quality of recording but BBC does not recognise sub-standard ringing. There was correspondence in RW after last time but somehow we did not get the message through to the BBC. Must try again.1 August 04 Tiverton, Devon. St Peter. 8 bells tenor 25-2-18 in D. " The church overlooks the River Exe and has one of the finest rings of eight, cast by Taylors in 1923, in the county of Devon. They ring Grandsire Triples." Probably a repeated track from the "Glorious Devon Bells" CD.25 July "From the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, St Peter, St Paul and St Swithin Winchester in Hampshire. These are the first true diatonic ring of 14 bells, with the original 1936 set of 12 bells augmented to 14 in 1993. The tenor weighs 35cwt and is tuned to the note of C. The eight largest bells are still hung in the old 1734 wooden frame, which moves around as the bells are being rung making excellent ringing very difficult to achieve. They are ringing a plain course of "Erin Sextuples." "18 July 2004 From the parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Tonbridge in Kent. The tenor weighs 19 cwt and is tuned to the key of E. They are ringing ‘Grandsire Triples’. 11 July Selby Abbey, Church of St Mary and St German, North Yorkshire. 10 bells, tenor 25-2-20 in D. Another repeat of a previously played recording, called changes on the ten. From my hospital bed I managed to listen under the sheets without matron catching me. 4 July sorry, missed this one. can anyone let me know what it was please? email copson(at)btinternet.com27 June "From Durham Cathedral. The tower contains a ring of 10 bells. The tenor weighs 28cwt and is tuned to the key of D. They are ringing ‘Grandsire Caters’."20 June 2004 Hythe, Kent: St Leonard's 10, 19-3-3 in Eb. "The original peal of eight bells was augmented to 10 when the tenor was recast by The Whitechapel Foundry in 1992 and two smaller bells provided." Last time they played these bells we had some lovely ringing, but only on 8, and very short measure indeed in the evening repeat. Lets hope for more today. 13 June Howden Minster, East Yorkshire. "The tenor, which dates back to the 1940s, weighs over 22 cwt and is tuned to the key of E flat. It has a ring of eight bells which are hung low in the tower, giving them a better sound. They ring Stedman Triples."6 June "From the Parish Church of St Nicolas, Newbury, Berkshire. The church has a ring of 10 bells, with the tenor weighing 21 cwt and tuned to the key of D. The eight larger bells were cast in 1803 by James Wells of Aldbourne in Wiltshire. They were re-tuned and re-hung in a new frame in 1927, with the two trebles added in 1933. They ring Call Changes, progressing from Rounds to Wittingtons and back." 30 May York Minster. 14 bells, tenor 59-1-23 in Bb. "The Minster had two rings of bells up to the 17th century: the heavy ring of eight in the South West Tower and the light ring of four in the North West Tower. In 1656 they were combined into one ring of 12. They ring Plain Bob Triples."23 May St Clement Danes, London, "There's a ring of ten bells, with the tenor weighing 21˝ cwt. The tenth bell was added to enable the well known rhyme, Oranges and Lemons to be played on them. They are ringing the London Surprise Royal." 16 May Ebrington Gloucestershire, St Eadburgha, "There's a ring of six bells, with the tenor weighing 12˝ cwt, tuned to the key of F sharp. They ring the often unheard Grandsire Minor." often unheard? rarely heard?? nice bit of ringing anyway! The usual clip off the Saydisc "Bells of the Cotswolds record".09 May Eynesford, Kent. St Martin. 8 bells, 9-2-13 in F# "From St. Martin’s, Eynsford, Kent. The bells were first hung in 1552 and only one of the original bells remains hanging in the tower. It has a ring of 2 bells, with the tenor weighing 9 cwt. They are ringing ‘Grandsire Triples’." This is what the website says, a repeat of the error which I told them about in 2002 when they first used this recording. I'll try and get it corrected before it goes on air!02 May 04 Radyr, S Glamorgan, Christ Church, 8 bells tenor12-0-15 in G " The bells were dedicated in 1912. There are eight bells in total, with the tenor weighing 12 cwt. They ring Stedman Triples."25 April Lamberhurst, Kent, St Mary. 6 bells, 13-0-17 in F#. "The tower has a ring of six bells. The tenor weighs 13 cwt and is tuned to the key of F sharp. The bells were cast in 1770 and were tuned and re-hung in 1925. They ring spliced plain and Little Bob Minor." 18 April South Petherton, Somerset. SS Peter and Paul. 12 bells 22-3-15 in Eb. "St Peter's Parish Church, South Petherton in Somerset. The tower contains a complete peal of 12 bells, the tenor weighing nearly 23cwt. The bells were installed in 1998 to replace the old peal of eight. The Birmingham band, which won at a competition held at St Peter's in 2000, ring Stedman Cinques. " Good stuff, although the announcer said ..they sing Stedman Cinques.11 April St Michael's Great Comberton, Worcs (or as the BBC call it - Cumberton). 6 bells 8-2-16 in Bb. Back in Dec 2002 when they last used this recording, t he BBCi Listen-again website introduction read: "The first four bells were hung in 1687 and two more were added in 1869. The tenor weighs 8cwt and is tuned to the key of B flat. They ring a sliced (spliced) quarter peal beginning with Plain Bob Doubles." I emailed correction for the howler to the BBCi website last time and it was corrected, but will they still have it wrong again this time? Listen to this space.. !! ~ yes they did! well the morning gentleman corrected the two bloopers (after an email from me), but the evening man still got it wrong. AND another mistake had been slipped in "the tenors weigh 8cwt and they are…"). It is amazing to me that a wonderful organisation like the BBC can be so careless over details!04 April St Helen's Sefton, Liverpool. 8 bells, tenor 11-2-11 in F#. The announcer both morning and evening, gave us a good long piece again, thanks. And Astley Jones, the evening man remarked "nice and even, weren't they". Do you think he could be a ringer?28 March, St Annes, Limehouse, London. 8 bells, tenor 12-3-25 in E. Cambridge Surprise Major.21 March Dicheat, Som. 8 bells tenor 24-0-4 in Eb "From St Mary Magdalene, Ditcheat, Somerset. The church has one of the last great medieval towers to be completed in Somerset. There were only five bells until 1825, when a sixth was added. All the old bells were scrapped in 1913 and replaced by a new ring of eight bells cast by John Taylor & Company of Loughborough and which are renowned for their magnificent tone. They ring Oxford Bob Triples. " and indeed they did. A glorious three full minutes of those lovely bells!! Has the BBC at last given BOS a slightly longer slot than the derisory mingy bit that they have been giving us? Lets hope so.14 March Dublin, St Patrick's Cathedral. 14 bells tenor 45-1-18 in C. " The first record of bells is in a papal petition from 1363. The cathedral was presented with a peal of ten bells in 1897. The tenor bell weighs two and three quarter tons and was rung every Sunday for many years by the Right Hon R R Cherry, Chief Justice of Ireland, who presented two bells in 1909 to augment the peal to twelve. In 1925 Lady Seeds Kaye added a top A bell in memory of her husband and so there are 14 bells in the ringing peal." They will probably ring Plain Bob Cinques.7 March 2004 St Mary's Bishopstoke, Hampshire was again be the recording off the very good Bells of Hampshire CD "The present bells are one of the few complete tens to come from the Whitechapel foundry since 1945. They were cast in 1995 and replaced a previous octave from a combination of founders. The tenor weighs 11 cwt and is tuned to G. They ring Stedman Caters."29 Feb Sproughton, Suffolk, All Saints. 6 bells tenor 8-2 25 in Ab. some very nice ringing of a very fancy minor method22 Feb Bledington, Glos, St Leonard's Church. "There's a ring of six bells, with the tenor weighing 9˝ hundredweight. They ring Cambridge Surprise Major." Another major bloomer - two in a row!15 Feb 04 Dunster, Somerset, St George, 8 bells tenor 20-1-6 in E. " From the church of St George, Dunster in Somerset. There is a ring of eight bells. They ring Yorkshire Surprise Majors. " The evening announcer kindly corrected the major mistake, at my suggestion.8 Feb 04 St Michael's Cornhill, London. 12 bells, tenor 42cwt-0-6lb in B. " There's a ring of 12 bells, with the tenor weighing 42 cwt. The church was almost completely destroyed in the Fire of London. The present tower was completed in 1722 and the bells were hung in 1728. They ring Londinium Surprise Maximus."1 Feb 04 Bollington, Cheshire. St John Baptist. 8 bells tenor 16-3-6 in F. "There's a ring of eight bells, although only six will be ringing on this occasion, with the tenor weighing 17cwt. The bells were cast in 1881 in Loughborough and were rehung in 1931. They ring Plain Bob Doubles." 25 Jan 2004 Wakefield Cathedral. 14 bells, tenor 35-1-0 in G. "The ring has 14 bells, with the tenor weighing 35 cwt. They ring changes which use all 14 bells, composed by the Tower Captain, Adrian Morton, for the Millennium." 18 Jan 2004 Barnes, London. S.M.V. 8 bells tenor 10-2-20 in G. 11 Jan 2004 Kingsteignton, Devon. 8 bells, tenor 16-3-11.5 in F. They announced West Country called changes and fall. There were some nice changes but unfortunately the time allowed was so short that we heard only the first few, rather rocky, rows of the fall. 04 Jan 2004 Tewkesbury Abbey 13 bells tenor 27-1-5 in D (incl flat 6th) " The bells are being rung by the ‘University of London Society of Change Ringers’. Up until the beginning of the 20th century, there was a ring of 8 bells. In 1962 a new ring of 12 were cast and hung. The tenor bell weighs just over 27 cwt and is tuned to the key of D. We hear them ringing now, ‘Stedman Caters’" |
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