This is a previous article on bells abroad.
England is well known as the home of change-ringing, and sometimes even known as the 'Ringing Isle', with over 5,000 rings of bells.
But there are also many other rings of bells abroad, mainly in commonwealth countries, or places where British Colonies have settled.
North America and Australia have the most, with over 40 in North America (including Canada) and over 50 in Australia (including New Zealand).
You can suggest these places to your parents as possible holiday destinations, (as most of them are in the sun) and you can grab towers at the same time! Here's Tail End's Guide...
Tail End's Guide to Bells Abroad
North America
Washington D.C.
The American Capital has two rings of bells: their National Cathedral has a 32 cwt ring of 10, and the Old Post Office Tower has a 26 cwt ring of 10. Both of these towers are unusual because they have lifts!
Washington Cathedral bells are also unusual because they are hung in a radial frame (hung in an exact circle) in a massive tower with sofa's and a water machine in the ringing chamber!! There is also a 53 bell carillon underneath the ring of 10.
The Old Post Office Tower has great views across the city (especially at night, with all the lights). There is also has a small museum about bells at the top of the tower.
For more information about both these towers, visit www.cathedral.org/wrs
Food for thought: Washington D.C., the capital of the USA, has two rings of bells. How many rings of bells are there in the English Capital?
The most isolated place on earth has a ring of bells. St. Andrews Cathedral, Honolulu (on the island of Oahu) has a 12 cwt ring of 8, which were originally hung in St. Alkmunds, Shrewsbury, but were moved to the Cathedral in 1992. If you ever get the chance to visit the Hawaiian Islands, you might want to take an old sally from your tower to give them, because they collect sallies from visitors from different towers!
Food for thought: Where you ring, the next nearest tower to your own (on average) is probably 5 miles away. The nearest tower to Hawaii is Vancouver, Canada, which is over 5,000 miles away! (a six-hour flight!)
For more information, visit www.saintandrews-hi.org
The Liberty bell is not hung for ringing, but it is still a famous American Bell, given to the USA by Great Britain, as a sign of America's Freedom. The original liberty bell was cast by Whitechapel, but it was cracked; and so one of the american bellfounders, Pass and Stow, recast it. There are many stories about how the bell became cracked again, but no-one really know for sure. The most popular story was that it became cracked when it was struck in celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday! The bell is now housed in Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There is also a fake Liberty Bell in Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Florida. It is a real bell and even has a fake crack in it!
For more information, visit www.libertybellmuseum.com
For more information, visit www.boktower.org
These are a 22 cwt ring of 8 on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are quite challenging bells! They are not rung very often, and to ring them, a set of unusual rope guides are suspended across the chancel crossing using ropes. The two separate rope guides pull the ropes in different directions, making them harder to ring. When visiting bands go there, the locals all come out to watch!
For more information, visit www.stmarysburlington.org/
Australia
St.Pauls Cathedral, Melbourne are a 29 cwt ring of 12 (with 1 semitone). They were cast in 1889 by Mears & Stainbank, and are the second oldest complete ring of 12 in the world.
The Swan Tower, Perth is a tower designed to promote ringing. There is a 29 cwt ring of 16 bells there (with 2 semitones). The bells were originally from St. Martins-in-the-Fields, London, but they were given to Perth in 1988 to mark the Australian Bicentennial. They were the oldest complete ring of 12 in the world, being cast in 1726 by Ruddhalls of Gloucester. They were augmented to 18 by Whitechapel. It gets its name 'The Swan Tower', from being next to the river Swan, running through the middle of Perth.
Randwick bells were originally steel bells, but were replaced with a new 7 cwt Taylors ring of 8 in 2001. The front 6 of the old steel bells were moved to a monastery in New South Wales. The back two bells are still in Randwick, and will become part of a memorial site in the grave yard.
Adelaide Cathedral has the second heaviest ring of 8 in the world, the tenor being 41 cwt.
Click here to listen to Adelaide bells (cos they sound nice!!)