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The D & N Times an occasional newsletter
of the Durham & Newcastle Diocesan July 2002 |
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The D & N Times an occasional newsletter
of the Durham & Newcastle Diocesan July 2002 |
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Over the last few years the bell wheels have been, quite literally, falling apart. Every time visitors were due to ring the bells, or a peal attempted, I would go up into the belfry to check the state of the ropes and the wheels. The ropes were fine, but the wheels often needed running repairs. Pieces of shrouding were regularly found on the belfry floor and had to be nailed back on. Howard Smith (Bell Maintenance Advisor) came to inspect the wheels and pronounced them to be in an extremely poor state of repair, so the Rector and PCC gave permission for the wheels to be restored. On Monday 18th February, the bell ropes were removed and work began to dismantle the wheels. Over 50 years of salt-air corrosion had taken its toll, and every piece of metalwork on every wheel was rusted and refused to move. It took several sessions to get the wheels off the front 8 bells and the tenor. The ninth had to be lifted off the frame, and some of the bell frame dismantled so that the bottom half of its wheel could be jiggled out from underneath the bell. The wheels were taken to Northallerton, where David Town began to restore them to what they should be like. All the shrouding and soling was removed and scrapped. Every piece of metalwork was drilled out. All that remained were the centre spokes, which were scraped clean of paint and sanded flat ready for new soling and shrouding. When the new soling arrived at David’s workshop it was found to be substandard so more had to be ordered. Eventually it arrived and he set to putting new soles on the wheels. Then the shrouding could be added around the outsides, the “garter holes” made and the bobbins attached. All that remained was for the wheels to be painted with selignum preservative and they were finished. The wheel irons and the headstocks of the bells were cleaned and repainted at the same time, so when the wheels arrived back at St. Andrew’s they could be refitted straight away. It was relatively straightforward, except for the ninth. The bell was lifted off the frame and the bottom half of the wheel repositioned. Then the lever chain hoist stuck fast. It wouldn’t move, so a different hoist was brought in which enabled us to complete the job. Working with David Town in his workshop on the wheels was an experience I will long remember. Like most trades, there is always more to it than you would think, and the amount of work that has gone into restoring the wheels is phenomenal. We have ten magnificent bell wheels now, with new stainless steel and brass bolts and screws which will be able to withstand the sea air better than the original fittings. The bells rang out again on Sunday 5th May, but it was practice night before all ten were heard together. Finally, a display was put up at the back of the church, so everyone could see what had happened and why the bells had been silent for 11 weeks. Christine Richardson |
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The April 14th 1967 Ringing World had Durham Cathedral on the front cover, and the write-up contained this paragraph..... "The celebrations will culminate in Durham on Saturday, September 23rd. On that day there will be ringing in the area around Durham before Evensong in Durham Cathedral. The preacher at that service will be Canon Thurlow, president of the Central Council. At 6:30 for 7:00 p.m. there will be a special dinner at St. Aidan’s College, Durham. The Bishop of Durham, Canon Thurlow, the Master and other College Youths are among those who hope to be present and, with the enthusiasm already evident among resident members, it is confidently expected that the capacity of the dining hall, set at 200 for this special occasion, will be fully taken up, and early application for the tickets (priced at £1 per head) will be essential. ....Overnight accommodation can be provided by the College for any visitors at a cost of 27s. 6d. [£1.37] per person per night for bed and breakfast.” [The good old days - mind I guess the average wage would be (for me) around £60 to £70 per month.] That was the plan for the D&N’s 90th anniversary celebrations. Ron Warford |
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D&N 125
Midsummer Festival at Capheaton & Kirkharle Blue skies, warm sun, and a gentle zephyr breeze were ordered for our Midsummer Festival of ringing at Capheaton and Kirkharle. Undaunted by the mistaken delivery of cold winds and rain, we simply put on our fleeces and waterproofs and got down to the serious business of enjoying ourselves. We tugged at all sorts of ropes, both those attached to bells and those attached to other ringers, tapped our feet in time to music, listened with pleasure to lovely singing, ate, drank, hunted for treasure, chatted and generally had a thoroughly good time. The Association’s thanks go to Duncan and Diane Davies for providing both venues for the weekend, to all those who planned and helped make everything run so smoothly, and to those with the mammoth tasks of constructing and deconstructing the Belfry and dumb bell, particularly Kris King and Andreas Schröcksnadel. Throughout the weekend the Association’s Peal Books were on display at a table manned by Catherine McNally, Bernard and Doris Gilbey, George and Margaret Deas and Joan Ives. They also dealt with the Treasure Hunt, Guess the Weight of Bell Competition, book-stall and a dozen other things. Events began on Saturday at the Courtyard in the hamlet of Kirkharle, birthplace of Capability Brown, with visitors able both to see the bells turning on the Lichfield Diocesan Mobile Belfry and to try out Andreas’ impressive dumb bell with computer simulator attachment.
The 6 Lichfield bells – tenor weight 76lbs – were wonderful to ring even though it felt very strange to be instructed to ring with one’s arms bent. Tuition by Phil, Rowena and Hugh was patience personified. The arrival of Master of Ceremonies, Ron Warford, resplendent in a plum coloured costume that captured the essential flavours of town crier and hotel commissionaire with a dash of Bob Cratchit, preceded the official opening of the weekend’s activities by Ian Robinson of Radio Newcastle. A stroll along the lane, past the monument to Robert Loraine who was “traitorously slain” in the fifteenth century by two Scotsmen after attending his prayers, led us to the beautiful little church of St. Wilfred where Capability Brown was baptised in 1716. A course of Plain Bob Major rung by Mary Holden, Jean Snook, Ron and Andreas preceded the service led by Richard Ferguson, the Vicar of Kirkwhelpington. The Benfieldside Handbell Ringers introduced the hymns, and the excellent Ringers’ Choir, conducted by Richard Turner and consisting of Jean Woodward, Karen Dickinson, David Hewitt, Michelle, Kris and Gillian King, sang the wonderful Introit by Christopher Tye, “O Come Ye Servants Of The Lord”. Those of us in the Northern and Southern Districts reflecting upon the calm bestowed upon us by heavenly forces then took hold of the tug-of-war rope in a gentle frame of mind. The earthier Central District ringers grabbed hold in a menacing manner that combined with the assistance of a downward gradient to eventually earn them the murky fame of a 3-2 win. Kenneth Arthur awarded the prizes with his customary dignity and aplomb. A lovely and unexpected discovery over the weekend was that Lanchester ringer, computer whizz kid and cyclist extraordinaire, Aidan Hedley, was none other than C. L. Routledge’s great-grandson. Before the Second World War Ken Arthur knew and rang with Charles Linnaeus Routledge, Jesmond dentist, leading light of St. John’s and Newcastle Cathedral, and one of the most highly regarded North-Eastern ringers of his day. “1879: the ring of ten bells in St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh was installed……It would be fair to say that it was in this tower that change-ringing first became firmly established in Scotland, largely as a result of the co-operation initiated between the Edinburgh ringers and the Durham and Newcastle Association by Mr. Charles Linnaeus Routledge who came to Edinburgh as a student of dentistry in 1894. The beginning of this long-lasting and fruitful relationship was the ringing of a peal in 1895 by the Durham and Newcastle Association in Edinburgh. Mr. Routledge returned to Newcastle in 1896 but had managed to create a nucleus of competent ringers and instructors in Edinburgh.” [From Ann Stott, Aberdeen, based on the extensive booklet "Change Ringing in Scotland", written and published in 1982 by Magnus Peterson, for the Golden Jubilee of the Scottish Association of Change Ringers.] It is a fragile but precious connection with the past that our own Ken Arthur of Fenham still has a tooth that was filled by C. L. Routledge! So then it was off to Capheaton. Led by the determination of 4 year old Oliver Crowther – son and chip off both blocks of Claire and Jim – we put up the marquee’s side walls, lit the bonfire, put out the chairs and settled back to enjoy the melodious and deliciously harmonious sound of the Ponteland and Gosforth Young People’s Choir. BBQ followed, plus beer, the gentle sound of the Capheaton Campanile and the long-awaited sun: a moment to be treasured! What can one say to a group of young jazz musicians whose experience of England consists of a week’s holiday spent dodging raindrops in between torrential bursts of downwardly mobile water? They did themselves and us proud with their concert in Kirkharle Courtyard on Sunday morning. For those of us old enough to remember a pre Gore-Tex era, here was the rebirth of what seemed to be the old Pacamac. The brave, brilliant and bravura sound of the Oslo Youth Jazz Orchestra was protected by the see through rainmacs of the musicians themselves as well as customised plastic overalls to try and keep English damp from Norwegian reeds.
The sudden glow on happy young Norwegian faces that followed was no doubt inspired by the course of Oslo Delight ringing from the Lichfield Belfry. It was certainly encouraged by the match put to the wood-burning stove in the Kirkharle Laundry Cottage Coffee House just as the concert ended, and in time for the young jazz musicians to flock towards the warmth. Well, it was June 30th and we were in the midst of summer! What followed for some was the dismantling of the mobile belfry and dumb bell, for others the trip up to Rennington to welcome intrepid aviator David Barraclough fresh from his successful challenge flight and ring, for some the trip home, or onto other ringing responsibilities.
What will remain for all of us is the unique series of individual memories that have as their caption D&N 125 Midsummer Festival Capheaton and Kirkharle. We were there – and it was good. Jane Kysow |
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