I was "up the tower" with our contractor Phil Robson a few days ago discussing the work underway to actually dismantle the frame and lower the bells. As the work progresses, the degree to which the frame and the ringing mechanisms have deteriorated has become even clearer.
I'm very glad we are at this phase in the restoration process. We had awful visions of one or other of the beels breaking free and crashing down through the new floors into the kitchen! Not good.
Everytime we look around "up there", we find more work to do. Phil called me this morning to say that the heavy rain was breaking through fresh holes in the roof and getting through to the new floors many feet below. The rooks, apparently, pull the plaster work between the tiles away, loosening the slates. There's also a rat hole which we are dealing with!
I took the picture above with my mobile camera. It shows some of the old wooden ringing wheels dismantled and the clappers - those long iron rods at the bottom left of the frame - set aside on one of the intermediate floors. The many oscillations back and forth inside the bell chamber have flattened the once rounded balls at the end of each clapper. Holding one of them, I couldn't help but wonder how long it might take to have them swinging, ringing again.
