Carol of the Bells

During the Winter Festival I noticed a small article in the local newspaper advertising that it was possible to take a tour of the bell tower of the Anglican Cathedral.  That sounded interesting, so I quickly signed up Mick and I.  

We had expected that we would be met by one of the bell ringers, walked through the building and be told a bit about the tower, the bells and the history, but it was so much more.

Let's start with a bit of history.....

All Saints Cathedral was opened in 1848 and it was decided to have a ring of bells installed in the tower.  One of the locals travelled to England in 1851 to arrange for a set of six bells to be cast.  They cost 800 pounds and were installed in 1855.  The only hitch was that no one in the area knew how to ring them in the circular method. A gentleman was brought over from Adelaide for the purpose.  He stayed in the district and his descendant is now one of the bell ringers of today. It is believed these bells were the first ring of bells to peal in the full circle English style in Australia.  

Unfortunately, due to Bathurst's highly reactive clay soil, by the 1890s the bell tower was becoming unstable from the ringing.  They reduced it to three bells, and shortly after they stopped ringing them all together.

The old cathedral was demolished in 1970 and replaced with a very modern version, which opened in 1971.  I cannot remember the old cathedral, but I can clearly remember being at the opening of the new one, with the parade of all the clergy in their robes, and being quite excited to see our minister, Arch Deacon Ellis, among them.  There is even a brand new, never used, tea towel to commemorate the event in among Mum's collection.......but I digress.

When the new cathedral was built there was no bell tower and the bells were stored behind the Courthouse for the next 40 years.

Eventually, there was a move to build a new tower and to have the existing bells refurbished and have an additional three made.  After much fundraising and a design competition, things started to move along.  We now have a very striking bell tower.  The Courthouse, Carillon and Bell Tower form a nice line through the centre of town. The new bell tower was opened in 2009.

Here's a better photo of the tower itself, showing the different levels.

Now, back to the tour....

What we didn't expect was to have a group of bell ringers in attendance to give us a demonstration.  What an added treat that was, and it made everything so much clearer.

We were given a bit of history on bell ringing.  It appears that circular ringing of the bells was originally an English thing.

We wondered how they read the music.  Not quite the method we are used to.

We were only a small group of ten and after our little background briefing were divided into two groups.  Our half stayed in the bell ringing chamber to see how the bell ringers work.

This chamber is on the first floor, above the main entry to the tower.  I love how the shorties have little platforms to stand on.  Apparently it is quite hard to learn, and when you see them in action you can understand why.  They have to be so well coordinated with each other.  They only rang six of the eight bells on this occasion.

When not in use, the ropes are tethered to a central point and winched up to the ceiling.

Once we had receive the demonstration the groups swapped places and we ventured further up the tower.

Look where we had to go............I'm not very good on heights or open ladders.......

This is the next level.  Not a lot happening here. Therefore, up another level, collecting your green ear muffs on the way.

So that's what all the fuss is about.  A ring of eight bells. You may recall that there were originally six bells and they purchased a further three, but there are only eight here.  The largest one is on the roof and is rung separately for normal church services.

Can you notice how the inside of some of the bells have a shiny section.  That is where the old bells were tuned, when sent back to England, ready to hang in the new tower.

Here they are being rung.  Notice how they are all at different angles, whereas in the top photo they at rest.

The glass of the tower is special sound resistant glass.  A soprano opera singer will not shatter this glass.

We had one more ladder to climb up onto the roof.  Here was the final bell.  I made it up all those ladders.  Well, I wasn't going to see anything if I didn't, now was I.

We were intrigued to see a few of these anchor points around floor on the top of the tower.  It transpires that the various local emergency services sometimes use the bell tower to practice their abseiling skills.

It is the best view of Bathurst from up there.  Kings Parade, featuring the War Memorial Carillon, is over the road, with the ice skating rink set up in Russell Street for the Winter Festival.  Behind that is the Courthouse and behind that is Machattie Park. (The Carillon has just had an upgrade of its bells in the last twelve months as well, but that is a story for another day.)

And a view over the roof of the cathedral towards Kelso and the blue mountains.  We had such a lovely day to be up there.

Back on ground level there is a plaque to acknowledge the major benefactors of each of the bells. Unfortunately, you can't see them terribly well, as the church ladies were catering with "Bell Tower Munchies" during the Winter Festival.  Lovely scones with jam and cream and hot chocolate.  Ask me how I know.

It was a really fascinating tour and I'm so pleased I stumbled across it.  It was nice to learn more about something I see every day.

I'd have liked to finish with some bells, but unfortunately, I cannot get the video to load here.  If ever you are in Bathurst on a Wednesday evening, wander past the cathedral and listen to their practice.  They are great.