|
|
||
During the 2002 AGM in
Philadelphia, the walking tour was one of the highlights of the week. Few
Philly ringers got to go on the tour due to various duties that they had to
fulfill that day. So by request, Brian Zook organized a new tour for the PGCR. We had to settle on doing the tour on two days and by happenstance
it turned out to be a fortuitous decision. On May 3 we visited
Saint
Peter's Church and the Wanamaker Founders Bell. As a result of our ringing
Saint Peter's Bells that day, a parishioner who lived in the area heard us
and and made inquiries about who was ringing the bells. Her daughter was
to be married on June 21, and she wanted changes rung on the bells. She had
loved change ringing and had heard it when she lived in England. None
of Saint Peter's bell ringers felt equipped to ring changes, so this very
nice lady called us and we were hired to ring for her daughters wedding.
We had planned to visit the Christ Church's Bells on that date, so it fit in
nicely. We were to visit the chime of bells at the Episcopal Cathedral
too, but our plans, unfortunately, were changed at the last minute. The bells at
Christ Church sound incredible when played from their clavier, they must have
sounded glorious when rung full circle. Saint Peter's bells could stand a
little tuning up of the treble and second. We decided not to use the chime
stand at Saint Peter's but opted to ring from a higher floor than is usually
done so we could accommodate all eight ringers.
May 3, 2002
click on the picture to see a full sized view.
digital photography by Alan Morrison & Brian Zook
|
Saint Peter's Church |
A long Climb into the belfry |
Two very old signatures written of a handrail in the tower of Saint Peter's Church. |
|
Looking up at one of the bells |
Hello there, do you come here often? |
Alan inspects the bells and frame. |
|
Jason doesn't want to go up the steps. |
Faded Glory? |
I don't know, It looked worse at St. Mark's before we started. |
|
Next stop top of the PNB building |
I don't care for the look of that clapper. |
It really isn't easy to get a good picture of the bell. |
|
But it is a good place to get a view of the city. |
The clapper is hidden kinda behind the central vertical beam. |
An interesting view inside the bell from another website on the net. |
June 21, 2003
|
Damp morning in front of Christ Church. |
Another climb. |
Christ Church |
|
Vivian pops up through the trap door |
Deborah is the last one up. |
Bruce Gill from Christ Church gives us the DL on the bells. |
|
Bruce Gill answers our questions about the bells. |
Treble |
Tenor |
|
the bell has "6" written on it, but it is actually the 3, they number as the carillons do; the lowest bell is 1 and the highest 8. |
Old red and blue sally in hand, added Paccard bell behind.
|
Another view of the installation
|
|
Ringing changes on the clavier.
|
A very spooky view from above.
|
The Peal Board from the 1st Peal in North America. |
Back at Saint Peters, for a happy occasion!
Look two?
Similar pics from the tour of the bells at the 2002 AGM, are available for viewing. To see them click here and scroll down to Saturday Aug 17.
