Here Caroline attempts to play the carillon at Mostyn House School, Parkgate.
It was a sorry sight and an even more sorry sound ...
Next on the blog ...
Video clips of St Helens
It's with apologies that I commence the Bournville blog entry. It's been a long time coming for one reason or another - not least because I had to go back to work but also because I had to spend time with my daughters whom I totally neglected while we all went bell-hopping around the country ...
Saturday 16th August
Bournville Carillon,
School Tower, Linden Road, Bournville
Bournville carillon, rising above the Village Schools, overlooks the Village Green. Under its distinctive copper cupola you can see its 48 bells. This carillon is considered by many to be one of the finest in the world.
Most people know that Bounville Village was founded by the Cadbury family, named as such because a stream, the Bourn, ran through the area where George and Richard Cadbury were building their new factory in the 1880's - it was thought quite fashionable to add 'ville' to give it a French air and also to make a tenuous connection with French chocolate which was highly regarded at the time.
We were met at the Carillon Visitor Centre by Arthur Casey who is the Carillon maintenance engineer and historian. The Visitors' Centre is situated in 'The Rest House, which is in the Village Green and which is a beautiful octagonal building built in 1914.
The Rest House was erected to commemorate the Silver Wedding of Mr and Mrs George Cadbury and was a gift from Cadbury employees. Sadly, over the years, the Rest House was vandalised and eventually closed to the public. That was until 1997 when Bournville Village Trust worked to bring the two legacies of George Cadbury together - the Rest House and Carillon - and formally re-opened the Rest House as the Visitor Centre. Incidentally, there has always been an association with the Carillon all stemming from the Belgian City of Bruges. Not only was George Cadbury inspired to construct the Carillon after hearing the bells of Bruges Town Hall, but hand-made bricks from the ancient buildings of Bruges were taken to construct the Rest House.
Arthur escorted us across the road and into the School - a beautiful school, a personal gift to the Village of Bournville from George Cadbury and his wife in 1906. We walked up two floors of the school before taking a short spiral staircase up onto the roof which houses the bells and clavier room.
Caroline had been booked to play both afternoon recitals so it wasn't an impromptu visit. Trevor Workman, the Bournville Carillonneur (of earlier video fame) at this time was on a carillon tour of the USA!
George Cadbury ordered 22 bells from John Taylor & Co, Loughborough and in 1906 they were installed in a small stone belfry on the NW corner of the new village schools. Only one of the original bells, the largest, still remains. Following George Cadbury's death in 1922, a further 15 bells were added in 1923 and 5 in 1925 in his memory - all cast by Talylors.
A major reconstruction of the Carillon took place in 1934 when Gillett & Johnston Bellfoundry, Croyden, re-cast all but four of the bells. They also added 6 more bells, including a new bass weighing 3.25 tons, bringing the total to 48. The belfry was no longer big enough so the bells were hung on a frame in the centre of the tower roof, protected by the cupola. A new clavier was also installed in a cabin on the roof.
Restoration work was carried out again in 1988 by John Taylor's when new clappers and springs were fitted along with a new clavier (above).
Before the 1934 restoration the carillon was played from the room below the stone belfry which now houses the clock and chime mechanism, the remains of the automatic mechanism and the practice clavier (made from the old 1923 clavier).
It's a common belief that Bournville was founded solely to house workers from the Cadbury factory and, whilst George Cadbury wanted to ensure that his workers were housed and given a healthy standard of living with time and places for education and recreation, he did not intend to be 'ruler over an empire' and anyone could buy one of the Bournville houses - not just his employees.
Carillon recitals at Bournville are usually played every Saturday at 12 noon and 3:00 pm and visitors can be given a guided tour of the carillon as well as see the carillon being played by live video link from the clavier room to the visitor centre.
Sometimes recital times have to be amended due to weddings taking place which was what happened on the day we visited. Caroline's first recital started at 1:45 to coincide with the Bride, Groom and their guests leaving the church - the wedding party had all their photographs taken with the atmospheric sound of the carillon bells being played in the background.
Before Caroline played her second recital at around 3:45, again to coincide with a wedding, we explored the village of Bournville and can highly recommend a visit. We were also, unexpectedly and very kindly, treated to lunch by Arthur.
We'd like to thank Arthur Casey for his very warm welcome and his very informative guided tour of Bournville Carillon. Arthur showed us material from the archives not only about Bournville but about most of the Carillons in the UK and Ireland and we'll definitely be back to pick up more interesting snippets about the carillons for the blog / book (?)!
We were particularly interested to see these pictures of the Carillon in Bond Street, London which we have not been able to visit so far - for reasons we are not clear about as yet but will update the blog as soon as we learn the situation.
The Carillon at Bournville is lovingly looked after and respected by both the community and the Village Trust - this is reflected not only in the sheer volume of current and historical information available about it but also in the inauguration of the Carillon School in 2006 by Sir Adrian Cadbury.
Check out the website for lots more news and info:
http://www.carillon.atspace.org/
Coming next on the blog -
Video footage of Parkgate, Cheshire
Great Peter ... or Caz in a tiz part 1
Striking Great Peter ... or Caz in a tiz part 2
Caroline Playing for Evensong at York Minster
(the blustery day interfered with the sound recording but you can still get a very good idea of how beautiful it sounds)
Next stop Bournville ....
Caroline playing the Edith Adamson Carillon in Newcastle
And for those of you who just 'lurve' to see those bells in action here are the Edith Adamson bells being played (at this point, I think Ian Brunt is playing the clavier).
And in the words of the late lamented Fred Dibner ... 'did yer like that?!'
There's more so keep your eyes peeled! Eyes peeled! Geddit?! Worra larf!
We arrived in Saltely at about 4:30pm in time for Caroline to play Evensong before the 5:30pm mass. We met up with Clive who is one of the Carillonneurs and he led us up a very tight iron spiral stairway to the clavier room - only a mere 58 steps or so this time!
Although the climb was very narrow, the tower housing the clavier and the bells is very spacious. The clavier is housed in an inner room and then there are just 18 more steps leading up to the bells which are hung on a frame which you can walk all around - thus enabling us to get some of the best video footage of bells while they are being played so far (to follow).
There's still some research I have to do on this but, apparently, someone (I will find out the name of the author hopefully) wrote a book about the perfect way to install and house a carillon and clavier - including positioning of the clavier in terms of distance from walls etc, distance from bells and the positioning of the bells in relation to the louvres - all designed to get the best sound. This installation was built to those specifications.
Caroline got started pretty much straightaway while the rest of us went up to see the bells.
During World War II the bells were sent away down to Charnwood Forest for safe-keeping where they were looked after at Mount St Bernard's Abbey. It was just as well as the church took a several direct and indirect hits between 1940 - 1941.
You can read more about the history here:
http://www.know-britain.com/parishes/rosary/history_1.html
The bells did not ring from the church again until they were re-installed in 1944.
After Caroline had been playing for around 20 minutes, Clive took over to finish the recital so that Caroline could get a chance to hear how the carillon sounded from outside.
Caroline says that this carillon has been her favourite as the positioning for playing is ideal for her; she also likes the two octave arrangement. She said that the foot pedals were at a slightly different alignment to the batons than she was used to but it wasn't a problem. She also said that the sound of the bells while she was playing was much clearer and more accurate so that she felt that she could be more expressive with them. She certainly played with more confidence on this clavier. Perhaps the 'perfect installation theory' is spot on.
We really enjoyed our visit and would like to thank Clive for inviting us and showing us around. Caroline hopes to be able to go back and play again soon - it's certainly her personal favourite to play so far (except Loughborough, of course!)
Our next visit is to Bournville - Caroline has a booking to play the bells after two weddings. In the meantime you can brace yourself for some brilliant video clips of Newcastle and then York - you'll just love the one of Caroline having a panic over Great Peter!
We met up with our 'guide' for the visit, Mr Ted Crampton, at around 11am and he walked us to the town centre where we were met with the first views of the carillon.
Our visit was on a very dull, wet day so the photograph from the outside has not turned out very well and doesn't show the full attractiveness of the carillon.
This carillon has a fascinating history and started life in the 1920s as one of three memorials commemorating local dead killed in World War 1. Owing to various disputes, it wasn't until the early 1930s that the bells were ever played, however, and then it was only via an amateur built device that proved unsatisfactory in the end. When The Corn Exchange was demolished and and the South Holland Centre opened (1974) the carillon was restored to a playing condition and was operated via a keyboard or music roll. Eventually, however, the music rolls wore out and were difficult to replace so the carillon fell silent yet again.
In 1989 the South Holland Centre was opened (again) after complete reconstruction which incorporated the current bell tower. The carillon can now be seen and heard across the town. Hoorah!
It was a very civilised climb up two floors to get to the bells. The 23 carillon bells are hung on a a bell-tree arrangement, different from any of the other bells we've seen AND they are fully visible through a handsome glass casing on the outside of the South Holland Centre.
What was noticeable was that the larger bells hang at the top of the 'tree' and the smaller ones at the bottom which, again, differs from other arrangements we've seen.
Caroline tried out her first piece with the door to the bells open - we have stood in many bell towers with the bells being played but this one was exceptionally deafening - I presume the glass casing causes a different kind of reverberation so we were relieved to close the door for the next few pieces!
It was quite a useful mechanism in as much as Caroline was able to practice on it like an organ before switching the bells on to play. Playing such a small keyboard is quite tricky and the music has to be carefully picked.
We were pleased to meet the current carillonneur, Jayne Wilds (pictured with Caroline above), she mainly plays on a Saturday and her recitals are advertised well by both the local press and the South Holland Centre.
We'd like to thank Ted Crampton for arranging to meet with us and for showing us around the carillon. Ted has done a lot of research on the history of the carillon so any of the information above is all thanks to the paper he wrote detailing its varied history; he is also instrumental in arranging all the carillon recitals on behalf of the South Holland Centre.
Ted took us to a fabulous pub - The Mermaid Inn, Surfleet - where we enjoyed a lovely lunch together in the restaurant. Caroline can highly recommend the Lincolnshire sausage and herby mash dish!
Just as a point of interest - opposite the pub in Surfleet is St Lawrence's Church - I don't know if you can tell from the photograph but the whole tower leans forward considerably. It's quite a sight! Apparently there are quite a few leaning towers in the area due to the silty ground.
And finally ...we'd also like to thank Margaret Crampton for laying on coffee at their home afterwards - it was much appreciated and was SUPERB coffee. We all feel a little guilty that any conversation got side-tracked by the opening ceremony of the Olympics which was on the TV - we were all mesmerised by it, Ted and Margaret included - we were also beginning to feel the post-lunch-doze upon us so we thought we'd better get on the road and wake ourselves up pronto!
Thanks both for a lovely time in Spalding.
Next Saltley ...
After a family day out at Snibston Discovery Park, Team Carillon were back in force and on the trail of bells on Thursday but not travelling beyond Loughborough for a change.
We thought a visit to Taylors Eayre and Smith Ltd was in order. It is, after all, on our doorstep AND the largest bell foundry in the world. It boasts an unbroken history from the 14th century, although it's not been in Loughborough all that time. Find out more from the website:
For fear of beginning to sound like a bit of a geek when it comes to bells I'd like to say that there is more to bells than meets the ear! It was a really interesting tour.
At 1pm Caroline was giving her usual weekly recital at Loughborough's War Memorial Carillon in Queens Park. It was a beautiful day and the 90 steps to the clavier seemed nothing now compared to what we'd been doing over the last 10 days and, what had always previously seemed like a treacherous climb to the top, was a doddle (although Cazzie declined this one)!
Only two more carillon visits to go this week - Spalding and Saltley. Then there's a week's break before Caroline is playing at Bournville - that completes most of the tour bar London, which we can't get to at the moment, and Cobh and Armagh which we are visiting in the Autumn. Still lots to add to the blog, though, and lots of video clips to download so don't go'way mind!
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Here's Caroline clinging on for dear life as Anthony points out some landmarks!
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It’s a most unusual sight as you walk along what looks like a sea-front but isn’t. The marsh in front of the village is now a bird reserve and attracts many visitors for that purpose – Parkgate has been a conservation area since the 1970s.
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A visit to Nicholl’s Ice Cream parlour is a must, though, it’s been there since 1935 and still serves the most exquisite flavours of ice cream – obviously the ice-cream is a bit more recent than 1835, or at least we presumed so!
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The carillon in Parkgate resides at Mostyn House School. The Mostyn Arms Hotel was popular with sea-bathers but, as the trend declined due in part to competition from New Brighton, the property changed hands a few times until it was leased by Edward Price in 1855 as Mostyn House School. The name Mostyn comes from Sit Thomas Mostyn who owned the entire village of Parkgate until it was sold by auction in 1849.
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We arrived at the school at 2pm – it stands in lovely grounds and was very quiet due to the summer holidays – we were first greeted by a young fox enjoying a frolic on the lawns in the sunshine. The carillon bells hang on a frame outdoors and are clearly visible on the roof next to the chapel. A 31 bell carillon was installed as a war memorial to former pupils who were killed in the First World War. Other publicity we have obtained says there are 37 bells so there may have been more added later.
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We were met by Beverley Tudor and taken through the school to where the clavier is situated. It’s a beautiful school and felt like something straight out of Hogwarts. We had a peek in the chapel first where the pupils have morning assemblies and where weddings are also held.
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I wonder if the students appreciate what a wonderful building they are being educated in – if they don’t now, they certainly will in the future.
And now … about the carillon …
We have talked a lot about what we can write here so as not to cause offence after we were kindly given permission to see the clavier and the bells and to take photographs of them and we have decided that honesty is the best policy so as not to affect the reliability of our comments about the other carillons we have visited.
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The clavier is in a very sorry state and made for quite a sad sight. Caroline did try to play a tune but many of the batons are hanging loose and the transmissions are in urgent need of attention; in fact the whole thing needs some intensive TLC. We were all a little bit stunned by it to be honest. Apparently the carillon is used by the pupils on a regular basis and it certainly looks like it’s taken a battering along the way.
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On a positive note, we are told that there is ongoing fundraising for maintenance of the carillon, so perhaps there is a refurbishment on the horizon. We hope so. The school has such a rare and unique instrument in their possession and we hope that, if anyone from Mostyn House happens upon this blog, they can see, by looking at the other carillons in the UK, the potential of the instrument they have.
We’d like to thank Beverely Tudor and Mostyn House School for agreeing to our visit and to our taking pictures and footage of the clavier and the bells. We wish them every success with the fundraising for the carillon.
Next stop St Helens ...
