Bell Power in the Tower ...

or ... The Spinster in the Minster!

Sunday 3rd August 2008

York Minster Cathedral

www.carillons.org/york

Our arrival in York was rather less eventful than our introduction to Newcastle. We stayed in a fabulous B&B in Escrick just outside York - http://www.yorkblackbullinn.com/ -a place to be highly recommended, with a top notch menu; we just had to have three courses - it would've been rude not to!

The following day, after yet another hearty breakfast, we met up with David Potter, the Ringing Master at York, at around 12:30 and he took us back to his home to meet his wife Christine who laid on a fantastic lunch for us at their home which was just a stone's throw from the Minster with awesome views of it through nearly every window!

(One could be forgiven for wondering if this tour is more about food than bells at times but, with so many steps to be climbed, nourishment has obviously had to be a priority consideration!)

Once replete, David walked us over to the Minster dodging all the queues of toursits waiting to get in. Here's David pointing out the Bell Founder's window in the north nave aisle to Caroline.

This window was given to the Minster by Richard Tunnoc, a York bell founder, in the 14th century.

The carillon is housed in the South West tower - here's Caz bracing herself for the climb!

David showed us the bells first, starting with Big Peter which weighs over 10 tonnes and is the deepest-toned bell in Europe. Big Peter had quite an effect on poor Caroline - he made her go weak at the knees as she panicked at his sheer magnitude. (And just when I was saying how well it was all going in that respect!) A few choice words escaped when David said he'd sound the bell for us - poor Caz didn't know what to do with herself as she clung precariously to the tower walls feeling trapped by height, narrow winding stairs and BIG BELLS!!!! No photos, sadly, but the video footage is eagerly awaited on that one ...

After that trauma we then had to cross back over to the tower housing the carillon bells and clavier -or in Caroline's case, shuffle precariously. To be fair, I think walking on the roof of the Minster between the two bell towers was a bit 'hairy' for all of us!

Next David showed us the Carillon bells which are hung above the swinging bells which were resting in their upturned position. Because of their distance away, David has installed wooden trap doors so that the sound of the carillon can be heard in the clavier room.

It's difficult to get really good pictures of the bells but there should be some good video footage coming soon ...

Caroline played a recital for half an hour before Evensong. What a fantastic brand new clavier and what an honour to be invited to play it! The clavier room is bright and airy and is also the ringing room for the swinging bells complete with playpen and pretend bell rope to keep the little ones happy while parents are ringing.

Not surprisingly, Caroline found this the easiest and quietest clavier to play - as long as she didn't take a peek out of the window to her right!

The carillon sounded beautiful from outside, stopping many people in their tracks as they stood listening to the gentle melodies chiming over the City of York.

We'd like to thank David and Christine very much for their hospitality and for making our visit to York Minster extra special. Thanks to David for showing us around and inviting Caroline to play and thanks to Christine for such an excellent lunch in such a beautiful setting.

An amble through the Shambles took us back to the car and to a trip to the NW for a day off and some much needed R & R.

Coming up on the blog front (I'm desperately trying to catch up but the lap top just won't play ball) we have Parkgate and St Helens ... betcha just can't wait!

Ding Dong - Caroline calling! At Newcastle ...

Saturday 2nd August 2008

The Edith Adamson Carillon, Newcastle

http://www.carillons.org/newcastle/

Our three hour journey to Newcastle took four hours so we arrived somewhat bedraggled on Friday evening. Our introduction to Newcastle was unfortunate to say the least as we encountered a large number of inebriated individuals one of whom insisted on showing us his wares on his way out for a night on the town ... we managed to recover after a couple of bevvies in the bar which didn’t have any glasses due to the fact that they’d all been nicked and, despite the ominous signs that we were in for a disturbed night, the hotel was remarkably quiet enabling us to get a good rest. After a hearty breakfast we explored the shopping areas of Newcastle between torrential down-pours before meeting up with Newcastle’s carillonneur Dr Ian Brunt.

The carillon here is housed in a tower which rises above the civic centre. The carillon was given as a memorial to Edith Adamson by her husband and was installed in 1966.

It made a pleasant change NOT to have to climb up hundreds of steps; instead we took the lift to the 10th floor and walked up a further 20 steps or so to reach the clavier which is situated in one of the most 'civilised' clavier rooms - the only downside being that there are no windows.

It’s a well maintained instrument which is checked annually by Taylors. Caroline tried out a few pieces and she said it was deceptively quite hard work to play probably because, although small, there are a good number of heavier bells.

Ian took us up to see the bells. We are all beginning to be able to recognize the sound of Taylor’s bells – we’re not sure whether becoming attuned is a good thing or if it’s a sign that we’ve seen too many bells of late! We’re ALL having bell dreams – last night I dreamt I lived in a bell tower and that my bed was covered in pigeon deposits! We all think we keep hearing bells and may well be suffering from the first signs of bell-madness…


So back to Newcastle - we took in some fantastic views from the roof. Caroline really does seem to be taking to the heights and bells saturation therapy and not only made it to the top but also stayed up there while Ian was playing the bells!

Looking towards the Tyne bridge.

Interestingly, the carillon can also be played electronically by using a small electronic keyboard.

Caroline tried it out. It was surprisingly hard work – the delay before the bell is struck is more prominent and it’s impossible to get any expression into the bells this way.

We’d really like to thank Dr Ian Brunt for coming to meet us to show us around the carillon. We were treated to a fantastic rendition on the bells by Ian himself which was very impressive.

And finally ... no trip to the North East is copmplete without paying homage to the Angel of the North.

Next stop York Minster ... 'citing eh?!

Going like the clappers ...

Long overdue footage of the UK's most accomplished carillonneur, Trevor Workman, playing Loughborough on Sunday 27th July 08...

No commentary needed!

Name that tune in Aberdeen, Perth & St Andrews ...

Playing Aberdeen

Playing Perth

Perth from outside

Playing St Andrews

St Andrews Bells

Bell Free ...

Don’t panic - we’re back on blog again! We realize how much you must have been missing the daily updates …

We’ve had a few long drives which has delayed things somewhat and we couldn't get internet access while we were in York but we'll gradually catch up. So far we have travelled over 1100 miles and climbed up and down hundreds of steps; today we’ve just been enjoying a much needed bell free day – geddit? Bell free!!!

So picking up now where we left off …

Friday 1st August 2008

St Marnock's Parish Church, Kilmarnock

www.carillons.org/kilmarnock

After our Dumbarton disappointment things started to look up again as we met Rev James McNaughtan at St Marnock’s church, Kilmarnock during the afternoon which houses the only Whitechapel carillon in the UK.

St Marnock’s was opened in 1836 and was built as a ‘chapel of ease’ i.e. to take the overflow congregation from the main Parish Church. At the end of this month the church is going to be renamed St Andrew’s and St Marnock’s as it forms a union with Howard St Andrew's in the town.

It was quite a strenuous climb up the 111 steps to the clavier with just a short ladder from the clavier room leading up to the 30 bells making them, therefore, the closest to the clavier that we have seen so far. This 30 bell carillon was installed in 1955 in memory of Peter Wills and daughters, Maggie and Mary.

Caroline again described the clavier as ‘quirky’ – some batons require a particular knack to make the bells sound but this gives the clavier an interesting individuality and character.

The sound in the clavier room was very distinctly different from the other places we have visited. The bells sounded dampened somehow and less resonant although that is not how they sounded from the outside – it’s an intriguing instrument in that respect.

We’d like to thank Rev McNaughtan for kindly meeting us and showing us around the carillon and the bells and for his patience as we attempted to find a suitable vantage point for recording the bells outside … and then it started to tip it down!

Read more about the church at:

http://www.stmarnocks.org.uk/

No baton bell games in Dumbarton but Caz rings a bell in Kilmarnock

Friday 1st August

St Patricks Church, Dumbarton

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Sadly, today's carillon visits got off to a disappointing start. We had arranged a meeting for 12:30 at St Partick's in Dumbarton but, although we waited until just after 1pm, when guests started to arrive for a wedding we decided to take that as our cue to leave. We were able to get into the church for a look around but there was no one else there to ask about the carillon.

Here are some photographs from inside the church.

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This is the base of the tower with a door in the corner which probably leads up to the carillon and the bells

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The people in the steeple ...

Thursday 31st July

The Parish Church of The Holy Trinity, St Andrews

www.carillons.org/standrews

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The original building of Holy Trinity Church was completed in 1412 and its huge wooden galleries were installed to hold some 3000 people. By the end of the 19th century the buildings were thought to be old fashioned and the church was almost entirely rebuilt except for the Tower, the west wall and a number of pillars on the north side of the church, all which survive from the 15th century.



This Tower which houses the carillon dates back to 1412 and is certainly the oldest tower we will be visiting on our tour. The first 15 bells of the carillon here were dedicated on St Andrew's Day, 1926; a further two bells were added in 1938 and then six more in 1962 which meant that the chime officially became a carillon. The newest bells were added in 1998 which brought the total to 27 bells and enabled a greater variety of music to be played. This carillon belongs to the church and ALL the bells were cast by John Taylor & Company of Loughborough.



Access to the tower is through a small door in one corner of the church and the stone staircase is very narrow and winds round somewhat precariously due to uneven steps and no handrail except for an old bell rope running down the centre!




There are approx 63 steps up to the clavier (it's hard to be exact when personal safety takes precedence over counting steps!) The clavier is very compact but takes some energy to play. Caroline particulalry apreciated the dummy Db & Eb pedals which act as good guides - this is what Caroline found she missed at Perth.

Caroline was invited by Christine Gascoigne, the Holy Trinity Carillonneur, to play for around 15 minutes (between clock chimes). Caroline really enjoyed playing this carillon which she described as 'quirky'. The mechanism is very noisy and some of the wires may need tightening; Caroline said it was fun and that she wasn't always sure if a bell was going to play or not - there was a particular knack to some of them.

This blue box in the clavier room houses the automatic action for the curfew bell which has been rung for centuries at 8pm every evening except Sundays. It used to be the job of the Beadle to ring the curfew bell by hand which meant that he was ringing for a full 15 minutes. Since 1961 the ringing has been mechanised and it now rings precisely 100 times each evening.

After a short recital, Christine showed us up to the bells - another 18 steps up.

Next Christine guided us up another 25 steps for fansatic views of St Andrews from the top of the tower

And here's Caz who can't stand heights (?!) looking out over St Andrews with Christine who pointed out all the important landmarks.

We'd like to thank Christine very much for her welcome and for showing us around the carillon tower.

On this visit we were once again accompanied by Ian Cassells (Perth Carillonneur) and Joyce who took us on a fabulous mini tour of St Andrews AND treated us to a lovely lunch again.

Ian took us to the cooling shade of the Quadrangle of St Andrews University. We had a peek into St Salvator's Chapel which houses a magificent organ.

John Knox (Reformation) preached here as, indeed, he did at Perth but below is the actual pulpit he stood in whereas in Perth the pulpit he used has long gone.

After lunch we took a stroll down towards the beach past the ruins of St Andrews Castle ...

...and ruins of the cathedral opposite which was pulled down during the reformation. Much of the stone from the cathedral was sold in oder to build houses, so many of the houses in St Andrews are built out of the cathedral walls.

We walked down onto the beach and enjoyed a lovely cooliong breeze - as you can see it's been a bright, warm, sunny day.

No visit to St Andrews would be complete without a piper!

After saying our farewells to Ian and Joyce and thanking them once again for thier hospitality and very informative tour, we embarked on a three hour drive (it should have been two but Glasgow rush hour slowed us down) to Dumbarton where we will be visiting the carillon at 12:30 before driving to Kilmarnock for 3pm. Tomorrow evening sees us making the long drive down to Newcastle so any further blog entries are unlikely to be posted now until Saturday morning!

Crossing the Forth Bridge earlier and hitting some welcome rain to cool us down - get the idea we've been a bit warm lately?!