Rope guide finished

The ringing room is pretty much finished now, apart from painting the modified rope guide.

It produces quite a good circle and where possible, makes use of existing holes and gaps between the beams. It looks anticlockwise from below!

Above this, we are now pretty much ready for the return of headstocks.

This is the 7th bell sitting where we left it a while ago sitting on a temporary steel grillage. The other bells are sitting on the bell frame.

Ringing from the ringing chamber

The treble bell can now be rung from the ringing chamber!

The rope is drawn across a little bit in the room above the ringing chamber with pulleys top and bottom to get it to drop in the desired position in the rope circle.

It handles really well, but it will require a 'flapper board' to stop the rope wobbling since it is not falling vertically.

This is the view looking up.

Nearly a two bell tower

The second bell is now resting in its pit!

It still needs bed plates manufacturing for the bearings to sit on. We already have all the other parts required, the pulley, wheel, slider and stay, and these will be fitted once the bearings are in situ.

A one bell tower!

Strensham is now a one bell tower!

Apart from a stay and slider and a rope to the ringing room, this bell is ready.

Originally from Kettering, this is the first time since 2004 that this bell has been rung full circle. It is also the first time a bell has been heard from Strensham tower since April 2017.

A swinging bell

We've got one bell swinging at last!

The concreting of the beam was finished a couple of weeks ago, and the shuttering came off tonight. After a bed plate was fixed to the frame, the headstock was bolted to the ex Kettering treble and the bell put in its pit.

It's a bit tight, but we always knew it would fit.

Here it is swinging!

The bell was cast by Taylors in 1979 and now weighs 3-1-11 after tuning.

Shuttering

The current focus is on preparing for the concreting in of the steelwork for the new treble.

The shuttering has been cut and fixed in place complete with a slot where the concrete can be inserted.

The shuttering now needs sealing with expanding foam and the hard work of mixing and hauling up buckets of concrete can begin.

Treble Pulley

With the treble headstock and wheel still in position, we took the chance to put the pulley in position.

Because the rope is going to be drawn sideways in the next room down, it is important that the rope doesn't move from side to side when the rope passes the double pulleys, otherwise it might cause the it to jerk. The way we chose to do this is to mount the pulleys at an angle - a trick that Warners did at nearby Bredon.

We used a plumb line to check it was in the correct position, and that the sally will be roughly at the same height when the bell is up and down.

Trial fitting

Tonight's job was to see if the steel beam which was lifted up the tower last week was in the right place. The best way to do this was to put the treble headstock and wheel in place.

It all fitted very well indeed.

The next thing to do is to concrete the beam in place, and then bolt it all together properly.

Steelwork

We've not been doing any work in the tower for a few weeks. It's been far too hot for anything too strenuous!

Some of the steelwork was delivered last week, including the beam on which the new treble will hang. Tonight's job was to haul it up the tower and put it in place in the NE corner of the tower.

The beam was pretty heavy and getting it up there did make us sweat a bit! This beam will be concreted in place in due course, but this might need to wait until the weather is cooler.

The beginning of the end

The last phase has started! Tonight we put the 1911 frameside back in place.

It took quite a bit of wiggling, but it eventually went in. This frame will now have 2 bells sitting in it instead of 1, so it will have a "gallows end" at the ends to hold it in place.

An 8 bell tower - again

Our Rudhall bells are back!

 A hard evening's work on the chain blocks saw the 4th, 5th and 6th back in the tower, and sitting on the bell frame.

Here they are, ready for their headstocks.

If phase 1 was to take things apart, and phase 2 was to clean everything up, then we are now at phase 3 which is to start putting it all back together!

Wheels finished

Another milestone - we have now finished treating and strengthening the 1911 wheels. Each one has had a coat of preservative and stainless steel screws have been distributed around the rims.

After the timber, we have now started on the wheel irons. These are being rubbed down, and a coat of primer applied. They will be finished with a top coat of dark blue.

 Up in the belfry, things are pretty much ready for the return of the Rudhall bells and the headstocks.

 

Here are the 3rd and 2nd (with a headstock) tucked away in the SE corner.

Back to work

We have not been able to do any work in the tower at Strensham for quite a while. This has been due to a number of factors, including illness.

Anyway, a good session tonight saw most of the 1911 wheels treated with a high quality wood preserver. They have also been strengthened with the addition of a large number of stainless steel screws around the wheel rims which were previously only held in place with somewhat rusty nails. This will ensure that they will be fit for purpose for a good many years yet.

I didn't take any photos of the work in the tower, however the churchyard is putting on a really good display of snowdrops.

Here is a night time photo taken using my phone and a portable work light.

Much cleaner

It's been a dirty job at times, but the cleaning is pretty much done. Centuries of dust/grit had accumulated and needed removing. Several refuse sacks were filled, as were many Henry bags.

 

This is the room between the ringing room and the belfry.

We also tidied up the ringing room where the wheels have been stored while the work took place upstairs.Now we are ready to treat the wood so that the wheels are ready for the next 100 years!

The three retuned bells ought to be making their way back fairly soon. It will be a big step forward when we start putting things together instead of taking them apart!