Up they go!

A significant milestone - the new bells are up in the tower!

 Here is the new second bell on its way up...

A view from below showing the fresh metal exposed by the tuning process.

One down, 5 to go

One of the jobs in hand is to remove the headstocks so that they can be cleaned and the bearings refurbished, This is quite a difficult task for many reasons, including the fact that the bolts are well rusted up (having been there since 1911).

This is the existing treble bell (now number 3 of 8) now resting on the floor...

...and here is its headstock. As you can see, it is in need of a good clean and an anti-rust treatment prior to a nice coat of paint. The remains of the WD40 can be see where the bell bolts were removed, and the stain of bearing lubrication oil at each end.

All the 1911 headstocks will be removed and treated in the same way. The 3rd (of 8) is the easiest one to do as the frame is wide enough to lower the bell to the floor beneath. The five heaviest bells can not easily be removed from the frame like this. We are having an adjustable steel framework made which will take the weight of the bell while the headstock is removed, and a temporary steel beam put in place to bear the weight of the bell.

The new arrivals

We went to Matthew Higby's workshop today to collect our shiny bells!

 Ready for loading..

 In they go...

They are now in secure storage waiting to go up the tower shortly, however....

Strensham church is holding a Midsummer Tea Party on June 24th between 2pm and 5pm. The new bells will be on show for all to see for one day only.

Why not come along to see them and for some fantastic cake!

The new bells

Matthew Higby (the bellhanger who is supervising the work) sent me some photos of our new bells which are now ready to be delivered.

The new treble bell

The new second bell

Lifting the lifting gear

With the old wooden beam gone, the belfry looks quite different!

All ringing has stopped until the job is complete.

The task yesterday was to rig up a pulley to take the heaviest items of lifting gear up the tower. These include a 8' steel girder (to replace the wooden one in the photo) and a heavy 1000kg chain block. We also have the use of 2 x 500kg blocks, a 30cwt pull lift and a handful of strops, all of which were tested and certified last week.

All the ropes have been identified and untied prior to the removal of the wheels and headstocks.

Preparation work

The last time there was any work on the bells was in 1911 when the bells were restored and augmented to 6. To lift and position the bells, a large beam was positioned between the tower walls, and removing it has been on the list of jobs to do for a while.

 We supported it securely from underneath with a steel frame and cut it into small sections and carried them down the stairs.

 

It was a good job done - especially since it was more rotten than we originally thought.

Welcome to the Strensham bells blog

Welcome to the new Strensham bell tower blog!

There are currently 6 bells in the tower, but we are about to install two more bells...

...these two, originally from Kettering, and supplied through the Keltek Trust.

Since Strensham Church is redundant, permission had to be obtained from the Churches Conservation Trust. We also obtained Grade I listed Building Consent from Wychavon District Council.