• Hastings Stays
    I was told by Alan Hughes in 2000 that Exeter 11th and Badby 4th are the only bells that have Whitechapel iron headstocks fitted with a Hastings stay.
    Certainly at Badby the bell and its headstock replaced a cracked Bagley bell, hung by Taylors in 1931. The Whitechapel headstock has a flat metal socket assembly bolted through the stay fixing holes above the centreline. It had to be reinforced after it initially bent under 'normal' use!
  • Public Appreciation of Quality
    I have observed that many ringers who do not listen to their ringing adequately now, were perfectly able to discern good and bad striking before they learned to ring! Must be my teaching.
  • PR Matters Day 2.0
    Two of my favourites and another I haven't gone to press on before!

    Seehttps://www.pdg.org.uk/latest-news/publicity for:

    Welcome new Incumbents
    This has produced an enquiry or two some time after the incumbent's arrival leading to at least one restoration of bells.

    and much more useful has been this:
    https://www.pdg.org.uk/forms/Letter_Nearby_house_for_sale.pdf

    The new item is aboutchoreographing our ringing - especially for weddings and civic occasions. So often we work in isolation. How many bother to find out whether there will be bagpiper, cadet band etc that we might drown out because we didn't know; and the latest 'trick' at our church - the bride and groom process to the back of the church and stand there to greet the congregation as they pass whilst going out first ready to throw the confetti. When do you want us to ring?
  • Rope spiders
    Our central (no table!) spider has a cord that stops it at about 6' 9" above the floor, thus missing our tallest ringer's head. Ropes are usually stiff enough for the shortest ringers to get the tail loop over a hook.
    Another tip, is to make sure the spider cord operating end comes down adjacent to the clock chime hammer pull-off wires or switch!