Bell Ringing on the Interesting 8 at Ullenhall, Warks

Ullenhall is a tiny village a few miles east of Redditch. It has a pretty little church with a very small tower. Think that this tower looks too small to contain a ring of bells? Think again...

0:11 Back 5 being rung up from outside
0:21 Ringing the front 4 to bring out the tuning of the 2 and (especially!) the 3
0:44 The Back 6 (filmed by Aaron on the ladder!) - OK back 5, funny treble....
1:23 All 8 ringing, I start outside (where they are surprisingly quiet!) and then work my way up to the ringing room
4:14 We managed a course of Stedman Triples here!!
6:15 Lowering, the miss and catch failed spectacularly.... :-)

In 1874, John Warner & Sons of London cast a 3cwt 8 for Ullenhall. Local legend has it they were cast to be chimed but a last-minute change of heart had them hung for ringing instead. There is no evidence supporting this but it is quite feasible! There is a small iron mangle tucked in behind the treble rope which is - or possibly was - used as an Ellacombe! The bells are hung in an ingenious 2-tier Maltese-cross shaped frame, odd bells over evens; so small is the tower, the louvres have to be bowed - and in some cases moved completely - to accommodate the swinging bells! The rope circle is anti-clockwise, and very tight; there is also a ladder which means the front two or three bells need to keep a tight rope!

Surprisingly for their weight and with a fair draught they don't fly, but they need pulling quite a bit, with plain bearings running on dry and an installation completely exposed to the weather! The stays and sliders are also metal, making for some rather alarming banging from upstairs!! I believe there was some work done on these in the 1970's, at which point someone took a chisel to some of the bells and attempted a retuning.... Hmmm....

These are worth a visit for the novelty and experience; words will not put into context just what a visit here is like!! Enjoy!!

Tenor 3-0-25 in Eflat

http://warksbells.co.uk/index.php/t-z...

(Special mention in particular must go to Aaron Moulder, who double-handed so I could do some filming outside and of the ringing room in general, and who climbed the ladder to look down on us and film us ringing the back 6. While the footage of the bells ringing isn't clear (too dark) on his footage, you can clearly see the amount of daylight and exposure when the bells swing!!)