Surrey Strikers & Friends Outing to London

Saturday 12th October was the day of the Surrey Strikers & Friends Outing to London, complete with ringers from the Middlesex, Guildford and Bucks & Berks Associations.


We began in Islington, at the ring of 8 at Upper Street. For our first tower, these were quite biggish bells. Coming in at 16cwt on the scales, this certainly provided a contrast to our previous outing which started with a 30cwt ring of 10! The bells at Upper Street are old to say the least: bells 1-6 are 1774 Pack & Chapman; bell 7 is 1799 Thomas I Mears and the tenor is a Thomas Mears and Son cast of 1808. As is fairly rare for rings of 8 or more, this octave is tuned to the key of E. In this video, we see the ropes ringing along to ringing down on all 8 bells.

We then partook in a little jaunt down to St James in the nearby Prebend Street - the second ring of Islington. This ring of 6 provides an excellent juxtaposition to the first tower: with a 5cwt tenor in C#, this is one of the lightest rings of bells in London! (Even lighter than Addington). Not only that, these bells are much newer, being a 1989 Whitechapel set. To our surprise, the bells were actually Half-muffled, as can be heard in the video. According to Ringer Luke, they actually sound better than when fully open! The featured ring is a 120 of Plain Bob Doubles.

Following on from this we went on the bus up the road to Holloway, our lunch venue - and also the location of our third tower. Similarly to Upper Street, the ring of bells here aren't known for their sonic properties! The tower at Holloway boasts a 1878 John Warner octave, again in the key of E! On top of that, they are also of a similar weight, being 17cwt. Mind you, these bells have lasted a long time, considering the 4 overhauls that have taken place to this day! The featured ring is the first 3 leads of a plain course of Grandsire Triples.

Our penultimate venue was Dalston, however no footage was taken here. Despite that, I already have a recording of the Dalston bells on this channel. Do dig for the video if you would truly wish to hear the Dalston bells!! *wink wink*.

Therefore, we proceed to our final stop at South Hackney. Much like Upper Street and Holloway, South Hackney are by no means light. They come in at 19cwt, however this does make more sense considering they are tuned to Eb. Again, the octave here are also on the older side, being a Charles & George Mears ring of 1848. The 2 provides an anomaly though: as that is in fact a 1907 Mears & Stainbank bell! As can be heard in the video, big, loud and clunky are three best words to describe this ring. (In my opinion :p). In this video, a 112 of Plain Bob Triples is rung.

There we have it, a brilliant fun-packed day of ringing and fun with everyone. 3 new towers for me and I even ran the ringing at Holloway! Everyone enjoyed themselves after a long, tiring day and we were all excited for the next event!

All towers are affiliated to the North and East District (N&E) of the Middlesex County Association and London Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers (MCALDG).

No more ringing videos to upload, the next adventure will be on Friday 18th which so the Surrey Surprise Major practice. I will attempt to get some footage there. See you next time!