See the latest developments from Taylor Bells
Dr Ray Ayres
Mr Ray Lester
Bellhanger Vacancy
The Rochester Carillon Bell
How We Did It During the Indian Mutiny
Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme
Demonstration Bell
Summoned by Bells
'Called Home'
Mats
Carter Ringing Machine
Taylor DVD
Limited Edition Merger Tankard
We regret to report the death of Dr Ray Ayres, Director of Taylors Eayre & Smith, on 4th June 2008 by tragic car accident.
There will be a private family service and interment at St Peter's Church, Gunby, followed by a Thanksgiving Service at St Peter & St Paul's Church, Burgh Le Marsh on Saturday 21 June at 11am. Flowers or donations for Gunby Church to Skegness & District Funeral Services, 81 Roman Bank, Skegness PE25 2SW Tel 01754 761758.
Mr Raymond Lester, former Financial Director and Company Secretary of Taylors Eayre & Smith Ltd. Ray Lester, who had been bravely struggling with cancer for the last six months, very sadly passed away on Sunday 20th April. Ray has been a great help, support and asset to this company over many years. His financial expertise and commitment to the Company helped to ensure its safe passage through some difficult periods. He was a great help to me during the challenging time of the merger of the two former companies a couple of years ago, and his help, experience and input as Director and Company Secretary will be a great loss to us all. He, like myself, believed in the John Taylor Foundry as a proud part of Loughborough's heritage, which is known throughout the world. He selflessly, for the last twenty years or more, gave of his time and professional expertise to safeguard its future prosperity. Our heartfelt condolences and best wishes of everyone at the foundry go to his wife, Lyn, and their sons at this very difficult time.
Ray Ayres
Director, Taylors Eayre & Smith.
We are very sorry to learn of the death of Raymond Lester, who was a Director of bellfounders Taylors Eayre & Smith and a senior partner with the Loughborough accountancy firm of Turner & Smith. Until recently, when he was overtaken by illness, Ray Lester represented Taylors at the regular Ringing World sponsorship meetings, which are held three times a year and rotate between Loughborough, Whitechapel and Andover. Although not a ringer, Ray was devoted to his duties at the foundry and also became a very good and wise friend to the Ringing World over an extended period. We shall miss him and send our condolences to his family and colleagues.
Robert Lewis
Editor, The Ringing World.
Taylors Eayre & Smith Ltd have a vacancy for a bellhanger. Some previous experience of working with bells would be helpful or similar mechanical experience.
For further details please contact:
Dr R M Ayres
Taylors Eayre & Smith Limited
Freehold Street
Loughborough
Leics
LE11 1AR
Tel: 01509 212241
Fax: 01509 263305
The Rochester Carillon is housed in a tower attached to the Plummer building of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Originally there were no plans for a tower or carillon. However, during a medical trip to the UK, Dr William J Mayo, founder of the Mayo Clinic, heard several carillons and was so fascinated that he had the plans changed to incorporate a tower and carillon.
In 1928 a 23 bell Gillett and Johnston Carillon was installed, with Percival Price, a distinguished Canadian Carillonneur, giving the first concert at the dedication on September 16th that year. In 1977 the Carillon was augmented with 33 Petit and Fritsen bells, to make a four and a half octave instrument. In 2007 the American Division of Het Molenpad Expertise (HME) were instructed to undertake a full refurbishment of the carillon. The work involved renovating the frame and transmission;
retuning and re-profiling the Petit and Fritsen bells to make them a better tonal match with the Gillett and Johnston bells; replacing the cracked 23# Gillett and Johnston bell.
Taylors Eayre and Smith Ltd were awarded the contract for replacing the cracked bell. The new bell was required to be an exact replica of the original, with the same Gillett and Johnston profile, the same patterns and the same lettering. The tuning also needed to be undertaken to the exacting standards necessary to produce a high quality carillon.
Fortunately at Taylors Eayre and Smith we have a wide range of Gillett and Johnston profiles that have been used on a number of occasions to augment existing Gillett and Johnston peals and to produce complete peals with a Gillett and Johnston profile. We also have the Gillett and Johnston tracery and lettering, thus ensuring the new bell was an exact match to its predecessor.
When tuning the bell an adjustment to the figures was needed to allow for the difference in temperature between our works in Loughborough and the Carillon tower in Minnesota. This was calculated successfully and the new bell exceeds the high tonal standards required. The bell, weighing 179 lbs (1-2-11 cwt) in A# with a 19” diameter was shipped from our works in March 2007 and now rings out regularly as part of the refurbished Rochester Carillon.
How We Did It During the Indian Mutiny
Five years after the Great Exhibition and just before the Crimea War, 1857 is a year when an awful lot of significance seems to have occurred, including the building of Brunel’s great iron ship the ‘Great Eastern’ designed to open up the Empire routes to Australia. It was also the year of the famous Indian Mutiny. Engineering achievements were the wonders of the age and at Waresley near Huntingdon in what is now Cambridgeshire, John Taylor & Co. “formerly of St Neots” as it says on one of the bells, designed a very interesting composite frame which was something of a first step towards the now generally accepted use of cast iron for framesides. The result gave great strength and resilience for much less intrusion of space than for a conventional wooden frame which was why it was used here.
The original job books for the 1857 period show letters to the great Victorian architect William Butterfield, who has enclosed a plan section of the Belfry, and the Taylor response was to suggest sets of either three or five bells, with the tenor weight approximately 6 ¼ cwts. Butterfield's response was that these bells were not big enough for the Church and specified a ring of three, with a 9 cwt tenor. This was quoted at a total cost of £270-12s, plus an additional £3
carriage to St Neots. Butterfield complained that the price was too high and asked the Company to revise the figures but they replied that this was not possible without making economies to the frame, pointing out the percentages were fixed at a very low figure. The prices were accepted and the resultant ring was forwarded and installed on site in mid June of 1857.
On Thursday 14 February 2008 a group of 15 people travelled to Loughborough from the St Neots area to view the bells and restored bell frame for St James’ Church, Waresley. One might ask “Why all the fuss about three mid Victorian bells coming back to the place they were cast?” Apart from the technical innovation, the other simple truth of the matter is that the bells were not cast at the present Loughborough foundry but at the original Pack Horse Lane works in Loughborough; the Foundry moved to the current Cherry Orchard works two years later because of the increased success and volume of business being turned out by the firm after John Taylor first moved to Loughborough to cast the bells at All Saints in 1840.
Restoration work on site has been undertaken by members of the Huntingdon Bells’ Restoration Group and has quite literally involved the removal of everything to facilitate the augmentation scheme, and it has been of great interest to receive the original frame castings back to show us how we did it then, as these are some of the earliest cast members to leave Loughborough and still remain in continued use. After 150 years of use, the old ring of three bells had been dismantled, the framesides and timbers been returned to their original home, and had been re-worked to produce a new four bell arrangement, the fourth bell being provided by the Keltek Trust.
The extension frameside has been fabricated from steel which has been cut to similar shapes to that of the original members and the resultant frame is a two tier arrangement, two-on-two, with the two tenor bells in the bottom tier hung between the large cross castings and the trebles in the top tier in a more conventional low side frame arrangement.
This, in our view, is a very good example of when sympathetic restoration and renovation works in conserving the best of the past for the benefit of the future.
The ‘new’ Waresley frame as restored in our ‘new’ Works at Loughborough with ‘new’ cut centre facsimile side frame to provide for the augmentation in February 2008.
Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme
In his March 2006 budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an extension to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to include church fittings such as organs, pews and bells. It has now been agreed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, who administer the Grant Scheme, that grants equivalent to the value of VAT paid would now be available for the repairs to bells, fittings (including bell ropes) and inspections that lead to repairs. Repairs to bell frames which are regarded as part of the church fabric are already eligible for zero rating.
The supply and installation of additional bells, fittings and framework is not eligible nor are maintenance contracts or inspections that do not lead to repairs in the above scheme. The rules concerning zero rating of approved alterations remain unchanged.
Details of the Scheme are available on the Department's website www.lpwscheme.org.uk.
It should be noted that VAT is still payable on all repair work and it is the responsibility of the Church treasurer to claim the Grant allowing recovery of the VAT. Where minor repairs are undertaken projects may be bunched until the minimum application value of £1,000 is reached.
The demonstration bell is available to be used as an aid in fund raising and also to demonstrate what a bell and fittings look like without people having to go up the tower. The bell itself weighs 2cwt and has all working fittings including a clapper, which demonstrates how loud a bell is when it is rung. It has an interchangeable Hastings and plain stay and slider. The bell has already been used to great effect at St Paul's Birmingham for the launch of their bell scheme.
“'It (the demo bell) was very effective in drawing attention to our Bells Appeal, particularly with the media and with potential sponsors.'” R W Pipe
It has proved to be of great interest to non-ringers at exhibitions it has been to, as it enabled them to see what happens when they see someone pull a bell rope.
Currently the bell is too tall to fit in a hire van and requires a lorry to transport it, however we will shortly be altering this. It is on wheels so can be pushed into position and then jacked up, using a regular car jack, onto blocks so it is safe and cannot be moved. The bell and frame weighs 12cwt so needs a ramp if there are steps to access the building it is to be put in.
The bell can be borrowed free of charge, you will need to provide your own transportation and insurance for the bell. If you are interested in borrowing our demo bell please fill in the relevant form on the online forms page.
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The demonstration bell
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Richard Grimmett with
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Summoned by Bells, Lincoln Cathedral
On Friday and Saturday the 4th and 5th of September we were invited to take part in the above event. Various bell-related paraphernalia was on display including the Willoughby Campanile, the Mobile chime and us. It was very pleasing to find that Taylors cast all the bells on display, except two.
The event was successful with many ringers and non-ringers coming to look at our demo bell, handbells and case and core display, the inscription of which caused a few smiles.
The winner of our Cathedrals quiz competition was Mr M Stracey from Lincoln with a very respectable 30 out of 40 correctly identified pictures.
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'Called Home' - An anthology of Taylor bells
Since the introduction of the vertical lathe for tuning, we have been responsible for the creation of nearly nine hundred complete peals of bells, ranging from light peals of five and six in country churches to peals of twelve in some of the greatest cathedrals and parish churches in the land and throughout the world.
The aim of this CD is to illustrate a few of those examples, although as you will appreciate, with such a large number of towers to choose from it is not possible to give a comprehensive picture. The towers we have chosen show a diversity of geography, weight, number and year in which the bells were cast.
The CD features bells and bellringers from across the country, the voice over before each track and the booklet explains a bit more about each tower, the bellringers invloved and the method (s) they are ringing.
The CD is now on sale at a price of £12.25 or £13.50 by post.
Bellfoundry tower
Brewood
Towcester
Buckland Brewer
St Stephen in Brannel
Abergavenny
York Minster
Harpole
Fire Ring
Oxford
Shrewsbury
Chewton Mendip
Castle Acre
Loughborough
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The traditional ‘Lamb and Flag’ logo, Taylors trademark, has been incorporated into these mats that have been crafted from pure new wool by one of the country’s leading carpet manufacturers. Pure wool has been proven to decrease the amount of wear on the tail end of a rope when it hits the floor, thus increasing the life span of your ropes. As well as serving a valuable purpose these cream and burgundy mats will enhance the look of any ringing chamber. |
| Our ringing mats are 610mm square (2’0”). A single mat costs £37.50 including VAT and postage and packing (within the UK). We are currently offering a discount of 10% for mats bought in sets of 5 or more. The discounted prices are: 5 mats £174.65 All orders
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The Carter Ringing machine passed into care of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers after the death of Mr Carter in 1927. It is now housed in the Museum at the John Taylor Bell Foundry in Loughborough. There are demonstrations on the machine a few times each year. Contact the Foundry Museum for details of when the next such demonstration will take place. The machine can be seen statically whenever the Museum is open. |
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As well as the main feature which is packed full of new information and interesting footage, there are also 7 chapters of bonus material at the end of the DVD. Find out about the processes involved in producing a tower bell and a handbell. Hear and see tower bells, handbells, carillons and chimes being played. Discover what other services the foundry can provide. The DVD is available for £18.00 |
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Limited Edition Merger Tankards These tankards mark the historic merger between John Taylor Bellfounders Ltd and Eayre and Smith Ltd, which occurred on July 1st 2005. - Read more On one side is the logo and name of John Taylor Bellfounders, on the other is the logo and name of Eayre and Smith Ltd. This is a one off run of tankards so get in early to guarantee yours! The tankards are available for £6.50. |
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