The Lilliputters Summer Tour 2019 – Day 2 скачать в хорошем качестве

The Lilliputters Summer Tour 2019 – Day 2

Day Two of our Summer Tour was masterfully organised by Lewis, and based just outside Lewes (also pronounced Lewis!). This also proved (unintentionally!) to be a “Mears” day – only one bell today was not cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry! A later start gave Aaron time to prepare us all a cooked breakfast, and a more relaxed itinerary than previous years was a welcome change, and certainly made the day feel less stressed! In honour of our absent friend (holidaying in America during Tour), Lewis and I also rocked the "Euanmerch" for the occasion :-) 0:11 – Uckfield 4:14 – Little Horsted 7:55 – A Lunch Break! 8:57 – Ringmer 14:29 – Lewes, Southover Our first tower of the day was the 1905 Mears and Stainbank octave at Uckfield. These are a rather pleasant eight, which handled nicely, were easy to ring well, and sounded quite good – possibly aided by the spire! David did a fine job of managing the ringing here, and some nice stuff was produced. Grandsire Triples, Forwards/Backwards (outside), and Little Bob (with a cheeky change into Kent!) are featured here. The pre-lunch tower was the ground floor six at Little Horsted, a lovely church, and a rope guide designed for eight bells! Mears bells were to feature prominently today; apart from the medieval fourth, these were all cast by George Mears in 1863. They were surprisingly tuneful for their vintage however, and were quite enjoyable. Spliced London and Cambridge, Cambridge Minor (outside) and Aaron’s Special Mixed Doubles are included here. A Lunch Break! We headed over to Ringmer, where a pub or a picnic was the choice. Those who stayed outside enjoyed games of Zip-Zap-Boing, Bus Stop, “Human Bellframe” and “Human Handbells”. The antics really started when the pub-goers returned however, with some “extreme chase” coming out to play! Moving swiftly on, our post-lunch tower was another Mears & Stainbank octave, at Ringmer parish church. Cast in 1884, and overhauled in 1969, these bells sound very pleasant indeed, but an extremely low draft quickly shows up any quirky handling faults! The 5th bell developed a small crack in 2015, and was weld-repaired – this is the shiny looking bell visible in the photos! Inside, the bells suffer from a wishy-washy "bathroom effect" commonly associated with low drafts, as sallies disappear through the ceiling blocking the volume! Double Norwich (wonderful method!) and Superlative Major are captured inside, with some Grandsire Triples (and Lysbeth’s high-jumps!) outside. After an evening meal in Lewes, we were kindly allowed to take over the practice night at Southover – thanks Lysbeth for making these arrangements! These are an old-fashioned but nonetheless pleasant lightish ten, which were very ringable – some of our best ringing from the entire week was produced here. The back eigt were cast by Thomas Mears in 1839, and the bells augmented to ten in 1905. Personally, I found the trebles a bit shrill, and preferred the back 8; they do work as a ten however. Expertly marshalled by Lysbeth, we worked our way through everything from call changes to Cambridge Royal. Featured here is some Stedman Caters (inside and outside, the former with Aaron in charge, gasp!), and some Yorkshire Major on the back eight. The evening concluded back at Parkwood Scout Hut, with line dancing and a very late night for some! Coming Up Soon: Day 3 – Aaron’s mystery day, taking us over the border into a different county for the second consecutive year! :-)