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Oh, How Sad
 The ringing room at Melsonby is rather a sad place. There is one of those large cheques showing that some years ago there was a great fund-raising campaign but now it is virtually deserted except for the twice weekly clock winding visit.
An active ringing room is littered with copies of The Ringing World, has certificates on the walls commemorating special peals, has diagrams illustrating methods for learner ringers almost anywhere.
But maybe Melsonby's could be brought back to life.
The lozenge shaped panels near the top of the walls on our picture carry various biblical quotations and look to date from about C18 or early C19. |
The Problem
 Perhaps we should start by emphasising that our picture shows the solution rather than the problem.
After ringing for a wedding recently, the visiting band informed the church that they were not happy ringing the four bells at Melsonby as they were proving difficult to control properly. They suggested that they should be checked for safety which Stephen Harwood, parish treasurer set in motion almost immediately.
He arranged for David Town from Northallerton to come and inspect them and advise on what eork needed doing.
This is David Town holding a stay. The stays are actually OK apart from one which has a natural crack but nevertheless appears to be quite sound. |
The Clappers
 One problem was the clappers which have leather 'buffers' at the top where they are fixed into the bowl. These help the clappers to swing straight. The leather on the Melsonby ones was worn and the clappers were slack making it difficult to achieve nice firm, steady striking.
David had taken the clappers away during a previous visit and had replaced all the leathers. 150 year old technology, he said, but right for this job.
Here Jim Sheldrake is replacing the clapper, into the No. 2 bell, I think. |
Nut Tightening
 | David Town also said that all nuts and bolts should be slackened off, greased and then tightened up again so that everything was as tight as possible. This would make the bells easier to ring again.
In this picture Gerry Parsons is tightening the bolts in the top of the bell.
The wheels have a shroud fitted to each side of the edge of the rim which makes a groove to guide the rope. The nails holding the shrouds in place were also rusting away in places and so all the nails were replaced with screws. You can see the shiny screw heads on the shroud just above Gerry's head. |
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Ringing Up
 When bells are inactive they are left hanging downwards which is the safe position for them.
If there is a clock which strikes it has a hammer that hits the side of the bowl and then moves clear of the bell.
To chime the bell it is swung gently from side to side so that the clapper swings and hits the inside of the bowl.
However to ring the bell in peal the optimum control over the striking of the clapper is achieved by turning the bell upside down and making it rotate through 360 degrees with every stroke.
To do this ringers have to begin by ringing the bells up i.e. getting them from hanging downwards to, effectively balancing the bell on its head.
Here the bell is just starting to be rung up. It wasn't very noisy at this stage -
mainly becuse there was no clapper in this one. |
Going Up
 The bell is swung backwards and forwards going a little further around the circle each stroke until - |
Bell Up
 it's in the upright position safely, but delicately balanced and ready to ring.
If an unwary person were to touch the bells in this position they would topple over and, as they weigh a considerable amount, that would be highly dangerous. It would also be very noisy.
For this reason the bells are normally left down when not being rung and if they are left up e.g. if there is a short time between services at which ringing will take place, prominent notices are put in place warning people that the Bells Are Up. |
Kill That Woodworm
 | David also recommended that affected areas be treated for woodworm. He did point out that the oak frame would not be badly attacked as woodworm do not like solid hardwood oak. They do, however, like to nibble at the soft edge bits or places where the wood has not been seasoned properly.
It could well be that the woodworm had hatched and long gone but it wasn't worth taking a chance so here is Gerry applying the treatment. |
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For the Future?
 | Stephen Harwood came to see how the work that he had arranged was progressing and announced himself well satisfied.
He consulted David Town about the possibility of mounting an Open Day in the spring when some visting ringers could come and demonstrate 'the exercise' of ringing to anyone locally who may be interested to learn.
David Town and his colleagues were very encouraging and emphasised how easy and enjoyable many youngsters find it. The older ones find it a lot more difficult but not impossible. |
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Oh, How Happy
 | To be sure that all this work had had the desired effect it was necessary to ring the bells properly. A band of four ringers rang some rounds, and call changes and you can see two of them here - and yes it is who you think it is looking not exactly totally happy as she hadn't rung for about eighteen months. But, as the others said, it's a bit like riding a bicycle; once you've learned you never forget entirely.
Having an unexpected extra ringer made it possible for David to go and inspect the bells while they were ringing to observe his improvement in action (or holding fast as appropriate)
Watch the web-site - this page and the Benefice News - for more pictures and information on the Melsonby bells, especially the Open Day which will probably be in April. There will, of course, also be plenty of coverage in "THE PARISH"
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