York Minster bells to chime again next month after year’s silence
by Harriet Sherwood, Guardian:
New bellringing band to start work in September at cathedral where 30 campanologists were sacked last autumn.
The bells of York Minster, which have been silent for almost a year since the controversial dismissal of 30 campanologists, will chime again next month with a fresh team of ringers in place.
The new band, which includes some former volunteers, has been selected by the minster and a new head bellringer, Angela Mitchell, who was appointed in June.
More than 40 applications were received from bellringers in York and from the wider region, the cathedral said. Among the new recruits are several ringers under the age of 18, said to be “talented and experienced”.
The minster’s 12 bells, the heaviest of which weighs three tonnes, are regarded as some of the best in the country, and the former team was considered among the most expert campanologists.
But simmering tensions between the minster’s governing body, the Chapter of York, and the ringers came to a head last October when the band was summarily dismissed and locked out of the 15th-century cathedral’s bell tower.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
