QUEBEC - HOLY TRINITY
In March 2008, Whitechapel bellhangers Peter Scott and Neil Thomas (who took all the photographs in this report) travelled to Canada to rehang the bells at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Quebec City. This ring of eight was cast here at Whitechapel in 1830, and are the oldest change-ringing peal in Canada.
The rehanging had become necessary due to the deterioration over time of the original bellframe and ringing fittings. Also, the bells needed retuning, both because of chipping and due to having been cast at a time before the intricacies of harmonic tuning were fully understood. So the bells were returned to the foundry here in London to be retuned by our master tuner Nigel Taylor, equipped with new ringing fittings, and installed in a new bellframe constructed in the foundry frame shop. Once built and tested, this was all then disassembled, packed in a container, and shipped off to Quebec.
Neil and Peter were in Quebec for two weeks and assembled and fitted out the ring of eight with considerable assistance from local bellringer Douglas Kitson. Below is a view of the completed installation from above.
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