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THE BELLS OF SEPTEMBERSeptember will see the dedication of not one but two very special Whitechapel bells in the USA. The first of these, a full size replica of the Liberty Bell, was cast here at the Foundry some months ago within yards of where its predecessor was cast a quarter-millennium earlier and commemorates the landing on American soil of the original Liberty Bell 250 years ago in September 1752. The other commemorates much more recent and tragic events and will be dedicated at Trinity Church on Wall Street on 11th September 2002, the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on New York City. (The existing ring of eight bells at Trinity Church were cast here at Whitechapel in 1797.) This bell is 31" (785mm) in diameter and weighing approximately 650 pounds, bears the inscription:
AND IN RECOGNITION OF THE ENDURING LINKS BETWEEN THE CITY OF LONDON AND THE CITY OF NEW YORK FORGED IN ADVERSITY - 11 SEPTEMBER 2001 The casting of the bell on Friday 26th July 2002 turned out to be a larger media event than anticipated. First on the scene (and the last to leave) were the team from Sky TV who turned up at 8am in an outside broadcast van equipped with roof-mounted satellite dishes, followed not long afterwards by advance squads of security and police. The Sky people set up quickly and were soon filming away, their pictures apparently also destined to appear on breakfast news shows in the US. As the time of the cast drew nearer so the media presence increased and at the final count there were reporters present from London News, ITV News Tonight, Reuters, the Press Association, Associated Press, the Times, the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Observer, and quite possibly others we failed to make note of. The cast took place at 12.40pm and was witnessed by various dignitaries including US Ambassador William Farrish, the Rt. Hon Alderman Michael Oliver Lord Mayor of London, and Archbishop of Canterbury Rev. Dr. George Carey. Your man at the WBF website was also taking photographs of the proceedings and we present these on the following page. Clicking on the thumbnails will take you to a larger version of the picture; stopping your mouse pointer on one will provide a caption.
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