Day Three of the Lilliputters Tour 2016 – Wednesday 3rd August

Towers visited on Day Three were Leckford, King’s Somborne, Houghton, Mottisfont, Farley Chamberlayne and Sparsholt. The theme of the day was wooden towers – and, as a bonus, they were all ground floor rings! However, this was made up for in the evening when we joined the Alton and Petersfield District Practice at Winchester Cathedral – a fair climb more than compensating for the lack of steps earlier in the day!

Leckford: A very pleasant 5 from a range of founders and dates. Ringing here is Stedman Doubles, with rare footage of Aaron ringing inside! 😉

King’s Somborne: An old-fashioned country ring of 6 in a large tower, overhauled and tuned in 2001 by Matthew Higby and Co. Featured ringing here is Bob Doubles (outside) and the almost-obligatory Grandsire Minor (inside!)

A picnic lunch at King’s Somborne was the ideal opportunity for general lunacy, with gymnastics, and a children’s play park providing much entertainment. We also had a competition to design a working “human bellframe”….. Guess which side won! 😉

Houghton: A shiny new six installed by Higby and Co a few months prior to our visit, replacing a long-unringable three. Two old Taylor bells are complimented with four new Higby trebles, and the two old tenors are retained as chiming bells. Ringing here was Bob Minor twice (outside, and double-handed inside!) and Bourne Surprise Minor.

Mottisfont: Five different dates and founders set up the “duffer” tower of the day. The treble rope falls dangerously close to the font and the tenor is rung off the tower steps just behind the door, which almost caused an accident a couple of times! Bob Doubles (outside) and some very respectable Erin (inside) – and no, Thomas and Connor didn’t have their fight in the end 😦

Farley Chamberlayne: A novel three, for the laughs! Tuned as the front three of a four, with ropes falling in a straight line and on a set of steps, these provided much amusement. Various 3-bell ringing extracts are included here.

Sparsholt: A nice little six to finish the day on, all from the Whitechapel foundry over various dates. Ringing here includes call changes, Grandisre Doubles, and a new method devised for the tour, named Kaleeb.

Winchester Cathedral: Once again, we were made very welcome by the Alton and Petersfield District for their practice on the ring of fourteen bells at Winchester. Ringing is mostly rounds and call changes on 12/14 from the ringing room, and in the belfry.