Great Tom, Oxford, Bell Ringing

Ringing the Great Bell of Christ Church, Oxford. Great Tom - 124-2-0 (6.25 tonnes) cast 1680 by Christopher Hodson. Rung on the occasion of the visit of the Queen to Christ Church in May 2006

[@SantaRudolph-ef6lv]

Lincoln cathedral has a bell called great Tom that strikes the hour and it sounds exactly like this great Tom.

[@Wildlifesupernannyfan]

Imagine how hard work it is to ring a bell weighing the same as an elephant

[@Wildlifesupernannyfan]

Very impressive that they still rung it the traditional way despite the bell weighing the same as an elephant!!!

[@simonabond]

Yes, it doesn't take very long at all to get it striking and it tends to keep going even once the bell has stopped swinging

[@pal05pmajor3]

i'd love to have ago on a bell like that.

[@c-historia]

wow interesting!

[@simonabond]

Thanks, Sam. We were trying!

[@simonabond]

Right at the end is the other tower at Christ Church which contains the 12 change ringing bells.

[@JimTLonW6]

Very impressive, I guess it must be a job to get it going!

[@pal05pmajor3]

I see whats it like to ring a bell like that?

[@1BODGER95]

there is sort of. The rope is bobbing like when you ring a normal bell up or down, a bit of pressure on the bobbing handstroke wouldn't harm I suppose...
=]

[@timjfoot]

It's harder than it looks.
To ring that bell in particular, it seems as though the feel of the tension in the rope is difficult to judge.
Also, is there no sally?

[@darrowby1972]

@xiTzBaSiiCz - erm.... how quaint!

[@janewatson6257]

Is that a big bell in the UK

[@kiwibellringer9729]

Jane Watson yes you big bimbo

[@kyletheringer]

@Jesse Bohan yes it is

[@nord1486]

@Ringer Jessethe bigger bells in Britain are as follows;-
the Olympic bell,
Great Paul (St. Paul’s Cathedral, London),
Great George (Liverpool Cathedral),
Big Ben (Houses of Parliament, London),
Great Peter (York Minster)
Little John (Nottingham Council House),
Great George (Bristol University),
Great Abel (Manchester Town Hall),
Hosanna (Buckfast Abbey),
and Great John (Beverley Minster).
So there aren’t many bigger bells when you consider how many there are in the country.

[@nord1486]

@Ringer Jesse I said there aren’t many bigger bells when you consider how many there are in the country

[@nord1486]

@Ringer Jesse smh

[@BRadfrommalibu74]

What is the draft of the tower?

[@simonabond]

It's not difficult at all. You just have to pull. There is no sally as there is no handstroke. The garter hole is at the very top of the wheel and the bell cannot swing high enough for this to get round to the ground pulley.

[@1BODGER95]

I bet it's a bugger to get going!

[@pal05pmajor3]

cool i see, i bet it's interesting

[@rondamico7802]

Did the original great tom crack and then been recast to the one here?

[@YulianNoldor]

***** Tom got recast more than once

[@pal05pmajor3]

why whats wrong with the hand stroke

[@1BODGER95]

Does Tom have a counterweighted clapper?

[@WrongAndHome]

@pal05pmajor3 The bell's too heavy to get swinging up to handstroke and it has an arched headstock so it swings very slowly.

[@FrancescoBellringer]

Hosanna has been rung up before, I’m sure he’s heavier

[@kyletheringer]

Hosanna is heavier Hosanna weighs 7.5 tons

[@Wildlifesupernannyfan]

How many kg is great tom?

[@simonabond]

Roughly 6,320kg.

[@jondoes8222]

I do not see how that bell holds up. Those loud bongs sounds fragile. The clapper is probably big as a basket ball or larger

[@toastedbutter4316]

its clapper is quite big there are pictures of great tom

[@simonabond]

There is no handstroke.

[@simonabond]

You basically stand on the end of the rope and pull pretty hard, not a lot of technique involved.

[@GIACOMOCARILLON]

funny!!!!!

[@combineharvestersam]

GTFU