When the Bells of St. James were only seven years old, Josie Carr penned this poem about the chime. Thanks to Marion Davis of St. James, whose mother was a friend of Josie, the poem appeared in the Advent edition of the parish newsletter, "The Parishioner".

                                                                                         Josie N. Carr, November 10th, 1916

               This past winter has been a real learning experience on the subject of tower clocks. Last October Henry Fleischauer, our resident clock expert, handed over the keys (the winding handle?) to our 1909 E. Howard & Co. #3 Chimer and stepped back to the role of adviser. Henry had faithfully maintained the clock since 1988, including rebuilding it after the great weight crash of 1990 when a hook holding one of the quarter-hour pulleys broke, allowing the chain to snap and the weights to freefall to the bottom of the weight-shaft. Nobody was hurt, but the flailing chain managed to wreak havoc with some of the clock parts. With help from a local machine shop, Henry was able to put things to rights and the clock ticked serenely on through the next decade.
               But bearing in mind the unforgiving laws of gravity, and spurred on by Donn Lathrop's excellent online article on maintenance of tower clock gravity drive systems, "Weight Lines, Snatchblocks, and Flight Paths", I decided to have a critical look at the three weight trains driving our clock. The clock is mechanically in great shape, no problem there; but the hour bell wire rope was condemned and replaced, and the clock wire rope also replaced, due to a bad kink.
                The quarter-hours proved to be more of a problem, as they are driven by a proprietary chain running over a sprocket in the clock, utilizing a three part block & tackle for the weight. By measuring the chain under load from end to end in 10 link segments, it was determined that about half the chain is worn beyond serviceable limits and would have to be replaced. While my initial worry was that the wear in the rivets and rivet holes weakened the chain, it became increasingly evident that the way that the chain fitted the driven sprocket on the clock was of more immediate concern. Because of elongation due to wear, the worn-out section of the original chain is being caught by only the tips of the sprocket teeth, barely, and never does not settle properly into the valleys between the teeth. Yikes!!!! The section of chain most worn runs through the clock when the weights are in the top third of the weight-shaft. Picture the sexton trudging up the stairs to wind the clock every day or two instead of once a week. Over half the chain seldom went through the clock. After much debate  and research, the decision was made to to have 2,100 new links laser-cut and 1,400 links of new chain hand riveted. At this writing, the links and rivet stock have been delivered and 117 feet of shiny new chain is being assembled, one foot at a time, taking about an hour a foot.
                Going on the theory that less weight hanging on the ropes/chain would result in less wear on the clock (and clock winder), the three weights (hour-bell, clock & quarter-hour) have been progressively lightened. Starting with a total weight of 2,118 lbs., 855 lbs. have been removed, leaving a total of 1,263 lbs. powering the clock today!! Obviously the clock has been severely overpowered for most of its life. Over 450 lbs. alone have been removed from the quarter-hour weight, yet the clock is running well and the Westminster quarters ring out dependably and clear. It would be interesting to know just how much of the excess weight was being used merely to overcome the excessive friction being developed.

                Last summer the chime was tuned up. Return arms at the clappers were equipped with turnbuckles for fine adjustment, return springs progressively lightened to even the feel at the chimestand, turnbuckles added below the leather straps at the clockroom level and an experimental bottom stop added below the pump-handles. The result of all of this was to lighten the action dramatically and to allow the length of the transmission between pump-handle and clapper to be set very accurately. Here are a few pictures of the changes. One very desireable side effect is that most of the clatter of the chimestand and transmission has been silenced.

temporary experimental bottomstop

  return arm turnbuckle and stop padding
 

  turnbuckles for fine-tuning chimestand action

        This summer the Stratford Shakespearean Festival Theatre is mounting a production of  Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". It should be a great show, being about bells and all! Recently I was contacted by the assistant director, Catherine McNally about the possibilty of bringing the Hunchback himself, Nickolas Van Burek , up to the bell tower for a visit. A few days later, Catherine, director Dennis Garnhum and Nick came up, to be introduced to "Big Joe", explore the belfry and to play a few tunes on the chime. It was a real thrill to meet Quasimodo and see him in his natural surroundings! The play runs from May 15 to November 2 at the Avon Theatre in Stratford; check out the Festival Theatre website for more information.
 

               Peter Allen, chimer at St. John's Anglican Church in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, has taken on the formidable  task of building an new chimestand from scratch to replace the one lost in the the fire that destroyed the historic old church several years ago. The 10 bell Meneely & Co. chime was salvaged and shipped to Meeks, Watson & Co. in Georgetown, Ohio for refurbishment and recasting. I am sure that any contributions towards rebuilding the chime and church would be gratefully appreciated. See the "Links" section of the Bells of St. James homepage for several news articles about this project.

Recently the Reverend Elaine Clark, our popular assistant Curate, was appointed Rector of a two-point Parish in Glanworth and Lambeth, Ontario. On her last day at St. James' she came with a friend to tour the tower and play the chime during the Thursday noon concert. Best wishes for the future, Elaine!

             Tower repairsare scheduled for the coming summer. The masonry inside the belfry is to be repointed this summer and the brickwork of the parpets and four finials will be covered with new protective copper cladding in order to arrest an ongoing spalling brick problem. The tower clock will be shut down during this time, but hopefully the Wednesday evening concerts will still be ringing out.
     Check back here for updates as the summer draws near.

              June 3/03 - At this point it looks as if the Wednesday Evening Chimes Concerts will not be affected and will ring out at 7:00 pm, although there will be scaffolding in place by late summer. The tower clock will also continue to run, but the Westminster Quarters may be shut off at times.

              August 11/03 - The brickwork in the belfry has now been repointed and defective bricks replaced. No scaffolding up yet, and the Wednesday Concerts are running as scheduled.

              August 21/03 - The scaffolding has arrived! We now have an outside switchback staircase climbing up the south side of the tower, connecting to hanging scaffolding that encircles the tower just below the parpet level. The work is expected to take two months. To preserve the workers' sanity, the tower clock has been stopped and dust-proofed. The Wednesday Concerts are running as planned. There has been a steady stream of visitors to the tower during the concerts; as many as 10 to 15 some nights. For most, this is the first time they have been in a bell tower. All are invited to try playing a tune, and perhaps a third of them do. It's a great way to promote chiming!
 

               Naming bells has been a long standing tradition for centuries; somehow a bell seems to have more personality when it has been named. Quasimodo had his "Marie", the British Houses of Parliament have "Big Ben". In Stratford "Michael", a 2,100 lb. bell sounding a tenor "E" note, rings daily from the steeple of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, often competing with the noon-hour clock strike at St. James'. And the name of the tenor bell striking the hour? "Big Joe"!
               "Big Joe" is named after Joseph Johns, pictured to the right in 1894, who was a long time member of the congregation of St. James'. He was born in Black Torrington, Devonshire, England in 1830 and emigrated to Upper Canada (later to become Ontario) in 1845, settling in Stratford. He was mentioned as a new member of the Victoria Fire Co. in 1859, served as the tax collector in Stratford and reputedly was one of the wealthiest men in town. When funds were being raised to purchase the chime of bells, he offered to donate the tenor bell, at a cost of a little over $900., a substantial sum in 1909. "Big Joe" weighs 2,100 lbs., sounds the note "E" below middle C, is the only bell in the chime fully mounted and capable of being swung, and has no fewer than four hammers and clappers! The inscription on the bell reads:

                  Alas, Joseph Johns lived to enjoy the booming note of his bell for less than a year. He died July 7th, 1910, and was buried in Avondale Cemetery. His wife, Ann, survived him by a decade and a half, passing on at the age of 92, in 1925 .