The job of a church bellringer can be solitary, but several visitors made the long climb up the narrow bell tower stairs, Saturday to visit bellringer, Peter Goudy, during a fundraising open house at Central Presbyterian Church.
“I have been doing this for 15 or 20 years,” said Goudy with a welcoming grin. “The bells were forged in 1906 and brought here from Baltimore, Maryland. They were set on the grass in the order they were going to go up and horses were used to pull them up into the tower where they were placed on the bell frame.”
Each of the 10 bells in the Memorial Chimes is tuned to a specific musical note and engraved with the name of an early congregation member.
“One is engraved with the name of James Young who was the member of provincial parliament for this area,” said Goudy. “There is a plaque outside that can tell you more about him.”
The largest bell in the tower serves a dual purpose. It can be rung using a rope like a traditional church bell and it can also be played along with the other nine bells in the tower using numbered levers.
The levers are connected to 10 metal rods that stretch from the chime stand all the way up to a set of hammers located next to the bells. When a lever is pushed it triggers the hammer to strike the corresponding bell and produce the desired note.
With a fair bit of practice and equal amounts of strength and dexterity, Goudy and others have learned to play several hymns and other simple melodies.
Goudy demonstrated his skill by performing the 19th Century hymn Holy, Holy, Holy.
“Ingrid is really good,” said Goudy, referring to church historian and open house guide, Ingrid Talpak. “She is better than me.”
With a little coaxing, Talpak followed with Morning Has Broken, a hymn written in 1931 and made famous in the 1970s by Cat Stephens.
“The largest bell is 2,500 lbs and the smallest bell is 250 lbs and they are all above our heads so it can make you a little nervous,” said Talpak. “I think you will notice that sometimes when we are playing the whole area rattles but it’s perfectly safe. It has been here for over 100 years. We are really happy when people come up here but sometimes it freaks them out a bit when things start to rattle.”
To learn more about the history of Central Presbyterian Church and the restoration campaign visit: https://centralchurchcambridge.ca/restore-the-roof/
