We won’t be hearing any bells on Christmas day in the east end of Grimsby. Only one church - a recent Dutch Reform church - they are massive to serve a big community. All the churches that would have bells in Grimsby are downtown and west. I asked which ones had bells and the AI retrieval told me that Barnabas Church has been converted into a brewery. That would be the case in Grimsby, UK. Too bad it isn’t in Grimsby, ON. Our converted brewery is further east located in what was the Mapleview school building.
I don’t remember bells from childhood. I wonder when bells would have rung out on Christmas Day. My question takes me to a UK site to find an answer. It says that in some churches in the UK, it is traditional that the largest bell in the church to be rung four times in the hour before midnight and then at midnight all the bells are rung in celebration. This same site says that in Victorian times, it was very fashionable to go carol singing with small handbells to play the tune of the carol. Sometimes there would only be the bells and no singing. Doesn’t that seem so interesting compared to our current systems of singing and instrument playing.
Barnabas Church has popped up again. Not the same one as in Grimsby, UK. It will ring on Christmas Day from 9:40 leading up to the start of the service at 10:00. This is the only time allowed under national guidelines. That St. Barnabas is in Bromborough near Liverpool.
We have a bell or two in Grimsby of historical note. There is one located at the Grimsby Museum and is called the Town Bell - it originates from 1883 and was restored in 1966. It rings in the New Year - to my surprise. The second is in the Grimsby Beach Chautauqua community. It was too large and heavy (it weighed 1577 pounds) for the top of the temple tent so had to be positioned in what became Bell Park on a wooden platform. The story continues:
“This area of Grimsby Park had a bog hole causing the ground to be very damp. To eliminate the wet ground, the spring was damned up and drained into a heart-shaped moat. The drained centre became a beautiful flower garden and grassy area and was accessed by two wooden bridges built over the moat. It was large enough to hold many of the classes offered each summer as part of the programme of activities. Water grew scarce in later years and was drained into the lake. When H.H. Wylie bought the Park in 1910 the moat was filled.”
This is NOT today’s view of the garden. It is very pleasant showing the little tool shed with its stained glass windows. Just like a church, I guess. I should get a bell for the top. When would one be ringing at garden bell? I expect on the Solstices.
