Chapter 76

David led Emma up the steep and narrow stone steps to the ringing chamber. She had never entered a ringing chamber before and, whilst visibly nervous, it was clear that Emma was taking everything in.

In stepping onto the wooden panelled floor she noticed the ringing mats underneath each of the tied and hanging bell ropes. The bell ropes formed a perfect circle with the tail ends tied up around the main body of the ropes, just below the fluffy sally. They were bright and colourful, in stark contrast to Emma at this moment. They consisted of concentric bands of white, blue and red. The colours were just the personal preference of the tower and were not significant.

To her left was the great tower clock, protected in its case. The case was made up of an outer box of wood, which rose from the floor to an average person’s shoulder height, and this was topped off with glass panels that allowed you to see the intricate workings of the mechanical dials, cogs and metallic arms within.

On the walls were the numerous peal boards. These large, wooden plaques reminded Emma of the grave stones below. They listed the name of a method with the last word of the method telling you how many bells the peal had been rung on. So major would mean eight bells, caters indicated nine bells and royal ten bells. The boards also detailed if the heaviest bell, the tenor, was involved and moving about, or if it continuously ‘donged’ at the back whilst the other bells changed their order. Below the method name were listed the participants in order from the treble to the tenor. A small ‘c’ by the name would mark the caller or captain who had been in control of the ringing.

Emma was staggered at the history of the place. She knew she was in a Cathedral but she did not expect there to be peal boards going back to the nineteenth century and David was letting her know that many peals had been rung before then.

There were countless shelves of ringing books and resources, some which would benefit from a dust, she thought, and some more recent pictures of the current ringers on outings, at meetings and for general gatherings consisting of meals and drinking. She was surprised that there were so many social pictures outside of the tower that involved drinking, but reflected that wherever you had a ringing tower, you probably had a very good pub.

Emma was surprised that no-one else was around. She was aware that the service was due to start in the next half an hour, she had noticed the organist preparing himself, and knew that the bells were rung before and after the service. David indicated to Emma to climb the vertical ladder that led to the bell chamber.

“Why?” said Emma.

“We just have to see the views on this lovely spring day,” David replied.

Actually interested by the prospect of how the bells would appear in the bell chamber and the far reaching views that must be possible from the top of the tower, Emma started to climb the steep wooden steps that led to the bells above. She could not shake the thought of Archie and the two women in the underground chamber from her mind, but perhaps the views would do her some good, and allow her to think of a way out of her current situation.

The large, red, metal bell frame appeared to her left. The bells had been completely renovated for the Millennium and were still going strong. The ten bells were arranged in a tightly squeezed fashion with the tenor directly ahead of her under the ladder leading to the tower roof and the two trebles, tiny by comparison to her immediate left. The bell chamber was dark compared to the brightness of the ringing room below and the shuttered louvers on each side of the tower were partially closed to limit the amount of noise heard from the outside. This soundproofing worked to good effect and meant that, as long as the ringers continued to ring at the allocated times, and to a reasonable standard, there would be few complaints.

Emma reached the trapdoor that opened to the tower roof and looked down towards David. David told her to push it upwards, close to the catch which she had just released. The trap door sprung open into the upright position so that Emma and David could jump up onto the tower roof. The sun seemed to shine directly towards Emma and David as they pushed themselves up to a standing position.

However Emma felt ambushed and that the sun was not shining on her. Surrounding her on the roof was a Spanish-looking lady in a smart trouser suit and dark hair. She seemed to be with an athletically built, middle-aged man in blue jeans and a shirt. Standing next to the Spanish lady was an older, slightly pot bellied, businessman who gave the manner of being the leader of the group, with a similarly mature lady adjacent to him with whitish hair. Lastly, next to the lady with whitish hair was a hulk of a man, who gave off a strong military demeanour and wore an overcoat and deer stalker hat. Despite the sun shining, it was still cool so the hat gave his short hair a helping hand to keep his head warm.

All eyes immediately turned their focus to Emma, making the chilly morning air the least of her concerns.