This article was A Sign. Of what? Well, around the same time you posted it, a friend and I were planning a trip to the UK. With much trepidation, because we're both getting so old and doddery we wonder if we're up to it. Last time we were in London we set out to find St Bartholomew's, and the chap who was outside St Paul's in some sort of official capacity hadn't heard of it. He asked if we meant the hospital, and we said, No, but pointing us in that direction would help. (In these days of decolonisation, there's a nice little irony in two colonials, one of Scots/Irish descent, the other of Chinese, seeking directions in the very heart of the Empire and... .) Anyway, we got lost and gave up.
So when I sent your article on to my friend she announced that this trip's holy grail would be St Bart's, and emailed them to ask about church tours. We won't be in London on a Thursday, though, so won't hear the bell-ringers practice.
Oh, I believe in Signs! Sorry to hear you didn't get to see St Barts last time round. It's a gorgeous church so well worth a visit - a lovely survival of medieval London. It's very close to the hospital. Pre-Reformation they were the same institution. Like a lot of medieval Augustinian foundations, it was a priory hospital. Let me know what you think!
I gave it a try (tricky!) and I used to enjoy writing out the change-ringing patterns (early interest in poetic form?) But -- as with my Dad's love of cycling, also pursued on Sunday mornings -- I never felt the desire to devote hours of my free time to it...
This article was A Sign. Of what? Well, around the same time you posted it, a friend and I were planning a trip to the UK. With much trepidation, because we're both getting so old and doddery we wonder if we're up to it. Last time we were in London we set out to find St Bartholomew's, and the chap who was outside St Paul's in some sort of official capacity hadn't heard of it. He asked if we meant the hospital, and we said, No, but pointing us in that direction would help. (In these days of decolonisation, there's a nice little irony in two colonials, one of Scots/Irish descent, the other of Chinese, seeking directions in the very heart of the Empire and... .) Anyway, we got lost and gave up.
So when I sent your article on to my friend she announced that this trip's holy grail would be St Bart's, and emailed them to ask about church tours. We won't be in London on a Thursday, though, so won't hear the bell-ringers practice.
Oh, I believe in Signs! Sorry to hear you didn't get to see St Barts last time round. It's a gorgeous church so well worth a visit - a lovely survival of medieval London. It's very close to the hospital. Pre-Reformation they were the same institution. Like a lot of medieval Augustinian foundations, it was a priory hospital. Let me know what you think!
As someone who grew up in ringing chambers (my Mum was a bell ringer) I enjoyed this swift history of their significance and eccentricity very much!
Ah, thank you! Were you never tempted to follow in your mum's footsteps?
I gave it a try (tricky!) and I used to enjoy writing out the change-ringing patterns (early interest in poetic form?) But -- as with my Dad's love of cycling, also pursued on Sunday mornings -- I never felt the desire to devote hours of my free time to it...
Well, that’s understandable. I’ve never been tempted, but I do find the sound highly evocative - and the history rather charming.