Foundry visit to see new sanctus bell casting
14th August saw many ringers and friends travel to Loughborough and tour the museum and foundry at John Taylor & Co to see the new sanctus bell being cast and for some of our newer members to learn more about the dark arts behind bellringing.
After touring the museum we moved to the main foundry floor to watch the bell metal being heated and prepared in the furnace.
The noise and heat in the foundry watching the workers prepare for pouring was a sight worth seeing. The picture shows the result just after the foundry man has stirred the metal mixture (tin and copper) with a willow branch which is a traditional part of the casting process.
Watching the molten metal being poured from the crucible into the bell mould.
Even from the distance we were from the pouring process the heat was intense.
We completed our vist with a grab on the ring of 12 in the foundry tower. The most pealed bells in the world.