Camden New Journal - by DAN CARRIER Published: 24 May 2007
John Thorp (right) and Matthew Power, church warden of St Anne's, inspecting the cracked bells at the Whitechapel bell foundry
Cracked bells set to chime again
THE peal of church chimes will ring out over the parish of St Anne’s, Highgate, in June after funds were secured last week to fix the 150-year-old bells.
The church had raised £40,00 to remove the bells and take them for urgent repair work to the Whitechapel foundry where they were originally cast back in 1853.
But once the bells were studied carefully, metal workers found deep cracks – adding another £10,00 to the final bill.
However, cash donated from betting company Littlewoods meant the work could be finished.
Bell ringer John Thorp said: “We were unlucky that as many as six of the peal of eight bells were found to be cracked.
“But we have been lucky on two counts – first that there is nowadays a specialist firm that can weld bells successfully, and second that the Foundation for Sport and the Arts is assisting the financing of this extra work.”
Now the bells will be fixed and hoisted back into place in June.