We hand engrave bells of all sizes, from a small 5” hand bell to a bell in situ at a church. Using our many years of expertise, characters are hand-carved to give a permanent mark, and create a historic record of bell names, donors, historical events and family history. We have refurbished bells from ships such as HMS Britannia and steam engines from the Ffestiniog Railway and were part of the team who created the 2012 Olympics Bell which was rung to indicate the start of the Olympic Games in London. This bell is still hanging in Queen Elizabeth Park in London and is the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world.
A church in Shropshire ceased ringing their bells many years ago and it was later found that the cathedral in Honolulu had built a bell tower at exactly the same time but had no bells. The two were brought together, the bells re-tuned and we engraved them with the names of the last eight members of the Hawaiin royal family.
Following the de-commissioning of HMS Britannia, the bell was removed for display in Trinity House, London, who had originally given the bell. After years of regular polishing, the engraving was virtually worn away so we were asked to re-engrave the entire details. We understand that our work was approved by the Duke of Edinburgh.
The Ffestiniog Railway is kept running by volunteers and those who lovingly restore old engines to their former glory as well as building new ones. We recently restored two bells for the engine JAMES SPOONER which is currently being built to help haul the long and heavy trains around the railway.
Image courtesy of ffestiniogwelshhighland
The largest sporting event in the UK for some years was the 2012 Olympic Games and a bell was cast to mark the occasion. Everything was bespoke and we were asked to produce templates and casting patterns for the entire lettering and decoration on the bell. It was a long and exhaustive process involving many different companies, resulting in the bell being the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world. It was not possible to make it the largest bell in the world as it’s size and weight would have made it impossible to situate in the Olympic Park. After all our work, it was rather disappointing that the bell was rung only once during the Opening Ceremony although it was included in musical acts later on. After the ceremony the bell was removed and now stands in Olympic Park in London. Its clapper has been removed as the sound of the bell ringing was deemed to be too noisy for local residents making it the largest ornamental bell anywhere!
