Christmas Carols and Their Stories
Puzzle 70 · Carol Services, Choirs and Bells · Page 98 in print
Handbell Ringing
Margaret Nichols, later Margaret Shurcliff, came home to Boston from England in 1902 with a set of eight handbells presented to her by the Whitechapel foundry.
Jump to a word
The words
Aldbourne
Wiltshire village where early tuned handbells were made.
Beacon Hill
The Boston neighbourhood of the Christmas handbell carollers.
Belle Vue
The Manchester handbell competition of 1855–1926.
Castle Hill
Ipswich estate that hosted the first American handbell festival.
Clapper
The striker inside a handbell.
Crotal Bells
Bells with a pea inside, also cast by the Aldbourne founders.
Damping
A handbell technique whose use was debated at early guild festivals.
Diatonic Scale
The handbell scale credited to Robert Wells.
Huddersfield
Home of the British handbell ringers’ archive.
Leather Straps
The handles by which handbells are held.
Massachusetts
The state where American handbell ringing revived.
New England
The New England Guild of English Handbell Ringers, 1937.
Robert Wells
Aldbourne founder who cast hundreds of handbells.
Shurcliff
Margaret Shurcliff, who spread handbell ringing in America.
Tune Ringing
Playing melodies on handbells.
Sources
- Aldbourne Heritage Centre, ‘Aldbourne’s Bell Industry’aldbourneheritage.org.uk
- Handbell Musicians of America (formerly AGEHR), ‘Margaret Shurcliff’handbellmusicians.org
- University of Huddersfield news, ‘Handbell archive finds ideal home in Huddersfield’s Heritage Quay’ (June 2023)hud.ac.uk
- Handbell Musicians of America, Area 8, Laurie Austin, ‘The Past is Prologue: Early Days of AGEHR: the Castle Hill Era, 1954–1959’ (PDF)area8.handbellmusicians.org