Spectacular pictures from church tower are a reward for tough climb
The climb to the top is somewhat strenuous, but the reward is a spectacular view. And when bell-ringer Rob Davis, of Telford, needed to go up the tower of All Saints' Church, in Wellington, he took his camera along to capture a series of photographic panoramas of the town.
His ascent earlier this month was on a day of blue skies and almost perfect visibility.
"As a bell-ringer I was engaged in the dirty, hot and unpleasant annual task of greasing the bells' mechanism," said Rob.
"During a work break I climbed up inside the 'dome' and out on to the roof, taking photos and a video.
"If you look at Google Earth and zoom in on the church roof dome, you can see a lighter-coloured square which faces out towards the railway station."
Rob added: "I opened this hatch and was perched in the opening when I took the photos."
It was not just the town that caught his photographic attention. He also took a photo of a colleague at work.
"One shows the acting tower captain Colin Jones squeezed under the tenor bell and reaching up to be able to apply the grease gun to the clapper. Having climbed two storeys up from the ringing chamber within the tower via a vertical ladder, then up two wooden ladders, you are in the belfry.
"To be able to get under the bells it's a case of slithering down the side of the metal frame and then doing a contortionist act to slide yourself feet first under each bell in turn, reach up and give the clapper's pivot pin a half dozen goes on the grease gun – all this on the hottest day of the year to date!
"Hot, dirty, uncomfortable – but the next morning while ringing, all the ringers said how much easier the bells were to ring, so the task was worth the effort."
Rob said that if anybody wants to try their hand at ringing, practice night is Mondays from 7.30pm to 9pm.
