THE OLD - Old Wirral.com

THE OLD CHURCHES OF WIRRAL
Bell-metal is an alloy of copper and tin,
and it is said that in olden days people
were so proud of their church bells that
they not only contributed money for their
casting, but also metal household utensils.
Stories of silver tankards and the like
being put in to give a " silvery tone,"
are, however, discredited, it being stated
that silver would mar the tone, not im-
prove it.
A good tone is, in fact, very difficult to
secure, and the tuning of the bells affords
many opportunities for the exercise of
skill. The modern method of tuning is
first to cast the bell more thickly than
required, so as to keep the note sharp,
and then plane off shavings from th^
interior by means of steam power until
the right pitch is obtained. If a bell tone
is too flat, it can be raised by paring off
the edge of the rim, but, as this impairs the
tone,
bell. In olden days bells were tuned with
it is considered better to recast the
a hammer, chisel, and file, and there were
men who went about the country tuning
bells, sometimes passing weeks in a belfry
chipping and modulating every bell till
all were right. For, if the ring is to be
quite satisfactory, each bell must not only
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