The Bells, The Bells

[Bosiboz]

Last Wednesday we celebrated the centenary year of Smalley Church bells which were gifted by the Rev Charles Kerry in 1912. This chime of 5 bells is reputed to be the heaviest in England with the largest bell weighing 2 tons and a new bell tower was constructed to accommodate them. The bells were cast by John Taylor & Sons Looughborough who are still in business. They were delivered by rail to Derby and then transported to Smalley by traction engine & trailer and stayed overnight at the Rose & Crown before final delivery.

We re-enacted this event with the Foster and trailer including obligatory visit to the Rose & Crown. Unfortunately the bells were only papier mache replicas.The Marshall roller was also in attendance.

These are the original bells on the trailer (sadly no picture of the engine) and awating installation in the bell tower.