Bells on the battlements

I wouldn’t ordinarily comment on a state visit by a foreign head of state to Britain, but this time I have A Connection. My friend Marcia was part of the band who rang the bells in the tower of Windsor Castle to as Queen Elizabeth II welcomed Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

It’s interesting to me that HM is probably investing more money in horseflesh than in the bells of the royal residence. Marcia told me that the bells were on a long draught (distance between the ringing chamber floor & the ceiling), & the longer the draught, the trickier the ringing, since there’s more room for the rope to swing about.

Also, the ringing chamber could do with some guides & better lighting. & it had bare boards & no carpet; they put down rubber mats & small carpet squares for the ringers.

(Why does this image come to me of Scrooge stopping Bob Cratchit from putting another lump of coal on the fire? “Poke it, man; poke it!”)

At any rate, the Brits do know how to put on a show. Here’s a clip from The Telegraph—fragmentary, but still, you get the drift:

Two comments on this whole thing. There were military bands & carriages & flags & limos & squadron after squadron of mounted troops. That must have cost someone a few bob. But the ringers got paid £4 each for supporting their country at an official royal residence on a state occasion. I think they typically get paid around £20 or so when they ring for weddings. & I’m not sure whether £4 even buys you a pint of bitter down the pub.

I really like the final frames of the video—focusing on the very attractive butts of both the horses & their riders.

Damn.