When I was asked to ring at Windsor Castle, I was amazed! The chance to ring in a castle? How could I resist? Plus it was on the anniversary of my Dad's death, so what better way to remember him, and honour him by doing something he loved doing - bell ringing. We drove down to Windsor on a rainy evening, so we couldn't see it at it's best, but the building is still impressive nonetheless and I still felt in awe when we pulled up outside. We waited to be let in by the guard after we were issued with ID badges, and I took the opportunity to be a tourist for a tiny bit. We were led through several quads and corridors and finally came to the ringing chamber. Because the ringing chamber was an after though, the bells weren't hung in a traditional square tower. These ones were hung in a round corner tower of the surround of the castle. The bells wouldn't be described as 'wonderful'. I believe I heard them described as 'lumpy', 'odd struck', 'tough to ring', 'anti clockwise', and 'out of tune'. I guess the romance of the fact that they were in the castle didn't make up the tone of the bells. Tonight however, they were rung for the Duke of Gloucestershire's birthday, as they do for every royal birthday, Christmas, Easter, Ascension day, and the Saints Day. After we rang the bells, we were taken all the way up to the bells. To get there we had to clime up at least 5 stair cases, and hoist ourselves up ropes to get right to the top but it was well worth it! We were right up in the roof at this point and the wind was whistling through the shingles. We also saw the clock chime, as it played St. David's song. I was really, really pleased to be able to get the chance to ring at Windsor Castle before moving back. Though the bells weren't quite as nice sounding as I'm used to, I still felt it was a privilege.
The Castle from the outside.
This is the type of tower we were ringing in.
St. George's Chapel
Inside the ringing chamber.
In the ringing chamber again.
These are the weights of the bells. The tennor (#8) is 26 hundred weight which is approximately 2,912 lbs.
One of the bells in the frame.
One of the bells from the top.
This is one of the sets of windows where in the 'olden days', you would simply have had a rope tied around your neck and would have been thrown out of the window!
The clock mechanism, we were told dates back to the 17 hundreds.
This is the 'junk' from the chapel. This is how it was described to me, I thought it was wonderful!
More of this so-called 'junk'
The cannon.
This is a peal board from 1748. I had to read it twice to notice that it took two men to ring the tenor (8th bell). And that was for the whole peal. 
Notice anything strange.....?
The group making noise!
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