The Bell Tower

I returned home today, but called in on friends P and B in Lancaster en route. P gave me a fascinating tour of the city in the afternoon, and then the three of us had an excellent Italian meal at their favourite restaurant in the evening. I returned home late.

The main image is of Lancaster’s Roman Catholic cathedral - I have now completed my 2024 tour of the North West’s cathedrals. It’s a beautiful building. P is a bell ringer, so we were up the tower at 6pm where ten bell ringers rang the bells for over half an hour. Fascinating to watch and listen to, with the ringers having to stay very alert - it’s a real mental and physical work out. Here they are ringing 300 year old grandsire triples, the pattern is shown in an extra. I don’t understand it either !

The tour started at Lancaster Castle (extra), which until recent times has been a high security prison - you wouldn’t want to end up there. Following its closure ownership has reverted to the Duchy of Lancaster - which means the Crown, as the monarch is also the Duke of Lancaster. The courtyard is now open to the public and there is a café. The rest is being refurbished, with the Duchy no doubt puzzling about what to do with a huge - and hugely impressive - castle.

There is a lot to see in Lancaster. The last extra is an unassuming building with a gory past. Here Dr Ruxton murdered his wife, and having been caught in the act, the maid. He cut their bodies into small parts, took the bloody mess up to near Moffat in Scotland, and buried it all. His fatal mistake ? He wrapped everything up in sheets of the local newspaper, only circulated in Lancaster and Morecambe. He was hanged in 1936.