Ann Jepson was one of the volunteers who recently visited Hull Minster for a behind the scenes tour and this is what they had to say.
On Tuesday 26 March, Rebecca Wilkinson organised a special get together for the Time Ball Ambassadors to visit Hull Minster.
We would have loved to visit the carillon in the Guildhall but as this was not to be, we were invited to see the one at the Minster instead. One of the ways Hull is a unique city is that it has two carillons. The one in the Guildhall is in the newly renovated tower with the time ball on the top. Once, in 2017, when we were City Of Culture, the two carillons played together, but as there is no internet link to use for coordination it has not been repeated.
Our tour was led by Mark Keith, the city Carillonneur, who plays the Carillon at both the Minster and Guildhall. We started with a short history of the magnificent building when I learnt things that will help me with other volunteering opportunities. Then it was up the tower. There are over 170 steps going up on to the roof of the minster, a steep, windy staircase, and it seemed a much easier climb the last time I did it, 14 years ago, back when the minster was known as Holy Trinity.
Rebecca and Mark had ordered perfect weather for our visit and the views from the roof were spectacular, with a very special view of the time ball – wish we had been there when the time ball dropped at 1pm.
The highlight of the visit for me was seeing the carillon keyboard being played by Mark and then, wonder of wonders, getting to play a few notes (definitely not a tune!) myself… and for anyone who knows me, yes, I have the photo to prove it! That was the one bit of the tower tour I’d not done before, I guess not many people have been so lucky.
Of course, if you go up all those stairs, you have to come down them, an even more stressful journey for me and I had aching thighs the next few days to remind me of the climb. When we finally arrived on the ground again, we enjoyed coffee and scrumptious cakes in the Minster’s new café, and a good old chinwag.
We are very privileged to be Ambassadors for the Time Ball Project and have had other wonderful experiences, including a visit to Greenwich to see the time ball there and to look around Cutty Sark. Last year we had a trip to the Maritime museum in Liverpool. All very educational but most of all, great fun!
