English makeover for Cathedral bells
Church bells rescued from the quake-crippled Christ Church Cathedral have been shipped to the English foundry where they were made, for specialist restoration.
All 13 Cathedral bells survived the tower collapse in the February 22, 2011, earthquake. Some of them suffered cracks and all of them need a makeover.
They've been transported free of charge by shipping company Maersk to John Taylor Bell Foundry in Loughborough, Leicestershire, where they were cast in 1978.
Foundry boss Simon Adams said the Anglican church had no option but to send them to England for expert repairs.
"The bells fell from the tower of the Cathedral in New Zealand and the entire contents of the belfry fell on top them,'' he told BBC News Leicester.
"We have to make 13 new sets of fittings for the bells - and undertake some specialist testing of the bells and further repairs.''
Much of the Cathedral's taonga have been removed and put into safe storage, including stained glass windows and the statue of the Risen Christ outside the west doors.
Work is currently underway on a $5.3 million temporary "cardboard cathedral'' on the edge of the city's red zone cordon in Latimer Square which will be used by the Anglican congregation while the Cathedral is rebuilt.
