Perth City and the Swan Bells

Today we took the train into Perth and visited Swan Bells in Barrack Square

The tower is designed in the form of a swan, head stretched up,
the black swan being the symbol of WA.

We had a demonstration about bell ringing then Mary and I each took a turn at ringing a bell

Twelve of the bells are from St Martin in the Fields Church, London. The intention had been to melt down and recast the old bells adding some new ones, but then it was agreed to send the twelve bells to the people of Western Australia the University of WA and the City of Perth to commemorate the Bicentenary of Australia in 1988. Australia supplied the tin and copper to cast a complete set of new bells for St. Martin in the Fields. These twelve bells of St. Martins were cast between 1725 and 1770. An additional five especially cast bells were also presented, including one from the City of London, with help given by the City of Westminster and three bells bestowed by a consortium of British and Australian mining companies. To complete the ring of eighteen bells a new bell was commissioned by the government of Western Australia to complete WA’s Millennium Project, the Swan Bells.

The belfry is doubled glazed to allow visitors to see the bells being rung without being deafened

There are also several observation platforms with views all around Perth city and the Swan River.

After our visit to the bell tower we ate our lunch and then took the ferry to the other side of the swan river for a walk along the shore the temperature was about 30c.

Here we had excellent views of the city across the river.