During his work in the Foundry, Andrew gained an indepth knowledge of not only the intricacies and challenges of making bells and tuning old and new bells, but also of the design of their fittings whether for full circle ringing or for carillons and other means of sounding. He studied the mathematics behind the hanging geometry used and how this defined the parameters of the fittings and the framework in which they hung. He was involved in the practical production side of most of these components.

In working with old bells, he developed a knowledge and appreciation of other founders’ work, the history of their foundries and a respect for their ideas and innovations.

As the structure of the company evolved during the last decade of the 20th Century, Andrew’s role moved away from direct involvement with bells and towards one that involved closer contact with the company’s customers by visiting the various churches that needed work doing on their bells. Having inspected the bell installatins, he prepared indepth reports on his findings, presenting the various different facets of these findings in clear and straight forward terms so that the people reading them could readily understand what the proposals Taylors were making involved.

trinity-church new york
albany city hall
st-pauls-cathedral

As a result of this work, Andrew has travelled extensively throughout the United Kingdom and has been privileged to visit many of the country’s cathedrals, churches and civic buildings as a result. To name but a few, these include; York Minster, Exeter Cathedral, St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, Manchester Town Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, Truro Cathedral and St Peter Mancroft, Norwich.

Overseas travel has been a regular part of Andrew’s work. He has had involvement with a number of carillons in the USA – Albany City Hall, NY, St Stephen’s Cohasset, MA, Duke University, NC, Bok Tower, Lake Walkes, FL – as well as one of the highlights of his career, securing the contract for the installation of the first ringing peal of 12 in the USA at Trinity Church, Wall Street, NY. In 2001, Andrew visited Australia, visiting many of the ringing installations there and making many new contacts and friends significantly Laith Reynolds in Perth and Ron Shepherd in Sydney with whom he undertook many projects. There were three further trips to Australia and New Zealand. Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in Australia and Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand were among some of the many places he visited on what always proved to be a hectic but rewarding schedule.

Australian ringing installations

Closer to home, Andrew visited continental Europe on a number of occasions, working with Gideon Bodden on the restoration of the carillon at Oudewater and visiting a number of carillons in Belgium and the Netherlands. He also worked with Kenneth Cauchi, the company’s representative on Malta where Taylors were privileged to cast a number of large and prestigious bells.