East Perth Cemeteries - St Bartholomew's Chapel Belfry

The Bell Tower

In 1993, the Club was in its infancy, funds were in short supply, and therefore we had to rely on self help.

The Beginnings

Credit for identifying the need for some intervention in the East Perth Cemeteries must go to Heather Leaney.  It was her initial involvement with a small group of historical guides and her identification of the facility as potential for a major project that got the Heirisson Club spending more and more time in the cemeteries.

I don’t remember how I got the job of rebuilding the bell tower or how the request came to Heirisson, but I do remember it being a “hands on” project that appealed to me.  I became the manager of the bell tower reconstruction as I displayed the most enthusiasm for the job.

The original bell-tower Ring out the old ...

Challenges

At the time I didn’t appreciate it but this project was constrained by the fact that it was on the heritage list and Ron Bodycoat was to be the custodian of all things relating to the aesthetics of the finished article.  I went along to the first meeting with Ron expecting the worst, only to find that he was very practical and offered lots of advice about how the finished item should look – it had to be identical to how it is now!

Challenges came in many different ways.  Procuring the timber to duplicate a construction going back 75 years turned out to be the first hurdle.  Timber sections used in the original construction were 6” x 6” uprights 6.5 metres in length, 4” x 3” struts of various lengths of dry, grade 1 jarrah and she-oak shingles for the roof had to be located.  

Dr Jim Gill was Commissioner for Railways, and through my association with Dr Jim on a few transport jobs I was able to get his permission to purloin a suitable 12” x 6” beam used for rail bridges which was in storage in Narrogin.  Delivery to a saw mill in Balcatta was arranged by Westrail; the section was split down the centre to provide the uprights.  I obtained the 4” x 3” struts from Colli Timbers south west saw mill.  The she-oak shingles were cut by Houses’ mill in Margaret River.

Skills

Access to suitable skills and construction techniques dating back 75 years were also a requirement which Ron insisted on.  Fortunately my brother John had these along with a suitable workshop and machinery at his home.  John was a qualified manual arts teacher who had also spent some time in Hanover Germany working in the joinery and carpentry industry.  It took no time at all to convince Ron Bodycoat that this combination of skills and facility would be more than capable of producing the duplicated item.  There was also some minor steelwork to be done which I was able to complete.  It has been estimated that some 220 man-hours (we were never politically correct) went into constructing the tower.

John and I drew out a full size drawing of the uprights on the shed floor and we set about laying the job out with regular input from Ron.  Working with John over many hours, along with the historical additions provided by Ron, was a rewarding experience; and gradually the item came together.  There was not much input from club members at this construction stage, except to report back to the club as we progressed, as the skills needed were quite specialised.

Assembly

Assembly was always going to be a challenge, but it is fair to say that I was confident that we could solve that problem when we came to it.  I had at my disposal the entire engineering division of the MTT, including a tyre delivery truck equipped with a HIAB crane which we used to lift the top section of the tower onto the main uprights which were positioned across the truck.   Club members were on hand to assist with this task and when this assembly was completed the tower was in one piece and we were able to position it on the truck ready for transport.  

Challenges didn’t end there, as I pulled out of John’s place and made my way onto the road I caught the catenary wire carrying power to the house on the other side of the street and plunged the place into total darkness.  Fortunately, I had a contact in the SEC and he was able to restore power with a minimum of fuss.  He did ask if the load was below 4.3 metres and I assured him it was. I stretched the truth and compressed the height!

Installation

Very early in the morning on the day set aside for installation of the completed tower, with the truck already loaded I headed off to the East Perth cemeteries.  In true Heirisson fashion, many club members donated their time to remove the old tower (with shovels, a chain saw, and the aid of the truck crane), and lent a helping hand with the task of manoeuvring the new tower into position.  I also had our three sons providing a helping hand on the day.  John’s next door neighbour, Bob the rigger, also came along to help with the task of slinging the structure as safety was high on our minds.

As I remember, Robert Holloway was responsible for ensuring the foundation for the structure was level and cut to the correct depth.  With the aid of the naked eye and the truck crane we were able to set the tower in its final resting place.  There were no theodolites or levels on site as he did not wish to put his professional reputation at risk.  

It was evident that Gary Redmond was not going to do much physical work when he turned up dressed all in white.

The new bell-tower ... Ring in the new! Our volunteers on the day.

The Power of Heirisson

This project demonstrates:

    •   Networking;  
    •   Utilising available resources;  
    •   Using available skills;  
    •   “Hands on” projects;  
    •   Challenges;  and most important of all,
    •   Fun.

Another example of a “hands on” project by the Heirisson Club is the construction of the Salvation Army band trailer.

PP Jim Fitzgerald

Updated: 2011-03-27