All Along the Bell Tower

Hey, so remember a couple of weeks ago, when I said I hoped I could go see the bell in the Chemung County Courthouse up close? Well, thanks to the folks over at Buildings and Grounds, I got that chance this week:

Hello!

This is one big, old bell. I knew that it would be from hearing its history, but it was pretty interesting to get to see its age and craftsmanship up close. The bell is functional, I found out; it's hooked up and everything. It's just that it doesn't get rung. Instead, this is responsible for the chimes heard daily:

It's the technological age, I suppose.

Walking up the tower was pretty routine, just normal stairs through a few small rooms and hallways, until I got to the ones right before the bell:

Ha, kidding. Those are the "Vertigo" stairs. These are the actual ones:

Not too tricky a climb, as it turned out. Well-worth getting to see what was at the top:

And the view :)