The first elevator takes us to a level below the ringing chamber. At this point we enter a part of the Cathedral not seen by the public most of the year. Making our way to the elevator that will take us to the ringing chamber we enter a large, unfinished room. On one side is a set of stairs (very much like one might find in a lighthouse), I’m not a fan of heights and I am thankful that although we COULD climb these 100 stairs to the ringing chamber and bell tower, there is an older, more rugged elevator that can deliver us there. I notice an interesting display of champagne bottles and a lovely carving over a doorway in this large dimly lit chamber. Mary explains it is a memorial to the head stone carver who passed away at a young age. At the end of each year the carvers open, share and toast the year’s carvings, and these were the bottles shared with the departed head carver, still covered in dust from the stone carving shop. There is a beautiful stone work piece above the bottles made in his honor and all of it a memorial, tucked away in the Cathedral, a hidden tribute. We board the caged elevator and ride up to the ringing chamber.
