The Bells of Falmouth

Our meeting in November will feature a talk by Mr. Kenneth Peal, a retired engineer, who has been exploring bells in Falmouth for many years. He will tell us about some of Falmouth’s bells and the gems of history that they bring. They include church bells, school bells, fire bells and even a bell that was saved from a WHOI research ship before it went to the scrap yard. He will introduce us to how bells work, how they are made and the many ways they can be rung. He will describe some newly discovered bells in town, historic bells he found that were previously not recorded by people who keep track of such things, a couple of mysteries and even a bell controversy. The talk will end in a nod to the season with a Christmas bell story.

$20 Non-members/$10Members. Includes appetizers and wine. Limited capacity, please register online.

Mr. Peal was born and educated in Canada and emigrated with his young family to Falmouth in 1971 to take a job as an electrical engineer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. During many years at WHOI, his work changed from the early days of learning how to use room-sized computers at sea to designing and deploying underwater instruments that often have several computers inside a small pressure case. His travels to test and deploy these instruments took him on ships to most of the world’s oceans and to the high artic where he lived in ice camps for several weeks at a time.

Now retired, he volunteers around town and actively follows his interest in things historic and environmental. One of his hobbies is “fixing things that were never meant to be fixed” to fight against the throwaway society.

He lives with his wife, Michele, in a 160-year old house in West Falmouth which he happily opens to his children and grandchildren especially during the summer.

Register Here