Belfry Gossip
Our Easter ringing was completed as planned, including the early morning ringing on Easter Day. Prior to that we successfully attempted the usual half muffled quarter peal on Good Friday as the March of Witness was taking place through the town.
Several of our ringers joined others for an outing on Easter Monday to the Nottinghamshire area. This is a popular annual event and enjoyed by many ringers.
At the time of writing, work has been delayed, for various reasons, on the tower and spire. Measured chunks of stone have arrived ready for the commencement of work. This means the completion date will be put back to late Summer/early Autumn.
Everyone was saddened by the death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. She seemed to have always been around – in the news and on the television. Indeed for virtually everyone, at the grand age of 101, she had always been around. Some of her favourite events, like Cheltenham and Ascot race meetings, church services and Christmases at Sandringham etc. won’t appear the same without seeing her. May she rest in peace. With her death on Holy Saturday, the question arose, should the bells be half muffled on Easter Day? There are no rules regarding such circumstances, indeed most bands of ringers use their own judgements or consult with the incumbent. With the passing of such a person, half muffled ringing would undoubtedly take place – so when? There are few public figures that are able to command the very broad level of respect and affection that was evidently felt for the Queen Mother. The crowds lining the route of the funeral bore testimony to that fact. So when?
Following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, suggestions were made that the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, should publish advice on the various forms of commemorative ringing. A list of suggestions was compiled after inviting ringers for suitable ideas. These were to be considered as suggestions only and not intended to replace local customs. So what form did our ringing take?
Commemorative ringing is normally undertaken with the bells half muffled and so for the whole weekend prior to the funeral, including our Friday evening practice session, we followed that tradition.
For several days the tenor bell was tolled daily for ten minutes from 11 50a.m. to mid day. Altogether three half-muffled quarter peals were successfully attempted – Yorkshire Surprise Major on the Sunday evening, Stedman Triples before the funeral and Grandsire Triples following the committal service at Windsor Castle.
We also attempted something very different. At the conclusion of the Sunday ringing and the half muffled quarter peals, instead of just stopping all the bells at the same time, we set one bell at a time, starting from the front, with the treble bell (the lightest), thus gradually reducing the number of bells ringing until the tenor bell (the heaviest) was ringing alone.
At the time of compiling Gossip, our architect has not yet visited us to take all the necessary accurate measurements to draw up detailed plans for the proposed upstairs ringing room. And so, no news to report.
April
was the month of two further activities. The Wellingborough Branch held its annual quarter peal day when ringers throughout the area were given the opportunity to ring quarter peals in other churches and with other ringers. Alan, one of our ringers, is the Branch Ringing Master and had the unenviable task of organising the day’s ringing.The second activity was the annual Peterborough Diocesan Guild 6-bell striking competition held this year at Wadenhoe. Teams from all over the diocese competed with each other to see who could ring "the best".
As usual we entered a team. Results next month!
Plans are well in hand for our annual day’s outing in June – more news later.