Belfry Gossip

Congratulations to Alan on ringing his 1000^th quarter peal. As well as being a most faithful member of our band, he is now the third person from St. Mary’s to have completed either 1000 peals or quarter peals. Alan has just safely returned from a trip to Peru and Bolivia but obviously didn’t miss any ringing at Rushden.

Our annual dinner held at Twywell at the end of August, was greatly enjoyed by the ringers and their friends. Most found the quantity of food quite overwhelming although one family did manage all three courses. The dinner was preceded by ringing the six bells of the village church. Mobile phones have their uses, particularly on ringing outings. A quick call to the key holder reminded them that we were waiting to be let into the church.

"It was so peaceful walking up the church path".
"It has been strange not hearing the bells, I do hope they will soon be back in action".
"I have missed the bells on Sunday mornings although I don’t come to church".

These are just three comments passed to our ringers by various people since the bells have been silenced. Yes, we too have greatly missed ringing them, but we do enjoy the cuppa in the Hall! We still continue to visit Irchester Church each Friday evening.

The plans for the proposed upstairs ringing room have been completed and have gone out to tender. That will take up to a month and then consideration can be given to the financial aspect of the project. The Fabric and Finance committees, together with the Church Council will all need to give their opinions on the proposed work and decide whether it can go ahead. It is most doubtful that the legacy of £10000 specifically for the ringing room will cover the cost and therefore thought will have to be given as to how the balance will be raised. Entrance to the new room will be via the present helical stone staircase. The vacated ground floor ringing room will undoubtedly be put to some purposeful use.

A most interesting e-mail was received recently from Canada regarding a tape recording of St. Mary’s bells we made many years ago. John and Chris Clarke, who were members of our ringing band before emigrating to Canada, still retain a copy of this tape. Some months ago while on a ringing weekend in Vancouver, they met up with some English and American ringers from Washington and Oregon. Sadly there are presently no bells on the West Coast of the United States. One of the ringers announced there was a great degree of interest in getting a peal of bells installed at the University of Washington and a local millionaire had offered to finance the purchase and installation of a peal of bells.

Whilst staying with John and Chris, this particular ringer listened to our tape and asked for a copy. She circulated it at the University of Washington as part of the education and selling of the proposal for the new bells. Having listened to the tape, many were so encouraged, they visited Victoria to see what ringing was all about – and now a second group of visitors are expected. Any millionaires in Rushden?

Our weekly national newspaper – the Ringing World, publishes all the peals and quarter peals rung throughout the country week by week. Some ringers manage three peals in a day – and a peal takes about three hours to ring. Now that is real cramming, or perhaps it’s nothing better to do! But there is the motto "Ars longa, vita brevis" – art is long but life is short. The art of campanology existed well before we were born and will continue long after our deaths.

Next month – the result of the Peterborough Guild 8 bell striking competition held at Aynho towards the end of September.