On Saturday 10th May twenty-three of our ringers and friends enjoyed their annual outing, during which they rang at six churches around the Braintree area of Essex and enjoyed the usual pub lunch.
On Saturday 24th May it was our turn to play host when we welcomed visiting ringers from around the world who were at Maidstone for the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers’ annual meeting.
This meeting takes place in a different county each year (and sometimes abroad), so it really was a once in a lifetime event for us here in Kent.
During May we also rang for the Ascension Day High Mass.
On Saturday 14th June we will be ringing for a 2.00pm wedding before hot footing it over to Stansted where we will be entering a band in the Maidstone District ringing contest. Staplehurst has won this trophy for the last two years so we will be aiming for a hat trick of wins this year. Two weeks later our ringers are again likely to be out in force at the District Barbeque at Marden. Let’s hope the weather has improved by then!
Perhaps surprisingly, we have no further weddings during June, nor do we have any visiting bands of ringers scheduled to ring our bells. Apart from the wedding mentioned above, we will therefore just be ringing on our normal Tuesday practice evening and for the regular Sunday Services during June.