February was once again a fairly quiet month for our bellringers, so there is not much to report. However, on the morning of Saturday 8th February several of our ringers attended a District Practice at Benenden. There are 12 bells at Benenden, which presents a different sort of challenge to our ringers who are more used to ringing on Staplehurst’s ten bells; indeed for some of our younger ringers it was the first time they had ever rung on twelve, and they acquitted themselves quite well.
Congratulations are also due to Stafford Biddulph, who has returned to ringing after a lengthy break and rang his first quarter-peal for more than a decade for the Sunday evening service on 2nd February. The quarter-peal was also Richard Barclay’s 100th on Staplehurst bells.
In addition to our normal Tuesday practice evening and regular Sunday Services, we will also be ringing for the Ash Wednesday service on 5th March.