As reported in the July magazine the Kent Young Ringers used our bells to practise for the National Youth Ringing Contest in London. Their practice obviously paid off as they finished an impressive 3rd in their category in a contest which featured 36 teams in total. The future of ringing in Kent certainly looks promising.
We have just been informed that, contrary to previous expectations, it may be necessary to suspend bell ringing for the duration of the work on the tower turret and roof. If you haven’t heard the bells for the past few weeks, that is the reason why.
It is perhaps fortunate therefore that we have no weddings to ring for, nor are we expecting any visiting bands of ringers, during the next few months. If we are able to continue to ring it will be just for the normal Sunday service, Tuesday practice night and our learning hub on Wednesday 21st August from 7.30 – 9pm.
June was a busy month for our ringers. It started on Saturday 1st June when, together with ringers from Frittenden and Marden, we had our annual ringing outing. The venue this year was the Southend on Sea area of Essex where we rang at five churches ranging from Eastwood, right next to the runway of Southend airport, to Leigh on Sea with its panoramic views across the Thames Estuary. We also enjoyed an excellent lunch together. The photo below shows us relaxing after the last ringing of the day at Orsett, before facing the usual traffic problems at the Dartford Crossing on the way home.
The following Thursday, 6th June, was of course the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings and we were honoured to ring as part of the beacon-lighting ceremony at Surrenden Field.
Saturday 15th June saw the National 12-bell Competition take place at Chilcompton in Somerset. This prestigious event features some of the best bell ringers in the country and we are proud to say that our own Tower Captain Adam Brady was a member of one of the participating bands. We will let you know in next month’s issue how his band fared.
We have an update on the restoration of the turret and the tower roof. The main work on the roof is planned to take place from Monday 19th August to Friday 27th September, but isn’t expected to affect bell ringing. However as with any project of this kind things can suddenly change and the ringers stand ready to adjust their schedule as necessary. At the moment we only have two extra ringing sessions coming up. Firstly, on the afternoon of Saturday 29th June the Kent Young Ringers will be holding their final practice on our bells before heading up to London the following weekend for the National Youth Contest, the young ringers’ equivalent of the competition mentioned above. Then Wednesday 17th July sees our latest learning hub from 7.30 – 9pm. That aside we will be ringing for the regular Sunday Services, and for our normal Tuesday evening practice.
On 12th May we celebrated Bell Sunday, a day where the contribution of bells and bellringers to the life of the Church is recognised. Our ringers took an active part in the Morning Communion Service and it was particularly pleasing to hear Florence, one of our younger ringers, read the epistle. Roy Barclay led the prayers and, in place of the sermon, Adam Brady giving an interesting talk on bell ringing. The hymns were all bell-related and during Communion the choir sang Ding Dong Merrily on High. The service ended appropriately with a rendition of The Liberty Bell March by John Philip Souza, played expertly on the organ by Daniel Brady. Several others of our ringers also attended the service.
On the following Sunday, 19th May, we rang to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Friends of All Saints. Funding for the restoration and augmentation of our bells in the 1990s was the Friends’ first major project and it was therefore highly appropriate that we should ring to help them celebrate the occasion.
As to the future, as many of you will know work on the restoration of the turret and the tower roof is likely to start in June. We do not know at this stage how this will impact on the bells being able to be rung, but at the moment we have two sessions of additional ringing scheduled for the month. From 6.30 – 7pm on Wednesday 6th May our bells, along with others throughout the country, will ring out for peace to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Wednesday 19th June sees our latest learning hub from 7.30 – 9pm. Other than this we will only be ringing for the regular Sunday Services, and for our normal Tuesday evening practice.
On Easter Monday the Kent County Association of Change Ringers, to which Staplehurst is affiliated and of which our ringers are members, held their Annual General Meeting at Rainham. At this meeting our Tower Secretary Roy Barclay was presented with a certificate in recognition of his 50 years’ membership of the Association. Several more of our ringers will be marking that milestone in the next few years.
On Friday 26th April we welcomed the Scouts to the tower to learn a little about ringing, and see a demonstration of how it’s done. They seemed to enjoy it and, who knows, we might even gain some recruits! We are always happy to arrange group visits to the tower for members of village organisations. All you need to do is contact me at staplehurst_bells@roybarclay.plus.com
On May 12th we will be celebrating the annual Bell Sunday – a day where the contribution of bells and bellringers to the life of the Church is recognised. We hope that some of our ringers will be involved in the service, but details have yet to be decided. The following Sunday, 19th May, we will be ringing the bells at various times between 1.30 and 3pm as part of the Friends of All Saints’ 30th birthday celebrations. The Friends made a very generous donation towards the rehanging and augmentation of our bells as their first project, so we are keen to help them celebrate the occasion. Please note that this will mean that, exceptionally, the bells will be ringing both morning and afternoon on that day.
On Wednesday 22nd May we will be hosting the monthly Learning Hub between 7.30 and 9pm. Other than this and the Friends’ birthday celebrations we will be ringing for the usual Sunday Services and our normal Tuesday practice.
