|
PLURALITY BELLS
Bellringers enjoy one of the nicest activities in
the world. It provides us with healthgiving mental and physical
exercise, a huge network of friends and the opportunity to visit
lovely places; it's a fascinating, cheap and stimulating hobby while
giving a service to the church and the community. Bells are part
of the traditional fabric of Britain.
So it's no wonder that we are bats about it! It is such a privilege
to meet such friendly people, to be allowed to visit lovely churches
all over the country (and even some abroad) to ring their beautiful
bells, and to be conscious that we are ringing the bells on important
national or local occasions of joy, or grief, and week by week as
the out-reaching voice of the church in our community.
All three parish churches have bells in their towers. BARFORD has
a ring of 6 bells in the tower. SHERBOURNE has a ring of 6 bells
in the steeple. WASPERTON has 2 bells in the bell cote.
[Back to top]
BARFORD BELLS - RINGING
Barford Ringers in 2000, photo by Roger Braithwaite
Tower Captain is David Ellis
Vice-Captain is Thomas Ashton
Tower Secretary is Ann Worrall
Practice Night is Monday 7.30pm-9pm followed by tutorial (!) in
The Granville Arms.
Early Handling Practice Saturdays and Mondays 10am-12noon by arrangement
with the Tower Captain
Sunday Mornings for 8am Service one bell is chimed.
Sunday Morning for 9.30am Service ringing begins 9am
Annual Dinner by arrangement usually in January.
Annual Outing by arrangement during the summer.
To join, contact the Tower Captain or just come along.
[Back to top]
SHERBOURNE BELLS - RINGING
Tower Captain is Pam Copson. Click
here
to e-mail.
Practice Night is Friday 5.15pm-6.45pm
Sunday Mornings for 8am Service (3rd Sunday) one bell is chimed.
Sunday Morning for 11.00am Service ringing begins 10.25am
Annual Outing by arrangement during the summer.
To join, contact the Tower Captain or just come along.
[Back to top]
HISTORY OF TOWER AND BELLS
The tower dates from the 14th century and is all that remains of an earlier church. The present fourth, fifth and sixth bells have probably been here since the dates they were founded, and there is a tradition (recorded in 1881) that a fourth bell was stolen by Sherbourne in 1750. Prior to 1994 the three bells were difficult to handle having long ropes to the ground floor but they were occasionally rung full circle. They were chimed regularly for services.
[Back to top]
AUGMENTATION
In 1994, through the initiative and enthusiasm of the then Rector, Gordon Benfield, himself a ringer, the three bells were augmented to six. One extra bell, now the number 3, was acquired from the redundant church at Atherstone-on-Stour. Although undated, from the form it can be reckoned that it was cast in 1400 or possibly a little earlier, and was compatible with our existing bells. Two other new trebles were cast at John Taylor's Bell Foundry in Loughborough. A new bell frame was constructed to hold all six bells.
At the same time a new ringing gallery was erected which made the ringing easier by reducing the former long uncontrolled draught of the ropes. Traces of previous joist seatings and a bricked-in doorway indicate the existence of an earlier gallery.
[Back to top]
TRAINING
The bells are light and now very easy to handle and consequently Barford has proved a popular tower for training learners from our own parish, Sherbourne and neighbouring parishes. Pam Copson, who has published a series of books for novice ringers (Sherbourne Teaching-aids), has installed a ringing simulator (using a pensioned-off and now dedicated BBC microcomputer). This enables one person to learn to control one bell with the computer sounding perfectly for all the other bells. For this the clapper of the ringing bell is silenced and the sound is heard only within the ringing chamber.
Pam Copson
[Back to top]
|
