Expecting the rest of July to be quiet was an under estimation! On Thursday 23rd we had sixteen in the tower which included five visitors. We had been contacted by a ringing friend to say that Susan and Andrew Hall from Old Brampton in Derbyshire were staying in the area and Great Gransden had been recommended to them. They duly turned up along together with three surprise visitors from nearby Potton.
Our usual repertoire was rung and we were able to include the Potton ringers by helping them with Plain Bob Doubles. The highlight of the evening was a 120 of Stedman, made possible by the presence of Sue and Andrew.
At the end of the practice I rang the 2nd and immediately felt that it was ‘wobbly’. I turned to the monitor to check all was ok and it seemed to be so. After the ringing Josh mentioned that he felt there was something wrong with it. On investigating we discovered that several wheel nuts were loose causing movement in the wheel to transmit down the rope.
We immediately locked down the bells and arranged some maintenance and on Monday 26th Josh, Em and I carried out some further inspection and corrective action by tightening up all the wheel nuts and checking that pulley blocks were secure etc. A treat for the young ringers was to take them into the former belfry above to see the bells from the old bell frame.
We tried out the bell afterwards and confirmed that we had remedied the problem, and duly noted it in the log book.
The practice on Thursday the 30th was special to Em. For the last few weeks she had been working on bell control and theory exercises to complete her level 2 certificate in the Learning the Ropes scheme, and we were pleased to present her certificate during the evening. Em goes back to university soon, so that’s another box ticked!
The final adventure was on Friday 31st July when we rang a quarter peal. Em had asked if she could ring one and I suggested ringing the tenor to doubles (https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/view.php?id=1993555). With the help of two very experienced ringers, Christian Burrell (Holywell) and Tom Ridgman (Haslingfield) we had a very nice piece of ringing. Tower Captain, Sheila, rang the 2nd, and Em was also supported by 13 year old Josh, who rang the treble. A great achievement for Em and a super team of ringers for the occasion!
Front row: Josh, Sheila, Tom
Tied Bell Practices are having a holiday until the middle of September to give the organiser a break, but teaching continues with Linda and Gill receiving weekly lessons in bell handling. The annual tower clean-up has started so the tower will be in fine fettle when the new season begins in September, and practice nights continue through the summer. I’m sure there will be more news before long.
Great Gransden Bell Ringers 