We had a super practice last night. Our usual repertoire was rung, being call changes, Plain Hunt and Plain Bob Doubles, but there were thirteen ringers in the tower including Catherina and new visitor, Ruth.

A couple of our local ringers are away and any chance of Grandsire 5 is away with them, but as both Catherina and Ruth can ring it we ended the practice with a 120 (calling PSBS), and it was very nicely rung. This was followed by a very good ring down in peal.

During some other ringing, Josh was assessed for his level 2 certificate in the Learning the Ropes scheme which he passed. Now the hard work begins!!! He will be presented with the certificate next Thursday.

Overall it was a jolly good evening with new sweets opened during the notices and summer events announced.

Also this week, as it was half term, Josh joined our Wednesday morning tied bell practice. He came along with his grandad John. Afterwards we went up to see the old belfry. Here are Josh and John standing by the old No 3 bell.

Saturday 20th May 2023 – ringing for the wedding of Martin and Maggie, the first wedding of the year for us. The bells were rung up in the morning and we all arrived in good time to sit quietly exchanging conversation as we waited patiently, watching proceedings in the church from the ringing room.

It was beautifully warm and sunny afternoon and a group of well-wishers gathered outside to await the bride who arrived on foot having walked the short distance from her home. The group was refreshed with glasses of sparkling wine which was a lovely treat.

At last it was our turn to take part in the ceremony and as the married couple left the church the bells rang out to Rounds and Call Changes by Julia, Josh, Sue, Tricia, Phillip and James. After a few minutes Sheila and Hazel arrived having sung in the choir, and after a ten minute ring they joined the team and Sheila called 60 on Thirds.

Josh ran down to see if the wedding party was still there and he reported that there were still loads of people. So we had a final ring, this time firing the bells superbly and then rang down.

It was Josh’s first wedding ringing, well done Josh; and reports from listeners said that it sounded very nice. Thank you everyone, a job well done.

Wow! We have had a great weekend Ringing for the King. We started on Saturday the 6th May at 9.00am with general ringing for all our ringers when we were joined by some family members too. The ringing included Call Changes, Plain Bob Doubles, and we fired the bells.

On Sunday we rang for the service of celebration and on Monday the 8th six of us rang a quarter peal in the morning to round off the royal events. The link to a short viodeo of our ringing can be found here. This includes video or audio recordings plus photographs which were taken during the weekend.

The ringing room was decorated and certificates were presented to all the ringers. Special coronation badges have been issued to mark the event.

We arrange at least one outing every year to vist a few towers within about an hour’s drive. We decided on an early adventure this year, with an option for a second one later, and on this occasion we travelled to north west Essex. Tricia volunteered to organise the day and she and I and Sheila G met one day to study the map and plan a route. We decided on two towers before lunch and one in the afternoon.

The first port of call was Steeple Bumpstead, a 14 1/ 2 cwt six. Julia learned to ring here for the millennium when a band was trained up for the occasion. Sadly, there is no regular ringing there anymore and the ringing room could do with some TLC. The bells are quite nice and a good weight for a six.

From here we went on the Radwinter, a 12cwt eight. More signs of life here with a white board with plenty of blue lines. The ropes of Nos 2 and 3 go through shutes in the clock box but those who rang them managed perfectly. We rang a course of Cambridge S Minor on the back six, probably our best piece of ringing during the day.

Lunch was taken at the Coach and Horses PH at Newport. We enjoyed a relaxing time here and appreciated the good food. There were six handbell ringers in the group and during this break we rang Plain Bob Minor and Single Oxford Bob Minor.

The last tower was Newport, a ten minute walk from the pub. This church has a tall tower faced with stone and flint but its interior is brick. It was restored in 1858. The bells, also a 14 1/2 cwt six are a little awkward in a unique and interesting way. They are quite deep set and have long unguided ropes making good bell control essential. Some of our ringers rang only once but we did manage a course of Plain Bob Doubles as our last touch. There is no regular ringing here, possibly only one or two visiting bands a year. The ringing room is dusty and small pieces of detritus fall from the walls/ceiling when the bells are rung!

Although we didn’t ring on any bells that “we would like to take home” we had a very enjoyable day. It was interesting to briefly look around the churches and of course it is always fascinating to discover things in the towers and ring the bells, even if some are a little challenging.

Our grateful thanks to Tricia for organising the whole day and to the local people who met us and allowed us to ring their bells.

L-R: Steeple Bumpstead, Ringing at Steeple Bumpstead, The church interior from the rfinging room.

L-R: Radwinter, Descending the tower, the south porch.

L-R: Handbells at the pub, Newport church, door to the roof at the top of the spiral staircase at Newport.

Team Photo at Newport

During our practice on Thursday 30th March we proudly peresented membership certificates to Josh and Mirjam. Mirjam was elected as a member of the Ely Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers in November 2022 and Josh in March 2023.

The aim of the Association during the last twelve months was to elect 125 new members, it being its 125th anniversary. I hope that we can report success in this respect in due course.

During the practice we rang call changes and Plain Bob Doubles and worked on Plain Bob Minimus for some to consolidate counting places.

The pictures are of general ringing, Josh & Mirjam with their certificates and the Association badges: membership badge, centenary badge and 125th anniversary badge.

Well, what a busy and exciting time we are having in the tower at the moment.

Josh has just achieved his level one certificate in the Learning the Ropes scheme. This is quite a tough call which covers all the basic skills required to safely handle a bell. Josh has worked hard and has also done a lot of research into ringing, often asking about specific aspects of the art. He is currently learning call changes and is generally consolidating his bell control. He has already started on level two by introducing additional ringing skills such as place making and dodging. Onwards and upwards Josh!

In the last two weeks we have been teaching two more new ringers. Siobhan and Steve are setting out on their journey of doscovery after being put in touch with us by the Association of Ringing Teachers. They had responded to the Ring for the King appeal for new ringers. As with many new ringers their first visit to the tower was an education in itself but we were able to explain a lot about bells and ringing, and they grasped the nettle and have completed two training sessions so far.

As we move into spring we are planning new ringing activities. Tricia is organising our spring mini outing in April and we are preparing for the coronation weekend when all our ringers will be ringing for the king.

Here are photos taken at practice on Thursday 16th March when we rang Grandsire 5, Plain Bob 5, and Call Changes. And of course there were sweets at half time!

The local history society, The Gransdens Society, invited us to give a talk about the bells on Tuesday 21st February 2023. It was a pleasure to be there and an excellent opportunity to describe the history of the installation and explain why we ring.

It was entitled “The Church Bells and Ringers of Great Gransden – a brief history of chime” and broadly covered the period from the 17th century to the present day but focussing mainly from the late 19th century.

We were able to show unique footage of the bells being rung in the 1990s as well as photographs of former ringers. A history of the bells was described, from their installation in 1658 and several recastings over the years to the rehanging in 2000. We talked about past ringers and how they served the church and ringing in their time. The photographs and videos brought the presentation to life and was rounded off by some change ringing on handbells, which most people had not seen practised before. We were pleased to answer many questions from the audience.

Sheila George expertly changed slides and showed the videos according to the script and Catherina Griffiths (St.Neots) joined us at the end to ring the handbells.

Many thanks to the Society for inviting us, we are always pleased to get into the public eye rather than be hidden away in the tower!

Links to two videos can be found here:

Virtual tour of the tower

Church bells during the 1990s

Thursday 17th February was Mirjam’s last practice with us before leaving for mainland Europe. As many as possible attended practice to say farewell and wish her and husband Paul good luck as they move to Luxembourg.

Mirjam is a loyal and enthusiastic ringer having taken up the hobby this time last year. She was able to ring for the Jubilee and later took part in ringing for the funeral of HM QE2. She is a key member of the weekly “tied bell” group which meets on Wednesdays, and brings enthusiasm and encouragement to us all. She attained level 1 in the A.R.T. Learning the Ropes scheme and is beginning to study for level 2.

We’ll miss her determined participation and great company but wish her all the best and look forward to seeing her on ocassion when she returns to the UK.

The photos show the Thursday night band as we presented Mirjam with a momento, a jigsaw puzzle depicting the church and ringers.

We had a really joyful practice on Thursday 9th February with plenty of laughter and ringing. On this occasion we were delighted to welcome our priest in charge, Rev Rachel, who wanted to thank us in person for all the ringing we do and how much she and the community enjoy it.

The place was bustling with enthusiasm. We started our evening with some Grandsire Doubles, followed by Rounds. Sheila then asked Rachel if she would like to have a go and explained that she could try the backstroke. After a brief demonstration by Josh, our youngest ringer, the rope was handed to her and in a very few moments she had almost mastered this excercise. She later said “…I enjoyed my little attempt, as inspired by Josh!”

Rachel had to leave us at 8.00pm but before doing so presented us with cakes to enjoy later (so as not to make the ropes sticky!)

A great evening was had by all and were very much encouraged and inspired by Rachel’s visit.

One of the raffle prizes during our coffee morning in November 2022 was a Tower Tour, an opportunity to visit the church tower and explore the various rooms to see the clock and the bells.

Sheila and I met our visitors, a group of eight, and accompanied them to the ringing room where they could warm themselves from the chilly environs of the church. We decided to divide the group into two which made access to the upper levels easier. It also enabled everyone to see how a bell was rung from the ringing room and see it in action in the belfry, and on our CCTV.

In the ringing room, everyone was interested in our notice boards and striking competition certificates, and the two dimensional model of a bell was used to demonstrate how a bell works.

In turn, each group visited the clock room where the chiming apparatus was demonstrated. Then upwards to the belfry where No4 bell had been silenced and could be seen being rung, with our visitors at a safe distance.

The response from everyone was one of fascination as they saw the church clock and bells in situ for the first time. There were many questions! So much is unimagined from the outside!

Finally we asked them to sign our visitors book and a group photo was taken. We had a lovely afternoon, it was a delight to welcome everyone.