The Queen is Dead, Long Live the King!!

What happens in the bell tower?

After eleven days of mourning Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, bell ringers everywhere will be “getting back to normal”. The muffles will be taken off the clappers and stored ready for our next act of remembrance as our memories of recent days tarry for a while.

During the last week or so we have rung at specific times in the process code-named Operation London Bridge, the guidance on “what to do” when the sovereign dies. Of course, it started as Operation Unicorn because the queen died in Scotland. Although the queen died on the 8th September (D-Day), D-Day was actually assigned as the 9th.

Ringers everywhere were mobilised at short notice and many rang on the 9th at midday to honour Her Majesty. In Great Gransden, as with many other towers, the bells were rung fully muffled but with the tenor “open” at backstroke, meaning that it had only one muffle on the clapper. Tower captain Sheila George organised the ringers so that everyone had equal opportunity to experience this unique and exciting type of ringing. Fully muffled ringing is reserved to mark the death of the sovereign.

Accession is instantaneous. As soon as Queen Elizabeth II died, Prince Charles became King Charles III. Although in mourning, the country had to mark the accession. Proclamations were made, first in London on the 10th September and a day later in the provinces, where Royal guidance advised us to ring on Sunday 11th from 4.00pm, and the Gransden ringers did so, ringing on open bells in celebration.

The days following the proclamation continued with end to end “mono-tely”, as ordinary life seemed to be on hold and there was an endless commentary on tv by many presenters saying the same things time and time again! The “Queue”, as it became known, to Westminster Hall where Her Majesty was lying in state was several miles long and could be seen from space! Ringers continued marking the queen’s death with muffled ringing, and in Great Gransden there was eagre anticipation of our next special ringing as emails were exchanged to coordinate the team.

Monday 19th was our final act of remembrance. We rang from 10.00am for 45 minutes. Once again Sheila had organised us and the bells were rung almost continuously. Finally, at 10.45am the tenor was tolled for 15 minutes until the start of the funeral service of Her Majesty.

It has been an extra-ordinary week and an honour to have taken an active part in this moment of our country’s history.

The evenings are drawing in, the weather is a little cooler and the butterflies are begining to search out sheltered places to hibernate. The ringing room is a favourite place for them and we will find them now all through the autumn and winter. If they emerge whilst we are ringing we gently encourage them to seek a cooler, darker part of the tower.

We have started a new season and have exciting plans for the coming weeks. We have a few quarter peal attempts coming up in September and October, a training day, and in November we are hosting a district ringing meeting. We have a fund raising coffee morning in November too and we are looking forward to an autumn mini outing. Check out our calendar for these. Reports will follow of course.

Our most recent community ringing was for the church fete which took place on Saturday 27th August. It was held in the garden of Rectory Farm, immediately adjacent to the church. We received several compliments on our ringing. On this occasion we rang call changes to a touch called Saucy 5, which was conducted by Sheila George.

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers has posted a link to a very useful online document. It is called Belfry Upkeep and it comprehensively describes maintenance of bells, fixtures and fittings. I have added a link on the Safety Inspection and Maintenance page of this website. I shall check that I have everything covered in my own schedule of checks.

Although the year is far from over as autumn settles in I find myself reflecting on recent months, what we have achieved together, and I am continually looking for ways to engage with our wonderful community. I have been looking for inspiration for a new promotional video and have made some test videos to check feasibility of my ideas. It is very much work in progress at the moment so patience is the key word!

I have also started to write an account of the bells and ringers of Great Gransden from the late 1890s. I have quite a lot of material but am discovering that writing a factual, but most importantly an interesting history is quite challenging. Sheila G is helping in the geanealogy department and I am spending a lot of time thinking! This is going to take a while to complete so I might post interim updates as I go along!

As I research this and start writing, new ideas come to mind. They are sometimes a distraction because the doors which they open are just as exciting. Today, during my work on this project, I remembered that somewhere I have some videos of the bells and clock before the restoration in 2000. Fortunately I had the files transferred to a DVD in 1995, and lo and behold it was in my office drawer. I have transferred the files to the desktop PC, so at least there is a back up for these important, unique historic films. Now I have to decide what I can use from them to create a short video to upload to YouTube. More news on this later.

Our website doesn’t have many email subscribers. My regular blogs summarise what we are doing and I hope they make for interseting reading for non-ringers too. Please encourage others to #subscribe, there is no obligation and there will be no emails except one occasionally to say that something has been posted. Comments can be left if you wish.

Some of our ringers had expressed an interest in ringing at St.Neots, our 10-bell, 29cwt neighbour. Knowing that access to the bells and top of the tower was easy I made arrangement with tower captain Alban Forster for us to visit one Friday evening.

Through mutual agreement we decided on the 19th August and we were welcomed by Catherina Griffiths who escorted us whilst giving an interesting history of the clock and the bells. We were able to go into the belfry and then on top of the tower where panoramic views of the town and beyond could be enjoyed and photographed.

Afterwards, we went back down the turret stairs into the ringing room where we received a warm welcome from local ringers, including the vicar, the Rev Paul Hutchinson. There were also a couple of visitors, including one from Wymouth. I was invited to run the practice, which I was pleased to do, and we were able to make good use of the bells by ringing Rounds, call changes, Grandsire Triples, Plain Bob Doubles and a course of Cambridge Surprise Minor.

Most of our ringers had not rung there before and found that St.Neots bells are quite different from our small six at Gransden, but they rang very well, enjoying the new experience.

Our thanks to Catherine for meeting us, to Rev Paul for allowing us to tour the tower and the local ringers for their support during the evening.

We usually welcome two or three bands/teams every year when they request to ring our bells on their outings to churches in the area. The last group was on the 20th September 2019. Covid intervened and so it has been almost three years since we have had that pleasure, but on Tuesday 16th August we were very pleased to greet ringers from Swaffham Bulbeck on their “mini” outing.

Gransden was the first tower and the company included several ringing friends. We were particularly pleased to see Maggie who had wanted to ring our bells during the Jubilee weekend open ringing session, but she missed the opportunity by just a few minutes.

The ringing included call changes, Plain Bob Doubles and Stedman Doubles and they finished with an excellent ring down in peal.

Their next stop was Bourn which is an 8-bell tower, and we understand that they had a very good lunch at the Stove!

They were our 104th band of visiting ringers since our records bagan (25th August 1970), and we hope to receive many more in the years to come.

The photo shows some of the ringers, with resident tower captain Sheila ringing the treble (on the left).

The annual tower clean-up is not a very interesting event in our calendar but it is an important one.

We are fortunate that since the tower restortation in 2000 effective bird proofing is in place which prevents most of the dirt associated with towers from entering. However, we still get a lot of twigs, leaves and dust accumulating in parts of the old belfry. Some of this finds its way down the tower into the other rooms but generally speaking they are acceptably clean all year round.

I always start at the top of the tower in the old belfry which involves squeezing inside the old bell frame accompanied by Henry which works continuously as we move from bell-pit to bell-pit. This area takes about four hours and then we move down to the new belfry which is a slightly easier environment to access. This is two hour stint making sure that the bell frame is swept and the floor vaccumed. The challenge here is stepping over the clock wires and again it helps to be a contortionist.

Then, down to the clock room. This is quite an easy room to clean and takes about an hour but there are still pinch-points to negotiate and of course Henry needs to be moved around and lifted into certain less accessible places.

Finally, the spiral staircase, so Henry has to be carried to the top and working backwards we clean each stair tread, window reveal and the walls. This is another 30 minutes or so.

I usually clean during August and this year the tower has been a relatively cool place to work as we endure the prolonged heat wave. I work over the course of about a week and take photos of the completed work. At the end of it all Henry gets a wipe down with a damp cloth and his bag is replaced (again), and he’s then ready for his general duties during the year.

Cleaning the tower serves two purposes. Firstly, an annual thorough clean prevents any long-term accumulation of detritus which could damage the bell installation and clock (we are maintaining about £80,000 worth of equipment), and secondly it is a opportunity to inspect everything, especially the bells to make sure all the fittings are secure and safe to use.

We occasionally take visitors to see the belfry and clock room and it is important that they see it in good condition and well looked after.

My photographs this year include some graffiti. It can be found in one of the window reveals in the sprial staircase and reads EE 1687. Who’s are these initials? They are possibly those of Edward Elwood. He was one of the churchwardens at that time. It is known that the tower was restored in 1686 and there is a lead plaque on the top of the tower with his and his co-churchwardens’ initials, NL (Nicholas Livett) with the same date. We also know from the churchwardens accounts of that time that Edward was a carpenter and did occasioanal work to repair the clock and the bells. We will never know for certain if it is his graffiti, albeit a year after the tower repairs, it is amongst many names and dates in the tower. Every time I visit I feel that I am walking through history!

Well, that’s the hard work done for another year, the next major work is servicing the clock in December.

After record temperatures earlier in the week Gransden Ringers and Singers (bell ringers and church choiristers) were able to enjoy their annual safari supper on Friday evening relaxing in each others gardens. We have held this event for several years, there being a close link between the tower and the choir.

As dusk drew near the endless chatter continued although croquet had long been abandoned and Sheila George welcomed everyone, which included non-ringing/singing partners, thanking our hosts for opening their gardens. She also presented David and Sheila Prest with their jubilee badges, (designed by Rebecca Banner).

We finally left in almost darkness realising that even at the end of July torches are a useful accessory!

With thanks to Sheila for organising us, still in a climate of Covid challenges!

After our celebratory ringing from 2nd – 5th June I wrote to Her Majesty on behalf of the ringers congratulating her on the occasion of her platinum jubilee. I receieved a reply this week and was please to be able to take the letter to practice on Thursday to show the ringers.

This co-incided with the receipt from Rebecca of our jubilee badges which Sheila had ordered for all the local ringers who had taken part during the jubilee weekend.

We were also very pleased to see Alasdair and Julia making a fleeting visit to the village.

Thursday 30th June gave us an opportunity to ring at Bourn for our practice. The church was being used for a dress rehearsal of the Revellers Time Travel performance scheduled for the 1st to 3rd July. Rather than cancel the practice we popped across the border to Bourn and were greeted by long term ringing friend Elinor, who is the tower captain.

Together with one other local ringer we managed to ring all eight bells to Rounds and we also rang the back six to Plain Hunt, Plain Bob Doubles and call changes.

It was a cool evening with rain showers but the bright sky gave a summery feel. The tower west door was open allowing the fresh air to breeze in. All our ringers managed very well, especially considering the much longer rope draft, it being a ground floor ring.

Ringing for the Revellers 1-3 July

We’ve been busy this weekend, ringing for four performances of the Time Travellers, written and presented by The Revellers, the village amdram group.

The production was a series of playlets presented in nearby locations with the audience promenading between scenes. Many of the playlets were based on the history of the village, when among other things we learned about someone (top secret) who worked at Bletchley Park during WWII, a previous vicar the Rev James Plumptre (1812), and a particularly nasty character, local gambler and ne’er do well called Billy Whitehead. We also heard of the great fire, caused by a spark from the smithy’s forge, and how our school has developed across the ages (this performed by some of the children).

We were invited to ring for 20 minutes before each performance and mosts of our ringers were able to take part over the weekend. Sixty on thirds was called expertly on each occasion by Sheila G which conveniently fitted into the time allowed, and we sometimes had a small audience in the church as they were readying themselves for the show!

Three of our ringers, Sheila and David Prest and Hazel Pettit were also among the actors.

We received an acknowlegedment in the programme for our ringing as well as complimentary tickets for the other ringers, which we were delighted to accept.

Another splendid weekend of community spirit, good PR, and we had some cracking ringing!

It was a long time coming but finaly Hazel has achieved her level 3 certificate in the Learning the Ropes Scheme run by the Association of Ringing Teachers.

The pandemic put a hold on everything and this was the reason why Hazel was not able to complete this level. Level 3 requires two quarter peals to be rung, one on the treble to a doubles method, and one on the tenor to a doubles method. Allowances are made if the tenor is too heavy for the ringer and this was the case at Great Gransden, so Hazel was able to completed the stage by ringing a second quarter peal on the treble, which was also to commemorate the Queen’s platinum jubilee.

The level 3 certificate came through this week and we presented it to Hazel at our practivce on Thursday, and here she is displaying it, with Phillip looking on, together with a grouop photo with the other ringers muddling themselves into some sort of order to get in the frame!

We had arranged to visit Peterborough Cathedral on 23th March 2020 but the pandemic lockdown stopped all social interaction the week before and we had to postpone. Two and a bit years on and we were able to re-arrange our trip and we agreed a date with Peterborough, Monday 13th June 2022.

Ten of us were able to go, including Georgia’s sister Ella, visiting from Australia, and Mirjam our new ringer who is still at the learning bell handling stage.

We arrived in good time and congregated at the west door of the cathedral with two other visitors. Helena Thorpe, our host and ringing master, greeted us and led us into the building with instructions to sign in before we entered the spiral staircase.

It is over 100 steps to the ringing room but the stairway is wide with a good hand-rail so it was quite an easy climb. The last part is a walk on a wooden platform over a vaulted ceiling and then into a passage which surrounds the ringing room. Twelve ropes, tidy ringing circle and a tenor of 21cwt.

The bells were up, from the Peterborough Guild’s AGM at the weekend and we were immediately invited to ring in 3s and 4s, first on eight and then ten bells. Touches of Grandsire Caters and Little Bob Major were rung afterwards and we were then invited to ring all twelve in similar groupings.

Everyone managed the bells very well, ringing relatively slowly to allow for all twelve bells to ring. In some of the ringing we were aided by local ringers, perhaps giving a little advice if needed, as this was a new experience for most of us, but I was confident and went off to take photographs. Everything was fine!

As the evening went on more time was given to change ringing. A half course of Cambridge Royal preceded excellent touches of Erin Caters. The weather was warm as the sun became lower in the sky and several of us ventured onto the nave roof walkway to admire the view and hear the bells immediately beneath the tower.

The experience enjoyed was not only in the ringing, it was being inside a part of the cathedral not generally seen by the public, and meeting the cathedral ringers who were very welcoming.

A final group photograph outside rounded of a lovely evening and we drove home full of achievement and inspiration. Our thanks to the cathedral ringers and especially Helena Thorpe for leading us through the evening.

A great job done, well done everyone!

A video recording our visit can be found here https://youtu.be/5-Ze03RPrNI