February 2013

This January seems to have been particularly cold, wet and miserable.  For the first time that we can remember, we had to cancel a planned quarter peal attempt on Sunday 20^th January.  Not only had one of the ringers hurt her hand but then two other ringers were snow bound in Oxford and one other was concerned about black ice, leaving us with just four ringers for an 8 bell quarter peal!  Luckily the regular members of the Swanage band came forward and we were able to do general service ringing for half an hour before Evensong.   

 It might not have occurred to you but bell towers, particularly the ropes, bells etc, are susceptible to the weather conditions outside. 

Traditionally our rope tail ends (the bit below the sally) are made of hemp or flax.  In humid air the natural fibres absorb moisture and swell, making the rope a bit fatter and a bit shorter.  Bell ringers won’t notice the rope being 1% thicker but 1% of a 20 foot rope length is a couple of inches! Even on an the 8-10 foot length below the sally is at least one inch difference, so whereas a couple of weeks ago the rope seemed the perfect length, it might now be too short requiring either the rope to be lengthened or the ringer to stand on a box. 

                      Beware!  Ropes shorten in cold damp weather

In winter the ropes also go stiff which is, again, to do with moisture.  In winter the air humidity is regularly high, and low temperatures do not encourage moist ropes to dry out.  As well as the length change due to the swelling of the rope fibres, the swelling fibres pressing more tightly together make the rope stiff.  Also in very cold weather the absorbed water freezes also making the rope stiff and unmanageable.  Many an idle bell ringer can be found attempting the Indian Rope Trick! 

 On a general basis though, damp stiff ropes and wet sallies are just unpleasant to handle.  At Swanage we are very lucky in having good heaters and ventilation up in the tower, keeping the air dryer and warmer thereby reducing the effects of the weather.  Go to Kingston though and as well as stiff damp ropes and wet sallies you will also find wet green mould running down the walls – lovely!

January 2013

I’m not sure where the time has gone, but it seems only yesterday I thought I had two months before I needed to write another article – yet a reminder email from John Stacey landed in my in-box this morning.

We had a very successful Christmas ringing wise.  It’s always very difficult to get enough ringers over the festive period as either they are away or, if they are at home, they are busy with visitors.  However, not only did we ring all eight bells for the Evensong quarter peal on Sunday 23^rd and two quarter peals on Christmas Eve (for theCrib Service and for the Carols by Candlelight Service), but we had 10/11 ringers in the belfry for service ringing before the midnight service and before the Christmas Day morning service.  Wonderful!  The only fly in the ointment is the fact that I was away so I’m hoping the higher than usual turn out wasn’t because of my absence!

I told you some months ago that we sometimes we dedicate our Sunday night quarter peals to a particular person or event.  Last Sunday (13^th Jan) we were delighted to dedicate the quarter peal to Rev’d Nick Brown on the occasion of his licensing as the new Priest in Charge of St James, Louth which took place on Thursday 10th January 2013."  Nick, as you probably know, is the son of Bill Brown and grew up in Swanage, was in the choir, assistant organist and curate here at St Mary's. 

If you have a special occasion coming up, for example like a Golden Wedding, special birthday or birth of a child/grandchild etc and would like us to dedicate a quarter peal to you then please,  just let me know.

November 2012

One of our most exciting bits of news up here in the Tower this month is that we have a new learner.   Robert has been coming for half an hour before our regular practice for about six weeks now and already can handle a bell on his own.  We are now introducing him to ringing rounds with other ringers and hopefully it won’t be long before he is ringing with the band.  Continuing on the theme of learners;  Mike Jenkins (yes he is related to me) rang a quarter peal of Plain Bob Triples on October 28^th.  This was his first quarter peal “inside” i.e ringing a working bell rather than the treble or tenor.  I also scored my first quarter of Yorkshire Surprise Major on October 21st so there was some celebrating in the Jenkins’ household last month!

 

We are having another good run of successful quarter peals at the moment - 7 without loss so far - the most recent ones being two lovely quarter peals rung half muffled on Remembrance Sunday.  I don’t suppose you noticed but this year we “tolled” the tenor for the few minutes between the end of the quarter peal and the start of the Town Remembrance Service. We think it worked well.

 

As we approach the end of another year all that remains for me to do is to wish all of you, on behalf of all the ringers, a Very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year. 

October 2012

Saturday 6th October2012 was the Swanage Bellringers Annual Outing.  Ringing outings are wonderfully social events and include a day out ringing at 4-5 other towers, and most importantly a long pub lunch.  This year our outing was organised by David Haysom - and David was always going to chose Towers that were “different” in one way or another!  

Sixteen ringers left Swanage at 8am and headed off towards Wiltshire.  Our first tower was St John the Baptist, Horningsham; a small Wiltshire village which forms part of the Longleat Estate.  The Parish Church was founded in the 12^th century but has been virtually rebuilt twicde in 1783 and 1843.  It has 6 bells, the heaviest weighing 16 cwt, which are not easy to ring as they are quite “snappy”. 

Our next stop was, in some ways, the highlight of the day (or was it the nightmare?!). We went to St Mary’s,Berkley, which is in the Mendip district of Somerset.  The church was erected in 1751and is a Grade II listed building.  You enter the tower through what feels like a barn!  It is so small its 4 bells (heaviest 8cwt) are arranged on 2 frames, one frame above the other.  What is really difficult about ringing in this tower is that the four bell ropes hang tight in each corner of the very small belfry. What does this mean?  It means you have to ring your bell facing into the corner – like the naughty corner! – with your back to the room so you cannot see the other ringers.  Trust me, ringing using only your ears is really difficult – if not nigh impossible!  Interestingly there was leather wallpaper on the walls – with suitable holes/rips where many past ringers had obviously torn it whilst trying to ring.  Let’s just say it was an experience!

The last tower before lunch was St Michael’s, Mere.  Compared to the first two towers this one was relatively normal!  8 bells, nothing odd – quite like home! 

As is traditional lunch is a very important part of any ringing outing. We went to The Walnut Tree on the outskirts of Mere – and jolly good it was too!  Good food, good service, good beer (if not slightly cold!). 

Restored by both food and liquid we set off to  SS Mary & Nicholas, Wilton.  What a church! For a small town, the church in enormous, representing the wealth of its benefactors.   It was built between 1841 and 1844 at the instigation of the Countess of Pembroke and her younger son and designed by Thomas Henry Wyatt in the Romanesque style with considerable Byzantine influences.  Many of the materials used in the church's construction were imported from Europe, including marble columns from Italy and 12th and 13th century stained glass from France.  Unfortunately the original design was intended for a warm, dry Mediterranean climate and by 1885 the fabric needed repair and the problems of leaks, draughts and damp persist to this day!

 The most notable external feature has to be the campanile (bell tower) which stands at 105 feet (32m) and it’s connected to the church by a short cloister.   I have to say we were all very relieved that the bells were not hung at the top!  In 2000 a new set of Millennium bells were installed and the old ones sent to Lismore in Australia.  There are 6 bells, the heaviest weighing 8cwt. 

After negotiating the ring road round Salisbury we eventually found The Parish Church of Sarum St Martin,Salisbury. There has been a place of worship on this site for well over 1000 years and the chancel of the present church antedates the Cathedral by about 50 years.  It has a bell tower and spire; the 12^th century tower pre-dating the spire which was added at a later date.  We had to descend to a lower floor level to get to the ringing chamber and that, coupled with wrought iron railings and a flint & stone construction made it feel rather like being in a crypt!  It had a lovely ring of 8 bells with a 13 cwt tenor.

The last tower has to have been my favourite tower of the day!  Winterslow!  What can I say about All Saint’s Church, Winterslow?  As I walked up the path to the entrance porch I noticed bell ropes coming down through the wooden ceiling - Yes, it’s a ground floor ring in the church porch!  It has 6 bells, the tenor being 11cwt.  Thank goodness we didn’t go in the winter!  We all really enjoyed ringing these bells, they were lovely.  At the end of our time one of us had to climb back up into the ceiling space and pull the ropes back .  Personally I’ve never seen anything like it!  

We had a wonderful day but goodness me, didn’t it make us appreciate, again, the wonderful bells (and easy ring) we have here at home in Swanage!