On 30th May Blewbury bellringers hosted a tower open afternoon in support of the Friends of St Michael’s group.
We were delighted by the interest and comments from the visitors. There were four sections on the tour, starting at ground level with a short history of the stained glass bell window. Then we went up the 39 spiral steps to enter the ringing chamber.
Here we talked about the bells and gave a demonstration on how to ring a bell, and also told the history of the clock with the opportunity to view its ancient mechanism. Further up some more steps to the belfry, where visitors were able to get up close to the historic 8 bells in their wooden frame. Finally, for the brave, there was a chance to get onto the tower roof and admire the magnificent views across the village and to the downs. To finish off the day Andrew Forman had devised a zip wire for teddy bears from the tower to the churchyard (see separate article).
Thanks to all who organised and came along to support this event and for the donations to the church building maintenance fund. We are thrilled to be teaching a few new recruits who are making excellent progress, and we invite anyone who would like to learn more about bell ringing to come up the tower on a Friday practice night.