Congratulations go to Lindsay Lott on successfully ringing her first quarter peal on 13th July, which was also Andrew Forman’s first quarter peal away from the tenor. Details of this quarter peal including a photo can be found here: https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/view.php?id=1754427
We supported Friends of St Michael’s on 27th July by hosting an ‘open tower’ event for invited guests. During this, visitors learned everything about St Michael’s church tower from bottom to top. The tour started with a brief talk about the bell themed west window, before climbing the tower steps to the ringing chamber where the clock was open to view how this ancient timepiece continues to serve the village. At this point visitors saw a demonstration of how a bell is rung before climbing further up to the bell chamber to see the bells at close quarters and see a bell rung from below. Finally, visitors were allowed to climb the remaining steps up to the tower roof to enjoy magnificent views over the village and beyond. Throughout the tour, the Friends of St Michael’s group provided a running buffet of tea, coffee and delicious cakes. Many thanks go to all of the volunteers who made this such a successful and enjoyable event.
St Michael’s hosted a training course for more advanced ringing techniques on 16th August, and we heard some good ringing from these students from all over the country. They obviously enjoyed our village bells. But it’s not all about bells, as we also enjoy fun times outside of the tower, including recently one of our occasional ‘ringers breakfasts’ held in the sunshine after Sunday morning ringing!
We always welcome anyone who has an interest in learning this ancient and traditional skill, and have just begun teaching some new recruits to continue the next generation of Blewbury bellringers. You might occasionally hear a single bell ringing for short periods, and this is when we are teaching the basic bell handling skills for brand new beginners. Please be patient with us during these occasional times. If you would like to get involved, please see one of the bellringers or come up the tower one Friday night at 8.00pm.