May 3, 2026 9:38 pm | by Terry Brown | Posted in Tributes
John Michael Stephens (known as Michael) was born in Ilford, Essex on 9th June 1929 to Leslie and Millicent Stephens, and he was the eldest of three siblings. At the beginning of WW2, Michael and his family moved to Kempston, Bedfordshire to stay with his mother’s aunt until the permanent home became available. In 1945, at the age of 15, he took up ringing at All Saints’ Church, Kempston under the tutelage of Pearl Inskip, Tower Captain, with a band of very good pre-war ringers. His brother (Richard) and sister (Mary) also took up ringing.
Within a year of starting to ring, Michael achieved several notable milestones at Kempston. He rang his first Quarter Peal (the 2nd to Minor in three methods) on 3rd February 1946 and this was followed shortly afterwards by his first Peal (the 2nd to Minor in six methods) on 9th March 1946. His first Quarter Peal as Conductor followed on 17th August 1946 (Plain Bob Minor with two members of the band – Walter and Clifford Izzard – ringing their first Quarter Peals).
Michael rang 125 peals (Conducted 37) – this total includes 51 (Conducted 27) for the Bedfordshire Association and 42 (Conducted 6) for the Guild of Clerical Ringers. His first Peal as Conductor was Plain Bob Minor at Stagsden on 26th August 1949 with one member of the band (Stephen Ivin) ringing their first Peal. On 11th January 1951 at Ickwell Green, Michael and his brother were in the band which rang the first Peal on bicycle bells. This set of handbells was the result of 14 years’ work by Mr G William Wagstaff who was Churchwarden and Tower Captain of Northill. The set was made entirely of bicycle components – the clappers were made out of the spokes and the handles were straps from the panniers. At Kempston on 2nd June 1953, for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Michael rang a Peal of Plain Bob Major which he conducted from the 2nd, his sister rang the 3rd, his brother rang the 7th, and his tutor (Pearl Inskip) was on the 5th. At Bedford on 10th October 1987 he rang in the Guild of Clerical Ringers’ first twelve bell Peal.
In the 1950s, Michael organised the Bedfordshire Young Ringers’ outings for six years – the name came from a description in The Ringing World of the time. They spent a week, all on bicycles, staying at Youth Hostels and ringing at about two dozen churches – in 1952 they cycled to Devon where one of the original members had married a farmer and the girls were put up in the farmhouse while the boys stayed in the hayloft! In recent times, in retirement, Michael organised reunions of the “young” ringers, but no longer on bicycles. Michael was the Bedfordshire Association’s Secretary and Treasurer from 1952 to 1955 and also from 1959 to 1962.
In 1954, Michael was working as a Chartered Surveyor in Deal, Kent where he met his future wife, Molly Thursby, at their lodgings, and he taught her to ring. They married in 1957 at St.Peter in Thanet, Broadstairs, Kent and they subsequently moved to Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire for work. They had four children – Janet (1958), Christopher (1961), Martin (1964), and Ruth (1966).
In 1962 Michael trained at Lichfield Theological College, was ordained in 1964, and then moved back to Kent. After his curacy at Birchington (8 bells), he was posted to St.Stephen’s, Tovil (1 bell), and later to Brabourne (6 bells) with Smeeth (1 bell). Michael had many happy memories of the Guild of Clerical Ringers’ annual outings in Low Week. Following retirement, in September 1994 Michael and Molly moved to Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire where their neighbours were John Sinfield (one of the original Bedfordshire Young Ringers) and his wife June. Following John’s death in 2003, Michael took over the position of Tower Captain and served in that capacity until 2014. Michael’s wife, Molly, sadly died in 2021.
On 5th May 2023 at Kirkbymoorside, at the age of 93, Michael rang a Quarter Peal of Plain Bob Doubles on the eve of the Coronation of King Charles III, thus becoming one of few ringers to have rung for two Coronations – a feat which resulted in him being interviewed in the tower by the local TV news programme, BBC Look North.
Over the past 25 years, Michael was a regular contributor to “Thought for the Week” in The Ringing World. His last contribution was in the Christmas 2025 edition in which he reminisced about his 80 years at the end of a rope.
Michael died peacefully in his sleep on 9th April 2026 at the age of 96 and a celebration of his life was held at All Saints’ Church, Kirkbymoorside on 27th April 2026 with half-muffled ringing before and after the funeral service. Quarter Peals in memory of Michael were rung at Pickering and Bedford on 26th April 2026. Rest in Peace.
Richard Hillson
Acknowledgements:
The Ringing World (5796-7.472), BellBoard, PealBase, Ann Fletcher, Martin Stephens,
Mary Elliott (née Stephens), and Phyllis Jones (née Gray).
April 16, 2026 4:07 pm | by Terry Brown | Posted in Tributes
Martin was born and grew up in Henlow, a village he always thought of as home, it was here that he learnt to ring under the tutelage of Lewis Bywaters who he, like many others, revered as a ringer and mentor. His first peal came in February 1958 and by the end of that year he had rung 9 peals, including one on Christmas Day. Interestingly of his total of 931 peals he never rang one on either Christmas Eve or Boxing Day.
At the time he was learning, Henlow had a good band who rang many of the standard 6 bell methods to a high standard. Martin therefore received a thorough grounding in the priorities of ringing which he tried to live up to for the rest of his life. In later years he was well known locally, for having inherited Lewis’ “Tut” when he thought ringing was not good enough.
After leaving school he took an apprenticeship with a local printing company subsequently joining a cruise line as the ships printer, producing menus, newsletters etc. This took him around the world at least twice. Later when his daughter went globetrotting she was surprised to find that her Dad was able to offer advice on activities in the various places she visited.
My first peal with Martin was in 1961 and over the next 20 years we rang many more, a lot of which Martin organised. To start Martin would do the conducting, but after he became friends with Alan Barber, he took a back seat just calling the occasional peal.
Early in 1972 he married Julia Fellows, who was a member of John Mayne’s groundbreaking handbell band, after which they moved to Leicester where they both joined in with local ringing, both on tower and handbells, in a variety of methods including 165 Spliced Surprise Major. It was whilst they were here that Martin organised the towers for Stephen Ivin’s 1973 week and rang in 9 of the 10 peals of London we scored. I have no recollection of why he wasn’t in all 10.
Towards the end of the decade, they moved back to Bedford, where he joined the band at St Paul’s, just as the augmentation was about to take place. The augmentation, of course, was a period of excitement in Bedford as Stephen Ivin’s fine ten-bell band got to grips with ringing on twelve. Martin was very much a part of this. There is a recording of a touch of Stedman by the local band just after the trebles went in and the rhythm and striking is remarkably good. The first peal on the new 12 was in March 1978 and by Christmas a peal of Bristol Maximus was scored, both being rung by the local band, of which Martin was a member.
Not long after that Steve and Avril decided to move away from Bedford. When they left in February 1980 Martin Major and Martyn Marriott were elected to share the running of the tower. The arrangement worked well. Martin played a key part in keeping Steve’s legacy going and in maintaining a high standard of ringing at Bedford in the early 1980s.
He was in the early morning peal at Bedford for the Bedfordshire Association Centenary in March 1982, which commenced at 6.05 a.m. in order to be finished before the start of the first concert of the Bedford Music Festival in the nearby Corn Exchange at 9.30. In May he called a peal of Stedman Cinques at Bedford, his 500th peal, but that was more or less the start of a ten-year absence from the peal columns. It was his domestic responsibilities that caused Martin’s ringing to be very much reduced and limited to the very occasional visit to family in Henlow. During this time Martin became a youth leader at the family’s local Church, arranging outings, football matches etc, for which he drove the minibus. The three children John, James and Sarah remember these as being fun times.
In the late 90’s he and Julia went their separate ways and Martin gradually adjusted and resumed his ringing career getting fully back into his stride in the year 2000 both ringing and organising peals. At this time he rekindled a childhood friendship with Margaret who he married in 2005. In addition to his ringing Martin and Margaret were keen supporters of The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and he served as Treasurer of the Henlow Branch for several years. In 2018 Martin & Margaret were both very honoured to be invited to Westminster Abbey in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family to a service to mark the centenary of the Armistice, a day never to be forgotten!
When we realised that he had rung 900 peals we persuaded him that 1000 was in his grasp, unfortunately Covid then got in the way after which he never really got going again. I suspect we were keener on numbers than he was.
Despite having rung many different methods he always retained the traditionalist approach he learnt from Lewis Bywaters and instilled those priorities in others when he was Tower Captain at Henlow for several years.
In summary Martin was very understated and modest about his own considerable abilities, characteristically expressing appreciation for the talents and achievements of others, always considering them ahead of his own.
For the last year or so he would come on Tuesday and Sunday but it became increasingly difficult to persuade him to ring, although he was happy to join us in the Five Bells after practice.
For his colleagues in the tower, it was a saddening experience to witness his decline as the Alzheimer’s took its inevitable toll, he is greatly missed.
Anthony Smith.
With assistance from: Martin’s family, Chris Pickford and Steve Stanford.
February 22, 2026 12:10 pm | by Terry Brown | Posted in Tributes
John Bryan Maxwell Pattison (known as Bryan) was born in February 1936 near Penrith in Cumberland to John and Evelyn Pattison, and before 1949 the family had moved south to Bedford.
Although I never had the pleasure of knowing Bryan personally, I was aware that he made an exceptional contribution to ringing in Bedfordshire some 6/7 decades ago and that he is still fondly remembered. This obituary has been compiled from research into his peals and from the various tributes and memories of others.
Bryan was a well-respected and very popular ringer who rang 223 peals (Conducted 120) from Doubles to Surprise Maximus between 1952 and 1967. His peal total includes 98 (Conducted 59) for the Bedfordshire Association and 6 (Conducted 4) handbell peals. He is first listed in the Bedfordshire Association’s Annual Report in 1951 as a member at Cardington. He was clearly a ringer of considerable potential from the start and his first peal was the first on the newly augmented six at neighbouring Cople (8th April 1952, 4th to 7 Minor methods) along with the Bedfordshire stalwarts of the day (Ron Sharp, Pat Chapman, Henry Harding, Eddie Jeffries, and Bryan Sims) so, in such august company, very high standards would have been expected of him. Also in 1952, at the age of 16, he became Tower Captain at Cardington and on 29th November 1952 he rang a peal of Plain Bob Major at Cardington on the 19cwt tenor – this was his first peal of Major and also his first peal as Conductor.
Many of the peals conducted by Bryan enabled members of the band to achieve “firsts”. On 20th February 1954 Bryan conducted a peal of Plain Bob Doubles on the six at Stagsden with five first pealers – this was the first peal by a band from Bedford Modern School and, at the time, this was the youngest band to ring a peal for the Bedfordshire Association with an average age of approximately 16. Later in 1954, Bryan conducted further peals by pupils of the Harpur Trust schools in Bedford (Oakley 27th March 1954, Sharnbrook 30th March 1954, and Old Warden 13th September 1954). On 12th July 1954, Bryan conducted a peal of Plain Bob Royal at Bedford (St Paul’s) – this was not only his first 10 bell peal but also Stephen Ivin’s first 10 bell peal. On 22nd September 1958 the first peal by a Sunday service band at Bedford (St Paul’s) was conducted by Bryan (Grandsire Caters). His party piece was to play Grandsire Caters on the piano!
Bryan’s move to University was put on hold for two years in 1956 for National Service in the RAF based at Padgate (Warrington), Bridgnorth, and Brampton (Huntingdonshire). Bryan attended Durham University where he was a founder member and the first President of the Durham University Society of Change Ringers – he conducted the first peal for that Society on 22nd October 1959 at Benfieldside. On leaving University after completing his doctorate in nuclear science, Bryan stayed in the North East to work until 1966 when he took a post at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (known as CERN) based at Geneva in Switzerland studying cosmic rays and high energy particle interactions, becoming a renowned astrophysicist. He remained in Switzerland for the rest of his life.
Bryan’s move abroad was a great loss to ringing in the UK. After moving to Switzerland in 1966, over the following 3/4 decades he would very occasionally join service ringing and practices at Bedford (St Paul’s) when making fleeting visits to his parents in Bedford. Despite not ringing regularly, he would ring complex methods effortlessly and faultlessly as if he had never been away!
During the 1960s, Bryan met Patricia who became his wife. Outside work and family, Bryan had a long-standing involvement with the RAF Association and he was made a Life Vice President in recognition of his lifelong dedication to the Association and its Swiss Branch. Bryan was also a keen cricketer and was awarded the prestigious “Services to Cricket” award by Cricket Switzerland (formerly the Swiss Cricket Association). In the 2003 New Year Honours list, he was awarded the OBE for services to British interests in Switzerland. In 2017, he had the honour of laying a wreath on behalf of the RAF Association at the National Service of Remembrance at the London Cenotaph in Whitehall.
Bryan died peacefully in his sleep in Switzerland on 16th November 2024 at the age of 88 – he was remembered in a Peal at Tanfield (6th December 2025) and in Quarter Peals at Islington (24th March 2025) and Bedford (28th December 2025). Rest in Peace.
Compiled by Richard Hillson
(Acknowledgements: Stephen Stanford, Phyllis Jones [nee Gray], Jennie Taylor [nee Davies], Anthony Smith, Clive Smith, Phil Rogers, Chris Pickford, James Saunders, Ann Fletcher, BellBoard, and PealBase)