On Saturday 18th October a large number of ringers and friends gathered to witness the rededication of the bells following a major overhaul by Whites of Appleton. At the service a new peal board was dedicated in memory of David A. Hope, a former chorister, server and ringer at St Mary’s. A new rope spider, made by John Hunt, was also dedicated. John, a former ringer at Sandy and now in his mid-80s, also made the trapdoor that created the new ringing room by enabling the use of the whole floor for ringing. John has been seriously ill so it was wonderful to have him, his wife, daughter and son-in-law in church.
The service began with the choir singing Psalm 122 – I was glad when they said unto me we will go into the House of the Lord – before former Tower Captain Philip Jewell thanked all those who had made the bell project possible. He thanked the staff of Whites for their skill and professionalism, volunteer helpers, Pat Albon, Steve Stanford and Chris Williams, and The Sharpe Trust, The Biggleswade District BRF and the Beds Association BRF for their generous grants. The highest praise was for the generosity of the extended family of Henlow ringers, the local band and those who had moved away, who had given thousands of pounds to the bells they love.
Philip then spoke warmly about David Hope. He was taught to ring by Lewis Bywaters in 1966 and learnt to strike and ring methods as part of the very good Henlow Band of the time. In 1973 his father’s job caused the family to move St. Neots where he joined the local band before he went up to St John’s College Oxford. In addition to a glittering academic career David joined the OUS with whom he became one of the best ringers of his generation. Two of his good friends from that time, David Brown and Paul Mounsey rang in the memorial peal on the board, with Tom Griffiths represented St. Neots. Sadly, Paul died shortly after the peal and he was remembered fondly as part of the ceremony. With David’s family standing nearby, the Vicar, Reverend Shaun Speller, dedicated the peal board to the memory of a man whose love of Henlow church and its bells was lifelong.
After more hearty singing the congregation turned to face the new ringing room where ringers stood holding the ropes as the Vicar rededicated the bells and all the new fittings to the glory of God. On the command “Let the bells ring” three leads of well struck Bristol Surprise Major was rung by Linda Garton, Anthony Smith, Philippa Whittington, John Loveless, Pat Albon, Trevor Groom, Russell Brown and Frank Rivett.
At the end of the service the weight of the tenor was revealed as 12.2.18 – and the winner of the prize for closest guess was Chris Middleton from near Chichester.
After this the congregation enjoyed a delicious tea and general ringing on the refurbished bells.
Twenty-Four ringers joined the outing to Milton Keynes on Saturday 20th September 2025.
Our day started at Cosgrove, where despite limited parking we all seemed to find somewhere to park and get to the tower on time.
Our next tower was Old Wolverton. Unbeknown to me beforehand, it was National Heritage Day, and our ringing generated a fair amount of interest from members of the public. We kept the ringing simple here, and for the rest of the day, to enable everyone to participate and enjoy the bells and to ensure a reasonable standard of ringing. This was clearly appreciated by those listening. Several of the tower captains who met us commented that our ringing was of a better standard than they often experience from other visiting bands.
We then moved on to Great Linford where here too, several people from the local community came to see what it was all about. One of our pieces of ringing was even rewarded with a round of applause!
People made their own lunch arrangements with them venturing off to pubs, coffee shops and cafes in the woods. Only one ringer lost their bearings in the rabbit warren that is Milton Keynes, delaying their arrival at Downs Barn. The Church here hosts a thriving community centre and as a result, it is something of a rare tower with the bells not as readily available as at many other Churches. Those who arrived early were greeted by a large contingent from an African community finishing a lunchtime party.
Our next tower was Loughton, a quite recently restored and very nice ground floor ring of 6 with an unusual rope circle, allowing for two more bells to fill the space in the frame if funds become available. By contrast our last tower of the day at Milton Keynes Village were somewhat more challenging; a ground floor ring with quite a long rope draft. Despite initial reservations of some, everyone was persuaded to ring and coped with this very well and we had some very good ringing, with youngsters Oscar (balanced on a pile of boxes) and Ollie both making a very good job of ringing the tenor behind to well-struck touches of doubles.
Most of the ringers who came said that they had enjoyed themselves. It was very good to have some of the Bedfordshire Young Ringers join us to gain some experience – and notch up their tower totals. They are now keen to know when the next outing will take place! And some of the older contingent even missed the ladies’ rugby semi-final game to come and ring with us!
A convivial evening at The Wheatsheaf at Bow Brickhill rounded off a successful day.
I would like to thank everyone who supported the event and especially Ann Steward who collected the tower fees and kept the register, and Simon Smith who organised the evening meal. Here’s to the next one!
Sarah Ward
Congratulations to everyone who achieved a First in February! Details of 40 performances at 17 towers are recorded on BellBoard, many of which contain more than one First!
Have a look at: https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/search.php?event=18225 for details of everything that was rung, including first unassisted rounds, ringing handbells and calling call changes by some of our Young Ringers (well done Joe, Sam, Declan, Oscar and Harry), first courses of various methods from Grandsire Doubles, Fairly Slow Treble Place Minor (!) to Swindon S Royal, first quarters inside and of Minor, Triples, Major and Caters, and first blows in (and QPs of) Lincolnshire and Cornwall S Major… and other things in between! Particular congratulations to the following, who rang the milestone achievement of their First Quarter Peal: Annette Brooks, Debbie Gilbey, Marc Kasfiner, Ann Steward, Ian Steward A total of 14 Quarter peals were rung, with 44 members taking part in at least one! Thank you to everyone who organised a First and supported those ringing something new. Lots of great achievements to build on during 2024! Well done to all!
Another very successful Summer School took place from 21-25 August, with 26 tutors/helpers, 10 towers and LOTS of really good progress made by 19 students. Well done to all of you! A very big thank you to all the tutors/helpers and to the towers visited for making it possible!
Ringing for the Coronation took place at 87% of Bedfordshire’s ringable towers with 3 or more bells.* That’s 73 out of a possible 84 towers … a fantastic total! In addition, 3 bells were chimed at Souldrop, an unringable tower. 430 ringers took part, including lots of new ringers. *As recorded on BellBoard
Thank you to everyone who took part, in particular for the co-operation between towers, to individuals who assisted at other towers and, of course, to Chris Williams for her hard work as co-ordinator.
Congratulations to the following “Double Coronation” ringers who rang for the Coronations of both King Charles III & Queen Elizabeth II, and thank you for the many years of service you have given to ringing in Bedfordshire:
A reminder that certificates can be downloaded from BellBoard. Copies of the special edition of the Ringing World, including a supplement containing all ringing for the Coronation listed by county, is available from The Ringing World https://www.ringingworld.co.uk/
References to this national appeal for new bellringers appeared in the media, including on Radio 4 and this article in The Times on Saturday 22 October:
Congratulations to everyone who rang a First in February, and thank you to all who organised ringing or supported others to achieve a First. These included:
First Quarter: Sue Chandler, Jane Edis (and second Quarter a few days later), Neil Goodwin, Angela Newberry, Simon Smith, Peter Williams, Peter Wright. First Quarter inside: Penelope Bellis, Andrew Wheeler, Karen Rogers (a few days early!), Karen Humphreys (and first Quarter as conductor a few days later), Glynda Easterbrook (first inside for 10 years). First Quarter for a long time: Simon Baxter (45 years), Marguerite Smith (31 years) First Quarters in a method: Tom Salkield (Grandsire Doubles),Terry Brown and Godfrey Foat (Ipswich S Minor), Stuart Cracknell and Susan Melvin (Single Oxford Minor), Angela Blackburn and Kristian White-Spunner (Lessness S Major) Plus … First on the new ringing room floor at Henlow! Details of these and other achievements recorded on BellBoard can be viewed here: https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/event.php?id=16155
What is an Open Striking Competition? …
Well done to the 11 students at last month’s Summer School, who all made lots of progress Plain Hunting on 5 and ringing Plain Bob Doubles! A huge thank you to the 18 helpers and to the 9 towers who allowed us the use of their bells for the sessions. As one participant said “Hard work but really worthwhile!”. Watch this space for details of future similar events! A full write up by John Loveless will appear in the Ringing World and on the BACBR website in due course.
A full report with pictures is here
If you attended our Christmas quiz and social evening last December you’ll know what a good evening it was! We’re holding another quiz on Friday 12 March, again by Zoom. Different teams for each round will be organised on the night so you can be sure to get to chat with friends old and new! Please email Linda Garton on backtoringing@bacbr.org.uk by 10 March.
https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/event.php?id=13552
Report by John Loveless here Ringing in Bedfordshire for Captain Sir Tom Moore
The funeral of Captain Sir Tom Moore was a private family service but the Bishop of Bedford asked whether the life of Captain Tom, who was of course a resident of Bedfordshire, could be marked by the ringing of bells in as many towers as possible across the county this coming Saturday, 27 February at 12 noon the suggestion is that ONE bell is tolled (or chimed) 100 times.
The sound of bells hasn’t been heard in Steppingley for over 30 years but St Lawrence’s existing 4 bells have been refurbished and re-tuned and 2 bells (generously given by the Keltek Trust) have been added to make a new ring of 6. The existing frame has been strengthened and a new section added to hang the 2 new bells. A sound management system has been installed. The bells should be be hung and ringable by mid February. The bells were blessed by the Bishop of Bedford at a service held on 10 February when the bells were on the floor of the church.
The project has been made possible thanks to a bequest by local historian and church man – Andrew Underwood. The Association BRF and the Biggleswade District Belfry Repair Fund also made generous contributions to the project, which has been carried out by TLB Services from Newark along with a stalwart band of volunteers.
One of the bells has been inscribed “Long may thy praises O Lord be rung on these bells of Steppingley” in accordance with Andrew Underwood’s bequest.
Photos by Russell Brown
A dozen or so ringing trainers keen to hear about new ideas or wanting to learn how to teach others, spent a very profitable day at the Ronald J Sharp Ringing Centre, Biggleswade, on Saturday February 1. The course, run by ART trainer, Lesley Boyle, from Cambridgeshire, focused on all aspects of learning to handle a bell. It considered the different ways in which people learn and how training can be tailored to different people.
The course broke down the various stages of ringing, raising and lowering a bell, hand strokes, backstrokes and joining it all up, we covered all these parts in detail. There was lots of practical work to improve skills. Some attendees had very limited teaching experience and some were experienced teachers, but everyone found the day very useful.
The day cost £20 and included some excellent books to take away. Time for another course those who missed out or think this could be good for them? Contact ART or secretary@bacbr.org.uk to register interest in a future course.
John Loveless
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The Association of Ringing Teachers will be running a course in Bedfordshire on Saturday February 1, 2020. This will be the Teaching Course, Module 1, and will be at the R J Sharp Ringing Centre, Biggleswade.
The course is suitable for those who already teach bell handling and want to update their skills AND for those who have never taught anyone to handle a bell.
The course is open to anyone – from Bedfordshire or anywhere else – who meets the above criteria (ie not just for Bedfordshire ringers) and the 10 places on the course are available on a first come, first served basis.
Full details are available on the ART website: https://events.bellringing.org/events/courses/teaching-course-module-1-st-andrews-biggleswade
Anyone requiring further details should contact Christine Williams christine.williams.bells@gmail.com
Please note all bookings need to be made directly with ART. We anticipate a lot of interest so please book NOW!
The following churches rang for this centenary – Ampthill, Arlesey, Barton le Clay, Biggleswade, Bromham, Clifton, Cranfield, Goldington, LKeysoe, Langford, Milton Ernest, Oakley, Odell, Renhold, Silsoe, Sutton and Westoning. There has been an article on the event in the Bedfordshire WI’s magazine with some pictures of ringers. Some towers have received donstions form their local WI.
On Tuesday 12th March 1819 three Henlow ringers were arrested for attempting to break into the church to ring the bells. They were drunk so the Vicar had refused to give them the key. They went to the church armed with a crow bar and a candle, and were arrested while making a pathetic attempt to break or burn the door down. After a few weeks in Bedford Prison they were acquitted of Riotous Assembly, probably because the Vicar didn’t want them to be hanged or sent to Australia.
On Saturday 4th May 2019 the much better behaved Henlow Ringers of today are holding a Ringers’ Razzle to raise money for St Mary’s Henlow.
There will be a selection of curries, non curry alternative, drinks and entertainment in Henlow Parish Hall starting at 7.30pm. The entertainment will be the Bedford Gallery Quire, singing period music, with a ringing theme provided by Sue Melvin, a member of the Quire. All Welcome.
Tickets cost £10 and are available from Philip – text 07905 829580 or email philiprrjewell@gmail.com
We have produced a simple certificate that towers can request to record the names of ringers who took part in any ringing on 11 November 2018 for the centenary of the Armistice. If you would like one for your tower please send ringers names and tower name to secretary@bacbr.org.uk
… click here: We Will Remember Them Update