Robert (Bob) Randolph Churchill 26 March 1926 – 25 October 2023
January 28, 2024 2:46 pm | by Terry Brown | Posted in Tributes
Robert Randolph (Bob) Churchill of Eversholt, Bedfordshire, passed away peacefully at Orchard Lodge nursing home Tilsworth at the age of 97. He was a former Vice President and Honorary Life member of the Bedfordshire Association; also, the oldest and one of its longest serving members. He continued to drive and remained an active ringer until late 2022 when his health began to decline. Following a short spell in the Luton and Dunstable Hospital and a care home in Houghton Regis, he returned home for a further six months, lovingly cared for by his wife Elizabeth. It is a reflection of Bob’s resourceful and resolute nature that, during a subsequent extended spell in the L&D, he decided he had been there for long enough and went missing; subsequently found heading for the bus stop on his way back home to Eversholt!
Bob was born at Betchworth Heath near Rickmansworth, the third of eleven children to his parents Robert and Freda. He is survived by just one of his younger sisters, Margery, now living in Florida USA. His grandfather owned the Grove Dairy Farm where his father was also employed until the mid-1930s, when the family moved to Hooley Farm Woods, near Coulsdon Surrey. A few years later, in 1940, Bob’s mother died at a young age, and this subsequently led to a somewhat difficult relationship with his father. Bob, then aged 14 and having left school, was evacuated to South Leigh, Oxfordshire. Farm work was a reserved occupation, resulting in his exemption from National Service, and so it was that he learned to ring. In Bob’s own words, taken from his contribution to Stan Scott’s book:
“Being an evacuee from South London I was living in lodgings and working on a farm in South Leigh Oxfordshire when the ban on ringing was lifted in 1943. Together with two other lads, Jack Lee and Alan Cornish, I was asked to have a go at ringing as new recruits were needed. After the usual sessions learning to handle a bell and rounds and call changes, we progressed to Grandsire Doubles. I seem to remember being a bit slower making the change from treble ringing to inside than the others. Being war time and having no other form of transport, we used to cycle to other towers in the area on their practice nights. Stanton Harcourt, Eynsham, Cassington and Witney, and also some Sunday evenings into Oxford to ring for evensong at St Aldates – 11 miles. This went on until January 1945 when a change of job took me to Bedfordshire where I married and settled, and carried on ringing, having spent many happy hours and made many good friends.”
Bob thus qualified for membership of the 43rs group that he joined in 1993 and actively supported, enjoying many outings quarter peals and other events.
On moving to Bedfordshire, Bob found employment at Church Farm Husborne Crawley, lodging in a tied cottage on Turnpike Road. It was conveniently next door to The Bull and his landlord, Frank Woods, a bricklayer on the Woburn estate, had two daughters to choose from! Bob settled on Mary who became his first wife; they were married at Husborne Crawley on 3rd March 1948, and he went into business with his brother-in-law Doug, delivering milk to the villages of Eversholt, Milton Bryan, Tingrith, and Woburn, bordering the Duke of Bedford’s estate. Starting in the early morning, they had generally finished the rounds by lunch time and so the pair of them took secondary afternoon employment as pall bearers with Fenemore, a funeral director in Aspley Guise. This provided the source for a number of amusing stories; the chapel of rest at Fenny Stratford reputed to be a converted public toilet! In 1986 and after 16 years, the onset of angina resulted in Bob’s premature retirement and he sold the milk round to a business in Lidlington. As a result, it transferred to one of my cousin’s children by the name of Les Creamer; Bob considering this to be appropriate qualification for the job!
Bob and Mary bought a caravan and spent the next few years touring the country with Bob enjoying ringing at as many towers as possible along the way. Sadly, in 1990 their adventures came to a premature end when Mary suddenly passed away. A year or so later, Bob embarked on his first visit abroad; a ringing tour of the USA travelling by coach along the East Coast from Boston to Miami. While in Philadelphia, he was rushed into hospital and underwent an emergency gallstone operation. He was discharged four days later, and not to be deterred, he flew to Jacksonville to complete the tour. He was most disappointed not to be able to ring at the remaining towers!
On arriving in Husborne Crawley Bob had joined the local band there, describing himself as “quite a green ringer” at that time. The band included Edmund Hobbs, one of the most capable and prolific of the inter-war generation of Bedfordshire ringers who had conducted the first peal of London Major in the county at Woburn in 1927. In such company, Bob made steady progress, joining the Bedfordshire Association in 1949 and becoming Tower Captain in 1959. From that time onwards he taught a very significant number of people to ring. A picture hanging on the wall at Husborne Crawley taken in 1963 shows him surrounded by a group of ‘his girls’ who formed the core of the local band until they all married and moved away. Amongst Bob’s subsequent recruits, and surely his most successful, was a young Mark Regan, who he taught to handle a bell and encouraged through his early ringing exploits. Mark writes:
“Bob Churchill was a special influence in my life as a young wildly enthusiastic teenage bellringer.
Along with Jim Yates at Ampthill, Bob taught me how to ring at Husborne Crawley. I would cycle from home every Sunday and being very keen I was always early. Bob was always early too, and in the time before we started to ring, he told me a lot of stories, especially about Husborne Crawley. I had attended Husborne Crawley Primary School and learning about the history of the green tower on the hill was special.
One of the fun things on Sunday mornings was the arrival of Anthea Budget, one of the village’s characters. The trap door to the ringing room would open and an enormous colourful hat (bigger than the space available) would rise up and then flop down. Miss Budget always rang wearing her Sunday hat. We would all smile every time she arrived, it was wonderful fun, and pure P G Woodhouse.
Bob was an integral part of daily life in Husborne Crawley and the neighbouring villages. He was their milkman for many years. Bob was one of life’s givers, putting others first. He was always teaching new ringers, attending practice nights; and Sunday ringing was most important. Yet he was an enormously talented and reliable striker of a bell, and method ringer.
His modest total of 56 peals, included 26 at Husborne Crawley, probably mostly rung on the sixth bell, peals of Surprise Royal at Bedford, and more recently, two peals in the USA. Ringers sometimes measure others by their peal total. Bob is an example of why this is wrong. He was a wonderful teacher and mentor.
Bob was kind and generous. I am enormously grateful for his encouragement and for sharing his gentle wisdom. The last time we met, not that long ago, he was as bright, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic as the first time we met in 1970.”
As Mark says, although Bob was not a prolific peal ringer this is no reflection of his considerable capabilities. His leading method was London S Major (9) and many of his fellow peal ringers had exacting standards. They included Stephen Ivin (26), Keith Fleming (19), Ron Sharp (18), Roger Baldwin & Anthony Smith (14) and Alf Rushton & Kath Baldwin (12). Anthony Smith recounts the story of a peal of Wordsworth S Major at Husborne Crawley one night.
“Bob found an envelope on which Steve had previously scribbled the blue line. Just before we pulled off, he remarked that he thought the thirds and up would be a bit tricky. This puzzled the rest of us who had learnt a method with 6ths and in! Just a few moments thought and he rang it without any problem. He always considered this to be a tale against him whereas it really shows what a competent ringer he was”.
Bob rang 40 of his peals for the Bedfordshire Association, 26 of these at Husborne Crawley that under his stewardship became a popular peal venue, especially during the late 60s/early 70s. Bob’s first peal was Plain Bob Minor on the back six at Husborne Crawley (22/7/1957), conducted by J Michael Stephens. His last was at Sullivans Island, Charleston, S Carolina (22/2/2010) Cambridge S Major conducted by Roger Baldwin. He conducted just one peal, Plain Bob Major at Husborne Crawley (27/1/65), rung for the death of Sir Winston Churchill that included two of his learners ringing their first peal.
Bob was more active when it came to ringing quarter peals. Unfortunately, he didn’t keep records but Bell Board lists 365 that he rang between October 1980 until his last in April 2016. He was a regular member of the Woburn Thursday night band, ringing 265 there during that period. He also rang a number of QPs with local bands and with the Chiltern Midweek Group that he joined in 1994, and the Zipper Society that he joined in 2001 having qualified for membership the previous year with a quadruple heart bypass operation!
Amongst the aforementioned ‘girls’ that Bob taught at Husborne Crawley in the early 60s was a 13-year-old Elizabeth Cotchin. Many years later, along with another of Bob’s early recruits, she returned to ringing. This time, she stayed, and a few years later she became Bob’s second wife when on 28 May 1994, they married at Husborne Crawley. As Bob commented, “I wasn’t going to let her get away a second time”!
It was to be the start of a ringing renaissance for both of them. They regularly supported meetings and social events of all three districts of the Bedfordshire Association in addition to practices most evenings, and outings with the Chiltern and Northampton mid-week groups, the 43ers and the Zipper Society. They also enjoyed a number of overseas ringing and family visits to Honolulu (1995), Toronto (2005), Australia, South Africa, and several to the USA (1995, 2007 and 2010) during which Bob rang a number of peals and quarters. Bob and Elizabeth were especially helpful with the Bedfordshire Young Ringers, regularly attending their practices and travelling to support them at the final on several occasions.
Dean De-Matteis, a former member of the Bedfordshire Young Ringers team that won the RW National Youth Competition several times, was one of the many young ringers who Bob encouraged. He appended the following tribute to a QP rung in memory of Bob at Maulden on 18 November.
“I first met Bob at Husborne Crawley almost 10 years ago, when I turned up as an eager youngster who could just about handle a bell on my own. Being old school, Bob chucked me in at the deep end with bell ringing jargon, and learning methods, but it is an environment I thrived in, and thoroughly enjoyed. A few years later, Bob introduced me to the bells of Eversholt. A heavy 6, that were incredibly hard going, with their 100-year-old egg-shaped ball bearings, and similar shaped wheels to match. These bells were in my opinion, the bells closest to Bob’s heart. Most of his later life was dedicated to getting them restored, with fundraising that included bike rides, and selling his poetry books (volumes 3 and 4). Once restored, Bob was in his 90s. However, this didn’t stop him training up a new band of ringers – incredible. Throughout his life, Bob likely taught countless people how to ring. I was lucky to be one of them, and he certainly made me the ringer I am today. Thankyou Bob”.
At the annual Biggleswade District dinner organised by Sheila and Alan Smith, Bob’s ode, specially composed for the occasion, was a much anticipated and enjoyed part of the entertainment – Bob carving himself a role as the local stand-in for Pam Ayres! Beyond ringing, Bob was a keen cyclist, touring the neighbouring villages and regularly participating in the Beds and Herts Historic Churches Trust sponsored cycle ride each September.
By about 2010 Bob’s activities had become temporarily restricted by arthritis necessitating the need for a couple of replacement knee joints, that he duly received. This, additional to the operations some years earlier along with the cautionary advice of his doctor would have caused many ringers to slow down, reduce their commitment, and take life a little easier; but that was not in Bob’s nature. He clearly wasn’t considered to be a good insurance risk, so undertook the latter of his overseas trips without any! There was no stopping him! In 2016 a large gathering of his family, villagers, and many ringing friends, joined in celebrating his 90th birthday at Eversholt village hall; an event that was greatly enjoyed.
Following the operation Bob continued to drive and attend ringing meetings and practices much as before, although following the covid pandemic, at a somewhat more restricted and leisurely pace, until a year or so before he died.
Bob served as Tower Captain at Husborne Crawley for over 60 years. He also served as Churchwarden for much of that time. The Revd. Richard Huband a former Vicar (subsequently at Elstow) was very appreciative of the support and help that Bob freely and readily gave to him. Amongst his tireless work for the Church, Bob (locally referred to as “Mr Fix It”) was responsible for having the poorly toned 5th and cracked 7th bells recast in 1977 and (with the assistance of Roy Ward) eliminating the awkward ladder access to the ringing chamber by creating an opening from the spiral staircase; the grill in the new door being part of a redundant heating grill from nearby Milton Bryan church!
After moving from Station Road Ridgemont to Eversholt in 1994 Bob became Tower Captain there too! Here he initiated and made a significant financial contribution towards a project in 2018 to have the rather challenging bells rehung; also, the welding of the 3rd bell that cracked shortly afterwards. His remaining unfulfilled ambition was to have the 3 bells at Milton Bryan restored and augmented to 6. One day perhaps!
Bob’s funeral took place at Husborne Crawley on a rather wet Wednesday 8th November, when parishioners, ringers and friends, filled the church to capacity; a reflection of the very high regard in which he was held. The bells were rung half-muffled before and after the service as Bob was interred in the Churchyard, the rain holding off and the sun appearing just at the right time.
There followed a wake at Eversholt village hall, with wonderfully prepared refreshments, where fond memories were shared and stories told; the kind of occasion that I am sure he would have enjoyed. RIP
Acknowledgements: My thanks to Elizabeth Churchill, Anthony Smith, Mark Regan and Dean De-Matteis who I have cited. Also, to Ann Fletcher and Chris Pickford for their help with Bob’s family history and details from the 43ers book. Last but not least to Bob himself, who wrote a short life history for his funeral service.
Stephen Stanford
Bob with ‘his girls’ at Husborne Crawley in 1963
