Roger Ian Kendrick 21 June 1946 – 24 January 2023
September 21, 2024 6:35 pm | by Terry Brown | Posted in Tributes
Roger came from Leicestershire and learnt to ring at Barrow on Soar. His first peal was on 12th June 1962 at Wanlip ringing the treble to Plain Bob Minor, with his last at Hughenden in July 2011. In all he rang 387 peals, 11 of which were in hand. Only about 50 were rung after 1981 by which time he had moved to Bedfordshire. He rang peals on all numbers, Doubles and Minor early on up to Londinium and Newgate, top of the range on 12 at the time. He was also in the first of peal on 13 tower bells, Stedman 13 at St Margaret’s Leicester. Of his peals, most (143) were rung for the Leicester D.G. as well as various other associations and societies including the S.R.C.Y., to which he was elected in the early 1970’s.
His leading tower for peals was Loughborough Bell Foundry – as a lad he also worked for Taylors during holidays, much encouraged by Paul Taylor, acquiring knowledge and skills he used later on many bell hanging projects. He worked for Fisons, initially at Loughborough, and subsequent work moves took him to Cambridge and Bedfordshire. At Cambridge he met Sylvia Mitchell, a student at Cambridge University and they later married. Their children learnt to ring and two of them still do. On moving to Cambridge Roger rang at Trumpington and was ringing master there from 1976-1980. It was interesting to note a peal in his memory at Trumpington, on 22nd April 2023, included one of his pupils. Trumpington at this time was THE place to ring in Cambridge, mixing town and gown. Ringing at the Catholic church was strictly limited and the Great St Mary’s band only developed a few years later.
The family moved to Bedfordshire in the early 1980s and soon got involved with installing a new 3cwt Whitechapel six at Whipsnade. He stayed at Whipsnade and was well known for organising the Whipsnade tower camping holiday for many years, perhaps an effect of his involvement in the Scouting Movement. He would invite others to join them for the August bank holiday weekend, with tower outings at some local towers and as a way to break up the journey on the way home. It was not unknown for a football style ‘yellow card’ to be shown if you made a mistake during ringing. He spent a lot of time teaching new ringers and helping out in the benefice of Kensworth, Studham and Whipsnade. Roger was still regularly ringing at Whipsnade with his wife and children until his death.
During the early 1980s there were a number of local bell restoration projects. Following on from Whipsnade, both Roger and Sylia assisted with the restoration of the 23cwt eight at Dunstable in 1982/83, the augmentation of Luton to 12 and work at Leighton Buzzard. In 1993 Studham bells were augmented to six and Roger was heavily involved in this project, from knocking on doors raising money to installing the bells on their return from Taylors. Roger retired some years ago but Sylvia reckons he spent a lot of his retirement planning bell jobs while she was out at work!
Roger was a member of the Bedfordshire Association from 1980 to 2022 being listed under Whipsnade from 1981. He rang a total of 9 peals for the Association and conducted 2 of them, one of which being the first peal at Whipsnade in May 1981. Roger was a supporter of the Association and the Luton District, being on the District Committee in 1981 and 1982 and then being the Luton District BRF Accounts Examiner from 1991 until 2009 and District Accounts Examiner from 2010 to 2012. With Roger’s interest and knowledge in bells & fittings it was natural for him to be the Technical Advisor to the Bedfordshire Association, a role he did from 2008 until 2016.
Roger’s sudden and untimely death on 24th January 2023 was a shock to all who knew him. His funeral at Whipsnade church was very well attended, with both local people and people who knew him coming from further afield to fill the church. The bells of Whipsnade were rung before and after the service. We extend our condolences to Sylvia and family in their loss.
Angela Blackburn