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The last
time a new bell was ordered for our church was in 1723, when
the sum of three shillings was spent on consultations with
"Nabours who confermd the bargin to have the Bells rund",
writes Claire Johnson. The cost of the bell at that time was
£22.00 - of which the ringer and "Nabours" spent ten shillings,
most probably on beer!
There are currently five bells in the All Saints Tower (with
room for a total of eight), and for many years the ringers
have wanted to add a sixth. The advent of the new millennium
gave a focus to achieving this aim, and the new bell is currently
being cast by a firm in Holland. The total cost of having
the bell cast, tuned, delivered and installed is £7,900, but
using local skilled labour - which has been offered free of
charge - should save some £700.
The existing bells will all have to be brought down before
the new one can be installed. This will be a superb, once
in a lifetime, opportunity to see all our ancient bells together
and we will let you know when this is to take place. We hope
to have all the bells back in place during the year 2001 so
that we can properly celebrate the beginning of the 21st century.
We
still need another £4000.00 to pay for the casting and installation
of the new bell for the millennium, and have several fund
raising ideas in mind.
As a result of the recent sponsored quarter peal ring of Bob
doubles and Grandsire, we are now £300.00 closer our target
thanks to our generous sponsors. Patrick Biggs the treble
to his first quarter and Kate Handy rang inside on the second
bell. This was Kate's first attempt at quarter peal ringing
on this bell. The quarter peal involves one thousand, two
hundred and sixty changes.
Have
you ever thought of coming to join the bellringers, instead
of sitting at home and enjoying the sound? We always welcome
new ringers, regardless of age and experience: at the moment,
one of our number is just seven years old, and the age range
goes right up to 84! We practise every other Wednesday evening;
next time you hear the bells, let them draw you along to the
church to find out more.
From an article in the
Lubenham Newsletter January 2001
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