Bell Ringers Spring Outing

Ringing Outings

On Saturday 18th May 2024, 45 ringers and friends from St Andrew’s enjoyed a coach trip to North Sussex and Surrey.

Our first stop was a drive of 1.5 hours to the town of East Grinstead. Here the ringers madea nice sound on all 12 bells whilst the non –ringers visited the museum next door dedicated to wartime plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe.

At our next stop, Balcombe, a lighter ring of 8 bells allowed some more advanced ringing in a pretty and recently restored church.

Our lunch stop at Warnham was a pub conveniently opposite the church in a picturesque setting.

Here the non-ringers had an extended lunch whilst listening to the recently augmented ring of 10.

In the afternoon we visited an anti-clockwise ring in Rudgwick before our final stop at Cranleigh; arguably the nicest sounding bells of the day.

For our dinner in Cranleigh we had a pub restaurant to ourselves with excellent food and service before our pleasant journey home.

A very successful and enjoyable day for all.

Bell Ringers outside Cranleigh Church

Bell Ringers’ Outing to Suffolk 2023

Ringing Outings,

On Saturday 16th September 2023, our coach of 47 bell ringers and friends left St Andrew’s for our autumn outing to Suffolk.

The day was organised by John Church helped by Jonathan Slack who learnt to ring in Suffolk as a child.

Our first stop was the pretty village of Boxford where we were welcomed with coffee and cake in the church. The bells here were heavy and quite difficult but we managed to ring Stedman, Cambridge and Rutland.

Our lunch stop was Hadleigh, another heavy ring of 8 bells with the tenor just over a ton. One of our ringers, James Riley, has family in Hadleigh and they were able to watch and listen to him ring the tenor to Grandsire Triples.

Following our excellent lunch, we travelled to Buxhall, a newly augmented ring of 8 bells; followed by Great Finborough, an easy going ring of 6 bells in a beautiful country setting.

Our final stop of the day was Stowmarket where we were provided with tea and cakes in the church café. We were privileged to be the first visiting band to ring on the improved and re-tuned bells which have just been augmented from 8 to 10. Jamie Slack was able to ring with his Granddad who rings in Suffolk and Carys Hayward rang Plain Hunt on 9 for the first time. The more experienced ringers rang Stedman Caters and Little Bob Royal.

Everyone enjoyed the day and our thanks go to John and Jonathan for all their hard work.

Carys Hayward at Hadleigh with Mum and sister

Experienced ringers at Stowmarket

Jamie Slack at Stowmarket with Father Jonathan (far right) and John Church (far left)

Bell Ringers’ Spring Coach Outing

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On Saturday 13th May 2023, 46 bell ringers and friends set off from St Andrew’s to visit 5 different churches in Hertfordshire.

Most of the churches had eight bells, not too heavy and fairly easy to ring. This gave our young ringers, Carys, Ellen & Jamie a good opportunity to ring well whilst the more experienced ringers could ring some difficult methods without having to worry about the bells.

We visited Great Stanmore and Aldenham before our buffet lunch at Bushey Heath. After lunch, the bells improved and the ringing became more enjoyable, especially at Bushey and Langleybury.

Bushey was home to a ringer called Bertram Prewett who rang in a record peal of 9 hours at Hornchurch in 1912. He sadly lost his life in the First World War, but we were able to see many peal boards at Bushey with his name on.

Our final stop at Langleybury gave people an opportunity to walk along the canal before our evening meal at a pub with Harry Potter connections.

An enjoyable day with some good ringing, excellent food, and great company.

Ringers old and young at Bushey Heath

Angela and friends at Bushey Heath

Non-ringing friends at Stanmore