Bell Ringers Spring Outing to Kent

Ringing Outings

On Saturday 23rd May 2026, the weather had turned warm and sunny as 50 bell ringers and friends left St Andrew’s by coach for nearby Kent.

It took about 1 hour to reach Farnborough, our first destination. Non-ringers could enjoy coffee in the quiet village or a walk in the fields behind the church. A light ring of eight bells tested the ringers handling skills but we all coped well with Ellen and Jamie ringing a course of Grandsire Triples together.

Our next stop was Shoreham, the first of three villages along the Darenth Valley. The roads became too narrow for the coach and a short walk to the church across a farmer’s field was necessary. Coffee was gratefully received inside the church and the ground-floor ring allowed us to socialise whilst ringing the bells. Jonathan organised the ringing well and our newer ringers Kim, Val, Angela. Jane & Connor rang well, commenting that they were probably the easiest going bells of the day.

Next was lunch in the pretty village of Eynsford. Tina & Bill found a seat next to the River Darenth where children splashed and played in the sunshine. Others enjoyed a picnic inside the remains of Eynsford Castle which was free to access. The photos show Angela & friends and Val & Kim with partners inside the castle ruins.

After lunch, Marianne organised some good ringing which included Erin Triples and Spliced Surprise Major.

Our afternoon stop was a short drive to Chelsfield, another quiet spot with the church separate from the village. Another nice ring of 8 bells saw James and Carys ring three leads of Kent Major whilst Michelle completed Double Norwich for the first time. We finished with another good attempt at Spliced Surprise Major well conducted by Tony B.

For our final stop we drove back into the Darenth Valley to the pretty village of Farningham where we enjoyed a pleasant ring on the six bells before dinner at the Lion Hotel by the side of the river. A lovely end to an enjoyable day before our short journey home with no queues at the Dartford Crossing!!

Tina, Bill, Clive & Michelle by the river
Angela & friends in the castle grounds
Val & Kim and partners in the castle ruins

Bell Ringers Birthday Peal

Peals, Uncategorized

One of our bell ringers, Michelle Stephenson, recently celebrated her 50th birthday on 9th January 2026.

At this time we also realised that she was just about ready to attempt her first peal.

Although apprehensive about ringing continuously for three hours, Michelle agreed to give it a go as it was an opportunity not to be missed. So, on 8th February 2026, a full peal on the ten bells of St Andrew’s was successfully completed to celebrate Michelle’s 50th.

Very well done Michelle and thanks to all who took part in this occasion.

Full details are shown below with a photograph of the band.

Essex Association

Hornchurch, Essex

St Andrew

Sunday, 8 February 2026 in 3h 20min

5039 Grandsire Caters

Composed by George F Williams

1 Michelle A Stephenson

2 Helen J Carter

3 Clara M Waller

4 Marianne R Hayward

5 Lucas J Owen

6 John M Church

7 William J Stungo

8 Roderic K Bickerton

9 Clive J Stephenson (C)

10 James P Riley

Rung to celebrate the recent 50th birthday of Michelle Stephenson and 70th birthday of Andrew Barham.

First peal – 1.

First Grandsire – 3.

SOUND THE BELLS! DISCOVER A 400-YEAR TRADITION IN ESSEX & EAST LONDON

Essex Association

This Heritage Week, the Essex Association of Change Ringers (EACR) is pulling back the curtain on a hidden, 400-year-old tradition right on your doorstep.

Church towers across Essex and East London are throwing open their doors for a series of special community recruitment events, inviting the public to step inside the ringing chamber and discover the living art of change ringing.

What to Expect at Your Local Open Day:

Step Inside History: Explore traditional ringing chambers, view historic peal boards, and discover the fascinating stories and centuries of history behind your local church’s bells.

Live Demonstrations: See local community bands in action and watch the incredible coordination, technique, and timing it takes to control these massive instruments.

Meet the Band: Chat with everyday people from your neighbourhood who share a passion for this extraordinary, uniquely British art form.

Your New Hobby Awaits!

You don’t need to be musical, mathematically minded, or physically strong to learn. Bell ringing relies entirely on technique, timing, and rhythm, offering a unique, low-impact physical activity and a sharp mental puzzle that serves as a workout for your brain. It is a warm, inclusive fellowship open to everyone from ages 9 to 80+.

Come make some noise, connect with your community, and find out how we pass this historic skill from generation to generation.

Find your nearest participating tower, dates, and times by visiting www.eacr.org.uk.

Details for Hornchurch:

SUNDAY 20th SEPTEMBER, 11.30am – 2.00pm

Event Contact: Clive STEPHENSON, 07896 342010

Bell Ringers’ Dinner 2025

Ringing Outings

On Saturday 8th November, the bell ringers were joined by Revd Ken Wylie for our annual dinner at Marygreen Manor in Brentwood.

There were 40 bell ringers and friends in total and we were fortunate enough to have a room to ourselves for pre-dinner drinks and then the restaurant to ourselves for the main event.

Clive started by welcoming everyone, especially Ken and then we thought about ringers who couldn’t be with us due to ill-health; Ray Rogers and George Hull are currently being cared for in nursing homes.

Ken remembered them in our prayers as well as the family of Roger Butt who recently passed away. Roger and his wife Anita regularly supported our outings and dinners over a period of at least 30 years.

Our dinner followed with excellent service and people commented on how much they had enjoyed their meals and the company of friends.

We will return next year!

The dinner in full swing

Bell Ringers Win Call Change Competition

Competitions, Ringing Outings

On Saturday 27th September, St Andrew’s bell ringers took part in the District Call Change Competition at Walthamstow, St Saviours.

This is an annual event where teams ring for five to eight minutes and are judged on the accuracy of their striking.

There were 5 bands taking part this year. Our team of six rang very well and accrued a low score of 53 faults for our competition piece.

This was good enough to win the competition for the fourth consecutive year!

Congratulations to our winning team shown in the photo below. Those taking part were Clive, Michelle, Marianne (absent in photo), Charles, Ethan & Mark.

The other photo shows Mark Lendon receiving the trophy from the judges.

Bell Ringers’ September Coach Outing

Ringing Outings

The bell ringers’ autumn coach outing took 40 of us to Hertfordshire for the morning and Bedfordshire for the afternoon.

We started in Stevenage, the first of England’s ‘New Towns’ with the church a long way from the town centre. The church had excellent facilities and we were provided with refreshments throughout our visit. The bells here were easy to ring and everyone rang well from Call Changes to Bristol Major.

Our next stop in Baldock coincided with the annual ‘Balstock’ street festival to entertain our non-ringing friends. Here the bells were heavy and more difficult but our young ringers Charles, James Dunhill and James Riley enjoyed the challenge of the tenor to Grandsire Triples and Stedman Triples.

Our lunch venue in Henlow was opposite the church and aptly named ‘The Five Bells’; non-ringers could take their time whilst the ringers went off to ring.

At Clifton we enjoyed another pleasant and easy-going set of bells before our final stop in the market town of Biggleswade. These are a lovely ring of ten bells where we were able to ring Stedman Caters and Little Bob Royal.

Our younger ringers were able to ring well here with Jamie Slack ringing the treble to Bob Caters and Ellen Hayward the treble to Grandsire Caters; both for the first time. The photos below show both Jamie and Ellen outside the church at Henlow along with their parents and other ringers.

Our thanks must go to organisers John Church and Jonathan Slack for a well-planned day with excellent food, ringing and company from our members and friends.

Bells Rung for VJ Day 80th Anniversary

Commemorations, Quarter Peals

80 years ago, Victory Over Japan (VJ) Day marked the surrender of Japanese forces, which essentially ended the Second World War.

On Friday 15th August 2025, the 80th anniversary of VJ Day was commemorated at St Andrew’s with a special ringing of the bells at 6.30pm.

This was part of a national event with bell ringers across the country ringing together at the same time.

We had 10 ringers taking part and one piece of ringing is listed below:

Hornchurch, Essex

St Andrew

Friday, 15 August 2025

Rounds and Call Changes on 10

Roller-coaster

1 Michelle Stephenson (C)

2 Valerie Swain

3 Angela Harvey

4 Adam Carpenter

5 Charles Page

6 Kim Mullan

7 Clive Stephenson

8 James Riley

9 Gavin Carpenter

10 Mark Lendon

Rung to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day.

Earlier in the day, a quarter peal was also rung to mark the occasion:

Hornchurch, Essex

St Andrew

Friday, 15 August 2025

1260 Plain Bob Minor

1 James P Riley

2 John M Church

3 Carys E Hayward

4 Helen J Carter

5 Marianne R Hayward

6 Clive J Stephenson (C)

Rung to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day.

The photo shows the ringers taking part in the quarter peal.

Image of six ringers outside the entrance to St Andrew's Church

Hornchurch Bell Ringers Finish 3rd

Competitions, Essex Association,

On Saturday 12th July, St Andrew’s bell ringers took part in the Essex Association striking competition finals at Sandon, near Chelmsford.

There were ten teams from all over Essex taking part and the standard of ringing was very high as it is every year.

Each team rang 240 changes of their chosen method which took about seven minutes. We were the first to ring and were pleased with our performance containing very few errors. The judges commented later that we ‘made a confident start’ and ‘set the tone for the day.’

We were delighted to finish in third place which is our best achievement in this event for about 30 years.

Our relatively inexperienced team rang as follows:

Marianne Hayward – Treble

Carys Hayward  – 2

Michelle Stephenson – 3

Nick Allen – 4

Clive Stephenson – 5

Mark Lendon – Tenor

Congratulations to all our ringers especially Carys Hayward who took part in this competition for the very first time, aged 15.

The photograph below shows our ringers in the order they rang.

Image of the six ringers outside the church.

Bell Ringing for the 80th Anniversary of VE Day

Commemorations, Peals, Quarter Peals, ,

Thursday 8th May 2025 was the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (VE Day). Hitler had already committed suicide and the German forces surrendered on 7th May 1945 after nearly six years of war. This led to peace in Europe and many people took to the streets to erect British flags and light bonfires. Winston Churchill declared 8th May 1945 a national holiday. Many hosted street parties and a crowd of 100,000 people gathered outside Buckingham Palace and The Mall.

During the war, bell ringing was banned from June 1940, with bells only to be rung in the event of a German invasion. Churchill did however authorise ringing after the El Alamein victory in 1942 and it was allowed on Christmas Day that year. The ban was lifted in 1943 and there were enough bell ringers to ring on VE Day 1945.This tradition has continued over the years with all major milestones celebrated with the ringing of bells. The 80th anniversary, however, was the last major milestone where a number of WW2 veterans were still alive to share their memories. This gave significant importance to the occasion and at St Andrew’s we joined other ringers around the country to ring the bells on 8th May 2025 at 6.30pm.

The photograph shows the bell ringers that took part in the national event.

The occasion was also marked with a quarter peal on 8th May and a full three-hour peal on 9th May, both shown below:

Hornchurch, Essex

St Andrew

Thursday, 8 May 2025

1260 Plain Bob Doubles

1 James P Riley

2 Dennis Ellisdon

3 Alwyn Brock

4 John M Church

5 Clive J Stephenson (C)

6 Mark E Lendon

Rung to mark the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, clearly remembered by Dennis Ellisdon who was a young boy at the time.

Essex Association

Hornchurch, Essex

St Andrew

Friday, 9 May 2025 in 3h 10 (18–0–0 in E♭)

5040 Plain Bob Royal

Composed by David Heighton

1 Jon Waters

2 Helen J Carter

3 William J Stungo

4 Elle G Buttery

5 Roderic K Bickerton

6 M Louise Booth

7 Andrew P Barham

8 Hugo L Tracey

9 Lucas J Owen

10 Clive J Stephenson (C)

Rung to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of VE Day.

First Royal – 4.

First Royal in the method and 35th peal – 8.

Bell Ringers’ Spring Outing to Surrey

Ringing Outings,

On Saturday 3rd May, the sun was shining as our full coach of 51 ringers and friends left St Andrew’s for our journey to Surrey.

It took just over an hour to reach our first stop in Ashtead, an unspoilt town with plenty of interest for non-ringers. The 8 bells here were enjoyable to ring and well managed by our young ringers, Ellen & Jamie, as they did throughout the day. They rang well to Call Changes as did John & Michelle to Cambridge Major.

Our next church in Leatherhead had 10 bells in an attractive setting overlooking the downs.

Here it was Carys’ & James’ turn to ring well to a course of Bob Caters.

Our lunch stop in Thames Ditton was an old historical pub once used by King Henry VIII on his journey to Hampton Court Palace. We enjoyed our lunch in the sunshine on the banks of the River Thames.

After lunch we rang in the busy town of Esher close to Sandown racecourse before moving on to the 8 bells of Epsom Common. The church here is surrounded by woodland and Marianne & Paul rang some well-struck Superlative Major.

Our final stop in Epsom town centre had 10 bells and Tony organised some successful Stedman Caters for Alex, Jan & Michelle, all ringing it for the first time.

It was then a short drive for our evening meal at a venue overlooking Epsom racecourse and downs before our journey home after a full and successful day.

Lunch by the Thames
Ringers outside Leatherhead church