Bell Ringers Coach Outing to Bedford

On Saturday 14^th September 2019, the sun shone as 50 bell ringers and friends departed for our autumn coach outing to the Bedford area.

At our first stop, Toddington, we joined the local coffee morning before ringing their bells to the tunes of Stedman Triples and Yorkshire Major.

Moving on to Husborne Crawley, the bells were again quite heavy and the high ceiling made them challenging to ring. Courses of Bob Major and Grandsire Triples were successfully achieved.

Our buffet lunch at Bromham Water Mill was gratefully received and non-ringers had extended time to eat and drink whilst the ringers went off to perform at nearby Biddenham. The tower at Biddenham was accessed by climbing an outside staircase over part of the church roof (see photo below.)

At Bedford (St Paul’s) we had the opportunity to ring on a musical set of 12 bells and managed to sound Call Changes on 12 and Plain Hunt on 11. Inside the church, non-ringers visited the Wesley Pulpit where John Wesley preached the Assize Sermon in 1758 on the theme ‘We shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ’

Our final ring at Cardington was on a heavy but musical set of 8 bells and we enjoyed some of our best ringing of the day. This was followed by a carvery dinner and our return to Hornchurch.

Our thanks go to John Church for such a well organised and enjoyable day!

Bell Ringer Award for Hayden on Promotion Sunday

On Promotion Sunday, young bell ringer Hayden Musham received an award for ringing his first quarter peal during the past year.

Hayden learnt to ring at the start of 2017, rang his first quarter peal in 2018 and has now rung a total of 5 quarter peals; 4 at St Andrew’s and one at North Ockendon. A quarter peal involves about 45 minutes of continuous ringing.

The prize received was a ringing record book and a book containing diagrams of the whole range of bell ringing patterns or methods.

The photograph shows Hayden receiving his prize from Ken Wylie together with Clive Stephenson.

Young Bell Ringers Finish 3rd in National Competition

On Saturday July 6^th 2019, 24 teams of young bell ringers from all over the country descended on Liverpool to test their bell ringing skills in the annual National Youth Striking Contest.

Local young ringers from Hornchurch and North Ockendon were part of an Essex team of 8 ringers that were drawn to ring at St Francis Xavier, a Roman Catholic church in Everton, Liverpool. The church has 8 bells with a tenor of 16cwt or ¾ ton. (See picture below)

The Essex team consisted of 2 girls and 6 boys with William Beech (North Ockendon) ringing the 4^th bell, Ethan Musham (Hornchurch) ringing the 6^th and Sam Beech (North Ockendon) ringing the 7^th and conducting the changes.

Each team had 15 minutes in the tower; 6 minutes were used to practise (and make adjustments) and then the competition piece of 160 changes followed.

Sam called the bells to swap places with each other (Call Changes) so that the musical combinations of Queens and Whittingtons were achieved, with the bells starting and finishing in rounds. This took about 7-8 minutes.

The accuracy and evenness of the ringing was judged from outside the tower and each team was awarded a score.

The Essex team rang extremely well finishing in an amazing 3^rd place out of the 17 teams in the Call Change Category.

Many congratulations to everyone who took part!

Following the competition, each team had the opportunity to ring at churches in and around Liverpool including Penny Lane (8 bells), Pier Head (12 bells; tenor 41cwt or 2 ton) and Liverpool Cathedral (12 bells; tenor 82cwt or 4 ton). The tenor at Liverpool Cathedral is so heavy that 2 people are needed to ring the bell at any one time!

The photo shows Sam and Ethan ringing the 5^th and 7^th respectively at Liverpool Cathedral.

Sponsored Ringing for The Tom Wilson Memorial Fund Charity

On Tuesday 25^th June 2019, the bells at St Andrew’s, Hornchurch were rung in memory of Thomas Wilson to raise money for his charity which supports raising awareness of Organ Donation.

Tom Wilson died, aged 22, from an accident whilst hockey training in 2016. Following the accident, Tom’s internal organs and tissues were transplanted for the benefit of others.

A local lad who attended Coopers’ Company and Coborn School, Tom was the son of Lisa, a new bell ringer recruited for the Ringing Remembers campaign.

Fellow bell ringers decided to dedicate the ringing on 25^th June to Tom on what would have been his 26^th birthday.

The bells were rung continuously for 2 hours with as many people taking part as possible. The bell ropes were swapped from person to person in the form of a relay so that the bells were kept ringing for the whole time.

Everyone who took part made a contribution to the Tom Wilson Memorial Charity raising a total of £588.52 for the fund.

This is a very impressive amount and our thanks go to everyone who took part, supported and gave money. A special thanks to Jeanette and Doreen for organising the refreshments.

Bell Ringers Spring Outing 2019

Just after 7.30am on Saturday 27^th April, a coach full of 57 bell ringers and friends left St Andrew’s for Suffolk.

Our first stop was the market town of Halesworth with it’s antique shops and old-fashioned coffee shops. The bells here were heavy and quite challenging but a nice piece of Superlative Major was rung.

The next stop was Bungay, a redundant church in the middle of town with a magnificent tower that can be seen from miles around. Some successful ringing of Grandsire Triples and Lincolnshire Major was achieved.

Our buffet lunch was well received before our stop at Beccles with it’s detached tower and splendid views over the Waveney Valley. The 10 bells here were the heaviest and most musical of the day. We rang well with Hayden and Jane successfully ringing Plain Hunt on 9.

Our final stop at Lowestoft were an easy-going set of 8 bells rung from the ground floor. Eileen, Angela and Val all rang well with Val ringing the 6^th of the 8 to rounds and Hayden ringing the tenor well to Plain Bob Triples.

The day concluded with a well-earned dinner in the local pub and back to Hornchurch, tired but happy after our very enjoyable day out.

Photo 1: Val & Eileen at Halesworth

Photo 2: Bell Ringers at Bungay

Quarter Peal Success for Joseph

On Sunday 27^th January 2019, young bell ringer Joseph Hurley rang continuously for 45 minutes to complete his first quarter peal on St Andrew’s bells.

He carefully plain hunted the treble to the tune of Plain Bob Doubles whilst concentrating on the order of the bells which were continually changing.

He was supported by fellow young ringer Hayden Musham who kept a steady beat on the tenor for the whole time.

A full record of the quarter peal is shown below:

Hornchurch, Essex
St Andrew
Sunday, 27 January 2019

1260 Plain Bob Doubles

1. Joseph Hurley
2. John W Stephenson
3. Lionel S Woods
4. Philip H Denton
5. Clive J Stephenson (C)
6. Hayden R Musham

For Evensong and to welcome Timothy Pope, born on 25th January, a son for Charlotte & Nick and a grandson for Ray Rogers of the local band.

First Quarter – 1.
300th Quarter – 4.

The photo shows the ringers that took part: L – R: Joseph, John, Lionel, Philip, Clive & Hayden.

Quarter Peal Success for Young Ringer

On Sunday 15^th July, St Andrew’s bell ringer Hayden Musham successfully completed his first quarter peal at the first attempt.

Hayden rang the treble to a method called Plain Bob Doubles, skillfully changing the position of his bell for 1260 changes.

This took about 45 minutes and is a big achievement for a 14 year old who has only been ringing for about 18 months.

Well done!

Full details of the quarter peal are:

Hornchurch, Essex

St Andrew

Sunday, 15 July 2018

1260 Plain Bob Doubles

1. Hayden R Musham
2. John W Stephenson
3. Gavin S Carpenter
4. Christopher C M Pain
5. Clive J Stephenson (C)
6. Anthony F Ammerlaan

For Evening Worship

First Quarter Peal – 1

      The ringers who took part: L – R: Hayden, John, Gavin, Chris, Clive & Tony

September Coach Outing to Reading

The bell ringers’ Autumn coach outing, organised by Adam, Gavin and Leonie, took us to some relatively easy-going bells in the Reading area.

Our first stop was Caversham, a busy town on the outskirts of Reading where the bells allowed a good variety of ringing including Plain Bob, Stedman and Double Norwich. It was good to see Margaret (Waller) back ringing so well after her knee and hip replacements.

A long walk from the coach to St Giles in Reading was followed by a welcome lunch break and then on to the 6 bells of South Stoke where we rang a nice course of Cambridge Minor, with John (Church) keeping us right on the treble.

We then went back to Reading for the biggest challenge of the day on the 12 bells of St Laurance. The bells have a tenor of 23cwt but were easy to ring and most of the ringers managed rounds on 12, many for the first time. We finished with Plain Hunt on 11 with 18 year old Alex Blissett keeping a good steady beat on the tenor.

At Shiplake, our last stop, the bells were the best of the day with everyone enjoying the ringing and, of course, dinner together in the local pub afterwards. Congratulations to our organisers, especially Adam (Carpenter) who worked hard to put the day together.

Ringers outside St Peters, Caversham

Jane, Eileen, John & Terry on their lunch-break

Leonie & Chris at St Laurance, Reading

Meeting old friends at South Stoke

Hornchurch Peal For Royal Wedding

A full peal of Kent Royal lasting exactly 3 hours was rung at St Andrew’s for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday 19^th May.

The peal was arranged so that the bells were actually ringing during the service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.

Full details of the peal are:

Hornchurch, Essex
St Andrew

Saturday, 19 May 2018 in 3 hrs

5000 Kent Treble Bob Royal

Composed by Donald F Morrison

1. John A Hall
2. Matthew E Rayner
3. Jillian Laken
4. Jon Waters
5. David E Rothera
6. Anthony J Bloomfield
7. Timothy G M Jones
8. Stephen C Wood
9. Roderic K Bickerton
10. Clive J Stephenson (C)

Rung for and during the wedding of HRH Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex

Here is a short extract of the peal:

Spring Coach Outing 2018 To The Cotswolds

On Saturday 14^th April, a full coach of 56 ringers and friends set off for the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire.

After a cold week in Essex, the sun came out and a two and a half hour drive brought us to our first stop in Chipping Norton. A welcome cup of coffee and some good ringing saw us on our way to our lunch stop in Moreton-in-Marsh.

Young Ringers at Moreton

The afternoon took us to the picturesque Bourton-on-the-Water in the middle of the Cotswolds with its many gift shops and tea shops along the River Windrush in the centre of town.

Ringers at Bourton-on-the-Water

Our final stop at Stow-on-the-Wold presented us with a heavy ring of 8 bells. At 27cwt, the tenor weighs one and a half times as much as Hornchurch but we managed well and enjoyed some of the best ringing of the day topped only by an excellent evening meal before our long drive home.