Hornchurch Bells

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.

Wedding of Clive Stephenson & Michelle Long

September the 22nd was a momentous day for Hornchurch Ringing when The Master, Clive Stephenson married fellow ringer Michelle Long.

Festivities began on August 27th with a celebratory peal, and a quarter peal was rung prior to the wedding. Immediately before and after the service the bells were rung by different bands, so that everybody got a chance to join in the occasion. Whilst the weather could have been better, throughout the day the timing and organisation were impeccable.

Michelle, looking stunning, arrived and was escorted down the aisle by her mother, Janice, to Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary, and the wedding was conducted by our vicar, Revd. Barry Hobson, while the organ was played by ringer and priest Phil Denton. Clive’s best man was lifelong friend David Saunders.

During the Signing of the Register handbells were rung by the Loughton Handbell Ringers, conducted by Andrew Barham.

Following the service, a hundred plus ringers, family and friends were entertained in the Church Hall and supplied with copious amounts of sandwiches, cakes, savouries and drinks and photographs were taken in the Church Grounds.

Later the Wedding Breakfast was held at The De Rougemont Manor in nearby Great Warley and attended by about seventy people.

A superb meal was served and Clive and The Best Man made well prepared and witty speeches. Clive alluded to his questionable dancing skills, to be demonstrated later, and told of his unique method of proposal, a note encased in Valentine’s Day chocolate, while David in a traditional Best Man’s speech toasted the Bride and Groom with the various groups present: Family, St Edwards School Alumni, Friends, Ringers and Pharmacists.

Later a disco was set up and dancing continued till after midnight while guests mingled, danced, renewed old acquaintances and generally enjoyed themselves.

Altogether, a splendid day!

Clive and Michelle with some of the Hornchurch Bellringers.

Clive and Michelle with Barry Hobson, Vicar.

Local News Article – Armistice 100: Hornchurch bell ringers get ready to honour war dead

Bell ringers from St Andrews church in Hornchurch will be ringing the bells on Remembrance Sunday. Some of them have only just started learning after an appeal to get more people involved. Photo by Ellie Hoskins

When the First World War ended church bells rang out across the land.

“Bells burst forth in joyful chimes”, one newspaper reported a day after November 11, 1918, Armistice Day.

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers drew up a roll of honour for those who lost their lives in the 1914-1918 conflict.

…

(To continue reading this article please visit the Romford Recorder website)

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: