| In
1998, as part of the "Ring In 2000"
programme, Douglas Vellender was asked
if he would teach a number of local residents
the fundamentals of bellringing. Doug's
reply was that he would only consider
it if eighteen or more volunteers could
be found, he knew from experience that
the rate of attrition among new, prospective
bellringers was a high one. The number
of interested parties exceeded twenty
and Doug was persuaded to take on this
very difficult task. Sure enough, just
as he had confidently predicted, within
five weeks the numbers had plummeted.to
just eight. |
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The minimum requirement for a band of
ringers is quite obviously governed by
the number of bells within their associated
tower. Doug , with backing from
daughter Zoe, and another local resident,
Hilary Reem. set about the task in hand.
Wednesday night was designated
as practice night and - after tying
up the bell clappers to avoid the village
being driven to distraction, he set about
producing a new team, in time for the
Millennium celebrations some two years
hence
Pictured
right the original band : reading Left
to Right
Colin Doug Erin Mark Jill.
Sandra Janet and Maureen.
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In July 2000 the
band entered the branch annual striking contest at Beenham
and went on to win the Richard Marshall Shield for novices.
They were also each presented with a bottle of specially
brewed 'Ringers Ale' to mark the Millennium. As
in the Eurovision Song Contest, winning the shield, means
that East Garston ringers must host the event the following
year. 'All Saints' bells are not the easiest to ring,
the result would no doubt prove to be quite interesting.
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Earlier in the year, on March the 18th the band, along
with a number of friends and family, went to visit 'The
White Chapel Bell Foundry'. It was here in 1842, that
the fourth bell in All Saints' tower was cast, this being
the only one of the ring of six cast by the Whitechapel
foundry in London. Whitechapel Bell Foundry's business
has always been, and still concentrates solely on, the
manufacture of bells and their associated fittings. The
manufacture of large bells for change ringing peals in
church towers, single tolling bells, carrillon bells,
and their complete range of accesories such as framework,
wheels, clappers and their assembly in Church towers accounts
for approximately four-fifths of the company output. The
other fifth of the business lies in the manufacture of
handbells for tune and change ringing, and other small
bells of many shapes and sizes.
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The practice
of swinging bells with ropes and wheels through a fall
circle, and ringing complex sequences of"changes",
has been a traditional feature of English towns and villages
for hundreds of years. Bells are numbered from the lightest,
called the treble, to the heaviest, called the tenor.
East Garston village church has
a ring of six bells, the oldest of these is the second
which is inscribed with the date 1677. At 'All Saints'
the weights range from 5cwt (250kg) to l7cwt (850kg).
In many towers, the bells have been rehung on modem steel
frames with ball bearings, at East Garston, however, they
hang in a traditional oak frame and run on plain bearings.
All the fittings are at least 100 years old, and the frame
probably dates from the 1700s. It has to be said that
they are not the easiest of bells to ring. |
In 1971, encouraged by Canon
Wigg (a member of the local ringers' guild),
Bill Butler and Henry Lawrenson, well-known ringers
from the Newbury area, came to inspect the tower at
East Garston. The bells were restored to operational
status, moving parts cleaned, the frame repaired and
accumulated debris removed. Ringing re-commenced and
continued for a further fifteen years, but, for
various reasons, several members left the band and once
again the bells of 'All Saints Church' were silenced.
However, on the 1st of January 2000 at the beginning
of the new Millennium, thanks to the teaching skills
of Doug Vellender and the determined commitment of the
new band of ringers, All Saints' Church bells rang out
loud and clear to herald in, not just a new year but
a whole new Century.
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Saturday 7th July 2001
and East Garston bellringers fulfill their obligation
to host the annual six bell Striking Competition
for the Newbury branch of the local ringer’s
Guild. Many of the bands struggled bravely with
the rather difficult bells at East Garston. This
years' winners of the Richard Marshall Shield
were the Lambourn band. Thatcham were the winners
of the method-ringing competition.
July 21st, as a thank
you to Doug for his patience and commitment, a
trip was arranged to take him back to his ringing
roots in Gloucestershire. The journey would take
in four towers, Didbrook, where Doug learned his
craft, Toddington, Dumbleton and Alderton. The
day was an unqualified success enjoyed by all,
including yours truly. I was asked to record the
days events and produce a short video record.
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| Regretfully,
in the autumn, illness decreed that Doug could no longer
continue bellringing. His efforts with regard to the training
of the band had been masterful and as a consequence they
were able to continue ringing, although the learning of
new methods would prove quite a task without Doug's expertise.
All band members hope he will return at some point in
the future. The mantle of responsibility for the
maintainance of the bells, and the leadership of the band
was bravely taken on by Mark Brock. One of Mark's first
jobs was to fit new bell ropes to all six bells, which
is why, on a relatively mild December afternoon in 2001,
he and I could be found in the bell tower working amongst
the cobwebs and Pigeon feathers.
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The Band continue to gain in
both skill and confidence throughout 2002, ringing at
several weddings and public occasions. Ringing in the
New Year has now become a regular East Garston tradition.
On 'Remembrance Sunday', the bell clappers are fitted
with leather mufflers and the bells rung as a mark of
respect to the fallen of both World Wars.
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On the 28th of September band
member Maureen Tarbox joined Beenham Tower Captain,
Marcus Allum and ringers, Lucy Knight, Eleanor Brooks,
Reg Allum, and Fred Brown in an attempt at ringing their
first Quarter peal. As reported in "The Ringing
World", the attempt was successful and congratulations
to all are in order.
The situation as of November 2002 is that the band have
progressed to the point where they are now confident
enough to ring at other towers in the area, such as
Lambourn, Hungerford, Brightwalton and Beenham. Together
with branch colleagues they regularly visit towers near
and far. Kate Brown joined the team for a while
but despite Doug's insistance that she was a natural
ringer, Kate decided bellringing wasn't for her.
Regretably Erin Morgan and Christopher Wilder have also
left the band for their own respective reasons.
The numbers... as they have done in the past....begin
to diminish rapidly.
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Thanks
to the stirling efforts of Doug Vellender and
the steely determination of his five remaining
students, All Saints' Tower now sports it's own
small, but enthusiastic band of ringers. The hope
now is that this centuries-old tradition can continue
on well into the new millennium. |
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At All Saint's we are fortunate
with our bells asnot all church towers have bells which
can be rung. Many towers (such as Great Shefford) have
a good set of bells, but the structure is unable to cope
with the strain of several tons of metal being whirled
about at it's highest point. Unfortunately, stress calculations
were not part of the ancient church-builder's craft resulting
in a band of ringers from Liverpool narrowly escaping
with their lives when their tower collapsed back in 1810.
However, the reason why many of the thousands of towers
throughout England are silent is due to the shortage of
ringers. With that in mind, the Newbury Branch of the
ODG decided to organize a "Tower open day" in
an attempt to recruit new ringers for the area. Saturday
morning on the 18th of October Mark Brock, (Tower
Captain), Maureen Tarbox (Ringer), and myself,
set about preparing the ringing chamber and the bells
for what would hopefully prove a useful and productive
exercise.
Headstocks, Stays and Bearings were checked, (no ball
bearings here you know). We then set up a video camera
in the bell tower that Mark had linked to a portable TV
lower down in the ringing chamber. After a mad dash home
for an extra video connector, we were ready. All band
members were present from the off and twenty or so minutes
later, we welcomed the first of our visitors for the afternoon. |
During the
course of the afternoon All Saint's Church and it's band
of ringers played host to twenty adults and 3 small children.
The live link from the bell tower to the ringing chamber
was well received, in fact, Janet Easterling made the
point that this type of set up could be a very useful
teaching aid in the future. Unfortunately none of our
visitors could be persuaded to take up the challenge,
but the afternoon was deemed to be a success in other
ways as well as being extremely good- PR. Newbury, we
understand, had about ten visitors, two of whom expressed
some interest in ringing. All were interested in seeing
how things were done, and in seeing and hearing about
the bells. Kintbury may have gained a possible recruit,
but the majority of their visitors were from other countries,
although they all expressed a genuine interest in how
bellringing was conducted in England! |
On Saturday the
31st of May, Mark attended a one day seminar covering
aspects of teaching the early stages of ringing. This
took place at 'Shiplake Ringing Centre' near Henley-on-Thames.
He was somewhat impressed with the ringing simulator there-in.
Later in the year
Maureen and Jill attended 'Easthampstead 2003', a three
day residential course which ran from Friday the 12th
to Sunday the 14th of September, and was based at Easthampstead
Park Adult Education Centre in Bracknell. The courses
include lectures and practical ringing from Plain Hunt
to Surprise Major including Grandsire, Stedman and Plain
Bob Doubles; Plain Bob, Treble Bob and Surprise Minor;
Grandsire, Stedman and Erin Triples Plain Bob, Treble
Bob, Double Norwich & Surprise Major. Which I have
to say I find about as clear as reading a Chinese novel
upside down in the dark, but I am assured that it all
makes sense to those of you in ringing circles. I'll stick
with my computers, they are much less complicated. |
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During the 'Easthampstead'
weekend, Jill Hunt decided to try out the Harrison Dumbell.
What is it and what is it for ? Well
it weighs 2/3 cwt, but rings at about the same speed as
a 6cwt bell, but has a much lighter touch. Most people
ring alternate handed (tail end in the left hand and take
the sally with the right hand). It's used for Ringing
rounds or methods, just like a tower bell, but on a smaller
scale. It uses a simulator to generate the
sounds of the other bells, so you have the luxury of ringing
in a perfect band. You can ring rounds on 6, Cambridge
on 12 or anything in between.
How
does it work ?...The
weight is spread between the two wheels, which rotate
in opposite directions. This reduces the lateral forces
on the 'tower', which would otherwise fall over with such
a heavy weight. The weigh is distributed between opposite
sides of the wheels, which slows down the rotation, like
'ticking up' a heavy Tenor.
Robert Newton ringing on the Harrison Dumbell
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