Dear Friends,
“We, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.” (Romans 12 vs. 5-6a)
Towards the end of 2002, The Ringing World published a series of 4 articles entitled “Room at the Top?”, written by Simon Linford, until recently an active member of the Channel Islands District and at St John’s, Jersey. Simon sought to review some of the tensions that arise between ringers across the broad spectrum of ability, in what he classified as “Blue, Red and Black Zones”. (RW 2002 pp. 1251, 1291, 2003 pp. 30, 76). Addressing “the thorny issues surrounding celebrity and hierarchy in ringing”, he concluded that “celebrities” are no more than just good ringers, and that all, of whatever ability are needed and have a part to play in the ringing exercise.
We are not all the same, do not all have the same abilities and opportunities, and are not all able to make the same commitment of our time and talents as some enthusiasts whose whole lives seem to be focused around ringing. As a Guild, we seek to provide education opportunities for all who wish to take them up, but as well as ringing, some have interests in publishing, teaching, administration, belfry maintenance, bells, ringing history and architecture. All are useful and much needed, and I hope appreciated for their efforts on our behalf.
Thanks to fundraising and much local volunteer labour, the fittings at Privett have been refurbished or replaced in this last year, to enable ringing there to continue into the foreseeable future in a church declared redundant many years ago, but fortunately now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.
In a speech to General Synod in November, reported in the Church Times, the Archdeacon of Bournemouth drew attention to the existence of plans to declare 63 churches redundant by 2007, and a further 207 by 2012. With visions of two thirds of the places of worship in Winchester Diocese being liquidated within ten years, I was relieved to have his confirmation that these were national figures, but inevitably some of these will be in our two Dioceses, and given declining church attendance and financial concerns, my guess is that the longer term prognosis is not good. How will we as a Guild respond?
Unlike our colleagues in Dorset, we do not have the benefit of Christopher Dalton’s comprehensive work on the bells of that county, apart from in that area transferred from Hampshire in the 1974 Local Government reorganisation. W.E. Colchester’s “Hampshire Church Bells” of 1922 was scant and inaccurate even then, and is now totally out of date. Fortunately for us, all the information on the Channel Island bells has been updated by Revd. David Cawley of Leicester, with plans well advanced by our Report Editor, Tony Smith, to publish this on behalf of the Guild in the near future. But what of the rest of our bells in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight, ringing bells and single bells, their fittings and framework that are completely unrecorded in many instances?
I highlighted this problems some years ago, and a good start was made by our Belfry Stewardship Committee under the chairmanship of Phil Watts, but they are not really in a position to progress this further without help and assistance from you. The tower questionnaire they devised then, and which some of you completed and returned, is now to be used as the basis of a wider initiative of the Central Council and commended as good practice for other Guilds and Associations to emulate as appropriate. However, we too need to take further action if we hope to safeguard our bell heritage into the future.
I am aware of the loss of several single bells here in Southampton over recent years, not only Anglican, but Roman Catholic and URC (stolen in the latter instance). None were properly documented, and none missed, but fortunately two have gone for augmenting rings in other counties. Others remain unaccounted for, and yet others are vulnerable and at risk, but we similarly have no details of them, and know precious little (if anything) about them.
A few years ago, a late recruit to ringing who never progressed far in change ringing, nevertheless determined as a retirement project, to visit and record details of the bells in Cornwall. Arthur Cannon completed his task and published his book before he died, leaving the ringing exercise this precious legacy. The task is too onerous to ask one to bear it, but if one or two in each District were prepared to take it on, using our existing guidance notes and forms, it could be done, given time and effort. Even if we could co-ordinate to cover one Deanery or District a year, we would be making good progress. None of us wants to see another lost ring of bells to join Avington and Sydmonton, with the war losses of Dibden and Holy Rood Southampton, but if we don’t get our act together, that is precisely what we are likely to see happen over time, as well as the loss of individual bells that might otherwise be suitable for augmentation in a tower near you. The future is in your hands, or someone you know who could help. A start would be to make sure the details of your bells are known and recorded by the Belfry Stewardship Committee; if not, ask for the relevant paperwork for your tower, and perhaps one not otherwise covered nearby. With co-operation, co-ordination, and commitment, we can achieve this. Any Volunteers?
“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.”
Barry J Fry