During 2010 the Belfry Stewardship Committee (BSC) has been active in all areas of bell maintenance, assisting in rehanging works, inspections of completed works and the Guild’s Bell Stock Survey. Although we were sad to lose the memberships of Raymond Walsh, Steve Castle, John Davey and Graham Wright, we were happy to co-opt new committee members Keith Gillings (BAS) and Charlie Barrett (A&P). On behalf of the Guild, I would like to place on record our sincere thanks to the departing members for their hard work and enthusiasm.
On behalf of the BRF Trustees we inspected the finished works at both All Saints, Hannington and St Nicholas, Newnham.
The work at Hannington was to augment the old ring of three (Ellis Knight 1, 1624: Henry Knight 1, 1619 / Henry Knight 3 1680) to six, with the addition of a redundant bell located by the Keltek Trust and two new bells supplied by Matthew Higby and Co. These were all hung in a new fabricated steel bellframe, the old wooden frame being retained in a new intermediate chamber. It was obvious that a lot of thought had gone into this project and a good ring of six has been produced.
The work at Newnham was a restoration of the two larger bells (Henry Knight 2 1662 and Henry Knight 1 1602) and augmentation to form a ring of five, by the addition of three second hand bells. The second hand bells were located by the Keltek Trust (one by Mears & Stainbank, the other two by John Warner), forming the treble, two and three of the ring. The undersized old treble bell (William Hazlewood 1498) was retired for use as a service bell. The existing wooden bellframe, found to be in extremely good condition, was retained and turned around in the tower to accommodate the new fabricated frame sides, forming a five bell frame with a comfortable ringing circle. It was also strengthened to give more stability. The installation is good, incorporating old with new, and the bells handle well and sound fair and bright.
During May, the BSC gave some assistance to Nicholson Engineering at North Stoneham. This involved fitting new running gear and reassembling wheels. Owing to other commitments, BSC members were only able to help for a couple of days and were not able see the work to completion.
We also carried out preparation work at St Mary’s, Liss. This involved removing the slider runner boards, the Tenor clapper and the stay from the 3rd which was badly cracked. We then helped Whites of Appleton with the remainder of the work removing bearing components. The new running gear was returned to the church and refitted. The bearings, found to be in good condition, were packed with fresh grease and resealed. As a result of this work the bells ring very much better.
Regarding bell restorations that were planned in the Guild during 2010, it will be seen from the list provided that a large proportion of these works are now complete. The work at All Saints, Dummer has started and is ongoing. The proposed work to augment St George, Arreton was subject to a structural engineers report, however after the completion of this report (all found to be in good order) the PCC voted not to proceed with augmentation. The conservation rehang of the three ancient bells at St Michael & All Angels, Bullington has progressed, and is now awaiting a faculty.
Future involvements for the BSC include:
Invitation to inspect two ringing installations in the Northanger Benefice at St Mary’s, Newton Valence and St James, East Tisted, where a Bell Stock Survey will also be completed.
Belfry Maintenance Courses to be run in the Basingstoke District, where over 30 people have requested to attend. Two sessions are planned with the first of these in September.
Once again, I would like to thank all my colleagues for generously giving their considerable time and effort throughout the past year.
| Income | Expenditure | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| £.p | £.p | ||
| Balance b/f | 34.69 | ||
| Guild Funds | 250.00 | Balance c/f | 284.69 |
| £284.69 | £284.69 | ||
Roger Barber