Members of the Wimborne Minster Band rang a Peal of Stedman Cinques to celebrate Easter. Click below to listen to an extract of the ringing
Celebrating Easter with a Peal
Author: wimborneringers
Striking Success
Wimborne Minster win the Salisbury Guild 8- bell Striking Competition.
Following a two-year gap whilst the competition was suspended, the Wimborne band regained the Guild Trophy at the competition held at Broadchalke on Saturday 14th May. Ringing the test piece of 160 changes of Plain Bob Major the band beat teams from Calne, Melksham, Dorchester and West Dorset to gain first place for the fifth time in the last six competitions.
The team had practised the test piece each Tuesday at Wimborne for the past few weeks, but the bells at Broadchalke provided an extra challenge and with only a five-minute practice slot immediately before the performance it took a while for the band to settle into a steady and regular rhythm. The judges commented that the ringing improved considerably during the second half of the touch, and finished in good style.
The photograph shows the band displaying the trophy with the Rector before ringing for the Parish Eucharist the next day.
Full Ring of Bells in Time for Easter
Repairs to the 7th Bell at Wimborne Minster were completed on 11th April, in time for the Easter Day morning and evening services, and a Peal Attempt on Easter Monday.
The photos show the process of re-installation of the bell, by Whites of Oxford, assisted by the Minster Steeplekeeping team.
Bell damaged at Wimborne Minster
Tuesday’s practice night at Wimborne came to an abrupt halt after Alan, who was ringing the 7th bell, realized something was very wrong:
“It was like a bad dream. The bell was dropping, no matter how hard I pulled”. Further investigation revealed that the bell had not just “dropped” into its normal resting position, mouth down, it had well and truly dropped askew out of its normal position due to a broken gudgeon.
The diagram shows that the bell’s “gudgeon” is equivalent to the axle on a wheel, so a break here puts the bell out of action and, due to the weight of the bell, at 350kg equivalent to a large touring motorbike, puts a strain on the surrounding components.
Not only was it unringable, but the bell was teetering in an unstable position, so a team of the ringers led by Rob Child, the Steeple Keeper, worked carefully to secure the bell in place using ropes, prior to a bell hanger from White’s of Appleton being called in to inspect and advise.
The Bell Hanger attended on Wednesday morning, safely removed the bell from the frame and took the cracked stay, and damaged wheel and headstock back to Oxford for inspection. The Steeple Keeper is awaiting the results of the inspection in the next few days.
A decision about whether to continue ringing the remaining 11 bells, or to suspend ringing until the 7th is reinstated, is expected at the weekend.
Meanwhile, if you miss the sound of the bells – here is our new video of the Ringing for the Queen in February:
Celebrating the Queen’s Accession Anniversary
Following the visit of the Mayor of Wimborne and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Dorset to the Parish Eucharist in the morning, a peal of 5070 changes of Stedman Caters was successfully rung on the Minster Bells during the afternoon to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen’s Accession to the throne. The intended peal of Stedman Cinques was sunk at the final moment by two members of the band contracting Covid, but the peal sounded as the bells would have been heard 70 years ago to a composition specially composed for a Platinum Anniversary.
Tower Captain Interviewed on Radio Wimborne
David Warwick, Tower Captain at Wimborne Minster, was interviewed on Radio Wimborne’s “Down Your Way” program on February the 11th. Start listening 31 minutes in to the program on THIS LINK.
Funeral of Jim Sexton, Bell Ringer at Wimborne Minster
James Sexton was a long-standing and loyal supporter of the ringing band, and wider Minster community, for well over fifty years.He was one of the ten ‘named’ Minster Ringers and regularly rang the sixth (Jim’s bell) to Grandsire Caters on a Sunday morning. During his ringing career he was for a time Tower Secretary and forever encouraging and helpful to younger members of the band. Although well into his eighties when the bells were augmented, he enthusiastically committed to twelve-bell ringing and was proud of his ability to master Grandsire Cinques. After the age of ninety, he came to the conclusion that the descent of 72 steps down from the ringing chamber was becoming unduly perilous, and he stopped ringing, but did not lose his social connection with the band. He chimed ‘his bell’ with the Rector (from ground level, see picture) at his last communion at the Minster before leaving Wimborne to join his wife Beryl (also a bellringer) for a Care Home in Bournemouth. Many ringers attended his funeral at the Minster, and a quarter peal was rung half muffled immediately following the service.
Sponsor the Wimborne Christmas Peal
The Minster Bells have rung out over the town for Sunday Services, Royal and Civic Events and Weddings since at least the 14th century. Sadly, they fell silent for much of 2020 and 2021. To celebrate Christmas the local band will attempt a full peal for the first time since 2019. It will be 5042 different changes of a method named Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus – a peal not previously rung on the Minster’s bells. It will start immediately following a wedding in the Minster at around 2.45pm on Wednesday 29th December and should take about 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete. The peal will require significant physical stamina, mental facility, concentration and team work from the twelve ringers who must ring each change continuously and without error.
For the first time, we’re asking people to sponsor our ringing in aid of the Wimborne Minster Musical Heritage Trust. Donors are invited to give per changes successfully competed (eg £1.00 for 1000 changes) or per minute of continuous ringing (eg 2p per minute). You can sponsor the ringing via the JustGiving page.
The ringers practicing for the peal attempt. Video recorded by Alan Bentley.
Wimborne Ringers in Dorset Life magazine
In this month’s Dorset Life magazine, read an in-depth article about the bells, ringers and how we play a part of Wimborne life. You can read a snippet of the article here or pay to read the rest of the December issue online.
Remembrance Day Quarter Peal
On Sunday 14th November, Wimborne Minster bells were rang half-muffled to mark Remembrance Sunday.
And for Evensong, the band rang a quarter peal of Stedman Cinques, which Rob kindly recorded. We’ve picked out the best excerpts to listen to here:
You can read the details of the quarter peal on Bellboard.
