Category: Bell Ringing

Bell Ringing, Peal Ringing, Quarter Peal, Video

Ringing for the late Queen Elizabeth II at Wimborne Minster

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Ringing for the late Queen Elizabeth II at Wimborne Minster

21st April 1926 – 8th September 2022

Wimborne Minster has a long history of royal connections. Edward the Confessor founded a college of canons to live and worship here in 1043 (some twenty years before he founded Westminster Abbey), and in 1318 Edward II declared the Minster a Royal Peculiar. Later, in 1562 Queen Elizabeth I appointed twelve Governors to be responsible for the property and prerogatives of the Minster and Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School – a role they continue to exercise today.

As the news broke on the evening of Thursday 8th September that Her Majesty had died in Balmoral Castle, the Minster bellringers reacted quickly, fitting a double set of muffles to the top 11 bells, and a single muffle to the hand stroke side of the tenor clapper. A band was hastily arranged to ring at 11.00am the following morning (as decreed by Operation London Bridge). A sombre quarter peal of Stedman Triples on the back eight was rung whilst a short service of Remembrance was held in the Minster.

Friday, 9 September in 52 minutes  

                                                   1        Trish Hitchins

                                                   2        Hilary Child

                                                   3        David Hilling

                                                   4        Flick Warwick

                                                   5        Max Knight

                                                   6        Robert Child

                                                   7        David Warwick (C)

                                                   8        David Coates

Rung fully muffled with the tenor open at backstroke in memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

Extract of the Quarter Peal of Stedman Triples

After discussions with the Rector and the Bride and Groom, it was decided that the wedding ringing on the following day should also be fully muffled. After the marriage service we rang three courses of stately Grandsire Caters on the back ten.

Sunday morning offered the opportunity for the ringers to get used to fully muffled ringing on the whole twelve, and then a quarter peal was rung for Evensong.

Sunday, 11 September in 55 minutes

1265 Erin Cinques

Composed by John Hyden

                                                   1        Hilary Child

                                                   2        Trish Hitchins

                                                   3        Rosemary Duke

                                                   4        Graham Duke

                                                   5        Kathy Bentley

                                                   6        Alan Bentley

                                                   7        Max Knight

                                                   8        Flick Warwick

                                                   9        David Hilling (C)

                                                   10      Robert Child

                                                   11      David Warwick

                                                   12      David Coates

Rung prior to Evensong with the bells fully muffled and tenor open at backstroke, in affectionate memory of our late Sovereign Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

As a mark of respect, we decided to cancel our normal Tuesday evening practice, but instead invited our younger ringers for 30 minutes of ringing on the front eight to allow them the opportunity of ringing in memory of The Queen.

Tuesday, 13 September

500 Various Triples

Rounds, Call Changes and Plain Bob Triples

Lila Hickman

Charlie Goldie

Ben Avery

Esther Davey

Kathy Bentley

Hilary Child

Flick Warwick

Max Knight

Robert Child

David Warwick

Fully muffled (with the tenor open at backstroke)

Sunday ringing the next week continued as usual in the morning, and then a quarter peal was rung for the Civic Service in the afternoon. BBC South Today filmed this service, and the fully muffled ringing featured prominently in the report.

Sunday, 18 September in 54 minutes

1254 Grandsire Cinques

                                                   1        Graham Duke

                                                   2        Rosemary Duke

                                                   3        Lucy Warwick

                                                   4        Trish Hitchins

                                                   5        Kathy Bentley

                                                   6        Alan Bentley

                                                   7        David Hilling

                                                   8        Flick Warwick

                                                   9        Harry Blamire (C)

                                                   10      Louis Suggett

                                                   11      Nigel Woodruff

                                                   12      Max Knight

Rung fully muffled with the tenor open at backstroke, for a Special Service of Commemoration marking the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

A full peal was organised to be rung after The State Funeral on Monday – the first fully muffled peal on the bells. Starting at 2.00pm, the sound of the bells was appreciated across the town and brought many people into the Minster, which had been kept open during the day – streaming the funeral from Westminster Abbey and allowing opportunities for quiet reflection.

Monday, 19 September 2022 in 3h 26 (29–2–20 in D)

5005 Stedman Cinques

Composed by Shirley Burton

                                                   1        Max G Knight

                                                   2        Patricia M Hitchins

                                                   3        Lucy S Warwick

                                                   4        David P Hilling

                                                   5        Felicity S Warwick

                                                   6        Philip A L Rioch

                                                   7        Adam W Kilgour

                                                   8        Louis P H Suggett

                                                   9        David A Warwick (C)

                                                   10      Harry E Blamire

                                                   11      Nigel R Woodruff

                                                   12      Robert T Child

Rung fully muffled with the tenor open at backstroke in memory of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, following her funeral at Westminster Abbey.

First of Stedman Cinques – 1; 300th peal together – 5 & 11.

Altogether, 23 different ringers took part in the various sessions of ringing, and a peal board will be made to record the Funeral Peal. We were very grateful to the steeple keeping team who had placed the muffles on the bells – not a single one slipped throughout the many hours of ringing during the mourning period.

Bell Ringing

Branch Bonanza at Shroton

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The East Dorset Branch Bonanza at Shroton on July the 30th included 2 striking competitions, a cake competition and another for Limericks, as well as a traditional Ringers’ Tea.

The Novice Shield was claimed this year by Witchampton, a brilliant result for this newly-trained band. Well done!

The Novice Shield

The main competition was won by the Wimborne P team, with the Q team coming second, by just one point!

Competition Winners – Wimborne P team
2nd Place – Wimborne Q team
Bell Ringing

National 12-Bell Ringing Contest

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There are various Ringing contests every year, but the peak of them all is the National 12-Bell. To put it into context, there are over 5000 towers in the UK with a ringable set of 6 or more bells. Of those, only 136 have 12 (or more) bells, of which Wimborne is one.

Of those 136 12-bell towers, only around 20 put in a team for the National 12-bell, so the Wimborne band is very proud to have taken part.

The Eliminators were held in 3 locations, and Wimborne was allocated to St Magnus the Martyr in London, on March the 26th, and was placed 5th.

St Magnus the Martyr
The Wimborne Team enjoy a drink after ringing in the National 12-bell Competition Eliminators in London March 26th 2022
Bell Ringing, Uncategorized

Ringing for Royal Events at Wimborne Minster

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This presentation was displayed in Wimborne Minster as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend in June 2022. To watch on FULL SCREEN, click the 3 dots in the bottom of the window and follow the instructions.

 

Research by Kathy Bentley and Gillian Richards
With thanks to the staff of the Dorset History Centre
Photos of peal boards and peals by Alan Bentley

Belfry News, Bell Ringing

Striking Success

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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.

(l – r) Max Knight, John Riley, Hilary Child, Robert Child, Reverend Andrew Rowland, David Warwick, Rosemary Duke, Harry Blamire and Flick Warwick.
Belfry News, Bell Ringing, Video

Bell damaged at Wimborne Minster

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Photo of the 7th bell with broken gudgeon

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.

Diagram from bellringing.org

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:

The 7th is temporarily resting on the bell frame, awaiting the mended/replaced components.