The Wimborne Minster Ringers’ Summer Outing 2025 was a weekend affair based in St. Columb Major. Fourteen members of the band headed to Cornwall at different times and from different directions, firstly for a peal attempt at Phillack on the Friday afternoon. Sadly, a surreptitious swap caused the attempt to fail, but there was time to complete a successful quarter of Cornwall Surprise Major on these delightful Taylor bells – followed by even more delightful refreshment at The Bucket of Blood. The area has plenty of attractive and varied accommodation available after the summer throngs have departed, and everyone found somewhere to suit their preferences.
Saturday’s ringing began at the lovely six in St. Erme, followed by the two towers in Truro – Kenwyn and the Cathedral where we were joined by locals Jo and Andy, and a very accomplished ringing quartet who happened to be holidaying in the area. After quickly getting accustomed to the long draught and distinctive acoustics of the Cathedral ringing room we rang some pleasantly fluent Stedman, Cambridge and Bristol Maximus – and a helpful foretaste of the bells for the 2026 SW 12-bell competition.
Lunch was enjoyed in several places around the city, before we all headed to Probus, St. Stephen in Brannel and finally St. Columb Major for three excellent eight-bell towers where we were able to practise a special touch of Grandsire Triples for the forthcoming Guild Striking Competition as well as exploring a variety of other methods – including a successful attempt at a ‘scat’ raise. The evening was rounded off with a lovely relaxed supper at The Ring O’ Bells and a presentation to Harry as thanks for organising a wonderfully efficient, enjoyable and successful outing.
Alan retired to Verwood in 2015 following a successful career as an engineer in Buckinghamshire. He had learnt to ring as a teenager, became Master of the Southampton University Guild where he met his future wife Kathy, and they were both mainstays of the Aston Clinton band during their working life.
Alan’s ringing skills and experience were a great asset to us and he quickly established himself as a full-time member of the Wimborne Minster band. He relished the challenge of ringing on twelve bells, was an enthusiastic and committed teacher of our learner ringers, and sought out opportunities to support ringers further afield – notably the newly-formed band at Lytchett Matravers and at Ringwood where he became Tower Captain.
He rang in four peals at the Minster – including the ones to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday in 2016 and the birth of Prince Louis in 2018 – and also 88 quarter peals which were mostly for Sunday Choral Evensongs, the final one being in August last year.
Alan’s quiet manner, self-effacing personality and gentle humour were particular characteristics, as was his willingness to help anyone at any time. A keen member of the Wimborne Camera Club, Alan and Kathy mounted an exhibition of Ringing for Royal Events which is displayed in the Baptistry at appropriate times during the year, and they also organised a memorable ringing weekend for the Minster Band around churches in the Chilterns last September. This turned out to be one of the last times Alan rang with us.
Sadly, an illness first diagnosed in 2008 returned and despite the best of care from Bournemouth and Poole hospitals he was unable to recover and passed away peacefully with his family close by in July. A Service of Thanksgiving was held in the Minster on the 8th August, attended by his family and many ringing friends from around the country. We will miss him.
On Tuesday the 6th of February, James Cheshire scored his first Quarter Peal, ringing the Tenor to Grandsire Triples.
James decided to learn to ring because several of his friends were enthusiastic new recruits. After some 1-1 bell-handling lessons, he joined the Tuesday night practices in May 2023.
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.
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.
Extract from the Quarter Peal of Half muffled Grandsire Caters
The Wimborne Minster Ringers’ Summer Outing this year was a long weekend on the Channel Islands.
John Riley organised the accommodation and internal flights, and David Warwick the towers and ferry transport for 13 band members and on the morning of 25 July, the following set sail on the 10am Condor Ferry from Poole bound for St Peter Port in Guernsey: David, Flick and Lucy Warwick, John and Sue Riley, Hilary and Rob Child, Adrian Rowland, Susan Smith, Gill Curlett and Marisa Bartlett. Ben and Rosemary Duke flew on the Blue Island flight from Southampton at a more leisurely hour!
Arriving in St Peter Port on Guernsey, we all met first at Vale parish. We were rather relieved to see that the access route to the ringing chamber had changed from the original climb up a ladder on the outside of the church to a far more civilised entry via the church door! The six bells were rung up around the ornate font in the nave and we had a good opportunity to ring some doubles and minor methods, given that the Minster has 12 bells and more than enough ringers at every practice and service. Vale church has a beautiful and colourful tiled wall around the altar with piscinas carved into the walls. The characteristic architecture of the church reflects the tortured body of Christ on the cross, as none of the walls are parallel to each other or perpendicular with the floor. In its construction, the masons wanted to leave their mark so decided to carve a spaniel’s head above the pulpit! It was also pleasing to see that we didn’t have to catch a boat to the church as, apparently, it was once an island at high tide. Our thanks go to John David for welcoming us and allowing us to ring the bells.
From here it was a dash to St Marguerite de la Foret, the smallest parish on the island, where the bells around the font were in the middle of the church. We had the pleasure of entering the church through the one door instead of being separated into men and women entering from different doors, as used to happen some time ago. The organ replaced the musical instruments (mainly recorders) once used for worship, which are now on display in a cabinet to the right of the entrance. Our best wishes go to Anne Dorey for welcoming us here.
Just up the road is St Pierre du Bois, set at a lower level than the road: indeed, the nave of the church is 1.5 metres lower than the altar. French influence covers the islands and no less in the churches where you can read in French the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments from the plaques on the walls around the altar. Climbing some steps up to the ringing chamber we rang a Quarter Peal of Grandsire Caters, Gill Curlett’s first on 10 bells. Those members that didn’t ring sat outside in the glorious sunshine and sweltering heat listening to the bells and then watched the ringers exit from the tower afterwards somewhat damper than when they entered! We returned here later in the evening to join the local band with their practice and our thanks go to Philip Le Conte and his members, especially as we numbered more than them – it was a ‘cosy’ hour spent in their company.
From here we drove into town and squeezed between the Albion pub and the church, then walked over part of the roof to enter the bell tower where we were welcomed by Helen McGregor and her band of ringers for their practice. Also to greet us was a kettle boiling and biscuits on the table – perfect timing! The ceiling displays the coat of arms of the churches with bells on the islands – all 10 of them. After our practice of triples and major methods, we popped over the road for fish and chips which were eaten sitting on the quay overlooking St Peter Port in the late afternoon sunshine.
Saturday morning greeted us with more sunshine and a hearty breakfast at Les Cothils before boarding Aurigny’s Trilander bound for Alderney. We were greeted by Donald Hughes who directed us to the picturesque church of St Anne’s. It was a first for many of us to walk from the airport and arrive at our destination in 10 minutes! It was a pleasure to be accommodated in an airy ringing chamber and to ring the new bells: Peter, James, Helen, Catherine, Stephen and Laura, not forgetting the old tenor, Daisie, weighing in at just over 13 cwt. After lunch, a quarter peal of Cambridge Royal was scored. For those not ringing, the temptation of the blue sea was too much, especially as it was only a few minutes’ walk from the church. It was also too much to resist for the bridal party which turned up to have photos taken in the sand and the sea! The quarter pealers joined the others for a quick dip before heading off back to the airport for the return flight to Guernsey.
A sumptuous dinner was enjoyed by all but beds were calling too loudly for anyone to stay up too late, especially as it was to be another early start in the morning. This time the flight was to Jersey on a somewhat bigger plane but as the clouds had invaded, it was slightly bumpier. On arrival at the airport we were greeted by Justin Read and his fellow ringers who very kindly made themselves available as taxi drivers for the day. We started at St Mark’s in the town, the most southerly ring in the British Isles, and had more opportunity to ring doubles and minor, with a view of the inside of the church from a window at the back.
From here, Justin and Louise Read had prepared a magnificent buffet lunch with plenty of Pimm’s with which to wash it all down! A ring of Grandsire triples and plain hunt on 8 was rung on handbells before heading off to St Johns in the north of the island. Here, Marisa Bartlett rang her first quarter on 8 bells to Grandsire triples: the band was watched by a number of visitors as the ringing circle was around the font between the pews and the altar. Thank you Paul, Marc, Matthew, Helier, Mary, John, Peter and James for the sound you make and the joy you must bring to the locals.
That was it – our trip was nearing its end. Mission accomplished: all 7 towers rung; a quarter peal called on each island; every band member ringing at least one! On departure, we had views of all three islands and as we sailed past them we could all ponder on the pleasure and fun we had – with our eyes closed and our heads lolloping to one side!
Wimborne Minster Bell Ringers 
