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NEWS
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5th September 2009
First Peal on the Ten Bells
Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers
On Saturday, 5 September 2009 in 3 hrs. & 18 mins.
A peal of 5055 changes Stedman Caters was rung,
Composed by Robert E. J. Dennis
and rung by:
1 David Phillipson (C)
2 Hilarie Rogers
3 Alexandra J. Marchbank
4 Jonathan Griggs
5 Richard Haseldine
6 B. Douglas Hird
7 James A. Haseldine
8 Alan J. Marchbank
9 Graham J. Clifton
10 Charles J. Knight
First peal of Stedman by the ringers of 3 and 4
First peal of Caters by the ringer of 6
First peal on Ten by the ringer of 10
First peal of Stedman as conductor and 250th Peal by the ringer of 1
First peal on the bells since augmentation, rehanging and retuning
Rung as a belated compliment to the Rev. Claire Wood who was inducted as Rector of Olney on the 27th. January 2009
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16th August 2009
First Quarter Peal on the ten bells
Sunday, 16 August 2009 in 50 mins
1282 Cambridge Surprise Royal
1 Charles J. Knight
2 Ruth Stokes
3 Margaret Whiteley
4 Alexandra J. Marchbank
5 Martin J. Whiteley
6 David Phillipson (C)
7 Christopher C. Stokes
8 Jonathan Griggs
9 Alan J. Marchbank
10 Richard Haseldine
First quarter peal on ten bells: Treble
First changes in the method on ten bells: 4
For Evensong
First quarter peal on the bells since the completion of the major project of rehanging, retuning and augmentation.
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6th August 2009
What next ?
What stage are we at now? The new ropes have been delivered and will be fitted once decorating has been finished. I am awaiting delivery of the new electro-magnetic hammers so at present the clock is running but not striking the quarters or hours. A new lockable and solid belfry door and frame is being built at present, previously we had a gate and a rotten frame. The decorating of the ringing chamber should be finished in the next ten days and then we can have the felt underlay and natural fibre based carpet laid. Once the carpet is down we will then form a judgement as to what further works will be required to improve the quality and level of sound being delivered to the ringers. Please remember that absolutely no internal sound control measures have been undertaken at all at present, what you hear at present is as they were installed plus the replacement of trap doors; we have not even replaced the 30 bags of screed, papers, etc., that were removed from the void between the ringing chamber ceiling and the clock room floor.
We are in the process of installing CCTV with cameras covering the belfry, the ringing chamber and the central aisle with monitors in the ringing chamber and the rear of the church. The system is for training and education purposes.
Ringing wise the first quarter peal and peal are due to be rung inside the next month. Monday night practices have resumed with handling tuition from 7.00 to 7.30 and then ringing continuing until 9.00 pm. Please note that access is now through the West Door at the base of the tower and not through the North door and church as previously. We ring every Sunday morning between 9.20 and 10.00 at present and we will be introducing ringing for the 6.00pm Evensong in due course. It is the intention to introduce monthly ten bell practices and to invite bands to ring quarter peals on Sunday evenings. The recruitment and training of new ringers will start in earnest after the summer holidays.
The hard work starts now and I look forward to welcoming you all to ring on our fine ring of ten.
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11th July 2009
Rededication
On Saturday 11th July Alan Wilson, the Bishop of Buckingham officiated at a service of rededication of the bells followed by an excellent reception in the church hall. Bishop Alan delivered a very humorous yet considered sermon in which he included a number of jokes about how many of varying types of people it takes to change a light bulb. He did not include how many bell ringers does it take but it would be nice to go back to him with a number of options so if anyone out there has any humorous bellringer related responses I would be pleased to hear them. On a more serious note our cameraman was not able to make the service to record the events on camcorder and the ringers were so involved with the service that we currently have no photographs of the event at all. If anyone has photographs please contact David Phillipson on 01234 711291
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29th June 2009
Installation
On Monday 8th June Graham Clifton and James Haseldine arrived from Whites to supervise the volunteer workforce of Alan and John Marchbank, Jonathan Griggs, Richard Haseldine, Roy Keeves, Charles Knight, Brian Newman and myself. By the end of Monday 7 of the 10 bells were in place and by the close of Tuesday all 10 were hung. On the Thursday afternoon all 10 were fully fitted and roped up and we rang the front 6 and the back 6 all be it with all of the trap doors open except the belfry floor.
By the end of the following week all of the trap doors had been replaced and the long serving safety barrier in the ringing chamber had been removed. We had also fitted the heavy steel brackets in the ringing chamber and reassembled and hung the old 6th frameside from the original 1626 frame. The brackets were constructed by Charlie Head of Bletchley to a design from our resident structural engineers.
On the following Monday evening a practice was held at which a number of people from Whites were present including Brian White and Graham Clifton. A range of touches were rung including Stedman Caters and Cambridge Royal and there was a general feeling of satisfaction and delight with the resulting sound and go of the bells. Outside there is an evenness of sound all round the tower and inside, whilst there is currently slightly too much overall sound, the balance of sound is superb and the retuning of the existing 8 and the two new trebles has produced an outstanding result.
The following Saturday, the 27th June, was the Olney Cherry Fair and the weekend was the patronal festival. The 10 bells were rung for the start of the fair and there was open ringing following the fair at which a number of members of the North Bucks Branch of the ODG were able to ring on them for the first time.
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7th June 2009
Arrival & Blessing
On Friday 5th June, right on time at 1.00 pm, the bells of Olney crossed the bridge over the Great Ouse and came home. Together with the police escort the lorry carrying the bells, supplied by Projector Lifting, then toured the Town stopping outside all three schools. The return of the bells had been well publicised and a good number of people saw the bells for possibly the first and certainly the last time.
The lorry managed to negotiate through the church gate pillars and back right up to the North Door. The bells were safely off-loaded and arranged at the back of the church. Later that afternoon the church flower ladies decorated the tops of the bells with flowers that fitted well with the traditional blue of the headstocks from Whites.
The decorated bells sat at the back of the church for the whole weekend and a rota of ringers greeted a steady stream of visitors throughout that time. On the Sunday at the end of the Eucharist service the Rector, Claire Wood, blessed and anointed the two new trebles. A large number of family members were present from the Soul and Ward families who donated the two bells in memory of Bob Soul and David Ward who both died in 2006.
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31st May 2009
Friday 5th June - A date for the diary !
At 1.00pm on Friday 5th June the bells of Olney will return to town. At 1.00pm the lorry carrying the ten bells will enter the town along the A509 coming past the church. The lorry will then proceed up Weston Road, turn right along Aspreys pausing at Ousedale School, before turning right onto Yardley Road. The lorry will pause outside the Middle School for the pupils to witness this once in a lifetime event before rejoining the High Street and parading to the church.
Once the bells have been off loaded they will sit at the back of the church over the weekend before work commences on Monday 8th June to raise them into place in their new frame. Once all the installation works have been completed they will be in full working condition in time for the Cherry Fair on Saturday 27th June.
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24th. April 2009
Major Milestone Reached
The photograph below was taken on the 17th. April at the workshops of Whites of Appleton. It shows for the first time the complete installation including all ten bells. During the first week of May the installation will be taken apart and the unpainted steel work will be galvanised before transportation to Olney.
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5th. April 2009
Opening the final chapter ?
The photograph below was taken on the 2nd. April at the workshops of Whites of Appleton. The only things now missing are two headstocks and wheels (the 4th. at the bottom left of the picture and the 6th halfway up on the left hand side) and of course ten bells! The two remaining headstocks are being collected on the 6th. and 7th. April as are the bells. It can be confirmed that the Tenor Bell cast by Henry Bagley of Chacombe in 1682, after welding and tuning, now weighs 24cwts. 0qtrs 9lbs, in the key of D.
The key project dates are now as follows:
Fri. 22nd. May – Transport from Olney to Appleton to pick up all structural steel and frame sides. Transport is being provided free of charge by Duncan Rogers, MD of Projector Lifting.
Tue. 26th. May – Start of installation of foundation beams and frame grillage.
Fri. 5th. June – Transport from Olney to Appleton to pick up bells, wheels and all other fittings. Transport is being provided free of charge by Duncan Rogers, MD of Projector Lifting. Once the lorry carrying the bells has entered the town it is planned that it will then drive up Weston Road, along Aspreys, down Yardley Road, pausing outside Olney Middel School, and then along the full length of the High Street before arriving at the church.
Sat/Sun. 6th./7th. June – Bells will be on the floor of church for all to see. The blessing of the two new bells will form part of the 10.00 am service on the Sunday.
Mon. 8th. June – Start of installation of bells and fittings.
Sat. 27th.June – Church Cherry Fair; first session of full open ringing. Ringing beforehand will be by the Olney ringers plus a number of special invited guests. Ringing afterwards will be open to ringers from the North Bucks Branch of the Oxford Guild who have been supportive of the appeal.
Sun 28th.June – Patronal Festival; first service ringing by the Olney ringers
Sat. 11th. July – 5.00pm Service of rededication of the bells by Bishop Alan of Buckingham
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7th. March 2009
Bell frame under construction
The photograph below shows the new steel bellframe for ten bells on the floor of the workshops of Whites of Appleton. They have taken delivery of some of the headstocks and the tuned bells will be picked up from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry after Easter. Currently we are looking at the bells ringing again in time for the Cherry Fair and the Patronal Festival at the end of June.
Works are also progressing well to move the clock and pendulum. The next steps are for the firm of N&G Gray and Sons of Hanslope to come in and complete the belfry floor and then to rebuild the sills in the belfry and construct the sockets for the new RSJs
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14th. January 2009
The Bells are at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Following the return of the Tenor bell from being welded by Soundweld in Newmarket, all ten bells are now at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London where they will be tuned as a complete ring of ten bells.
 Work was completed today on the installation of the weather proofing and sound control to the inside of the North louvre, see photograph. The installation comprises of galvanised steel channel which is bolted into the stonework and then a double thickness of staggered scaffolding board is inserted. The outside layer is treated with a waterproofing layer of black bitumous like paint. This particular section is 2.7m high by 2.03 wide (9' x 6'9") and in the centre is a top hinged door which can be open or closed depending upon the level of external sound required. Prior to this installation any wind and weather coming in from the North had unobstructed flow through the belfry. Once the other three louvres have been treated in similar fashion the reinstalled frame, bells and fittings will be substantially more protected from the elements than was ever the case previously. Everyone will also benefit from the ability to adjust the level of external volume being emitted from the tower when the bells are being rung.
Yesterday the two sections of the RSJ which had been removed from the belfry in November were removed from outside the west door and disposed of courtesy of our good friends at Projector Lifting. Today all of the timber which had been outside the West door was removed also to various good homes or, in the case of the badly eaten and rotted wood, good fireplaces.
Work will continue at working parties on both Saturday 17th and 24th (from 09.30 am to lunchtime) with works to the clock room and also tidying of the Cowley Room and the West porch area in readiness for the service of institution and induction of Claire Wood, our new rector, on Tuesday 27th. January.
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12th. December 2008
The Frame is out !
I am pleased to confirm that the frame has now been removed. I can also confirm that all of our worst fears about the extent of rot, death watch beetle damage, etc., were more than confirmed. The photograph is the mid-section of the 18" square foundation beam that lay along the north wall. The damage that can be seen was hidden by the base beam of the fourth frame which was put in place by Alfie Bowell in 1903. Now that we know what was 'not' holding the bells in place we are totally amazed that we could even ring a 25cwt ring of eight as well as we did.
The Western frameside of the sixth has been removed and will be preserved (see drawing below). It will be stored against the North wall of the ringing chamber as a feature; this is the same side as the clock pendulum so it would not intrude or hinder the rope circle. In this way everyone who visits the tower to ring will be able to see the preservation at first hand.
For a number of reasons it was not possible to move the frameside totally intact. Firstly the weight involved; the base beam alone was nearly 11' long and 12" by 7" and is too heavy for two people to lift. Secondly when we tried to extract similar pieces the dowels remained intact but the tenon joints themselves collapsed. Thirdly the weight and size of the frameside intact was too unwieldy to safely remove and lower into the ringing chamber. The dowels in the two side assemblies remain intact but those in the top and bottom beams had to be removed so the frameside was moved in four pieces. Because the dowels in the main could not be driven out they had to be drilled out and, where old ones can not be refitted, will be replaced with modern dowels when we reassemble the frameside. When we closely examined the tenon joints we concluded that the tenon joint was drilled separately to the mortice joint and drilled slightly offset so the effect of driving the dowel into place would tighten the joint; this is obviously very good for achieving a tight joint but makes it virtually impossible to drive the dowel back out.
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9th. November 2008
Frame removal
Time has been spent over the last few weeks measuring, drawing and photographing the wooden bell frame before it is removed from the tower and replaced. Back in August, just after the bells had been removed, Dr. Martin Bridge from the Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory visited the tower and took core samples of the older timbers. As some of the samples included sap wood he was able to positively date a number of the timbers to have been felled in 1626 and as wood was not seasoned at that time the frame would have been erected in 1626 or within one or two years after that date. It is known that there were bells in the tower prior to that year so the previous frame must have been removed in its entirety. The six bell frame erected in 1626 would have remained largely untouched until there were major changes made in 1903 to accomodate two extra bells and the new clock hammers with the addition of the westminster chimes,
The frame will be removed during the week commencing 17th. November.
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10th. October 2008
Presentation of £20,000 cheque
At 6.00 pm on Friday 10th. October there was a presentation of a cheque for £20,000 from the Bucks Historic Churches Trust to the Olney Bells Appeal . The presentation was made by Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Buckinghamshire, who is President of the BHCT to Rev’d Val Reveley who accepted the cheque on behalf of the appeal and the PCC. The funding for the grant has come from WREN and the landfill tax credits raised at the 2 Waste Recycling Group Landfill sites at Calvert and Bletchley.
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12th. September 2008
New Bells are cast
Earlier today a party of people from Olney went down to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London to witness the casting of the two new bells. At 6 and a half and 6 and three quarters hundredweight they will be added to the front end of the existing octave to provide us with our ring of ten bells. These two bells will stay at Whitechapel and be tuned with the rest of the bells once they are delivered back from Whites workshop in Appleton and from SoundWeld in Newmarket.
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24th. August 2008
Additional works to the bells
Some time ago one of the bell founders which quoted for the work suggested that one of the bells may be cracked in the crown which could only be confirmed when the headstock was removed. The headstocks have now been removed and I am pleased to confirm that there are no cracks. In removing the headstocks however Whites of Appleton have discovered that the largest four bells have a large number of bolt holes in their crowns. The tenor is the worst with twelve holes. When they quarter turn the bells and drill a further 4 holes in each it will considerably weaken the crown. Incidentally it has been confirmed that our tenor bell, at a little under 25 cwt., is the largest bell cast by Henry Bagley still in existence.
The option being recommended is that they should send the bells to a company called Soundweld and have all the holes filled with weld. Unfortunately this will be very expensive to do because of the size of the bells and the time it takes to pre-heat them to welding temperature. So we are now faced with an increase on the cost line of over £12,000. There are additional grant making bodies which have not been approached yet so it is hoped that some of this extra funding will come from this source. It is inevitable however that the majority of this shortfall will have to be raised by the appeal.
If you are considering making a donation to the appeal but have yet to do so I would urge you to act as soon as you are able so that we can ensure that the remarkable progress made to date can continue unabated.
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21st. August 2008
The Bells leave town
Yesterday the 20th. August saw a significant milestone in the life of the Church of St Peter & St Paul in Olney, the town of Olney itself and the Olney Bells Project in particular. The eight bells which had been lowered to the floor of the church during Monday and Tuesday and which had not left the church since 1931, yesterday left the town after been loaded onto a lorry for transportation to the workshops of Whites of Appleton and then onwards for tuning at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Our thanks go to Duncan Rogers at Projector Lifting and to Colin Jamieson for providing the transport as a donation to the project.
Listen to BBC Three Counties Radio interview
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12th. August 2008
Wednesday 20th. August - A date for the diary!
During the morning of Wednesday 20th August 2008 the eight bells will be taken out of the church and loaded onto transport provided by Duncan Rogers and Projector Lifting for transfer to the workshops of Whites of Appleton, the bellhangers. Once there the headstocks and bearings will be removed, the old clapper staples will be drilled out and then they will be transferred to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London where they will be tuned. This day provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the bells and their fittings for the first time since 1931 before they are cleaned and renovated to their former glory to ring out for another hundred years. The press and TV media will be present to record this historical event and we hope that you will be there as well..
Prior to this on Monday 18th. August, Graham Clifton from Whites of Appleton will arrive and, aided by a group of experienced and fully insured volunteers, will begin the delicate task of removing the bells from where they currently hang, lower them individually down approximately 90 feet through 4 trap doors (not all in line!) to the floor of the church. They will then sit at the back of the nave until Wednesday morning. There is a full rota of volunteers to sit with the bells all through the night of the 19th. until they are removed to be loaded onto the lorry on the Wednesday morning.
Please come and see the bells. See the two smallest bells cast in 1903, see the oldest bell cast in 1599 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and the mighty tenor bell of nearly 25 hundredweight cast in 1682. Do not miss this rare opportunity.
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29th. July 2008
Work continues as planned.
On Monday 28th. July a three man team from Olney Scaffolding Services arrived on site to erect two scaffold platforms above the bell frame. These are to allow the lifting and fixing of three steel beams which will be used for all future lifting works including the removal of the bells. Bearing in mind the height to which all materials had to be raised they performed an excellent job and were finished by 9.30 on Tuesday morning having worked long hours; many thanks to you all.
Tomorrow the clock engineer arrives to mothball the clock which was stopped prematurely yesterday by a protracted power failure in town.
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26th. July 2008
Works have started !
On Monday 21st. July works finally started in preparing the tower for the removal of the bells in August. Ray Whiting assisted by Adrian Gibbons from Olney Building and Maintenance were first up in opening the trap doors in the first floor and ringing chamber. Removing the ground floor ceiling provided a surprise in that it was thought that little if no allowance had been made for the provision of a trap door in the floor of the Cowley Room. The evidence and the photograph show the underside of the full sized 4' 7" trap door.
At the weekend a working party comprising David Phillipson, Alan Marchbank and Doug Hird worked to remove the fittings. At the end of six hours all stays, wheels, clappers (except the tenor) sliders and clock hammers had been removed and all bearing bolts had been loosened to speed the removal of the bells.
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21st. June 2008
Olney Bells Project - Green Light
With the granting of the Faculty on the 18th. June the last phase of gaining authorisation for the commencement of works has been completed. The bells will be rung for the last time on Sunday 20th. July and the following day contractors will move in to start work on creating a trap door between the ground and first floors, The next significant milestone will be during week commencing the 18th. August when Whites of Appleton, the bell hangers, will arrive to remove the existing eight bells from the tower and take them away for cleaning, retuning and the addition of new headstocks. The exact date when the bells are due to leave the town on the back of a flat bed lorry will be announced when known.
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27th. May 2008
Appeal success for Olney's new ring of bells
A Press release from The Heritage Lottery Fund
A project to re-hang the bells of slavery abolitionist John Newton’s church will also encourage more people to train as bellringers. The project, at the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Olney, has received a £35,500 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
The award is a major boost to the Olney Bells Appeal that was launched last October. The project will involve the replacement of a deteriorating wooden bell frame in the Grade1 listed church, retuning and rehanging the eight bells, community activities to bring the history of the bells and the church to a wider audience, and training opportunities aimed at providing a supply of new ringers to continue the heritage of English-style bell ringing. The church is also funding the addition of two new treble bells at the same time.
Local people will have the chance to see the original bells prior to their removal and then once they are restored to the belfry. A multi-media archive will be created to document the project and, once completed, this will become part of the history archive of the Cowper and Newton Museum.
The Church of St Peter and St Paul has a large congregation and welcomes a significant number of tourists each year. It was where slave trader turned abolitionist John Newton – author of the hymn Amazing Grace – served as curate from 1764 to 1779. New historical information will be placed in the church and cameras will be installed in the tower linked to monitors in the church to enable visitors to see the bells while they are being rung.
It is hoped that the project will spur renewed interest in bellringing and will create a unique opportunity in the Buckinghamshire area with a ringing education programme and regular training sessions for bellringers.
Other aspects of the project include a new history trail focusing on the links between the church and John Newton and William Cowper.
Commenting on behalf of the Parochial Church Council of St Peter and St Paul project manager David Phillipson said: “We are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has enabled this work to take place with this very significant grant. Working with the HLF in partnership has been a refreshing experience and their professional approach and guidance has helped to develop the overall project into one which will deliver genuine improvements in access to heritage for generations to come.”
For the Heritage Lottery Fund, South East England Regional Manager Michelle Davies said: “The repair work not only preserves the bells in a fully working condition but also allows a greatly enhanced opportunity for people to become bellringers. At the same time it will provide a wealth of additional heritage information about the church and its association with leading figures in the movement to abolish slavery.”
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For further information contact:
Phil Cooper, Heritage Lottery Fund Press Office, on: 07889 949173 or
Samantha Goody, Heritage Lottery Fund Press Office, on: 020 7591 6033
www.hlf.org.uk
David Phillipson, Project Manager, on: 07912 059491
Notes to editors:
• The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation’s heritage for everyone to enjoy. Since 1994 the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded over £378 million to more than 2,660 projects in South East England.
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16th. April 2008
Major Grant Confirmed
“The Bucks Historic Churches Trust has today confirmed that it will be making a grant of £20,000 towards the costs of the Olney Bells Project. The funding for this grant money has come from WREN and the landfill tax credits raised at the 2 Waste Recycling Group Landfill sites in Bucks at Calvert and Bletchley.”
Together with the grants totalling £7,020 from the Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers this is a major milestone in the task of raising over £57,000 from grant aided funding. With two major grant applications still pending we remain on course to start the project in July of this year.
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4th. April 2008
Were you in Olney in 1931 ?
The existing eight bells have not been seen by the vast majority of people in Olney for 77 years as they were last removed from the tower in 1931. The following are extracts from the Bucks Standard for that year.
28 Feb
During the past week the bells have been removed from the church belfry to a Whitechapel bell foundry for tuning purposes.
16 May
Although the church bells were returned to Olney on Monday last they will not be available for ringing until after Whitsun. The bells remained at the road-side during Monday night and were removed into the church on Tuesday. (Ed. Be assured that we will be taking better care of the bells in 2008!)
We are particularly interested in hearing from anyone who can remember seeing the bells in 1931. We currently only have one photograph of one of the bells being returned so we would be very pleased to receive copies of any other photographs that exist. If you have personal recollections of seeing the bells or you know of a relative who has such recollections we would very much like to meet and record those stories so that we have audio records for the future. These events occur very rarely and we would like to put together as complete an archive as possible now for our benefit and for the benefit of future generations.
If you have any information that you think may be of interest, however small or minor, please contact David Phillipson :
by telephone on 01234 711291,
or by email at bells@olneybells.co.uk
or by surface mail to 50 West Side Rise, Olney, Bucks, MK46 5HP.
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24th. March 2008
Branch Open Day
The Open Day organised by the Branch on Easter Monday was a great success despite the weather and other Bank Holiday distractions. The amount of money raised on the day was a little over £800 to which can be added recoverable tax from gift aided donations. This gives a grand total of £908 which has been donated to the Olney Bells Appeal and very thankfully received.
On behalf of everyone involved with the appeal and the major project at Olney we would like to send our sincerest thanks to the following:
- The Church authorities for allowing the use of the bells at the 31 towers.
- The branch officers for the first class organisation of the day and collecting the monies so efficiently.
- The ringers, friends and relations who participated during the day by stewarding, supporting the ringing or providing first class refreshments.
- The ringers who came from far and wide to experience the branch bells and to support the day through their financial contributions.
- Lastly we would like to thank everyone in and associated with the Branch for the very significant donation to the appeal fund.
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9th. February 2008
Update
As at today the appeal fund stands at just over £42,000 against a target of £57,600 and it is only a few days over three months since the appeal was launched. Earlier in January we held a Burns Night supper which raised over £1,000 for the fund and at the beginning of February, Liz Sheaf, one of our ringers and Tina Jeffrey, a friend of the ringers, ran in the Olney Pancake Race sponsored for the fund and raised over £1,300.
On the grant side of things we have pending applications totalling £55,520 with the ODG Bell Fund, the Bucks Historic Churches Trust, the Foundation for Sport and the Arts and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The DAC Certificate covering the new frame, retuning, casting of the new bells and the rehanging has been issued and the petition for faculty is being submitted shortly.
The current plan is for work to start immediately after the last wedding we are ringing for this year on the 19th. July and Whites of Appleton will be taking the bells out starting on the 18th. August. We hope to be ringing the ten bells by the end of the year and are planning to ring for service on Christmas Day.
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