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Bozeat village sign |
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The 3rd was the oldest bell (originally cast in 1450 at Bury St. Edmunds), but it was cracked, possibly when the spire fell in 1877, and was recast by John Taylor of Loughborough in 1884. Our newest bell is the treble, cast in 1995 by John Taylor in the same foundry that the 3rd was recast in. With all that history turning around in the tower every time we ring, it’s important to maintain the bells and fittings to ensure that they will still be there when all the present ringers are long gone, to be enjoyed by new generations of ringers and village residents for the next few hundred years as well. A programme of on-going maintenance is underway. The ropes are just a small part and cost in the region of £600 for a full set of six ropes. Over the next year, wooden panels in the bell tower need replacing (approximately £1600.00); new gudgeon pins for 4 of the bells will need preventative maintenance or repair at between £300 - £500 per bell. The clappers in 5 of the bells also need refurbishment and that will probably cost something in the region of £100 - £200 per bell. With the help of donations from a variety of sources, it is hoped to be able to carry out this work in the coming year. If you wish to donate towards the maintenance of the bells, please visit our stall at the village fete or contact me at a convenient moment. Please also visit us up the tower on a practice night (Thursdays) if you want to find out more about the bells or ringing in general. |
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Finally, if you are interested in becoming a bell ringer and continuing the historic art of ringing in Bozeat, please ask for details or pop along to a practice. You will be made very welcome.We’ve had several visitors from the village up the tower on Thursday evenings to see what we get up to. If you’d like to come and see us and discover what ringers get up to, you’d be more than welcome. Drop by the tower during practice night you may even get roped in! If any of you are interested in church bellringing and want to find out more, please feel free to drop by on a Thursday evening. We would be pleased to see you. Alternatively, give me a call. |
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BOZEAT HANDBELL RINGERS The Handbell Ringing group now numbers about 12, and over the last few months we have been meeting at 6.45 most Monday evenings to enable those ringers who have joined us recently to go through the basics at their own pace at a 'beginners' practice followed later in the evening by the more experienced ringers trying their hand at some more complex music. This seems to have worked well with everyone progressing quickly. My thanks go to all those who've made it to practice at 6.45, as I rarely do, and to our new recruits for their enthusiasm. The pressure built on the team of 6 ringers who were due to perform 3 or 4 tunes as part of the 'Musical Allsorts' evening at Easton Maudit Church on 18th June. The team of ringers selected itself as being the only six available, and includes Corinne Cox one of our recent young recruits who is doing a great job; if only the rest of us had such powers of concentration! Well the Handbell Ringers survived, and were pleasantly surprised that they quite enjoyed, their first proper public performance. Since then, apart from fulfilling a request for a surprise rendition of 'Happy Birthday' at a Party we have been enjoying ourselves at our Monday evening practices trying out & generally messing about with some new tunes. In September we shall be dusting off the Christmas music & trying to extend the repertoire of Carols etc learnt last year. So, if any one would like a short burst of seasonal handbell ringing at their Christmas event this year please let us know & we will try to oblige. If anyone is interested in joining us and having a go at Handbell Ringing please give me a call. Helen Manktelow |
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For more information on the Bozeat bellringers, please contact |
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