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St Giles Nether Whitacre Bellringers

History find

1/1/2023

 
Got passed two photographs today which have helped to illustrate the history of our church and bells. The first is an interior shot showing the rear of St Giles church before when the bells were rung from the downstairs. Although the image shows the newly installed electric lighting probably dating from the 1920's or 1930's it clearly shows the three bell ropes and the area as it was when the six bells were installed in 1977. The second shows a "swiftways" lorry collecting our bells from their original home church of Hampton in Arden circa 1975. This lorry was paraded around the village to show the inhabitants the new bells, hence the loudspeaker attached to the lorry cab. Interesting the bells still have their cannons and wooden headstocks so this shows the bells before they went to Taylors to be tuned and machined. My thanks goes to those who both loaned and found these photographs which have been added to the history area of this website too.
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Rear view of St Giles circa 1930 showing new electric lights and rear belfry area
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Bells with cannons being collected from Hampton in Arden circa 1976
A show showing the six bell ropes in the downstairs bell chamber is still sought after. If you have such an image dating from circa 1977 to 2002 please contact us.

Shustoke details added

4/7/2021

 
With a wedding to ring at yesterday it was realised that the majority of the ringing at Shustoke is now undertaken by the same group of parish wide ringers. In light of this, a section of this website is now being developed to show the history and achievements completed on these interesting bells. All of our parish wide bells are very different and memorable!

October Newsletter

1/10/2012

 
It has been a quiet month for us, as we see the end of the summer and in some cases return to work after the holiday period. We have been successful this summer in maintaining Sunday service ringing for nearly all services for the first time in many years. We have also only had to cancel one practice night due to lack of numbers although a number of others were a little thin at times.

We are now looking forward to Harvest and perhaps a special bit of ringing for the 35th anniversary of the dedication of the bells.

Once again you are reminded to catch up with all our news as it happens here on our website and if you fancy a new challenge in the Autumn why not come and join us.

New to our website is some recently found super8 film of a young cub scout ringing after a Sunday morning parade service in the late 1970’s which can be viewed on our website in the history section. It is the only views I have found of the bell chamber when rung downstairs. This is surprising as the new chamber is only ten years old this year.
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We now have a QR code which is being published regularly to try and help us get more recognition and access more modern technology! These are the things you see on the back of lorries and in exhibitions and are recognised by the new phones and transfer them direct to the webpage concerned. Not to be missed out we now have our own.

April newsletter

1/4/2012

 
Recently the number of visitors to our website has risen and we hope that the viewers are finding what they need and are impressed. We are still looking for photographs to add to the history section. If anyone has a shot of the back of the church which shows the bell ringing chamber when it was downstairs prior to 2002, we would love to have a copy or to scan it for the website. It is remarkable how few interior photos of the rear of the church that can be found. If you have any of interest please either contact the webmaster through the website or see Hazel Fellows at church.

A news section has now been added to which viewers can subscribe and hear all our news when it happens.

The two bells at Over Whitacre have been rung once this month for a funeral and the problem that one of the bells is missing a part called the stay, has come to our attention again. To this end a replacement stay with fittings has been acquired with thanks to the Fillongley ringers. This will be fitted when time and the daylight hours permit but will then mean, that both bells can be rung properly for the first time, in many years.

This month we have continued to practice our Plain Bob minor ready for the planned special ringing of a quarter peal at Easter. With the weather gradually warming up, already the lighter nights make practice nights a more pleasant time, after the very chilly and dark winter evenings all bellringers have to endure.

If you are thinking of trying out a new hobby why not come and join us. Do come up on a Thursday night and see what we do. If you like what you see, we will gladly give you a small taster as we always need new recruits.

March Newletter

1/3/2012

 
We are looking forward to 2012 as we have a number of events to ring for. This year sees the 35th anniversary of the bells being installed in the tower as well as of course the Diamond Jubilee year. In addition to this all church bells are going to be rung to celebrate the start of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Recently we have managed to ring the bells at Lea Marston Church for the United Benefice service which is the first time we have rung these three bells for over a year. The belfry has been cleaned and the bells greased and cleared of debris which makes them much more pleasant to ring.

We have developed a new website in an effort to break into this new form of communication. Much effort has been taken to record the details of the quarter peals and peals which have been rung at St Giles since 1977 and these are now available to view online. In addition we have a number of historical photographs and information about the installation of the bells. The site is being used to advertise what the bellringers do as well as to showcase our achievements.

We are on the look out for interesting photographs – is anyone able to offer pictures of our bells going round the village in 1977 on a lorry or being unloaded? We would love to copy them and publish in our history section of our website.  

Lea Marston Service ring

29/1/2012

 
The bells were rung for the United Service this morning for the first time in nearly two years. The bells have recently been cleaned both up in the bell chamber and the belfry ringing room. This has made a much better ringing environment and coupled with the greased bearings make the ringing a much better experience. This is the culimniation of activity up in the tower following the recording of the information written on the tower wall and transferred to the website which now has a Lea Marston page up and running.

    St Giles Bellringers

    The trials and tribulations of a small village bellringing band.

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