The Church Bells

The final peal of 5040 changes, rung on five bells before the new sixth bell was installed, was undertaken on Saturday 1st December 2001. The ringing lasted for two hours, thirty-five minutes and was conducted by Ray Martin on the fifth bell. On the treble was Patrick Biggs, ringing in his first peal; second bell was John Hunt; third Kate Handy, also ringing her first peal; and fourth bell was Claire Johnson. We rang a combination of four methods - Plain Bob doubles, St Martins, St Simons and Grandsire - each method consisting of 1260 changes.

Ringing a peal is quite a challenge, and has not been undertaken on Lubenham bells by local ringers since August 1987! But once we had settled down to the ringing we enjoyed the challenge, suffering only minor blisters and aching arms. It is good team work and certainly good for stimulating the grey matter! Needless to say, after standing for that amount of time and concentrating to such an extent, we were happy to repair to the local hostelry and imbibe some liquid refreshment.

The new bell awaiting fixing with some of those who helped with the hanging. A Smith, Don Johnson, Clare Johnson, Bob Bindley, Frank Cook.

The new sixth bell arrived the following Thursday and was left on display in the church over the weekend. Various comments were made regarding its size: some thought it was small, others considered it to be large, but all agreed it looked very impressive and the golden colour of the metal was of particular interest.

Before it was cast there had been a considerable amount of deliberation over the inscription; eventually it was decided that, since so many people had kindly contributed to the bell fund, the inscription should reflect this generosity. Therefore on one side of the bell are the simple words, "All Saints' Ringers and Friends 2001".

The bell hangers stayed with us for around a week working on the installation, ably assisted by Frank Cook, Patrick Biggs and Don Johnson. By providing their labour these three saved us a total of £668.00 on the final cost, for which we give grateful thanks. Some of the time they were handling cold steel and heavy lifting gear, and it must have been a nightmare as it is very cold at the top of the tower. But stalwarts they were, and they never complained: they even said they enjoyed every minute, finding the work and learning the mechanics to be very interesting! I admire their fortitude, as once or twice when I venture up the old, almost vertical, ladder I found the gale-force wind through the louvres cutting and certainly an inhospitable environment, from which I hastily retreated. They did all agree that the worst part was looking down through the trap doors as they hauled up the bell. That point was my cue to make the coffee!

On the following Friday a group of us rang a few methods to try the new bell. We were delighted with the sound: it really did round off the five bells. We are now looking forward to the dedication service and continuing to ring our bells on a regular basis. We have a lively group of all ages and at all stages and what is very encouraging is the way the 'young bell ringers' are progressing. Having said that, there is always a welcome for anyone who wants to learn and provide the continuity of ringing in the village.

Finally, let me apologise if, for a while, we clatter the bells more than usual! Counting up to six will take some getting used to and I shall have to use the fingers of both hands! Hopefully we shall soon have mastered the art of ringing six bells and the many more challenging methods to use.

Claire Johnson
February 2002

Further developments in the Church Tower

In spring 2006 work began to raise the floor of the bell tower to make space in the belfy for kitchen and toilet facilities. The addition of these extra facilities will enable the church to be opened for more events.

There were mixed feelings among the bellringers about this change, with some ringers prefering the long draught and some feeling that it was a change of the authenticity of the belltower, however these arguments were soon discounted since there was previously a minstrels gallery in the tower that had a similar level of floor. The remaining pillars from this can be seen at the back of the church.

The floor and kitchen area are almost complete and the screen fits well with the rest of the church decor, being made of solid oak.