A Fun Web Site for the Bellringers in North West Suffolk

The morning of Saturday 27th June dawned ominously cloudy and overcast in some parts of Suffolk, but by 3pm it had improved greatly and a a group of intrepid ringers from various towers across the Guild gathered at All Saints in Sunny Sudbury to ring on the newly repaired ring of 8. The local press had been forwarned that the bells which had not been rung regularly for over 50 years were going to be rung today and as a result of a paragraph written in the EADT, a few curious visitors turned up at the church to listen.

We were met by a very forward thinking lady whose name I forgot to ask (sorry), who had already put the kettle on. This was just as well because after pulling the back three bells up and turning the clappers on the 6th and 7th, the raising of the front 5 in peal came to an abrupt end when the rope on the 4th snapped. Down came the tenor again and some agile manouevering beneath the bell was required to put a spare rope back on.

This done, the ringing was then able to start some 30  minutes later than planned. The eight definitely sounded better outside than in,and as was to be expected on a ring that  had so little use in the last 50 years, the going was tough. A reasonable touch of grandsire triples was managed but after that the main ringing was just rounds and call changes, but everyone who made the effort was glad that they had done so.

Following on from that most people decided not to go the ring of three at Elmsett, turning up early instead to surprise a band of Hadleigh ringers who were playing "How clean is your belfry". Greeted by clouds of dust from a leaking hoover bag and the waft of pledge, we did assure them that after the conditions at Sudbury, they really did not need to go to so much trouble. Ringing rooms are by definition dusty places!

The social part of the day was held just across the graveyard in Hadleigh Guildhall and the barbecue was just excellent! A variety of snapshots can be seen by clicking on the album below, and as a picture paints a thousand words, the rest of this page needs no more editorial! (Once the album is open, click on slideshow and the hit F11 to view the pictures on full screen).