Bingley Handbell Ringers             

          

Our handbell appeal to refurbish some of the 70 handbells found it the tower at All Saints Bingley has finally reached its target.

We have already advised our followers about our efforts to date. We raised most of the money ourselves but then at the end of 2009 we received very good news! The Bradford and Bingley Community Fund had decided to contribute £500.

Then this week we received news of a £500 donation from the Shipley District Community Chest. We have been in touch with the foundry in Loughborough and are making arrangements to take the handbells there for them to start work on them.

Once the bells are returned to us in a fully refurbished condition the work starts. We have to learn to ring them and then maybe by next Christmas we will be able to show off our new skills!!

Solna Burnham

Secretary 14th February 2010

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                                Jane and Ann raised £78.00                                        Claire and Jane raised £44.10

                                   at a table top sale                                                           at a car boot sale          

All Saints has a  collection of 71 hand bells gathering dust in boxes in the tower. Most are in extremely poor condition as they have not been used or stored properly for as long as anyone can remember.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries tune ringing on hand bells was extremely popular across the industrial towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Teams played with large sets  of bells, often upwards of 150 bells per team. During the period 1855 to 1925 large hand bell contests were held at Belle Vue, Manchester. Following the first World War  many teams died out and many sets of bells have remained in store cupboards for long periods since.

We are not 100% certain how old our bells are, but they were made by a Bradford bell founder, John Shaw & Son, in premises on Leeds Road during the period 1848 to 1902. Some of the bells are duplicated, which suggests they probably date from around 1875 to 1890, when teams began using duplicate bells to extend the range of music they were able to play. There is also some hand bell music in the tower dated 1882.

The current tower bell ringers recently sent the hand bells to John Taylor’s bell foundry in Loughborough, to obtain a quotation for restoring some of them to their former glory. We have been quoted £3200 to restore or replace sufficient bells to form a 2 chromatic octave set (25 bells) which could then be used for both tune ringing and change ringing.

We have launched a fund raising campaign to raise the money required and are aware of grants which may be available. We also hope to invite a local hand bell team to perform at Bingley to show people what can be achieved. As part of this process we would like to hear from anyone who might be interested in forming a hand bell team in readiness for when the bells are restored, or from anyone who knows anything about the previous history of the bells themselves.

If you are interested in this project please contact Jane Lynch on 0113 2509412 or j.lynch6@btinternet.com