Bellringers

Restoration of the Church Bells

Restoration of the bells and mechanisms, which has taken in total some six years, is now complete; they are back in situ, ringing and sound truly amazing. Looking on from the side lines, the restoration of the Buckland Newton church bells has taken hours and hours of mental and physical effort in some shape or form. After endless paperwork, submissions and discussions — and finally permissions, the bells were taken down from the church tower in January 2012, handed over to the bell hangers (Nicholson Engineering) in Bridport, retuned, refurbished and finally returned to the bell ringing chamber for everyone to enjoy. There were of course the unexpected hiccups on the way, like the extra requirement for a sound proofed ceiling and essential welding of the third bell in Newmarket, so that it did not break in use. All the problems were overcome, thanks to the willing and hardworking team who wanted to ensure that the project would succeed to benefit the village with a harmonious new sound. This now means that the bells will be up to scratch and available for use by our local and visiting ringing teams until the next major overhaul in 2100! On 1st October we rang in honour of tower captain Nick Baker's mother Bridget Baker's 75th birthday. We rang an extent of Hull Surprise Minor. An extent consists of changing the order that the bells sound in for each consecutive row for every possible combination of our six bells, making each change at every blow, without repeating a row - 720 changes (of 6 blows) in total. It takes just over half an hour. Happy Birthday Bridget (3rd from right)! On Saturday 6th December 2025 the Buckland Newton Bell Ringers (and friends) rang a quarter peal to celebrate Pete Willis' 96th Birthday. Pete is currently the oldest resident in Buckland Newton and since his 90th it has become a bit of a tradition to mark the day with a quarter peal. Following a day of celebrations with his family, Pete listened to the ringing from the comfort of his home whilst Jane rang the Treble, her first quarter peal in over a year The band – Nick Baker, David Brooks, Tim Filtness, Jan Keohane, Jane Willis, Will Burnett Winning News from the Tower On the second Saturday in April eight teams of ringers met at Piddlehinton Church for the local annual striking competition. This event takes place in a different church each year and some of you may remember that two years ago it we held here in Buckland Newton when our local band won. Well, the good news is that we won again this year. Points are deducted for every mistake a team makes – a clash of the bells; uneven striking; a poor rhythm for what is being rung and many other nuances, known only to bellringers. You may be interested to know that last year our team came second and were only half a point behind the winners. The photo shows the winning band with the shield, which will be on display in the ringing chamber for another year, until we defend our title. They are Emma Greyson, Nick Baker, Daivid Brookes, David Marshal and Will Burnett – Andy Waring also rang, but is not pictured. Buckland Newton Bellringers' Striking Success On Saturday 13th April the Buckland Newton Bellringers hosted the Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Ringers (SDGR), Dorchester Branch annual striking competition. Teams of six took it in turn to ring for approximately five minutes and were judged on the quality of their performance by Pat Davidson the SDGR President. The sun was shining, and everybody was able to mingle in the churchyard whilst listening to each of the performances. The experience of the bands varied from novices entering their first ever competition to people who have been ringing for more than 50 years! The afternoon concluded with a traditional 'ringers tea' in the Village Hall, expertly produced by Pam Marshall and helpers. The results of the competition were announced and in first place Buckland Newton, narrowly beating last year’s winners, Wyke Regis, (we might have had a bit of a home advantage!) It was a great afternoon, and we look forward to defending our title next year. The winning team with the trophy. Andy Waring, Emma Grayson, Nick Baker, Jane Willis, David Marshall and David Brooks (not pictured) Nick Baker, the Tower Captain. Nick has been ringing for 20 years, since he was 11. Bridget, his mother, introduced him to the team and he has enjoyed bell ringing ever since. He is currently Assistant Ringing Master of the Dorset County Association of Bellringers, a committee member of Bradpole Ringing Centre and Steeple Keeper of Sherborne Abbey. Bradpole is one of the centres specialising in teaching, including the use of a simulator, to introduce new ringers and improve the standards of teams across the county. Nick is one of a very select group of experienced ringers in Dorset who practice the 'surprise' methods of change ringing, the most advanced. If you didn't know it is "a treble bob method in which an internal place is made every time the treble is going from one dodge to another." Nick rings generally between 4 and 6 days every week. He thoroughly enjoys the very sociable company and says the friends he makes is what it is all about. He is also very keen on training and helping new team members. He never has been a churchgoer and cheerfully admits he would be just as happy if the bell tower was in the middle of a field! Practices are held on Wednesdays at Buckland Newton church, except for the first Wednesday of the month at Mappowder. If you have been a bell ringer and are interested in joining us or would like to learn, please give Nick a ring on 01300 345386 to arrange to join us on a Wednesday evening. You would be very welcome.