© 2023 Buckland Newton Community Website Committee Last updated 25th September 2023 09:20 Website design and update by Jeremy Collins
Bellringers
The Buckland Newton Bellringing
Team (together with those at
Mappowder) are affiliated to the
Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Ringers.
We welcome new recruits to the
Bellringing Team - please contact the
Tower Captain, Nick Baker on 01300
345386.
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!
All over the country bells were rung on Saturday, May 6th to mark the
coronation of a new king, in response to the request, ‘Ring for the King’. It
was after this request went out that people started to realise how few
bellringers there are in the country and, like ringers in many other places,
our band rang in our home tower of Buckland Newton, Mappowder and
Bishops Caundle on the morning of the ceremony. At festivals, like
Christmas, we often go to ring in two or three towers so that the bells can
be heard in these communities, as they have over the centuries.
Of course, bells are rung for big national occasions, as they have been for
hundreds of years, with only a break during wars and Covid. The bells are
also rung for more local events including weddings, baptisms, in memory of
a villager who has died, special birthdays and for regular church services.
Ringing is an ancient art which is in decline so, if you have ever wondered
what goes on in the tower on most Wednesday evenings, why not come
and join us from 7.30pm to see how it’s done? Bellringing can be a lifelong
learning curve and a great way to make new friends.
The photo shows some of our band who ‘Rang for the King’.
Left to right: Brian, Pam, Will, Stephen, David, Jane and Nick (our Captain)
The leading light is 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.
Buckland Newton Community Website
in the heart of rural Dorset