Bells (St M)
St Mary’s Bellringers
St Mary’s ringers held their AGM in the Chapter House on 16th March with Rev Stephen Morris in control. The officers elected were; Captain - Peter England, Vice-Captain – Phil Jones, Secretary & Steeplekeeper – Martyn Marriott, Treasurer – Sarah Young, Auditor – Peter Hawcock.
The officer’s reports suggested that 2007 had been a successful year with plenty of ringing and social activity. For the 104 Sunday services for which the bells were rung, twelve bells were rung on 65 occasions, an improvement on 2006. There were 43 quarter peals rung during the year in a variety of methods.
The annual outing visited Yorkshire with ringing in five churches around Halifax. An enjoyable day was had finishing with a curry in Nottingham.
We had one welcome addition to our ringing group during the year with the birth of Harry Ryder, a son for Karl and Clare.
Members of the tower took part in two striking competitions, the Worthington Cup which we hosted at St Mary’s and the Crawford Cup, both of which were successfully won.
The accounts showed some expenditure but this was due to work having been carried out on the bells. The last major overhaul of the bells was carried out in 1935 and some of the fittings are beginning to require some attention. Martyn, in his capacity as Steeplekeeper, has drawn up a schedule of work and this is being carried out over the next couple of years. The tower funds are being used to pay for this work and the end result should last for another eighty years.