Fraser Storie
Exactly 2 months ago tomorrow (at the time of writing), the Bell Ringers of All Saints, Kingston-upon-Thames had their annual excursion. 4 towers in total were rung at, in the counties of Surrey and Hampshire. Not only that, we had a scrumptious lunch halfway through at ‘The White Hart’ in Holybourne, with an attempt made for cream tea at the end of the day, but that was not quite as successful as it could have been!
Tower 1 was the light ring of 8 at Frensham. This was the only tower on the day which was in the county of Surrey, with the other 3 being in Hampshire. Not only that, this was also our heaviest ring on the day, with a 9cwt tenor in G.
These are a very mixed bag of bells. Until 1973, a ring of 6 by Taylor’s, Ellis I Knight, Mears & Stainbank, Robert Catlin, and an unidentified founder was present. Then, Whitechapel cast 2 trebles to make the ring of 8 we know today. In fact, they recently received a major overhaul by Taylor’s. This involved a rehang, retuning, restoration of clappers amongst other things, and the cleaning/replacement of bearings. As a result, producing a very enjoyable octave to ring on.
Alton boasts 2 rings in the main part of the town, those being All Saints and St Lawrence. Our second tower was the former, which is in the South Western part of the town. It is located on the crossroads of Butts Road, Queens Road and the extremely fittingly named Tower Street. Diagonally opposite the church is Alton Fire Station, situated on a small raised mound which provided a great vantage point for filming the ringing.
This tower, much like the 3rd and 4th towers on the outing, has a delightful set of new bells. In this case, the ring of 6 here was installed by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 2006. They are also a light set of bells, being only 6cwt. Not only that, they are tuned to B. Making this quite a comparison to one of my home towers at Addington. One major difference between them though is that Addington sound very clear in the ringing chamber whereas Alton have much more resonating tones. It’s as if the bells have a striking tone of being muffled, but the volume of a normal bell, thus making these bells quite pleasing to listen to.
With 2 towers completed, we drove up the road to Holybourne – a suburb of Alton. This was the location of our aforementioned scrumptious lunch! My food was impossible to complain about: despite the quite large circumference of my Korean Spiced Chicken Burger (which no doubt resulted in some difficult and messy bites), the taste and texture was magnificent! Completed with chips and baked beans on the side, that was certainly one of the best pub meals I’ve ever had!
Now, on to the afternoon …
Just metres away from the pub is Church Lane, the country lane that took us up the gentle incline to The Church of The Holy Road. This was our 3rd and penultimate tower of the day. We arrived around 30 minutes early, so we took the time so take the band photo in the churchyard. This also gave us an extra 10 minutes of ringing time as our tower-opener also arrived prematurely!
Like the previous tower, Holybourne have a full Whitechapel set of bells. Cast in 2009, they are again tuned the B and weigh 6cwt. In addition, there are 3 clock bells. 2 quarter chimes (in D and B) and the hour bell in A. These are much older, having been cast by Richard Phelps, Richard Eldridge and the Wokingham Foundry in 1600, 1728 and around 1440! For me, the ring of 8 here was very easy-going. They required little effort to keep up, and the bells I rang had no habit of suddenly dropping on you. I have to say, the rings around here are of a very commendable quality.
Following on from the outstanding 8 at Holybourne, we moved swiftly on to our 4th and final tower. Which was in the village of Chawton, similar to Holybourne, being in extremely close proximity to Alton.
Similar to Alton and Holybourne, Chawton has a complete set of bells. Not by Whitechapel though, this time they were cast by Taylors, Eayre and Smith in 2009. Additionally, for the 3rd time on this outing, they are in the key of B, and weigh 6cwt! Furthermore, there are 2 chiming bells, much older though. The lighter cast by the Wokingham Foundry in circa 1499, and the heavier by Henry I Knight in 1621. This ring was also an easy-going set. Quite like my lunch, nothing to complain about!
There we have it! An extremely fun-packed day of ringing, together with an excellent spot of grub. I must say, a massive thank you to the Kingston Bell Ringers for inviting me along – a day well spent!