Last time Christmas fell on a Monday, the All Saints bellringers clocked up no fewer than seven ringing sessions in 24 hours. This time the clergy team decided not to hold a Christmas Eve 9:30 service, so we were on duty for a mere (!) six occasions – two crib services, Lessons & Carols, midnight, and on Christmas Day not only for the 9:30 but also the earlier 8:00 service. I’m pleased to say that we had enough volunteers from the band (and its friends) to sound out all those calls to worship. Phew!
Rest does not last long in the belfry though, and the New Year was soon upon us. So after normal service ringing on the morning of Sunday 31st December we reconvened late that night to welcome in the New Year. This year we decided against our prior custom of ‘ringing the old year out’ with the bells half-mufed – taking the muffles off at ten to midnight is a little dodgy – but on the stroke of midnight the bells rang out loud and joyously to augment the external cheers and fireworks. Did you hear us?
We were soon back in the belfry on New Year’s Day to ring a date touch. John Harrison has used these pages previously to explain this idea in detail; suffice to say that each bell rang 2024 times to match the year number. This was successfully achieved, and was more notable because the band featured both an 80-year-old and an 86-year-old. [and a 16 year old ]
Steve Smith (Jan 2024)
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