The annual outing of the bellringers saw them cruising around West Berkshire and visiting some lovely churches. The annual outing of the bellringers saw them cruising around West Berkshire and visiting some lovely churches.
East Ilsley is a typical small village, with the church sitting firmly on top of the hill. We rang there for 45 minutes. The church was fairly dark inside with old-fashioned box pews.
And then we moved to Shaw, which is effectively a suburb of Newbury. Here we struck a problem because there was no-one to meet us and the church was locked. It seemed the parish office had agreed to the visit without telling anyone. However a local hero drove round to open up for us so we rang for just a few minutes. A very attractive interior to this church, especially the chancel.
A nice lunch in a hostelry, where we were made very welcome and given a room to ourselves.
Then on to Kintbury, between Hungerford and Newbury. Another church with traditional pews but a nice chancel. It also had, in a side chapel, a rather unusual group of memorials, as shown in the photo. This church had the best bells of the day. And (small technical point) we managed to get a touch of Cornwall Surprise Major successfully rung.
Finally on to Hungerford itself. Close by the Kennet & Avon Canal, this is lovely-looking church in well-maintained grounds. The bells here were nice too. This is a wide church but with an attractive layout and I was struck by the lighting around the altar.
This concluded the outing but the day was not yet done. We met up again for a barbecue at Jennifer's and James's house, with the cooking completely undertaken by Jennifer's husband Ben. He is recommended. Excitement for the evening was provided by the foreman who managed to get lost in the wilds of Sand Martin's golf course.
Steve Smith (June 2026)
| Back to top | Return to Article list | Feedback |