LEEK WOOTTON'S NEW TREBLE: dedicated to honour all who perished in WW1
We started in June 2014 with a programme to raise £40,000 to replace the ancient tenor and to add an additional treble to make a ring of 6 bells.
The 'new' tenor in Taylors' tuning shop.
To date we have raised just over £29,000 from Gift Aid Donations via individuals in our village and many of the bell ringers in the Coventry Guild.
The replacement tenor has been purchased from Woolpit in Suffolk, it being the old 7th Bell from the ring of 10 at St. Mary's, Cambridge. The Keltek Trust assisted us with help and guidance and grateful thanks is due to the Trust for this. The 'new' tenor is at present in Taylor's workshop awaiting tuning, a new headstock and all fittings.
The lettering on the new treble will be as follows:
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
HONOURING ALL WHO PERISHED
IN WORLD WAR ONE
LEST WE FORGET
The metal being poured from the furnace prior to pouring into the mould.
The Coventry Guild has just given us a most generous donation of £5,000 from their Bell Restoration Fund, which, when added to the £29,000 already raised, gives us a running total of £34,000 (not bad for a start up in June this year).
We still have to raise the remaining £6,000, but the good news is we will be proceeding with the full works, starting in January 2015, based upon various promises of donations and support of labour being given by local ringers. The labour will reduce the cost of taking the bells out and re-installing the new ring of 6.
We would also like to thank Four Shires Guild ringing members from the towers of Wellesbourne, Barford, Snitterfield and Sherbourne, for donations and the support of various fund raising events over the last 4 months.
The visitors to the cast ringing on the Bell foundry's ring of 12.
My own appeal to all Four Shires Guild Members is that it is not too late to donate to this campaign, as all donations will be recorded in the "Book of Benefactors". For further details of the gift Aid Appeal please visit our web site of leekwoottonchurch.co.uk or ring me on 01926 859389.
Mark Sayers
And a piece that appeared in The Ringing World on this:-
Mark Sayers enters the Great British Bake Off!
Mark stirring up the ingredients - the molten metal in the mould - assisted by Mary Barrass of Taylors. (The metal is at 1100°C. Ed)
On Wednesday 8th October, over 30 parishioners and friends from Leek Wootton travelled to Taylor's of Loughborough to see their new treble cast. The vicar blessed the molten bell metal before it was poured into the bell mould: a surprisingly spiritual experience. He blessed those who made the bells, those who would ring them and also those who would hear them ringing. The picture shows Mark Sayers stirring the bell metal to help in the cooling process. It was a great day out and raised over £500 towards the Leek Wootton bell restoration fund. Well done to all the Leek Wootton ringers.
Annie Hall