Eckington, Holy Trinity
Holy Trinity Church in Eckington is on the western side of Church Street (B4080) in the middle of the village. I was there at night and did not find anywhere convenient to park. The tower is quite a large solid square affair on the West end of the church with ringing from the first floor which is reached by climbing a fairly steep ladder. There is plenty of room to sit as well as to ring the 8 bells. I imagine that in daylight the large arched window on the west wall would flood the room with light.
I visited for the first time on Thursday 31st January 2008 to join their Thursday practice (they also practice on Tuesday). There were 9 of us there to ring. When I first looked around I thought something looked odd, then I realised that it was because of the ropes. I did not know why the tails were hanging in the air about four feet from the ground. When we started ringing I found out, the bells were left up standing at backstroke -- a first for me, so no need to ring the bells up!
We started with Plain Bob Doubles which was great for me as I have not yet managed to ring a touch of 120. I rang bell #3 as the observation bell and while I got through it I did need some help after the second bob was called on both occasions. I seem to get lose track of where I am around the time of a dodge.
I then spent some time ringing the tenor for a touch of Grandsire Doubles, which from my point of view went OK. This was followed by a touch of Plain Bob Doubles and then some plain courses of Plain Bob Doubles.
I then sat out while they rang another touch of Grandsire Doubles. We ended up with a few call changes, they call to the back here, and finally ended by standing the bells at backstoke.
The Bells
The tower originally contained a ring of six bells cast by Richard Sanders of Bromsgrove in 1721. In 1968, they were augmented by two more cast by John Taylor & Co. of Loughborough. The tenor weighs in at 14-0-26. Dove's Guide includes details of the bells at Holy Trinity. For some reason Dove's Guide does not include information on bell inscriptions so they are shown in the following table.
Bell | Note | Diameter | Weight | Inscription | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Dove's Guide to the bells at Holy Trinity |
In loving memory of William Thomas Perks, 2nd Worcs., killed in France April 17th, 1918. Also of his wife Delilah Flora Perks, died March 5th, 1956. | |||||||
2 |
|
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3 | Edward Hanford Esqr Flock Kendrick 1721 | ||||||||
4 | Thomas George of Overberry gave this guinny | ||||||||
5 | Richard Sanders made us all 6 1721 | ||||||||
6 | John Thistellwheat Vicar 1721 | ||||||||
7 | Richard Woodward Joseph Boulter Churchwardens 1721 | ||||||||
Tenor | My masters doupted of my sound Ile please them all when we ring round 1721 |
The Worcestershire & Districts Change Ringing Association have additional information on the Eckington Parish Church of Holy Trinity.