5 August 2026
Welland Valley’s novice ringers join learners from around the Kettering Branch of the Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers at Rothwell Church on the first Wednesday of every month, to learn alongside experienced ringers on Holy Trinity’s beautiful bells. The bells are linked to a computer simulator, which means the bells sound inside the ringing chamber, but not outside, so the learners don’t need to worry about the townspeople being subjected to the odd clash or two!
On 5 August, Ringing Master Jane Marsh organised something a little different, taking the novices out to four churches in the County of Rutland to try out different bells, again with the generous support of experienced ringers from the Kettering Branch.
The towers visited were:
- St Andrew’s, Great Easton (6 bells)
- St John the Evangelist, Caldecott (6 bells)
- St Peter and St Paul, Uppingham (8 bells)
- St Peter and St Paul, Preston (6 bells) – pictured above
The day was broken up by a lovely lunch at in the Orchard Cafe at Welland Vale Garden Centre in Uppingham. Everyone enjoyed a very nice meal and a chance to relax before the afternoon ringing began. Uppingham was a novel experience with a mezzanine ring, and was also a good for practising on a ring of 8… more ropes to look at!!
Everyone certainly benefited from some different ringing experiences and had a Grand Day Out.
These towers offered a great opportunity for our learners to get to grips with some quite different rings of bells, ensuring some good handling practice. Everyone did really well.
Preston gave us all a fright with a loud clatter and bang on ringing up. Inspection of the bell chamber found an aluminium ladder had been left up there after some recent ‘stay’ repairs; it was promptly removed thanks to ringers Andy and Rachael. No serious damage done, only to a few nerves!
Jane Marsh
