Time takes its toll on the appeal of bellringing

A DYING breed: back row, from left, Peter Randall, Jeff Brannan, Derek Thomas, James Andrews, Alan Scholfield. Front row: Dennis Latham, Lorraine Trebble and Alan Trebble

AN expert bellringer used a major musical extravaganza to highlight the plight of the ancient art.

The church bells rang to celebrate St Chad’s Church’s 800th anniversary. The musical marathon was spearheaded by Jeff Brannan, the church’s bell tower captain.

The peal - appropriately titled “St Chad’s Delight Major” - was composed by Jeff, a retired schoolteacher from Uppermill. It lasted two hours 47 minutes and involved 5,152 changes.

But Jeff (67), says the distances the ringers travelled to take part highlighted the plight of churches struggling to find and retain ringers.

“It’s an indication of the sorry state of ringing in the area,” he said. “We have only seven ringers here, most of whom are retired and spend a lot of time away. Ringing is cancelled on many Sundays as we don’t have enough ringers available.”

He added: “We desperately need to recruit more ringers otherwise, as older ringers are forced into retirement, there will be no one to keep the ringing going.”

Jeff’s ringing career has seen him take part in peals at major UK cathedrals such as St Paul’s, York Minster, Liverpool and Exeter.

To find more about becoming a bell ringer, contact the Saddleworth Team office during office hours: 01457 879977.

:: It is believed St Chad’s had two or three bells from the 13th century.

:: In 1883/84 the bells were re-hung and two extra added to make eight.

:: The first full peal was rung at St Chad’s on February 23, 1846. Since then there have been 119 full peals. The longest, of 7,200 changes in March 1877, took four hours 18 minutes of continuous ringing.

email: kd_bennett@yahoo.co.uk