Half Muffled Ringing Over Remembrance Weekend

On Saturday 11th November the bells of St Peter's rang out half muffled to mark the 99th anniversary of the Armistice which ended the 1st world War. This quarter peal lasted 40 minutes and was the first for Kevin Jackson ringing an inside bell for the method.

On Sunday prior to the Remembrance Service at st Peter's the bells were rung half muffled by local ringers.

Many have told me how much they enjoyed the ringing on these two days.

Peal For The New Parish

A peal lasting 2 hours 31 minutes was rung on the bells of St Peter's church on Tuesday, 5th September. This celebrated the creation of the new parish of Drayton Bassett and Fazeley with Mile Oak, that came into existence on 1st September.

Bells to ring for Leavers' Service

The bells will ring out after the Manor School Leavers Service on Friday next, 21st July to wish the Year 6 pupils well as they move on in their education.

There is a special bond between the present Year 6 pupils of the Manor School and these bells. It was the Year 6 pupils who in April 2016 saw our three new bells cast at John Taylor's bellfoundry in Loughborough. They also came up to the church the morning in late September 2016,  when those same bells arrived in the village, to view the bells before they were hoisted up the tower.

It seems fitting that the bells should also ring out to wish them well for the next stage of their lives as they move onto secondary school.

Hour Chimes Now in Operation

Last night finishing at 12.20am Simon Adams and I completed the installation of the electronic control panel and wiring for the chime bell. This means that the hour will chime out between 8am and 9pm over the village. The chimes will be silenced over night.

The mechanism will also allow the bell to chime out before and after services.

Another task completed!

New Bell Ringing Recruits Needed at Drayton Bassett

Paula Aston and Ray Kneale, our latest recruits, have now joined the other more experienced ringers for practice nights on Thursday.

So we are now looking for other people who would like to find out about bell ringing and perhaps join us and learn to ring. The intial stages of learning to ring involve one to one tuition so that you can master ringing a bell on your own. This can be timetabled to suit your free time. After you are competent with this stage you can then join the rest of the band for Thursday night practices.

Anyone interested in finding out about bell ringing at Drayton please telephone John Mulvey on 07760 367570 or email mfjohn1@ntlworld.com.

Chime Bell At Last in Position

The old 1713 treble bell in position .

The old 1713 Joseph Smith bell, which was taken out of the ring when the bells were augmented, has sat patiently on the belfry floor since the 3 new bells were put in last September. A combination of a decision to reposition where the bells was to be hung so that its chiming could be heard better and the fact that Taylor Bell Foundry has been inundated with work has meant that over seven months has past. 

Finally two weeks ago Simon Adams from the foundry ably assisted by Tamworth ringers; Kevin Jackson, John Mulvey, Brian Taylor and John Wybrew spent a Saturday installing the new steelwork, hoisting the old bell and its clapper into position high up against the louvres.

It is hoped that within a few weeks the electronic control panel will be installed and the bell will be able to strike the hour and be used for chiming for services.

Visiting Bell Ringers

Next Saturday,13th May we welcome to St Peter's Drayton bellringers from the Rugby Deanery. They will be ringing for an hour from 10am. We will be their first church on their day tour of churches in this area.

Secondly next Tuesday, 16th May we welcome to Drayton at 2pm "The Tuesday Band". This is a group of mainly retired people who meet on 3rd Tuesday of every month. They ring at one church in the morning, have lunch together, then ring at a further church in the afternoon. This group kindly donated to our bell appeal.