UGBOROUGH CHURCH BELL RESTORATION PROJECT
UPDATE JULY 2018
Over the weekend of 3-5 August 2018, the Ugborough Bellringers will be celebrating the return of the newly recast Church Bells with a Church Bells & Flower Festival entitled 'Bells in Bloom'. Download the poster here. This is the culmination of a three year appeal which started with a crack in the No 6 bell. A sum of £90,000 has been raised through a mixture of donations, fund raising events and grants. The bells were lowered in March and sent to Taylor's of Loughborough for recasting. The actual recasting was witnessed by the ringers and other supporters which was an incredibly interesting process.
The Festival will run from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th August, from 10.30 to 6.00pm daily. The Greenwood Consort will be performing from 2pm and 4pm on the Saturday and Sunday. Refreshments will be available. There will also be pictures on display of the journey of the bells from coming down the tower, their recasting and return to Ugborough.
It is a rare occasion for church bells to be on display in a church rather than being installed in the tower, so we would encourage people to come and visit. Our appeal launch event was also a flower festival held in 2016 and was acknowledged as being of a very high standard.
OVERVIEW of the Project - JUNE 2017
In February 2015, when the bells were being rung for the regular Thursday night practice, a major crack occurred in the mouth of bell No. 6 in our ring of eight.
Relatively little maintenance has been done on the bells since the installation of a new bell frame in 1911. Following inspections by three bell-hangers, it was clear that a significant amount of restoration work is required if the bells are to be rung for a further 100 years. Additionally we would like to make the bells easier to ring as this would encourage and retain new ringers and also encourage visiting teams as the bells are widely considered difficult to ring.
The scope of work is to repair the sixth bell (possibly re-cast) and the smaller cracks in the heads of third and tenor, remove the remains of the cast in crown staple stumps, tune the eight bells together and rehang with new fittings (new headstocks, bearings, re-furbished wheels) in the existing bell frame. Taylor of Loughborough will be undertaking the work and the cost is estimated at £70,000. The scheduled start date for the work is early 2018.
Our bell restoration project has progressed very well and has already been featured on Radio Devon several times, including a live transmission in June 2017 as part of the BBC’s Bellringers-Around- the- World Project.
FUND RAISING
As of June 2017, the fund raising position is:
- Target £70,000
- Fund-raising total is approaching £56,600.
- Events and donations approximately £38,000.
- Successful grant applications £17,750
Past events have included:
- A very successful Flower Festival in the church
- An Auction of Promises
- Running BBQs at Christmas Fairs and the Summer Ugfest
- A Big Breakfast for over 250 people
- A Wine Tasting and Tapas Evening, in conjunction with the church
Future events include:
- Ugborough Fair Day Saturday 8 July 2017, includes visits up the magnificent church tower with its wonderful views of the surrounding countryside
- Pimms on Lawn (Ugborough) Saturday 12 August 2017
- Christmas markets
WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN OR HELP US?
This is an exciting project for an historic and well used set of bells that are being rung by an enthusiastic team. We also have a great band of helpers and supporters, which has made the project fun for all involved. The bell ringers are drawn from the local community and there is an ongoing recruitment programme. If you would like to join us or help in anyway, please contact Anthony Lugger (Captain of the Tower) at Ugborough Garages (01752 892428) or email anthonylugger@me.com. Also, if any visitors would like to join us, we practise at 7.30 pm on Thursdays and ring at 9.00 am Sundays for the church services. Beginners are always welcome to join us on our practice night.
We are approaching our target figure to enable us to start work, but donations of any size are very welcome as this will enable us to enhance the scope of works where necessary. For a donation, there will also be an opportunity to have your name embossed on the new headstocks – if you might be interested, please contact Anthony.