Category: News

Rounds, call changes and Plain Hunt for Ringing Out for Peace – 80th Anniversary of D-Day Landings

Kate and Paul Flavell were recently nominated for a Kingston Celebrating Communities Awards 2024 in the category ‘Unsung hero’ – celebrating dedication in a volunteer role. The event recognised the amazing contributions volunteers and communities across Kingston, and was organised by the Empowering People, Supporting Communities Partnership, a partnership of Voluntary and Community sector and the Council.

The nomination came from fellow Kingston bell ringers who have benefited from their dedication, So-Shan Au, with contributions from Kate Corney and Dwenna Georges. Although they didn’t win – there were 27 nominees in their category – they are winners in our eyes. Congratulations Kate and Paul!

“Kate and Paul Flavell are the epitome of unsung heroes within the bell ringing community. Their tireless dedication and commitment to the art of bell ringing make them exceptional candidates for the Unsung Hero award in Kingston’s Celebrating Communities Awards 2024.

For years, Kate and Paul have devoted countless hours to the preservation, promotion and teaching of ringing, a tradition that’s ingrained in the cultural heritage of Kingston and Britain. What sets Kate and Paul apart is not only their technical proficiency in ringing but also their passion for sharing this ancient craft with others. 

They have selflessly volunteered their time to teach newcomers: their willingness to mentor and support aspiring ringers has played a pivotal role in ensuring the continuation of this timeless tradition. They taught me in 2018 as part of the national campaign to recruit ringers for Ringing Remembers. Recently, they have been teaching and encouraging three 14-year-olds for their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, devoting a lot of time and effort to pass on the traditions so that ringing continues to have a future.

Kate has been a member of the Kingston band since 1978. Paul joined the band in 1985 and assumed the role of Tower Captain at All Saints in 1988. Throughout these many years, they have instructed numerous learners in bell ringing and have overseen the care of the bells at Kingston, where we are fortunate to possess 12 magnificent bells. They maintain a sufficient number of ringers for regular church services (both Sunday morning and evensong ringing), civic events, celebrations, and memorials. Additionally, Paul sees to it that the flag is raised on designated flag flying days and to commemorate other significant occasions throughout the year.

Kate and Paul’s contributions extend far beyond the confines of their local church tower. They actively participate in regional bell ringing events, and have taken on voluntary roles within the broader ringing community. Paul is currently Master of the Surrey Association of Bell Ringers. Kate was Vice-President (2008-2011) and then President of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (2011-2014) – plus, both have been judges for countless ringing competitions. 

Kate and Paul approach each ringing session with boundless enthusiasm and a genuine love for the craft. Through their generosity and commitment to the art of bell ringing, they have touched the lives of countless individuals and enriched their community in ways that will resonate for generations to come.”

Some of the Kingston bell ringers joined the Surrey Association Northern District outing in London on Saturday 18 May 2024, expertly organised by John from Wimbledon. It had great bells and an interesting and circular tour around London. I did 16,6000 steps that day!

Tower 1: St Dunstan in the West, Fleet Street (10 bells)

Tower 2: Christ Church, Spitalfields (8 bells)

Tower 3: Southwark Cathedral (12 bells)

Tower 4: St John’s, Waterloo (8 bells)

More photos can be seen on the Surrey Association’s Facebook page.

Thursday 9 May, 18:45-19:30
Ascension Day service

Saturday 11 May, Surrey Association AGM Godstone
Tea 17:00; Meeting 17:30

Saturday 1 June 10:00-11:30
Visiting ringers from Guildford

Thursday 6 June 6:30-6:50 pm Ringing out for Peace
(80th anniversary of D-Day, part of wider Kingston & UK celebrations)

Sunday 16 June Civic Service at 11:00
Ring from end of 09:30 service

Saturday 6 July, Ordination service 11:00
Ring for ordination service for Sarah

Saturday 13 July
Kingston bell ringers outing to Cirencester area

Sunday 14 July, Quarter Peal for Sarah at 17:00-18:00
Sarah will be taking her first communion Sunday 14 July morning after being ordained priest the week before.

Sunday 21 July (after evening ringing)
Annual Kingston bell ringers BBQ

Congratulations!

Happy 60th wedding anniversary Andrew and Shirley!

A diamond wedding quarter peal was rung for Kingston bell ringers, Andrew and Shirley Bolton at All Saints Church on Sunday 10 December 2023 to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary celebrations (taking place 21 December 2023).

Go like it on Bellboard.

You can view a video snippet (by kind permission of Thomas Ashwinsiejkowski) of the special #turramurrasurprisemajor#quarterpeal on Instagram.

If anyone from the ringing world knows them from their time ringing in the North of England, Australia or South Africa, get in touch and we will pass on your wishes to them.

Congratulations from the Kingston bell ringers! ❤️🥂

Surrey Association on Instagram

Surrey Association is now on Instagram. Follow them to find out more about bellringing, meet the Towers in the association and find out what is happening in the association.

They are also on Facebook and X/Twitter.

Unless shown otherwise below there will be normal practices in December, Wednesdays from 7.45 pm and normal ringing Sunday mornings and evenings from 08:30-09:30 and 17:00-18:00.

Saturday 9 December – Christmas Tree Festival starts.  

Sunday 10 December – Evensong quarter peal. No ringing.

Wednesday 13 December – No practice.
Tiffin’s carol service, ringing not required.  
Possible social event (tbc – contact us to join in).

Sunday 24 December – Normal morning ringing.
Then ringing for midnight mass from 22:15-23:00.

Monday 25 December – Morning ringing 08:30-09:30, followed by coffee and Christmas treats somewhere.

Wednesday 27 December – Normal practice night.

Sunday 31 December – Normal morning and evening ringing. Ringing the New Year in at midnight. Meet in church at 23:30.

Wednesday 3 January – Normal practice night.

No practice 01/11/23

There will be a function at All Saints Church on the evening of Wednesday 1 November 2023 so there will be no ringing practice that night.

Kingston bell ringers will instead be going for a curry. If any of our regular visitors would like to join us for curry night, do get in touch with us and we can book you a place.

Kingston wins the 8 bell Surrey Association striking competition

Report by Paul Flavell, Master Surrey Association

The Association Striking Competitions were held on the afternoon of Saturday 7 October 2023 for the first time since 2019, and we are delighted that four six bell teams and two eight bell teams took part at East Molesey. The judge was Neil Jones from Kent County Association who was quite complimentary about the ringing. The results were:

The Taylor Trophy Six Bell Competition

	Team	Faults	Peal speed
1	Caterham A	18	2hrs 43min
2	Kingston	30	2hrs 51min
3	Croydon	36	2hrs 47min
4	Caterham B	49	2hrs 46min

The A Patrick Cannon Trophy Eight Bell Competition 

	Team	Faults	Peal speed
1	Kingston	37	2hrs 56min
2	Caterham	42	2hrs 54min

Congratulations to Caterham A and Kingston for their successes and also many thanks to everybody for taking part. 

Many thanks to Neil Jones and also to Jane Marsters and the East Molesey ringers for kindly hosting the event and providing welcome cups of tea and biscuits.

Kingston Ringers tower tour of The Wirral (16-18 June 2023)

by Gavin Collins

Ringers from All Saints church in Kingston made the long cross country journey to The Wirral Peninsula for their annual bell ringing our in June 2023. The idea for the tour came from Dwenna Georges, a former resident of Burton-in-Wirral who learned to ring in the area.

Dwenna describes her association with ringing as follows: “My husband had the idea that we should take up bell ringing as a pastime, and at first I came along with him to our local church to learn. But the learning opportunities were limited there, so to broaden our ringing skills, we would visit other churches so we could improve, and so I got to experience bell ringing all over the Wirral”. It soon became apparent to the Kingston Ringers that it would be a good idea to tap into Dwenna’s local knowledge so as to plan this year’s tower tour, which she did with great success!

The plan allowed for a tour of nine towers, which started with stop on the way at St Mary’s church, Nantwich which provided Paul & Kate Flavell of the Surrey Association a chance to revisit a church they had rang at 40 years ago, and to meet up with a old friend and former ringer at Kingston, Martin Turner, who would join us on the tour.

The red sandstone church at Nantwich been described as “great architectural treasure” and is decorated with ornate stone carving both inside and out, and the eight bells set in a magnificent octagonal tower are definitely worth the journey for any ringer with an interest in architecture and ringing in beautiful surroundings.

At the end of our long journey we arrived just in time to join the evening practise at St Michael’s church, Shotwick were we met a friendly band from Bangor who were also touring the area. With only 6-bells to ring and 14 ringers in the tower, it was a good opportunity to have a good chin wag with our fellow ringers and exchange notes about the ringing in Surrey and north Wales.

The second day of our tour involved a visit to six towers:
Eastham, Port Sunlight, Woodchurch, Thurstaston, Heswall & last but not least, Burton-in-Wirral. St Mary’s church, Eastham is another red sandstone church, but it was the thousand year old Yew tree growing in the churchyard that captured the imagination of Judith Robinson, probably because they have both aged so well and look so young and vigorous!

Back to where it all began: Dwenna Georges at her tower of origin, St
Nicholas’ church, Burton-in-Wirral.

Judith and her husband David also have a connection with The Wirral: “Shortly after David and I got married, we lived in a tiny cottage on the banks of the Mersey while we were waiting to move into our first house which was still under construction. I remember the spectacular views and huge ships sailing down the estuary, but it was not my idea of a good place to live, as the smell of chemicals from the nearby refinery where David worked was very strong”.

The chemical industry has been a big employer along the Mersey since Victorian times, and next church on our list is Christchurch, Port Sunlight which was built as part of the model village created by Lever Brothers whose business later merged with Unie Margarine of the Netherlands to form Unilever.

Roshan Jathnna who a church warden at Kingston was very impressed by the bell tower at Port Sunlight: “The ringing chamber is spacious, with seating on every side, and their filing system is situated behind the benches looks is so neat and ordered”. Clearly Roshan has ambitions to introduce a similar system to Kingston!

Whilst we visited Port Sunlight, another notable ringer and Ruth Blackwell joined the tour. Like Dwenna, Ruth used to ring at St Nicholas church at Burton-in Wirral and there is a ringing board there commemorating a peal of Plain Bob minor she rang there in 2009.

On the last day, we visited Chester Cathedral where we were able to join the service ringing for Sunday morning service. The bells at Chester are located in their own dedicated bell tower situated at the corner of the Cathedral gardens, with a spacious and comfortable ringing chamber.

Before heading home, we crossed over the border into Wales to ring
at St Peter’s church, Ruthin. Overall is was a great tour, and sets a
high bar in terms of the variety and quality of the bell towers we visited.

You can see all of the photographs and stories from the tour on the Kingston Bell Ringers Instagram page and in the gallery below: