Read our bellringing article in the latest edition of Saints Alive, the magazine for All Saints Kingston and St John’s Kingston (Sep/Oct/Nov 2021) https://www.allsaintskingston.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Saints-Alive-Sept-Oct-Nov-2021-for-WEB.pdf
A very special guest came to Wednesday practice night. Our Rector, Jonathan Wilkes is leaving All Saints Church, Kingston on 17 October 2021 so we wanted to give him a little bellringing send-off. Jonathan and his wife Linda had a go on the bells, listened to some ringing, there were speeches, gift-giving and bubbles too 🥂
Thank you Jonathan for all your support to our band over the past 15 years and to serving the community of Kingston. You will be missed!
Here’s Rector Jonathan Wilkes having a go on a bell. Having sat next to Jonathan at the first bellringers’ dinner I was surprised to hear that he hadn’t ever tried the bells in his 15 years. I said that he needed to give it a go and we said we would arrange it. It never happened so his send-off party seemed the perfect time for him to try, He insisted on ringing the biggest bell! It shows what a great teacher our tower captain is to be able to teach a learner on the tenor! Definitely not for the faint of heart!
There is a video on our Instagram page: scroll through to the end.
Here’s a close-up of the leaving gift we gave Jonathan – an engraved table bell from Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
Following the disappointment of cancelling all our ringing, including a planned trip to the Wirral, during the Covid lockdowns, the Kingston ringers were determined to have a little outing this autumn. It was good to see so many of our ringers on the outing as well as welcoming Caroline and Michael from Sevenoaks and their dog Bella.
After admiring the magnificent Cedar of Lebanon tree in the church yard, we rang the tuneful Gillett eight at Cranleigh to rounds and call changes, Stedman Triples and Cambridge Surprise Major. Their tenor is 17cwt but the bells felt heavier and slower than our own back 19cwt eight.
Lunch was taken in the White Horse pub in the pretty village of Hascombe. Hascombe bells (3cwt tenor – lighter than our treble!) and the tiny ringing chamber proved to be quite a contrast to Cranleigh but our ringers did well in both towers. After rounds and call changes and Grandsire Doubles, we finished with a 120 of Stedman Doubles and a lower.
We rewarded ourselves with a cream tea at Winkworth Arboretum.
Many thanks to the ringers of Cranleigh and Hascombe for their kind hospitality and to Paul for organising the outing.
Unfortunately, due to Covid and social distancing, we’re not able to hold our normal bell ringing practices at Kingston for the foreseeable future. Normally we’re very pleased to see visitors and encourage them to learn to ring.
The only ringing we can do now is to ring four socially distanced bells for 15 minutes on a Sunday morning – we can’t accommodate visitors then either. Do listen out for us on Sunday morning after 9am.
Many ringers have turned to online ringing on Ringing Room. There is a very nice explanation of bell ringing and what ringers are doing in during shutdown here: https://ringingroom.com/about
Article about the silencing of our historic bells during lockdown, in SWLondoner, local online newspaper https://www.swlondoner.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Booklet_final-min.pdf
Surrey Association has launched a new community website to support its members.
“Together we face an extraordinary challenge, to maintain our community during a period when we are denied the very activity that brings us together.
We’ve set up this website to keep in touch and to share information, ideas and stories. Even when we can’t meet in person there is still a wealth of opportunity to discover and learn about our exercise and to connect with other ringers.”
We’ve just been alerted to the fact that All Saints, Kingston has been chosen by National Churches Trust’s CEO Claire Walker as her favourite church. Thanks for the inclusion. https://www.explorechurches.org/our-favourites
Spotted this on Twitter, but not sure who created it. It also has 31 days in April, but at our tower, I’ve said that you can either do all 31 or skip one, but choose carefully as you can’t read through the challenges before the day! Tweet us or send us pics via Instagram your entries for each challenge.
Our bells will fall silent during this difficult time. Stay safe and we hope to be making our joyful sound again soon 🔔
Services
For the foreseeable future we are having to suspend all public services and activities (all 3 Sunday services, midweek Communions and Evensong, Silent Prayer, Praytime for Toddlers) until further notice.
However, on Sundays at 9.30am Holy Communion will be celebrated in Church and also ‘live streamed’ on our website (www.allsaintskingston.co.uk). Please do join us virtually.
Church opening
The church will continue to be open for private prayer between 10am and 4pm from Monday to Saturday and from 12 noon until 4pm on Sunday.
The church office will be staffed every week day as normal.
Support
Though we are needing to keep apart let’s stick together – by staying in contact with one another and making sure that those of us who may be facing this “distanced time” alone are in good touch in the ways that are possible.
So, please do make an extra effort to keep in contact and if you know of people who are isolated and on their own then please do let us know so that we can be in touch with them.
Jonathan Wilkes – Rector
020 3132 8717/07986 629657/jonathan@allsaintskingston.co.uk