Let’s hear you! That was the challenge and the bells from the North Bucks Branch of the ODG certainly responded. On Saturday 23rd April bell ringers from all of over the Branch turned out to ring the bells of 33 towers in a ringing wave of sound. They rang out to celebrate England’s patron saint St George and to raise funds for ART and the ODG’s Bell Fund.
An amazing £965 was collected of which £482.50 was given to the Association of Ringing Teachers. The Branch would like to associate this donation with the memory of the North Bucks bell ringers who lost their lives in the Great War throughout 1916:
Alfred Robinson – Olney
Arthur W Jones – Maids Moreton
Frederick T Willetts – Hanslope
George R Brown – Chicheley
Walter Jones – Maids Moreton
Frederick E Garner – Stony Stratford
Robert J Seddon – Linslade (no longer in the NBB)
The day began at 9.30am with ringing at Thornborough, the only steel bells in the Branch, with 30 minutes of continuous ringing. As the bells of Thornborough were rung down, the ringing wave had already been passed on to Buckingham and then slowly weaved its way eastwards. Mid-morning saw the wave hit Maids Moreton where the Branch’s newest recruits joined in.
A special message to ART was sent by Bob Christopher of Maids Moreton:
“A confession – Maids Moreton stuck to call changes BUT the two youngsters in the picture (Ethan Wray and Beth Hallett) lasted the full 30 minutes, having only been recruited in February as a result of Maids Moreton’s much publicised New Year’s Open Day. We are very, very grateful to the ART members and others who helped so much after that event.”
By lunchtime, the sound of church bells reached Milton Keynes, and the rolling ring weaved its way around the town incorporating the surrounding villages as it headed east towards the M1. In the late afternoon the sound of bells was pealing out over the eastern villages of the Branch. At Emberton the Mayoress of Milton Keynes paid the ringers a special visit. At Olney the wave of sound turned back west, finally arriving at Hanslope with the day’s ringing ending at 7.45pm. In true bell ringing style the ringers retired to the local pub for a celebratory drink!