Left to right: Linda London, Jude Atkins, Jan Woodcock, Simon Edwards, Joke Routledge, Clare Edwards, Roger Routledge. (Mike Hamilton absent)

The Brushford Bell Ringers

In the late summer of 2015, Simon and Clare Edwards, who live near St Nicholas Church in Brushford, enjoyed hearing the bells being rung by a band of visiting ringers. This started the process of getting interested people together to form a new band, with the aim of the Church bells being rung regularly in Brushford once again.

Initially, seven Brushford residents got together, and trainers and helpers from the Dunster Branch very kindly gave up their time to help the new band learn to ring. As we were all complete beginners, this was quite a challenge, but we all set off on Saturday October 31st to attend our first day of training at St Michael’s in Minehead. We had several intensive training sessions in Minehead quite close together, and were also welcomed at learner practices at Carhampton. We were joined several weeks later by another learner who had some previous experience of ringing, but hadn’t rung for around three years. So now we were eight!

It wasn’t until February, that we rang our own bells, after building our handling skills to a point where we felt comfortable to take the plunge in our home tower. We now hold our regular practice on a Tuesday evening, from 7pm – 8.30pm. Since September we have rung regularly for morning service too.

We had a target of ringing for our first service on Easter Sunday. We managed this with the help and support of Susan Mew and Julie Oliver, who very kindly supervised the ringing on the day. We also rang for St George’s Day, a wedding, a blessing, and the service on the weekend of the Brushford flower festival. I also tolled the tenor half muffled for a recent funeral, which was quite an emotional experience as it sounded quite haunting.

As individuals, we are all participating in the Learning the Ropes scheme, and have all now passed Level 1, one has completed Level 2 and is working through the practical targets of Level 3. It has been a steep learning curve for all of us, and a challenging but enjoyable journey.

Since we have become a little more competent, individuals regularly attend practice at Carhampton, Sampford Brett, and Bicknoller.

Three members enjoyed going along to the Branch Dinner, and one member braved the Branch outing this year, and thoroughly enjoyed the day, along with the opportunity to ring at five different towers.

As a band, we are grateful to all of the trainers and helpers who have given up so much time to commit to helping us learn and progress, whether at their own towers, or by attending our practice at Brushford each week. Their support and positive attitude towards our development has been second to none, and we all very much appreciate the immense effort that has gone into enabling us to reach our goals.

Jude Atkins