The late Bessie Mary Penlington kindly left £50,000 to VAR in her Will, with no stipulations as to how it should be spent. Our Board decided to run a Community Grants Programme with the funds, particularly targeting Rotherham VCSE groups with a turnover of £25,000 or less. This collection of blog posts share the stories of some of the recipients of that funding.
It all started around 18 months ago when Sandy, a member of the congregation at St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Todwick started asking about the bells at the back of the church. That small ask has blossomed into a fantastic story which sees a dedicated group of the congregation working to make the bells a staple of the church, and community, once again.
I had the pleasure of visiting this quaint and beautiful church, a Grade II Listed Building which is often described as an ‘architectural gem’, on a gorgeous February morning; it is surrounded by snowdrops and very peaceful. On the left-hand corner as you enter is where the bells live, along with other parts of the church infrastructure. All that is visible are the very long ropes that are used for ringing, and a very small door which takes you up to the tower. Fortunately, I didn’t have to squeeze through the door but below are some pictures of the bells in their glory.
We immediately get into the nitty gritty; they currently have 3 bells and are setting out to increase it to 6. Because the ropes of the current bells are incredibly long - the longest in the country that they know of - there is a real knack to ringing them. They have been having lessons at Rotherham Minster for a year with a “very patient” Malcolm and Helen Turner, who they say have been “absolutely fantastic.”
The ambition is to put in a mezzanine floor, covering up the generator and other parts of the church maintenance, so that they can help to train new and inexperienced bell ringers in a safer environment. “We never thought it would be a project when we started” Sandy tells me, but like many great ideas, this curiosity opened a Pandora’s box. She had the vision, but needed someone to help with the “how”, which is where Geoff and the rest of the group came in.
Part of their work so far has been connecting with the community to ignite people’s interest in the church and the project. A lovely relationship has been made with Tiddleywinks, a parent and toddler group who meet in the Church Hall. The group have been over to visit the bells and run creative sessions around bellringing; pictures of the activities adorn the entrance. Geoff tells me they were worried about practicing the bells and how the local community would feel about the noise, but all the comments have been very positive.
I ask if there are other churches who have created a platform in a similar way. They are fortunately now in touch with one and tell me it’s a very “supportive” community; they have recently hosted the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers at the Church, Sandy smiles: “Yes, we steal with pride.”
We, of course, talk a lot about bell ringing. I ask Geoff if it is off putting not being able to see the bells. He says no actually – once you know the basic mechanics, most of ringing is about the people you are playing with, feeling the rhythm and connecting with each other’s timings. “Do you love it?” I ask, “Oh yes, I wouldn’t have carried on if I didn’t.”
Norman, a staple of the church and who ran the Church Hall for several years, wanted to get involved to “feel part of the community again”, he has enjoyed taking up the ringing and is quite the fountain of knowledge on the church itself. I happened to mention that I used to play the bells for people’s weddings, and Helen and Greg told me that their daughter got married at the Church and that was the first time the bells had been rung for years! What a memory for the whole family.
The group applied for fees from the Miss Penlington Community Chest Fund to pay an architect to visit the church and draw up detailed plans for the construction of the new bell ringing platform. They need funds of up to £100,000 to pay for the project and bring their vision to life and are busy working on lots of fundraising efforts, including hosting a Ceilidh and Pie & Peas evening in the Church Hall later this month. If you are interested details are in the poster.
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