Church and Tower Open Day 2014

The Church and Tower held an open day today. The were a number of exhibitions in the church showing the different groups and who use the church, a number of which were manned by members of those groups. There was of the course the delicious refreshments available which many of the visitors took advantage of! The Bell Ringers of All Saints conducted Tower Tours throughout the day giving people the chance to watch ringing take place as well as take a look at the 6 bells of All Saints.

Although there wasn't as many people as we would have liked to have seen those who did come commented on how beautiful the church was and how it was lovely t be able to come in a take a look as they had passed it so often. Many people were also drawn to the day to take a look at the bells and find out what goes on to make the beautiful sound they love to listen to on Fridays and Sundays. A few even said they would like to come along and have a go at ringing.  

Vigil to Commemorate 100 years since the start of World War 1

A special vigil was held today around the War Memorial in the Churchyard of All Saints Church to commemorate 100 years since the start of World War 1. 

Prior to the service and whilst the congregation gathered around the War Memorial, the All Saints Swanton Morley Bell Ringers rang call changes on half muffled bells for half an hour. As 10 o'clock approached and as the final few people gathered outside the church, the bells were stood one by one until the tenor bell tolled for five minutes. 

The service, which was conducted by the Rev'd Adrian Aubrey-Jones, included the reading of different poems written during World War 1. The congregation were asked to place rosemary around the War Memorial as a sign of remembrance. The short service concluded with prayers before the blessing was given. 

Bell Ringers - the mystery solved

The mystery of the odd struck four has been solved! Over the past few weeks the number four has been becoming increasingly difficult to ring. An inspection of the bell found that the clapper had worked itself loose and was therefore spinning around in the bell.  A quick tighten of the bolt which holds the clapper and the bell seems as good as new. The real test will be Friday at the practice night. Further inspection also found that then tenor bell was also suffering the same problem.

Bell Ringers & PCC - Teddy Bear Zip Wire 2014

We would like to thank everyone who came along to this year's Teddy Bear Zip Wire at All Saints Church. Despite the awful weather conditions a great day was had by all. The afternoon started with a special visit for the BBC Radio Norfolk's Treasure Quest team who came to find the treasure which was a special bear name "treasure Bear".

This year me made a record £372. This money will be split between the Bell Ringers to help maintain the bells of All Saints and the PCC for the restoration of All Saints Church.

Bell Ringers - Tower Tidy

A small number of ringers took on the mammoth task of cleaning the three chambers of All Saints' Tower. Sarah Seaman, Shelia Smith, Mark Tweedie, Lee Fox and Aaron Hall swept, hoovered, dusted and polished the Tower throughout the four hour cleaning marathon. The result was a spotless tower in which in will be a pleasure to ring.
The ringers also took the opportunity to treat the six ropes in the tower with rope lubricant, to help preserve the ropes. This was a rather messy job but good fun. The ringers got to ring in their tidy tower on Friday. Click here to see some photos from the day

Bell Ringers - Bells Ring out 2013 and In 2014

As the last few minutes of 2013 ticked away the bells of All Saints rang out to wish it farewell and as the year faded out so did the bells. On the stroke of midnight the tenor bell struck 12 before the remaining five bells joined in to sing out joyfully to welcome 2014. Some beautiful rounds and call changes were rung with one or two ringers breaking out in a sweat due to the speed of the ringing! Once we finished ringing a bottle of champagne was produced and with a loud pop the ringers toasted in the New Year. Then came another tower tradition the singing of Auld Lang Syne in the porch!
The New Year band consisted of Ted Conyers, Mark Tweedie, Helen Watson, Fiona Joisce, Richard Joisce, Janet Pender-Cudlip, Michael Pender-Cudlip, Lee Fox and Tower Captain Aaron Hall. Victoria Joisce took on the important duty of Time Keeper!

Bell Ringers - Bells Ring Out 2012 and in 2013

Once again the ringers of Swanton Morley took part in the age old tradition of ringing out the old Year and ringing in the New. The bells rung out for the last few minutes of 2012 before one by one standing, fading out along with the old year leaving just the tenor to strike 12 on the stroke of midnight. To welcome the new year the original 5 bells pealed out in joyful celebration.  The band was 1. Mark Tweedie, 2. Fiona Joisce, 3. Helen Watson, 4. Ted Conyers, 5. Aaron Hall. After the ringing the ringers took part in their own tradition of singing Auld Lang Syne.

Bell Ringers - Thank You Letters

The ringers of All Saints were very tocuhed today after recieving 31 thank you letters from the Year 3/4M class from Swanton Morley Primary School after their visit to the tower on Thursday 5th July. For that night ringing was suspended so we could all read the beautifully written letters. It become apparrant that all the children had a fantastic time, especailly watching their teacher having a go. There were also some fantastic questions asked, for example how heavy is the tower and how do you become a tower captain...lets hope they are keen enough to learn in the future.

Bell Ringers - The Day of Two Zip Wires

The Ringers' annual Teddy Bear Zip Wire took an unusual twist this year when the weather took a turn for the worse! The afternoon started off in beautiful sunshine with the Zip Wire taking its usual place from the top of All Saints Church Tower to the tree beside the West Gate. Many of the stalls were dotted around the grounds with refreshments and cakes being held in the church. We were also delighted to welcome the Firemen from Dereham Station, who allowed children (and adults) the chance to look around one of their Fire Appliances. There was as usual a wide variety of games and stalls around the church with one, the bean bag game, becoming very competitive between families and friends!
During this time our two brave volunteers up the tower, Darren Hall and Lee Fox, had noticed that there were some rather dark clouds starting to surround the village! At 3pm a huge flash of lightening grabbed the attention of everyone outside and so started the ad dash to get everything inside the church, take down the zip wire and get everyone off the roof before the storm hit (no mean feat!). After only ten minutes and with help from members of the public the zip wire was reborn inside All Saints Church! It now ran from the trap door of the ringing chamber to the pews below. The biggest cheer of the day went up after the first brave bear took a test run on the new styled wire!
The first prize of the raffle was won by David Stone. Lauren Cooke correctly guessed the name of the teddy for a second year (Henrik) and Anne Boston had the highest score on the Bean Bag Game.
We would like to thank everyone who took part in the event and helped to raised £253.87.

Bell Ringers - Celebratory Quarter Peal

The bell ringers rang a quarter of 1260 Plain Bob Doubles to celebrate the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Celia and Gordon Barker before the practice tonight. The band was made up of Ted Conyers, Sheila Smith, Sarah Seaman, Brian Laing, Aaron Hall (conductor) and Fiona Joisce

Bell Ringers - School Children visit the Tower

The Year 3/4M class from Swanton Morley Primary School took a trip up the bell tower today to have find out what ringing is all about as part of their RE work. Tower Captain Aaron Hall, who works with the class as a teaching assistant explained all about the history of the tower and the bells which sit in it to the assembled group. The children were then given a short ringing demonstration of rounds and call changes as well as a short blast of plain hunt on five. To round off their visit up the tower Class Teacher Nutan Mulholland and Teaching Assistant Sarah Sadler were invited to have a go...we have two potiental ringers there!

Bell Ringers - Ring out the Old and Ring in the New

The ringers of Swanton Morley took part in the age old tradition of ringing out the old Year and ringing in the New Year as friends and family watched on. The bells rung out for the last few minutes of 2011 before one by one standing, fading out along with the old year  leaving just the tenor to strike 12 on the stroke of midnight. To welcome the new year all 6 bells pealed out in joyful celebration some extremely well struck rounds and call changes. The band was 1. Mark Tweedie, 2. Sarah Seaman, 3. Claire Willettes, 4. Helen Watson, 5. Ted Conyers, 6. Aaron Hall. After ringing the band, along with their families descended the tower to watch the numerous fireworks being set off around the village.

Bell Ringers - Bells Celebrate the Royal Wedding

The bells of All Saints joined in with National celebration of the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton with a quarter peal of plain bob doubles. During the day Prince William and Catherine Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, married at Westminsters Abbey. The bells provided the perfect background sound to villagers street parties and BBQs  with a special quarter peal of 1260 Plain Bob Doubles. The band was made up of 1. Ted Conyers, 2. Shelia Smith, 3. Mark Tweedie, 4, Brain Laing, 5. Aaron Hall (conductor) 6. Celia Barker.