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!

Bells Ring Out 2012 and in 2013

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.

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.

Jubilee Bells Ring Out

Monday, 4 June, 2012
The bell ringers of All Saints Church Swanton Morey have rung, along with ringers across the whole country, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II at both Swanton Morley Church and Beetley Church.
The celebratory ringing started on Sunday at Swanton Morley, as the team rang rounds and call changes before a special Jubliee Service at the Church. The ringers were: Mark Tweedie, Claire Willetts, Fiona Joisce, Richard Joisce, Ted Conyers, Lee Fox and Aaron Hall (conductor). There was then a mad dash across to St Mary Magdalene Church Beetley to ring on the eight bells there, some more rounds and call changes after Beetley's special Jubilee Service. The team there was made up of Brian Laing, Fiona Joisce, Helen Watson, Claire Willetts, Ted Conyers, Lee Fox and Aaron Hall. For many of the ringers there it was their first time ringing on the very light bells of Beetley, but the whole team did fantastically well.
The ringers then returned up the tower on Monday evening to ring as thousands of Beacons were lit across the country including two at Swanton Morley. As the beacon was lit at Darby's public house (just down from the church) and fireworks started to fill the sky the ringers broke into a loud rendition of the National Anthem (whilst ringing some very quick rounds!). The ringers who rang were: Aaron Hall, Ted Conyers, Mark Tweedie, Helen Watson, Fiona Joisce, Richard Joisce, Elizabeth Joisce, Claire Willetts, Brian Laing, Alyson Booth and Barry Leech.

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.

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.