Six bells for St Andrew's (From Gazette & Herald)

Six bells for St Andrew's

A PEAL of six bells is to ring out from a Saxon church in Middleton following an ambitious restoration programme.

St Andrew's church traditionally had four bells, which were removed in July, allowing the inside of the church tower to be re-pointed while the bells were restored.

The new bell frame will hold two additions, a second hand bell and one brand new one cast especially for Middleton - while one of the original bells has also had its headstock replaced during the programme.

Parishioners are excited about the new additions - which will be ready for a major service on November 30.

"To upgrade from four bells to six is quite momentous - especially for a little church like ours," said church treasurer Peter Dines.

"You can ring 24 different orders of the bells on four but with six it goes up to 720, so the sound will change dramatically.

"All of the bell ringers are very enthusiastic about this development and would like to welcome anyone who wants to join in."

November 30 is the feast of St Andrew, the church's patron, and the Bishop of Whitby, the Rt Rev Robert Ladds, will dedicate the two additional bells and the bell-frame, allowing the full ring of six bells to be heard for the first time.

Churchwarden and leader of the bell ringers John Arthur said: "We are glad to know that our bells are returning and that the work of restoring this church is progressing.

"Much remains to be done between now and November 30 and we are thankful to all our volunteers who have worked almost unnoticed - clearing the tower out, carrying out necessary painting - and who will be undertaking much of the carpentry and building work over the next few weeks.

"We still have significant work to carry out to the church. I hope that grant-making bodies continue to support the efforts we have made locally to finance this work."

The new bell cost £2,500 and was given to the church by the Keltek trust, in memory of Elizabeth Kelly, from Sheffield, who died in 2002.

The other restoration work in the church includes alterations to the roof, the securing of the top of the tower and changing an aisle into a room in which to display the church's valuable treasure.

This includes three ancient crosses which are over 1,000 years old and internationally famous, having been shown twice at the British Museum and in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and two museums in Denmark.

The rest of the funds for restoration have come from kind local donations and money from other grants and trusts, but any further help for the work would be greatly received.

Anyone wishing to donate funds or get involved in bell ringing should contact the church warden John Arthur on (07947) 677711 or Peter Dines on (01751) 476498.

Updated: 09:33 Wednesday, October 29, 2003