The time has finally arrived for the Bletsoe Church bells to be placed back where they belong. An amazing amount of work has been carried out by volunteers during the six months that the bells have been away both in the bell chamber and the ringing chamber. Apart from the work itemised in the project plan there has been additional work carried out such as sound proofing the floor of the bell chamber and a new floor is planned for the ringing chamber. There are still the walls of the ringing chamber to be lime washed but this cannot be carried out until the warmer weather is here.
The vehicle carrying our bells arrived at approx. 10.30am on the morning of Monday 9th February 2015. The bells looked very smart with their new red headstocks. Our volunteers from Sharnbrook, Pat Albon and Simon Sweeney once again joined Tower Captain Paul Vine to assist Taylor’s with all the work involved in rehanging the bells. Two of the bells made their way back up into the bell chamber on Monday afternoon and we once again invited the villagers to come and have a look at the remaining four bells which would spend the night in the church itself. Approx. 35 people managed to brave the chilly evening to come and admire the bells.
The work involved in rehanging the bells took two weeks and apart from a few loose ends was completed on 20th February. New ropes with blue Sally’s (the fluffy part of the rope) were also fitted. Taylor’s are returning on Thursday 5th March at 7.30pm along with the bell ringers to make sure everything is working ok. This will be the first ring for the Bletsoe ringers and nervous anticipation awaits! The volunteers are working hard to have the new floor fitted by then.