Bell Ringing Trip to South Gloucestershire:

The first weekend in May saw glorious sunny weather and the Bell Ringing Band with some of their other halves travel to Iron Acton in South Gloucestershire.  It was a trip down memory lane for one of the Band, Mervyn Lock, who was born in the Station House in the village.  It was also his birthday that weekend so it seemed a fitting place to go and ring.  

It was also an ideal opportunity for Haughton Tower Captain, Trevor, Mervyn’s son who is a keen cyclist, to do a charity cycle ride from Stafford to Iron Acton for Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s “Out to Play” appeal.  He and his brother Matthew completed the ride of 103 miles, which is a fantastic achievement.  Well done to both of them!

We rang at three Churches, St. Peter’s in Frampton Cotterill, St. James The Less in Iron Acton and St. Thomas a Becket’s in Pucklechurch. In his youth, Mervyn used to pump the bellows for the Church organ in Iron Acton.  At Pucklechurch we rang 77 extents (462 changes) of plain hunt singles on 3, 4 and 5 with 1 and 2 leading and the tenor behind, in celebration of Mervyn’s birthday.  

Of course, we also had plenty of time to fit in non-ringing activities, including sitting on the grass, watching a cricket match in Pucklechurch in beautiful sunshine. We also had a lovely walk on Sunday morning around Iron Acton and the surrounding countryside with Mervyn telling us all about his time in the village.  

All in all a wonderful weekend, many thanks to Trevor for organising it.

By Helen Turner-Murphy