Sue and Guy Morton explained that bell ringing was an English tradition. At St Peter Mancroft in Norwich in 1731, the Bloody Peal (so-called because bell ringers had blood on their hands at the end) was rung by 8 people over 8 hours and 15 minutes. This was a record for 151 years!
Sue and Guy met through bell ringing and decided to pursue their mutual interest at All Saints Church, Upper Sheringham. A bell hanger’s report on the six bells, which had been cast in 1841, stated that they were in a bad condition. The parochial church council asked Sue to co-ordinate a major fundraising project to re-hang the derelict bells to enable traditional English full-circle bell ringing to take place again (the bells have not been rung in this way since 1935). A chiming mechanism is also to be installed to ensure the bells can be sounded even when there are no experienced bell ringers available. So far £73,000 has been raised, another £12,000 is needed.
Sue and Guy demonstrated four-in-hand ringing, both having two handbells in each hand, their performance attracting plentiful applause. The talk ended with a lively questions and answers session and afterwards 6 members tried their hand at bell ringing.
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