St. Giles Church Cheddington

Tower Open Afternoon - Saturday 4th July 2009

We took the opportunity to have an open afternoon on the day of the Cheddington Village Fete. Thanks to the support we received from the fete organisers, we had approximately 30-40 visitors who came to view ringing demonstrations, have a brief bell handling instruction session and to visit the belfry and view our ancient grafiti carved into the tower masonry.

We started the afternoon ringing touches of Bob Doubles and continued to demonstrate this to visitors when they arrived, by ringing a single plain course.

As visitors started arriving, we offered all an opportunity for a basic handling lesson.
A number of people expressed an interest in coming along to our practice evenings, including a gentleman who used to ring with his father and grandfather in his youth. Some others who came from afar to visit friends or family on the day of the fete said that they would be keen to approach their local tower to learn to ring. All are welcome at our towers and I feel sure that those from afar would also be welcome at their local towers.

People who visited the belfry were in many cases genuinely impressed by the spectacle of our historic bells. This was most likely their first opportunity to see bells close up. We also demonstrated a single bell ringing for a brief period which is also an impressive sight.

We were particularly pleased with the afternoon which went very well and hopefully all our visitors got the opportunity to see what would normally be a fairly hidden spectacle. We also made Ł52.55 from takings to visit the tower, ringing instruction and refreshments. Thanks to all who came along.

We started the afternoon ringing touches of Bob Doubles and continued to demonstrate this to visitors when they arrived, by ringing a single plain course.
	As visitors started arriving, we offered all an opportunity for a basic handling lesson. A number of people expressed an interest in coming along to our practice evenings, including a gentleman who used to ring with his father and grandfather in his youth. Some others who came from afar to visit friends or family on the day of the fete said that they would be keen to approach their local tower to learn to ring. All are welcome at our towers and I feel sure that those from afar would also be welcome at their local towers.
People who visited the belfry were in many cases genuinely impressed by the spectacle of our historic bells. This was most likely their first opportunity to see bells close up. We also demonstrated a single bell ringing for a brief period which is also an impressive sight.