The world’s heaviest set of four bells could be ringing out properly in the hands of Brough residents for the first time in decades this Christmas.
Modern technology is being used to help train a new band of village bell ringers at St Michael’s Church while the bells themselves — one of which dates from 500 years ago — are away being restored in Somerset.
It is hoped the bells will be back in the tower in time for Easter, but it is likely to be Christmas, at the earliest, before they will be able to be rung by the newly formed Brough band — such is the skill demanded to ring them.
The bells have been weighed by bell engineer Matthew Higby at his Somerset base and the community is delighted that Brough can now lay claim to having the heaviest ring of four bells in the world.
Brough churchgoer Judy Dobson said: “It is incredible”.
She said it was quite moving to see them being taken out of the tower and loaded up on the lorry to be taken away.
“They were huge,” said Mrs Dobson, who was a churchwarden up until last year.
She said the restoration project sprung out of a chance encounter she had a few years ago.
“What happened was, I walked out of the bell tower and a man walked into the church. I said to him, ‘we need a bell engineer’, and he said, ‘I am one’.
“And that was Matthew Higby,” said Mrs Dobson.
It is a project that has been seven years in the making, explains Carlisle diocesan bell advisor Ron East.
On top of £10,000 being raised by the local community, the restoration scheme has also received a grant of £67,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
“This is a multi-phase project,” said Mr East.
Phase one was the removal of the bells by the contractor, Matthew Higby, and their transport to his works in Somerset for restoration.
The number three bell and the tenor bell (bell four, the largest bell) had to be turned on their sides to get them out of the church.
The bells were then moved on a pallet truck by several pairs of willing hands along a steep and slippery path to where local farmer Dave Ellwood picked them up with his tractor complete with a fork lift attachment. “He very kindly moved them along the church drive to The Green in Church Brough where they were loaded on to waiting transport,” said Mr East.
The next phases of work, which are set to get under way in the tower on 13th February, will involve taking down the old floor and beams before the installation of new galvanised steel framework and the construction of a new floor.
Finally, the bells will be returned with new headstocks, wheels, stays and a strengthened frame.
In the meantime, new volunteers wishing to learn how to ring are being sought.
Mr East explained that the Brough bells are too heavy for teaching bell handling to new ringers, so the lighter weight and safer bells at Appleby have been fitted with electronic sensors.
“These enable new ringers to be taught without the noise of the bells disturbing the local community,” said Mr East.
This simulator for teaching has been funded as part of the project.
“We tie the clapper so the bell can’t sound externally and we put electronic sensors on the wheels, and join it to a computer and the computer plays the sound through speakers,” said Mr East.
Two treble bells were offered at no cost by the Keltek Trust which would have made a ring of six bells, but the PCC turned down the offer, wanting to keep their claim to having the world’s heaviest ring of four bells.
The oldest bell is 500 years old, while the others have been cast at different times since then. The youngest dates back to 1887. That was recast from the original bell which had been provided by Lady Anne Clifford.
It had probably cracked, but the metal was used by James Barwell of Birmingham to recast a new one.
The bells have not been rung in the English full circle style for several decades. But they have sounded out by being pulled from side to side to make them chime, but the church council wanted them restoring as they were historically.
Mr East, who has been the diocesan bell advisor for 23 years and has overseen well over 100 projects in that time, is set to retire at Easter, so the Brough bell restoration is likely to be his last job.
Brough resident Paul Steadman is set to be the tower captain and he has already started learning how to ring. Others are expected to join him shortly.
