History

A SHORT HISTORY OF SODBURY RINGERS

In 1972 a festival was held in St John’s Church to mark the 150th anniversary of Chipping Sodbury becoming a separate parish from Old Sodbury. Alan Pidgen found a set of handbells in the choir vestry and these were displayed along with other historical items. Some of the young people in the Church expressed an interest and Alan and his wife Jean decided to form a group to play these bells.

The first meeting was held in Alan’s house in September 1972 and there were18 young people present. They started practicing in the Church and were then offered the use of the Church Hall in Hatters Lane. As the members came from all around the Chipping Sodbury area it was decided that the group would be known as ‘The Sodbury Ringers’. The group eventually ended up meeting in the ringing chamber in the Church Tower. Past members will a have memories of chilly evenings practicing in the tower and the human chain on the tower steps to pass the bells, tables, table covers, music stands, etc up and down each time the group played out. The group now has the uses a room in the new St John’s Church Centre. A much more civilised location with all mod-cons.

By Christmas 1972 the group was accomplished enough to play at the St John’s Carol Service and various venues around the district. Initially they were playing “melody only” tunes using music found with the handbells. This was expanded from one source or another and by 1974 quite a collection had been accumulated.

In August 1974 the group joined the Handbell Ringers of Great Britain Team No SW173. This gave the group access to music that included harmony lines. Most of the music being produced then was in the 1&1/2 octave range which was ideal for the handbells group had at that time.

In 1979 The Kingswood Community Association inaugurated a Handbell Competition as part of their Arts Festival. On the 21st February 1980 the competition was held and our junior team came equal first. In 1981 the set piece was outside of the 1 & 1/2 octave range of the group’s handbells. Alan managed to borrow the Malmark Handbells from Wotton under Edge. The group was once again placed first. At the third Festival held on 23 rd February 1982, a change of rules meant the youngsters were classed as a Senior Team and again the set piece was out of the range of our bells. This time using a set of bells borrowed from Ernie Perm's Secretary of the G&B they came second, very commendable considering the average age was only 14.

In 1984 the Church Bells were re-hung. It was discovered that the bell hanger also overhauled handbells. However the quote for refurbishment was approaching the cost of a new set as one of the bells had a slight crack and needed to be replaced. It was decided to purchase a complete new set. In October of that year an order was placed with Whitechapel Foundry for a new set of 14 bells.

Delivery forecast for the new bells was between 12 to 18 months which gave the group enough time to raise the required funds. As part of the fund raising a Fashion Show was held in Chipping Town hall in which members of the group took a major part. In addition barn dances, garden parties and other fund raising events were organised. The new set was collected from Whitechapel Foundry in December and at the Morning Service on the 9th February 1986 they were dedicated by Rev Barry Finch. The bells were used for the first time to play at the Duchess Club a ladies club in North Bristol.

The first excursion to play at a Handbell Rally took place in October 86 at a mini rally at Hanham. Further rallies attended are Winterbourne St Michaels get together in November 89, S.W. Regional rally at Storehouse May 92 and a HRGB Rally held at Downend in June 93. In March 94 the group hosted its 21st Anniversary Rally in Chipping Town Hall. In December 94 group members took part in the HRGB Festival of Christmas Music in Cirencester Parish Church.

The set of bells has been extended by the purchase of additional bells and the group now has a total of 27. The range now extends over two chromatic octaves in the key of G plus G sharp and A. The group has also built up a varied collection of 1.1/2 and 2 octave tunes, some bought and some harmonised by group members. The music is all in numerical notation and the range varies from the folk songs such as Bobby Shafto to Elgar’s Chanson de Matin and the collection includes several popular musical numbers.

Over the years the group has collected almost £4,000 for various charities. Each year the members choose a charity and on many occasions the donation has been generously doubled by the Hanson Group.

The group still meets on Tuesdays in the St John’s Church Centre which was opened in 1998. The numbers and composition of the teams has varied over the years. Currently there are 7 adult members, 5 Ladies and 2 Men.