Churches of St Peter & St Paul, Stokesley and St Martin, Seamer
Bell Ringers
St Peter and St Paul, Stokesley, has a tower with a full set of eight bells. Six of the bells were installed in 1885, and the other two were only installed in 1988. The heaviest bell at Stokesley weighs about 400 kilos, but at other churches, the heaviest bell may weigh as much as three tons! The church also has a very old clock, which needs to be wound up each week.
If you are interested in becoming a ringer at Stokesley, then please contact the Tower Captain John Hallett on 01642 700575. Anyone over the age of 10 can ring, and it is not very time-consuming: the practise is on Friday evenings for 1½ hours, and the bells are rung for about 45 minutes before services on Sundays and before special services such as weddings.
You may hear us when we ring for our practice on a Friday evening and when ringing for services on a Sunday, but we also do other things.
On a recent trip we rang at towers on Tyneside. We rang at Heworth and South Shields, then took the ferry to the north side of the river. Fish and chips at the North Shields fish quay was followed by ringing at North Shields and Whitley Bay. We finished the day with a BBQ back at Stokesley. We also entered a ringing competition held at Boroughbridge and came a very close second to a team from Ripon Cathedral.
MORE RINGERS NEEDED
However to keep our bells ringing we do need more ringers.
Would you like to give it a go?
Anyone of any age who lives in the area and would like to give bellringing a go is welcome to join us. If you can learn to ride a bike you can learn to ring.
We are going to run a training class, starting in September. If you would like to join us and keep the bells of Stokesley ringing then give your name to John Groom or Bev Turner in church or contact the tower captain John Hallett on 01642 700575. You would be welcome to come up the tower any Friday at 7.30pm to see what we do, just give John Hallett a ring first.
Cleveland and North Yorkshire Newsletter
July 2007
Striking Competition
The four towers that entered enjoyed a good afternoon ringing and an enjoyable evening barbecue at John and Jo Mitchell’s house in Roecliffe. The weather was kind and teams were able to sit in the sunshine at Boroughbridge while waiting their turn. As there were only 8 teams in all the competition took place at Boroughbridge and there was open ringing at Aldborough.
Fun Competition
Northallerton, Ripon and Stokesley entered teams with Ripon winning. The trophy was accepted by a very proud and excited Bethany Edwards, being Ripon’s youngest learner, who had rung the treble.
Sunday Service
Northallerton entered two teams and took the first 2 places, with the winning team achieving a near perfect score. Other towers were Boroughbridge, Ripon and Stokesley. Northallerton will now go forward to represent the branch at the Yorkshire Association Competition in the Autumn.
The competitions were judged by John Leech from Knaresborough.
Fun Competition
1st Ripon B 72%, 2nd Stokesley A 70%, 2nd Northallerton B 70%
Sunday Service
1st Northallerton A 95%, 2nd Northallerton C 89%, 3rd Stokesley B 74%, 4th Ripon A 70%, 5th Boroughbridge 62%
It would be nice next year to have more towers represented. Remember it is taking part that is important.
We realise that it was a busy weekend, but the same week last year worked well!! If you have any views on alternative times of year please let us know.
Stokesley Bellringers Win Striking Competition
On Saturday July 1st, 2006, the local branch of the Yorkshire Association of bell ringers, held its annual Striking Competition. This was open to ringers from all churches in the branch, from Whitby in the east to Askrigg and Aysgarth in the west and from Stockton in the north to Boroughbridge and Ripon in the south. The aim of the competition is for each team to ring rhythmically. Each bell must “strike” clearly and accurately. If the ringing is struck well, then it will be always pleasing to the ear. An independent and very experienced ringer judges the ringing and scores each of the teams accordingly.
This year the main competition was held at Hutton Rudby, with a second competition for less experienced bell ringers held at Swainby.
This year, Stokesley entered two different teams of ringers for the main competition. Each team was required to ring for about five minutes. The “A” team achieved a clear win, beating rivals Northallerton into second place. The “B” team also performed very respectably, achieving 4th place overall.
In the second competition, for more inexperienced ringers, the Stokesley team narrowly lost out to the winners, Swainby, who had the benefit of “home advantage”, by just one fault.
Well done to all the ringers taking part. It is fantastic to be part of a team of committed band of bell ringers, who now hold the trophy and title for the best striking in the region. We hope to repeat our success next year.
If anyone wishes to find out more about bell ringing or wishes to learn this ancient art, please feel free to attend one of our practices on Friday nights.
Ashley Law, Ringing Master