[Bell Historians] Redundant bells in Greenock

[Robert Lewis]

Below is an extract from the Greenock Telegraph's website.

Does anyone know anything about these bells and what is likely to happen to 
them?

RAL


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GREENOCK’S last traditional bellringer will stand down after 70 years 
service when his church shuts its doors for the last time.

The pealing of the bells every Sunday morning at St George’s North was a 
labour of love for Andrew McKellar, now 93.

The church closes at the end of the month and it will be the end of an era 
for both the man and the town when the bells cease to toll for worship.

Andrew, of Kelly Street, first started ringing the bells in 1936 and is now 
a legend of the belfry.

He was asked to pick up the ropes when he was a member of the choir and 
hasn’t looked back since.

Andrew said: “I will certainly miss it as I have been doing it for so long.

“It has been a big part of my life and it is very sad to see it go.”

In the past few years, his daughter, Elizabeth, helped him up the stairs to 
the bell mechanism to let him carry on ringing.

She said: “Even if he wasn’t feeling well, he still wanted to come to the 
church to ring the bells.”

Andrew was part of the team that rang the bells to celebrate the end of the 
Second World War on 8 May 1945, marking victory in

Europe.

In the six years of conflict, the ringing of church bells had been banned 
by the wartime government.

The traditional bells and ropes, first installed in the church in 1889, are 
long gone.

In later years, a keyboard has been used to peal the 10 bells.

Always dedicated to his job, Andrew recalled going up the tower to hit the 
bells himself with a hammer when one stopped working.

Neighbours close to St George’s North would wake every Sunday to the sound 
of hymns chiming up and down Nelson Street.

Church minister Reverend Douglas Hamilton said: “Andrew was not only 
dedicated to the bells but also as an elder and a property officer. It was 
a labour of love for him to serve the church.”

Now as the days of St George’s North draws to a close, Andrew is left with 
a final decision ­ what to play on the last day.

He said: “I will play Highland Cathedral and Passing of the Peace, which 
isn’t a hymn but a song we sing in the church.

“I don’t know yet what else I will play.”

St George’s North will close on 29 November when the Church of Scotland 
congregation joins with nearby St Luke’s.

This story appeared in the Greenock Telegraph on Tue, 14 Nov, 2006
           
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