[Bell Historians] Houghton conquest Bedfordshire,

[Roderic Bickerton]

Can't add much, apart from ringing there in 1972, noted them as a
reasonable sounding old 6, on the rough side, but not bad enough to be a
problem.
I would think they would restore as a good rewarding 6.

On Tue, 18 Oct 2022, 13:01 steve.h.stanford--- via Bell-historians, <
bell-historians at lists.ringingworld.co.uk> wrote:

> The last record of full-circle ringing was at a meeting of the Beds Assn
> in October 1972. An inspection and some minor maintenance work was carried
> out by Chris Pickford and others in 1996 and permission given by the church
> architect and vicar for the bells to be rung for a service to commemorative
> the 600th anniversary of the tower. However local opposition at the last
> minute prevented this. Since 1996 a kitchen has been installed on the
> ground floor of the tower from where the bells were originally rung, and a
> ringing floor has been created at the level above, although the bells have
> never been rung from this level.
>
>
>
> In January 2018 at the request of the PCC, Pat Albon and I carried out an
> inspection and reported on a possible restoration. By then the fittings had
> deteriorated to such a state that it was only possible to ring the 3rd
> and 5th. The modified oak frame was originally designed for a previous
> much heavier ~19 cwt ring of 5. It dates from 1614 and would probably be
> serviceable with a suitable support grillage installed. Unfortunately,
> shortly after our visit the Church was completely stripped of its lead
> roofing and this rather than the bells has been the Church’s primary
> funding concern. The Church recently became part of the Elstow benefice and
> has a very small and mostly elderly congregation, so a restoration is
> unlikely, at least in the short term.
>
>
>
> (As a youngster  I recall going to Houghton Conquest for a Biggleswade
> District meeting. When we arrived there was no ropes. Roy Ward was found
> sitting in the tenor pit with all the ropes pulled up to the bell chamber!
> I believe Stephen Ivin was taught by local ringer Willie Watts. Willie and
> Steve’s mother, who lived in Houghton Conquest until her early 90s, and are
> both still fondly remembered in the village)
>
>
>
> *Steve Stanford*
>
> steve.h.stanford at gmail.com
>
> Home/Office Tel: +44 (0) 1234 856778
>
> Mobile Tel: +44 (0) 7742 871724
>
>
>
> *From:* Bell-historians <bell-historians-bounces at lists.ringingworld.co.uk>
> *On Behalf Of *oliver Lee via Bell-historians
> *Sent:* 18 October 2022 10:51
> *To:* bell-historians at lists.ringingworld.co.uk
> *Cc:* oliver Lee <oliverbellringer at outlook.com>
> *Subject:* [Bell Historians] Houghton conquest Bedfordshire,
>
>
>
> Recently I have been re listening to Richard jones’ 2009 interview with
> Stephen ivin and there is a somewhere brief mention of  ringing at Houghton
> conquest during the post war period,  apparently the bells retained their
> original 1841 mears fittings and apparently the local verger was somewhat
> reluctant to let people look at them as they would’ve probably been
> condemned. I was wondering if anyone might know when they where last rung
> and what their current condition is
>
> Many thanks
>
> Oliver lee.
>
>
>
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>
>
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