A Peal Remembered
In that fateful summer of 1914 a peal was rung on the bells of St Mary’s, Chediston. The bells had only been augmented to six three years previously to mark the coronation of King George V, and it was the first recorded peal rung at Chediston.
The ringers were mostly local men such as Lionel Hammond and Arthur Took, no doubt inspired and enthused by that notable local ringer Fred Lambert, who conducted the peal and who is commemorated in Halesworth church. And although the war clouds were already gathering over Europe, the ringers on that quiet summer’s day in Suffolk could not possibly have imagined the cataclysm that was about to unfold. Even less could they have dreamed of the events which were to occur on the beaches of Normandy just thirty years later.
But their feat was nonetheless recorded on a small wooden plaque which today hangs in the ringing chamber in Chediston church and now, a century on, it has been repeated. For on the evening of 6th June 2014, exactly a hundred years later to the very day, a group of Sufffolk ringers completed a commemorative peal in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
For those versed in the arcane mysteries of bell ringing, the methods rung in 2014 were slightly different to those rung by Fred Lambert and his band. The original peal comprised 720 changes each of Kent and Oxford Treble Bob and Grandsire, and two 720s each of Canterbury Pleasure and Plain Bob to make up the required 5040 changes. Our anniversary peal comprised two extents each of Kent Treble Bob, St Clements College Bob and Cambridge Surprise, plus one of Plain Bob, but the effect was the same.
Three of the ringers were local. Graham and Veronica Downing from Chediston – Veronica being churchwarden as well as tower captain – and Jason Busby from Halesworth, were joined by Michelle Williams from Reydon, plus Brian Whiting and Mike Whitby, who composed and conducted the peal with great skill and authority.
A short prayer was said beforehand to remember the ringers who had gone before, and also to remember those who fell in Normandy 70 years ago. Their contribution far outweighed that of the rest of us, for it could be argued that without them we might no longer enjoy the freedom to ring peals in Suffolk churches. Certainly England would today have been a very different place.
June 6th 1914
A Peal of minor in five methods, 5040 changes, being 720 changes each of Kent and Oxford Treble Bob and Grandsire and two 720’s each of Canterbury Pleasure and Plain Bob, in 3 hours.
1 Lionel Hammond
2 Frederick Lambert (cond)
3 James Spalding
4 Arthur Took
5 James Howard
6 John Larter
June 6th 2014
A Peal of minor in four methods, 5040 changes, being two extents each of Kent Treble Bob, St Clements College Bob and Cambridge Surprise, and one of Plain Bob, in 2 hours 40 minutes.
1 Graham Downing
2 Veronica A M Downing
3 Jason R Busby
4 Michelle Williams
5 Brian E Whiting
6 Michael G Whitby (cond)
On the centenary of the first recorded peal on these bells, and in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of D Day.
Graham Downing 7th June 2014