On Thursday 25th September, children from Roos Church of England Primary School will see two new bells installed at All Saints Church in Roos, Holderness, increasing the number of the church’s bells from six to eight. In June, the older children from the school visited Taylor’s Bell Foundry in Loughborough to see the new bells cast.
Helen Audley, Tower Captain for All Saints Roos, said, “In 2012 the five bells at All Saints were fully refurbished and augmented to six, the result of a tremendous community fund raising effort and support from bell ringers across Yorkshire. Since then, the local band has gone from strength to strength, with children coming from Roos Primary School and Withernsea High School to learn to ring the bells. We decided we needed two more bells, and wanted to make sure the children were involved in the process.
“It was wonderful to have the children from Roos Primary School there when the bells were cast, and now they’ll see them being installed in the church. Our ringers have really cemented the relationship between the church and the school, and they rang the bells at the schools’ end of term service at the church in July. They have all gained their Level One Certificates in bell handling and are working towards levels two and three. I hope this encourages more of them to get involved in bell ringing and the life of the church. It is wonderful to think that this art is being passed on to the next generation.”
Grace Ward, aged, 12, a former pupil at Roos Church of England Primary School said, “I live near the church and I hear the bells when I’m in the garden, and I think they sound beautiful. I like to think that when I’m walking around Roos in fifty years’ time, and hear the bells, that I was there when the new bells were made.”
Helen continues, “The new bells are only the beginning of what we want to do at All Saints! The bells are rung from a small gallery at the back of the church, and we now need more space to teach our new ringers and for observers. We hope to create space in the church for heritage displays and resources, and to restore the 1881 pipe organ by K.C Reiter, a renowned Hull organ builder.”
The new bells have been funded by generous grants from the Beverley and District Ringing Society and private donations. The travel costs for the children to visit Taylor’s Bell Foundry were provided by the Archbishop of York’s Mission Fund and the Ann Watson Trust.