St Mary’s Shenley
Monday 21st October 2024 was D Day for the bells of St Mary’s Shenley as it marked the beginning of the dismantling of the fixtures and fittings for refurbishment by Whites of Appleton. Preparation work in the ringing room began the day before but it was an early start on the 21st to expose the ringing room trap door, not seen for 116 years.When it was uncovered it was discovered that it was held in place by no less than 64 flathead screws so their were some very sore arms when the final screw was withdrawn.
The bellhanger James Haseldine and apprentice Jack organised the team of willing helpers in attacking all the components that needed to be unbolted and disassembled and by the end of day one all the wheels and one headstock had been lowered to the chancel floor.
The bolts in five of the headstocks were rusted on so day two began with these bolts being cut off and the remaining headstocks lowered to the floor.
When the refitting occurs, hopefully in the early spring, the bells will be on ball bearings as opposed to the old plain bearings so hopefully they will go like a dream and be good for another 100 years.
The reason this project began was, when we returned to ringing after Covid we suspected that not everything was as it should be with the bells. We arranged a free survey with Whites which highlighted a small number of problems but most significantly wear on the the 5th’s gudgeon. When this was properly exposed in the dismantling, James remarked there was a lot of wear on this component and it didn’t have much more life in it. If it had been left there may have been a catastrophic failure in the not too distant future, which doesn’t bear thinking about.
Many thanks to James and Jack from Whites for their professionalism and patience. Also a big thankyou to the the team of helpers who worked in some very cramped and dirty conditions to get the job done so efficiently, John Brookman, Simon Head, Ted Fawcett, Becky Fawcett, Lorraine Brookman and Paul Randall (a member of St Mary’s congregation). Paul also filmed the removal process and has put together a very interesting short video of the two days which can be found on the Watling Valley Parish website.
