The bells of St Paul’s church in Bedford rang out for three hours on Sunday, 29 September in a historic peal to commemorate the retirement of the Reverend Canon Kevin Goss as Vicar of St. Paul’s, Bedford
The Society of Royal Cumberland Youths, made up of 12 expert bell ringers from across England, gathered at St Paul’s to ring a peal known as ‘Spliced Treble Dodging Maximus’.
Composed by A G Reading, the peal lasts over three hours and the four methods rung are especially complex.
“This was a remarkable performance and a real challenge to the ringers, owing to the difficulty of ringing the current bells. No full peal (only quarter ones) has been rung since 2020, not even for the death of the late Queen Elizabeth or for the King’s Coronation,” said a spokesperson for St Paul’s.
St Paul’s bells have long been of historic interest and ringers have travelled from far and wide to ring them.
It was The Society of Royal Cumberland Youths that were paid by the Mayor and Corporation to open the ‘new bells’ in 1745 and they rang the first peal on them six years later on 11 May 1761.
These ‘new’ bells were replaced in 1896/7 with the current bells. The bells at St Paul’s need to be overhauled and rehung to make it possible for them to be rung more safely by young and old new recruits to the ancient art of bell ringing.
Meanwhile, the clock needs to be completely refurbished in order to keep time and the tower infrastructure is also in urgent need of attention.
Steve Stanford, project manager for the Appeal said: “The bells need to be restored in order for the clock chimes to function and be reinstated.”
The church still needs a further £116,000 towards the estimated £500,000 needed to complete the urgent work to prevent the bells and clock of St Paul’s from falling silent and for the spire to remain the beautiful landmark that it is across Bedford’s skyline.
Donations are welcome with the opportunity of sponsoring the refurbishment of a bell. To find out more, visit bedfordclockandbells.com.
