Saturday 2nd November 2024 saw the very first QP to be rung on the bells of St Peter’s, Milton Lilbourne since their refurbishment back in 2019. Tower Captain, Chris Wardell, had resisted pleas from visiting bands to ring a QP there because he had promised that local ringers would have that honour first – a lot of Bob Doubles practice would be needed!
After successful recruitment campaigns (and the formation of Pewsey Vale Bellringers, a band of around 30 ringers who now ring at 4 towers in the Vale) and with a ringing simulator supporting normal practices, many ringers made great progress. One of these, a commercial airline pilot named Jenny Thorpe, set herself a challenge: having first touched a bell rope on 18th September 2023, she was adamant that her first ever QP would be ringing on an INSIDE bell!
Over the following year Jenny spent several hours a week practicing touches of Bob Doubles on the simulator with Chris, ringing with the local band on normal practice nights, and visiting more than 40 other 6-, 8- and 10-bell towers (including Chester Cathedral) to practice various methods with very experienced bands.
Six months to the day after she first touched a bell rope, Jenny rang Grandsire at East Garston – and on 2nd November 2024, she successfully rang the fourth bell at Milton Lilbourne in her first ever Quarter Peal! Also in this QP band were PVBR ringers Lesley Walford, Ian Wyld and Chris Wardell; Julie Miles conducted and Chris Bush rang the third.
Congratulations to all – we celebrated with glasses of fizz afterwards!
Anne Wardell
