St Mary Redcliffe Church Parish Magazine, February 2019

community 2019
WESTMINSTER ABBEY — ‘RINGING IN’ THE NEW YEAR
— GARETH LAWSON; RINGING MASTER, SMR GUILD OF RINGERS
THE ST MARY REDCLIFFE GUILD OF
RINGERS was founded in 1950 and has
in excess of fifty members. The purpose
of the Guild is to ring the bells for Sunday
services and special occasions.
You can imagine my delight when the Guild
received a letter from The Westminster Abbey
Company of Ringers last year inviting us to
ring at Westminster Abbey on New Year’s Day
2019. Westminster Abbey is unique among
abbeys, cathedrals and churches because of
its royal connection — as you can see from
the following details on the Abbey website:
The bells set ‘up’ for ringing
Photo: David Threlfall
“From the moment King Edward the Confessor decided to build his church
at Westminster in the 11th century, the story of the Abbey has been woven
into the history of the British monarchy ... From coronations to weddings
and burials, every British monarch has forged a strong bond with the
Abbey. Two centuries later Henry III built the Abbey church you see today.
Since 1066 every British monarch except two has been crowned at the
Abbey ... Thirty kings and queens are buried at the Abbey, starting with King
Edward the Confessor himself whose magnificent shrine stands just behind
the High Altar. Five monarchs are buried in the royal tombs surrounding his
shrine ... The Abbey has also hosted sixteen royal weddings, including the
marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011.”
Members of the St Mary Redcliffe Guild of Ringers before ascending the tower
Photo: Simon Meeds
On New Year’s Day afternoon we were met outside the west front of the
Abbey by the Conductor, Jeremy Pratt, who is in charge of all the ringing
there. He led us into this magnificent building, past security and up a spiral
staircase consisting of 119 steps. We still hadn’t reached our destination, but
a further nine steps and we arrived at the ringing chamber in the north-west