Ringing Practice Nights
Now that the bells are in, we now have 2 practice nights.
Monday at 6.15pm for beginners wishing to learn
Wednesday at 7.30pm for existing ringers.
Please click here if you would like to join us.
New Treble Display
The old treble is now being displayed in the church.
Open Tower Afternoon – Saturday 13th November 2pm – 4pm
Calling all Bell Ringers or Rusty Ringers or New Beginners.
Our church bells have now been restored and are sounding better than ever, but our small band of ringers are looking for new recruits! So, if you have never rung before, or have rung in the past and would like to start again, we would love to see you.
The belfry and ringing platform will both be open with hands on taster sessions for anyone who would like to ‘learn the ropes’.
Bell ringing is fun for all ages, good core strength exercise, a mental workout, very social, church attendance is not required and we will have cake!
Email sent to Villagers on 22nd August 2021
Hello Little Horwoodians,
You will be aware that our Church Bells were returned and unloaded on Friday for which thanks are due to Hugh & Jeremy.
I was there to make a photographic record of the occasion and attach copies of my better photos. (These can be seen in our Gallery)
I also made a 6 minute video so, if anyone wants a copy, I can try and send it by email but, be warned, it is 722Mb in size!!
Cheers,
Pete
Email sent to Villagers on 19th August 2021
The bells are coming home. Tomorrow, Friday, we get our bells back. 4 renovated and re-tuned old bells – and 2 spanking new ones – the Bull Bell and the Grainge Bell.
We are storing them on the floor of the church until they get hoisted into place on their new frame up in the tower – next Tuesday and Wednesday.
So if anyone wants to see the bells up close, the church will be open from 10.00 to 12.00 on Sunday morning. As the bells have a pretty high metal value, we are keeping the church locked the rest of the time, but if you can’t make Sunday morning and do want to see them, give me a ring on 712102 and we can arrange a separate visit.
So, you can expect to hear the sound of bells by the end of next week – at long last. It’s been nearly 6 years since we were last able to entertain the whole village. We will of course give you full warning of when we plan to again start with our weekly 90 minute practice sessions.
Happy Listening – and I promise, they’ll sound even better.
Paddy
19th August 2021 – our bells were returned to St. Nicholas Church!!
Email sent to villagers on 27th July 2021
Since we haven’t told the village that much about our progress on the church bell project, I just thought that with all the recent discussion on the church, this is an opportune time to bring you up to date.
We are in fact getting quite near to completing the project and would very much hope that we will be able to ring the six perfectly tuned bells again sometime in September.
This Monday we had a great day and three men from Whites with three helpers from the village got all the steel support beams hoisted up and located in the tower. The bigger beams weighed at least 200 kgs each, so quite an achievement.
New Frame in Church ready to be installed 
New Frame being lifted into Tower 
New Frame in Place
The first picture shows the two big RSJ beams on the church floor, then one showing the lift up the tower and the last with the whole structure assembled in the tower. The next step is to concrete the beam ends firmly into the tower walls and put in a floor. Then after that, the frame and bells come in and ringing can start once again.
If you are excited by it all, we’ll see you at church on Sunday and after the service, we can tell you more.
Paddy and Team
This is a recent video produced by Whites of Appleton and how they make Bells and features our bells in Little Horwood. Click here to view.
Email sent to villagers w/c 15th February 2021
As some of you may be aware, the work to replace the old unsafe bell frame and the refurbishment of the bells started the last week in January. I’m pleased to report the first phase of the work has been successfully completed under the watchful eye of Paddy and his merry band. The bells have been taken away to the bellhangers to be spruced up and to have the new frame custom built to house them and our two new bells. This work will take a few more months, and we hope they will be ready to return in the Spring. As for the old frame, this is due to have an archaeological inspection, before it can be decided what can be done with it, and the old treble bell (the smallest of the set, which was beyond repair) will be finding a new home in the church, where it will be on permanent display. Meantime we have some remedial work to do on the tower, with some further investigation to take place- we have everything crossed there will be no nasty surprises (and additional costs)!Bell Talks
If you haven’t done so already, this Friday (February 19th at 7.30pm) is your next opportunity to log on to our monthly “Bell workshops”.
So far we have covered subjects as diverse as local Bell foundries, the history of the bells in Little Horwood, the Gee and the Dewar families and other relevant local history. This is all brought to life by our regular contributors, Julian Hunt, Terry (Horrod Lad) Smith and Doug Hird (Bell encyclopedia).
Over the next couple of meetings we will be covering the structure of the bell frame, Judith Close-Smith (late of Steart Hill) and the Denny family (of Memorial Hall fame, charting their journey from pig farming in Ireland to North Bucks country gentry). This month Paddy McCowen will be giving a short update on the work so far with some of the pictures taken.
We are so nearly there!
We have nearly raised all that we will need, and we thank everyone who has donated to the project so generously. However, we still need a bit more (mainly due the Covid-19 restrictions and us not being able to use local volunteers). If you would like to make a donation, please complete our contact form and we will be in touch.
Email sent to villagers on Sunday 24th January 2021
We have an exciting update, despite all the setbacks and delays, work has finally started on our church bells. If you have walked near the church this past week you may have heard the drilling and banging noises coming from high up in the tower. This was the sound of our builders preparing the tower for the removal of the bells. The bell hangers are scheduled to start on Wednesday (27th) to remove the bells and frame. The bell hangers will be working in a Covid secure manner, with the church tower door open throughout, however they have requested that villagers do not enter the church whilst the work is carried out. We will be filming and photographing the whole process, so there will be an opportunity to see what went on inside when the film and photos are shared.
The Bell Restoration Team
Our New Bells!
We have just received photographs of our newly cast bells.
New Bull family Bell 
New Grainge family Bell
Email sent to the Little Horwood villagers on Thursday 3rd September
To paraphrase Leslie Philips: – “Ding-dong”
It’s full steam ahead for the new bell frame/bells
As with so many projects, things were just about to take off as the great lockdown came into force. This put things on pause but now we can officially announce that we have a date for the project to start.
The old bell frame will be removed in late September, the existing bells will be taken away and re-tuned (not the treble which is beyond repair) and the replacement treble bell and the new sixth bell will be cast at a foundry in Loughborough.
If there are no further delays the new bell frame and bells should be installed and ready to ring by early next year.
Fiscal responsibility (remember that?!)
Thanks to a lot of hard work by certain members of the Committee, several grants have been successfully sought, including over £30,000 from the National Lottery (no mean feat) and this, combined with the Breakfast Club, donations and other money raising efforts mean that we have already raised the magnificent sum of £80,000.
However!
Due to the enforced delay in fund-raising and a slight increase in costs, there is a shortfall of over £10,000. We will resume fund raising as soon as possible but in the present climate this will be limited.
Investment opportunity
Therefore we have decided to give everyone “a once in every three hundred years”opportunity to donate to the bell fund. Some of you may have had a recent unexpected windfall courtesy of the incredibly successful venture by the village into hospitality and maybe looking to re-invest in another village project. This is your chance!So you can have your name or that of a loved one put on the headstock (only two left) for a £1,000 donation or your name on the frame for £250. To pledge a donation please contact us by the end of September. All donations will be gratefully received.
Launch
We will be holding, over the winter, a series of eight workshops with local historian Julian Hunt, looking into the history of the existing bells and their benefactors. This is a stipulation of the National Lottery grant and will allow us to produce an historical record for posterity (see below – wordsmith required). Quite what form these will take is at present not certain but they may be a hybrid of real/virtual reality. The first one will take place on September 11th and will be set up as a Zoom meeting. Watch the local press (that’s Pete’s email) for further details.
Wordsmith required
To comply with various conditions for grant acceptance, we are obliged to make a record of events/ findings etc. as the work progresses. This will take the form of online postings and articles in the local press (not Pete’s email this time!). If there are any budding Will Shakespeares, JK Rowlings or Terry Smiths out there, who fancy themselves with pen & paper and would like to help with the project, please get in touch with a member of the Committee. Ideally attach a five-hundred-word example of your previous work, although to be honest, evidence that you can write will probably be sufficient.
Days of yore
As part of the historical record we would like to include any photographs and recollections relating to bell ringing at Little Horwood from past years. If you have any photographs or a good yarn please contact us.
Congratulations
If you have read this far, well done!
You should now be up-to-date with project “Ding dong”, thanks for all your support to date and we hope you will continue to follow/assist in the project over the coming months.
And finally!!!! Listen up
Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for the bell frame. This Sunday, 6th September, at mid-day there will be a final toll of one bell before the dismantling begins.