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St Michael & All Angels                                                                                                            Angela Smythe St Michael's is joining with the Village Hall Committee and the Parish Council to organise the Diamond Jubilee celebrations - therefore there will be not be a Church Fête for this one year only. So, looking forward to Sunday 3 June, 11.15am Family Service of celebration and thanksgiving for Her Majesty's long and faithful service to her God and subjects. More details next month.

New ringers needed for Butcombe    The ringing of church bells is a tradition dating back over 400 years. You can learn to ring without any musical knowledge, but a sense of rhythm is desirable. Being able to count is all the maths you need. Ringing calls worshippers to church, but your attendance at services is not essential. New friendships are made and it's a great physical and mental workout. Ringing gives opportunities to visit amazing places, abroad as well as in the UK, and has been described as the ultimate team activity. If you feel that you would like to give it a try, please contact me or any of the ringers. Our set of 12 handbells has been rarely used in recent years. Some bells are difficult to ring accurately, notes are missing or in the wrong key for tune ringing, straps and fittings are badly worn and several bells 'buzz', due to hairline cracks in the mouth of the bell. A recent legacy to the ringers gave us the incentive to look into the cost of having the bells overhauled, including the repair of cracks and retuning. We also asked for the cost of 3 more bells to increase the scope for tune ringing. There are now only two active English firms casting church and hand bells - Taylors of Loughborough and the Whitechapel Foundry in London. Our handbells came from Taylors and Whitechapel would only offer us scrap value towards the cost of a new set. We therefore sent the bells to Taylors, who informed us that they could be restored to 'as new' condition. The cost for this, including the three additional bells, is £2,658 including VAT but excluding carriage and carrying/storage boxes. We hope to have suitable boxes made locally, saving us a significant amount. The cost of a comparable new set is £5,320, almost exactly double. Handbell bronze comprises 80% copper and 20% tin, hence the high cost of new bells. After a meeting of the ringers and with PCC approval we placed an order in November, and hope to have the bells back before Easter. We intend to use our Bell Fund, built up for new ropes or repairs in the tower, to pay for a significant part of the cost, but more money will be needed. We believe that the restored bells will provide a valuable asset for the village as well as the church. We therefore extend a warm invitation to anyone interested in learning tune ringing on handbells to come along and have a go. Once again, musical expertise is not needed. Some of us already ring handbells, so we shall not all be starting entirely from scratch. Fund raising will be taking place, but any donation would be most welcome. Mike Fairey 01761-462843