Local ringers from towers in Furness came together to ring for Evensong at St James.
In addition to calling members of the parish to the service, there were some significant achievements for the band (see quarter peal footnotes).
After a couple of practice starts, we began the quarter an hour before the service, and the quarter settled down quite quickly to some good striking and rhythm. Everyone was concentrating and there were very few mistakes or hesitations. Well done everyone.

To start with there was the first wedding ringing this century! to celebrate the marriage of Aaron Steven Palmer and Samantha Jane Edmondson. Congratulations!
We had a number of visiting ringers to help ring the bells due to another wedding at St Mary's in Dalton at the same time preventing us from supporting each other's tower.
So we were very grateful for the assistance of the Fr Martin Daniels, and Simon Woof (President and VP of LACR no less), and Rob & Ann Pettifor from Whittington, Ann Thompson from Broughton-in-Furness, to help our own ringers Alan Jones, Jo Sweeney and Andy Pollock.
Ringing as normal for 30mins prior to the scheduled service time, and few minutes for any delayed entrance of the bride, and 15 to 20 minutes after the wedding.

In the afternoon St James was honoured to host the final ringing and Annual General Meeting for the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers (on behalf of the Furness & South Lakeland Branch of the LACR).

• There was 45 minutes ringing from 3.15pm prior to the service of evensong at 4pm. Frank Anderton was 'volunteered' by everyone else in the ringing room to be ringing master for the session, and was kind enough to accept. Thank you Frank.
• Rev John Hodgkinson took the service of evensong, and several ringers joined the choir who gave up their time to make the service one to remember. Thanks also to Mark Latimer for organising the music and playing the fine organ.
• Tea was a well recieved... the pies were yummy! and provided by Deli.sh run by a young couple who fabulously volunteered (on the spur of the moment) to give up an hour of their own time to serve their food to help out. Thank you!
  Chips from Matties and homemade braised red cabbage with ginger and pine nuts to accompany the other trimmings! Pudding was Lathams gateau :D
  Thanks to Brenda, Shelagh, Dorothy and everyone else who helped to serve and then clear up and wash up a mountain of pots!
• The AGM followed at 6pm chaired by LACR President Fr Martin Daniels, with other officers at the tables erected between pews and choir stalls, and meeting attendees in the first 10 rows of pews.
• Finally the day was rounded off with some ringing from about 7.15pm that concluded at 8pm, and was run by our branch ringing master Hilary Atkinson.

Furness College Students: Rob Lewis, Nathan Hughes, and Michael Hibbert, under tutelage of Jonny Williams, came to shoot some video interviews at St James' church, and in the ringing chamber and belfry.
These interviews will be edited and included in a video documentary about the bell restoration, that they are doing as part of their final projects.

Our thanks must go to Stan Walmsey, Robbie Bown, Carl & Rachel Hallows with their daughter Katherine, Hugh Pettifer, Brenda Pearce, and Andy Pollock, for making time to come down for the interviews, and for everyone's patience.

We are looking forward to the finished result which we plan to lodge with the Barrow records office, and make available at the church.

Less than two weeks after the rededication, Barrow had an open day to show members of the public the fantastic set of bells now restored at St James.
In addition to the live video feed of the bells, a video produced by Furness College showing some of the footage from the removal and return of the bells was shown on repeat all day.
Refreshments were available, plus wooden items hand crafted from the old bell frame on show/for sale.

The display boards with information about ringing were complimented by Geoff Holme’s fantastic display of archive photos and material relating to the church and the original tower log book and some old photographs were also made available to visitors.

Andy Pollock took visitors on tours up the tower to learn about bellringing, and watch the bells being rung from above. Some also had a go at ringing the 3rd. Each tour seemed to take longer as Andy remembered something new to tell the visitors! No sooner was one tour nearing completion than another group had gathered and was waiting their turn. Lunch was postponed until after the last tour!

Overall, the day was a great success, with approx. 50 or more visitors, and Andy's enthusiasm seemed to rub-off from some of the comments that were left:

• “What an impressive feat to preserve the bells; a lovely thing for the heritage of barrow”
• “A wonderful experience and a joy to see”
• “Fantastic. Andy’s talk was really interesting and informative. Noticed the open day by accident + very glad I did!”
• “Great to finally see the bells in place & also to see the old records”
• “Very interesting. Glad I took the opportunity to come & see/hear/ring the bells!”
• “Brought back memories from over 30 years ago, going bell ringing with Grandad. He would be very proud of what you have all done. Thank you.

The icing on the cake was that we have had two of the people who came along to the open day express interest in learning to ring at Barrow, and both came the following practice, and quickly and easily got to grips with tail stroke. This now makes 6 new learners (although have seen one for a couple of weeks).

Thanks must go to everyone who helped on the day Brenda and Shelagh for welcoming visitors and serving refreshments, Geoff Holme for his display, and in the tower Robbie who came and had another practice ring and demonstrate to the visitors how we teach ringing, plus Andy Painter, Frazer Smith, Stephen Metcalfe, Alan Dewar, and especially Jo Sweeney who gave up the whole day to help!

REDEDICATION!

The big day arrives, along with Rt Revd James Newcome (Bishop of Carlisle) and various dignitories and representatives of grant awarding bodies, and the general public.

The day flies by - everything runs smoothly, and everyone seems very pleased by the outcome of the restoration and the rededication service.

WavyGrain craftsman Martyn Whittaker presents the tower with a commemorative candle holder (with Wax Lyrical candle) made from a section of the old oak frame and inscribed with the message "St James' Bells Re-dedicated 09/03/2014"

MORE PHOTOS - see Gallery 10 and NW Evening Mail Gallery 11

The day is rounded off with a successful quarter peal of 1260 changes of Grandsire Triples in 48 minutes

1. Alan M Dewar
2. Geoff Pullin
3. Hugh F Pettifer
4. Carole Pullin
5. Dennis Ellisdon (c)
6. J Andrew Pollock
7. Joseph Beaumont
8. Owen B Osmotherley

Published on Campanophile

Stately Gates install the new handrail in the stairwell as far as the ringing room.

Great attendance at practice night after the storms of the week before!

Day dawns for final preparations to test ring of all the bells at 3pm. Scaffold is removed at last, stays and clappers fixed, ropes get attached to wheels from 2pm... it's running to the wire!

3pm arrives and bells are rung up, but 2nd stay is just a bit too long and needs shortening to miss the staircase wall. 7th catches on edge and needs slight adjustment. Around 3.30pm we manage to have a volunteer band of ringers with Dennis Ellisdon who has made a day trip by train arriving 2.30 and leaving after 6pm.

Quite a few gather outside, and in the ringing room to enjoy the sound of the restored bells. The sound inside is perhaps a little low, and the rope noise is a little too loud. Some minor adjustments need to be made over the coming weeks to make the sound inside the ringing room sound as glorious as it does outside.

Media are out in force, Neil Smith does live broadcast for BBC Radio Cumbria with Geoff Pullin underneath the treble at the start of the day in anticipation of first ring, and follows up with recorded interviews with Andy Pollock is broadcast later that afternoon, and early the following morning.
NW Evening mail has Jon Granger taking photos, and Annabel Howard reporting. The only non-show was BBC NW Tonight, but we may get them for the re-dedication service.

The volunteers retire to the Furness Railway for a social gathering after the days events, a bite to eat (Scottish/Burns theme), and a well deserved beverage!

Nearly all fixtures complete including sliders, and treble stay. Finished with final hole drilled through floors, and ceiling bosses all fixed to underside of ringing room ceiling. Scaffold can now be removed.

Attention moves to fixtures (e.g. pulley blocks, running boards, wheels etc) and rope holes.

Last two bells (Tenor then 5th) reach belfry and are fitted into position. Meanwhile the electrician continues to set up wiring, including moving a socket out of the way of gallows end of the 2nd.

Massive Progress! 4 more bells (1, 2, 3, and 4) are hoisted plus frame sides and lower half of wheel, and fitted in place. Despite interruptions from photographers (Jon Granger of NW Evening Mail, and Andy Pollock!)

First bell up is the 6th, followed by 7th (6th is pictured)

Last day for bells at ground level! Phil Dunnet has arrived ready to begin work raising the bells and fitting frame from tomorrow

New door is fitted to the belfry, and is likened to a 'hobbit hole'!

Steeplejack attaches lightning conductor to grillage

Shuttering and sleeves have already been removed and concrete trimmed back at the top to the brickwork. Drainpipe has been reconnected in the corner and just fits between wall and grillage.

Leck Construction set about concreting the main beam and grillage frame ends into the walls. Grillage nclosest to South and North walls has to be temporarily slid aside to give access to concrete main beam ends. Afterwards they are repositioned and bolted down and concreted in too.

Steeplejack arrives from Blackburn to fix ladders ready for opportunity following week to attach lightening conducters to the frame/grillage.

Shuttering is completed ready for concrete

Phil Dunnett gives the headstocks another coat of red-paint, and Leck Construction support grillage frame ends on engineering brick, sleeve the holes for the lightening conductors, and make plywood shuttering ready to pour concrete the following week.

Leck Construction enlarge main beam pockets in the walls, and volunteers hoist up all the grillage, and assemble, fit beam ends into wall pockets, square off and level the foundation beam and grillage assembly - by the end of the day

Bells and bell-frame arrive!

Geoff Pullin features on BBC Radio Cumbria interview with Neil Smith

Volunteers Alan Dewar, Hugh Pettifer, Keith and Cliff Newby, Geoff Pullin all help bell-hanger Phil Dunnett to unload the truck, and the bells are all lined up in the south aisle by mid-morning, and two main foundation beams have been hoisted into the new belfry by close of play.

Andy Pollock, Alan Dewar, Jo Sweeney, Alan Jones, and Owen Osmotherley painted a second coat of paint on all walls of the new belfry. This time it was Earthborn Emulsion which the manufacturer assured would bond to the Claypaint and be just as breathable (though the colour would be a brighter white)

In the afternoon Andy and the two Alans managed to complete second coat on lower half of the ringing room (and repainted part of the upper west wall)

The volunteers made the decorating of the inside of the tower possible, and we are very grateful for their sacrifice of time and effort during the Christmas period.

Now it just remains to paint the woodwork (wood panelling and door, benches, cupboards, boxes and writing slope) with undercoat and gloss paint. This can wait until period when concrete at frame ends is curing, or during February (after bells rehung)