March 2006
The big news this month is that we have arranged for the formal launch of the appeal. We'll be staging a presentation, display and demonstration in the Ark on April 29th and we hope to have local MP Julie Kirkbride with us to open the afternoon. The end of April seems a very long time away but it's not until you try to organise an event like this that you realise just how much work there is to be done.
The purpose of our party is of course to raise money for our campaign and we'll be having a bit of a rehearsal in March. Our friends, colleagues and rivals of St Leonard are holding a Quiz Night at Beoley in aid of the Ringing Association. They hope to attract a hundred or so ringers from across the county and we can't let such a gathering escape without rattling our tin under a few noses.
Other threads of our campaign are rolling along nicely. Our display has been in the Parish Office window for some weeks now and we will be updating it with a funding thermometer to show our progress as soon as we have one built. We say "thermometer" but we can't quite decide on the design. Perhaps we could have a picture of a pile of coins in the shape of a bell or a bell rope lifting a cartoon ringer off the floor.
We also have some photographs in the display case in the library. These photographs usually hang in the tower where nobody can see them except us ringers. They range from 1928 to 2005 so go and see if you can recognise anyone.
Our web site has moved on as well. It has been living on borrowed ground for the past few months but we have now been given a proper home for it at www.alvechurchbells.org.uk. The pages have have also been given a professional makeover by Blue Box Software and the site looks very much more impressive now. All our photographs have been published on the site and if you have any old photographs of the bells, the tower or the ringers we would be delighted if we could borrow them to add to our gallery.
The regular work of the tower has gone on as usual during the month. Some weeks have been rather quiet because of illness but we did have a visit from two very well-behaved young ladies who wanted to know where the noise came from. These two were a little young to start ringing themselves but now that Spring is nearly here we are looking for new ringers again. Come up and see us on a Tuesday night or a Sunday if you would like to see how it's done. The rules are the same as last year, anybody tall enough to reach the bell rope and fit enough to climb the stairs can ring a bell.
Finally, we must thank the family of the late Nora Hartwell for their generosity in asking for donations to the Bell Fund in her memory. Gestures like this make us realise just how much support there is in the village for our efforts.