A bright and sunny afternoon welcomed the 21 ringers to Bobbing for the Rochester District Carol Service on Saturday 15th December. 9 of the 40 towers in the District were represented.
Ringing was organised by Ringing Master Diana Wraight and ranged from rounds and call changes to Norwich Surprise Minor. Grandsire Doubles, Stedman Doubles and Cambridge Surprise Minor were also rung, with Cambridge being the Service Touch before the Carol Service itself. While ringing was happening in the tower, the ringers from Bobbing were busy keeping everyone warm with hot drinks and preparing the tea for later!
The Carol Service commenced at 4.30pm and was led by Curate Sue Samson. There were 7 lessons and 9 carols, and a wonderful talk by Sue about people not knowing the whole story which included her own experience of not understanding anything about bellringing until she took the time & made the effort to go and see the bells themselves with Chris Trafford.
After the service a wonderful tea provided by the Bobbing ringers was enjoyed by all, with more hot drinks to keep the temperatures up! The Chairman Margaret Funnel conveyed her thanks to everyone for attending and to the Bobbing ringers & church for their welcome and hospitality. No further ringing was done after tea as time was getting on, so the bells were rung down and most people had departed by 6.30pm.
Below is a short video with clips of some of the ringing that took place before the service.
Doug Davis, Rochester District Secretary.
Note: if the video isn’t showing above, you may need an updated version of Adobe Flash Player which you can get here.