Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers

Bathurst Dedication, Saturday, 31 October 2009

by Julie Doyle, ANZAB President

Around forty ringers joined the Bathurst community in celebrating the dedication of the new 11 cwt Eight at All Saints Cathedral on 31 October. The bells, with new additions, were rehung in a purpose built brick and glass tower which now provides a prominent entrance to the Cathedral.

A dinner on Friday night was attended by the Governor of New South Wales Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO and she spoke very movingly at the dinner and again at the dedication on Saturday morning. She grew up in Narrandera and has a great affinity with regional Australia and also the communities which make up regional New South Wales.

John Maloney (Lismore) with The Governor of New South Wales, Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir and The Dean of Bathurst, The Very Reverend Andrew Sempell, - Bathurst, 31 October 2009
Image from John Maloney

The dinner was attended by local community leaders, benefactors as well as bellringers mainly from Sydney. An auction of bell shaped cakes was held which helped to raise for further funds for the bell project.

It rained heavily on Friday night but Saturday morning was sunny and very warm and several hundred people gathered opposite the Cathedral for the formal part of the day which started with the welcome to Country by Wiradjuri elder, Dindima.

The bells were named by Bishop Richard Hurford of Bathurst and then each one was rung individually by a member of the local band. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Bathurst and the Presbytery Minister for the Uniting Church also took part. To the disappointment of the ringers the Ringers' Hymn was sung by the choir and they missed the opportunity to sing it with their usual gusto.

Bill Perrins spoke on behalf of NEANZAB and presented bellringing books to the tower and Julie Doyle welcomed the tower to ANZAB.

Immediately afterwards a quarter peal of Grandsire Triples was rung and it became apparent early on that sound management was going to be interesting. Some rang with earplugs will others did their best to lipread the callings. Ringing then continued throughout the afternoon and concluded with a second quarter peal of Grandsire Triples.

Around 20 ringers then adjourned to the RSL Club for dinner and some serious reminiscing. During the day ringers attended from NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, WA, ACT and Lismore (close to Queensland) - a very broad representation of ANZAB members.

Sunday morning the bells were rung for the Patronal Festival and then rung again afterwards. Adjustment of the louvres made a major improvement in the level of sound and individual bells were able to be heard much better in the ringing room.

Bathurst and the surrounding countryside looked superb in the late spring weather and the beautiful gardens and historic buildings in the city centre formed a great backdrop to the big event.

The involvement of the bellringers in the project was mentioned with immense gratitude over the weekend by everyone but the work of Ron Shepherd, the Lithgow and Bathurst ringers (especially Chris Bacon), Enid Roberts, Elaine Phillips, Ross Langford-Brown, Kathi Downs and many many others especially needs to be recorded.

Bathurst - first sounding of the bells, 26 June 2009 - a preamble

History will be made on Friday, 26th June at 3pm when the newly refurbished Cathedral Bells will ring out over the City of Bathurst for the first time. The occasion will form part of the civic reception to the new Roman Catholic Bishop of Bathurst, Fr Michael McKenna.

A team of bellringers from Sydney will come to Bathurst for the occasion and will have the privilege of being the inaugural team to experience the new tower and its historic bells.

The six historic bells were paid for by public subscription in the 1850’s. Local businessman, Mr Thomas Sloman bought the bells from Warner and Sons foundry of London in 1851 and they arrived in Bathurst in 1855. By the mid-1890s, concern was developing that the ringing of the bells was making the tower unstable, so full circle ringing was replaced by simple chiming, (ie. striking of still bells) until about 1968. No person living has ever heard them ringing in the full-circle of the English tradition, which give a quite different, and more resonant, sound.

When the old All Saints’ Cathedral tower and nave were demolished in 1970, the six bells were went into storage and in 1988 were returned to England for refurbishment. In 2005 another three bells were purchased from Taylor’s Bell Foundry in the UK and they, along with the six Warner bells, are now installed in the new tower ready for ringing.

The official opening and dedication of the tower will occur this year on Saturday, 31st October at 11am.

Bells have an important place in the life of any community. They call people to gather and they proclaim significant events that are taking place. They have also been used to warn people of danger and to tell when a tragedy that has taken place. Finally, they are a reminder of the community in which we live and they add to the soundscape of a town or village.

The Dean of Bathurst, The Very Reverend Andrew Sempell (from whom this message was received), invites members of the Bathurst and wider community to witness this historic event.

September 2008

From the Dean of Bathurst, The Very Reverend Andrew Semple, 24 September 2008:

Please note that we have had to change our plans for the dedication of the Cathedral belltower. With hold ups in the supplies of materials and a more complex process of construction than first envisioned it has been necessary to change the completion date of the tower to late April 2009. In the light of this we have changed the programme of events in celebration of the bells to as follows:

• 1st November 2008 11am - Sealing of the time capsule
• 21st February 2009 11am - Naming and Blessing of the Bells - Held in the Cathedral before the installation of the bells in the tower
• Easter 2009 - First sounding of the bells
• 31st October 2009 11am - Official Opening and Dedication of the Tower

Invitations will be extended to the wider community to attend both the Naming and Blessing of the Bells and the Official Opening and Dedication of the Tower. Once we are clear as to when the bells will first be rung we will also notify the bell-ringing community and invite ringers to a day of 'ringing the changes' to celebrate the event.

May 2008

Ross Langford-Brown reports:

As at Thursday, 10th May 2008, concrete footings, piers and a tower base had been poured. I believe that concrete takes a while to cure and as the piers go down about 13 metres, a little time is needed before more work can take place.

It is still planned to have the tower ready by the 1st November.

The latest image from Bathurst, May 2008
courtesy Ross Langford-Brown.

January 2008

I was able to attend the January 2008 "Cathedral Bells of Bathurst Committee" meeting in Bathurst and I can report that work has started on the constructiion of the bell tower.

I was very impressed with the enthusiasm and dedication of the Committee and there has obviously been a lot of hard work put into the planning for the tower construction.

In fact, please put into your diaries that the dedication of the bells will take place on All Saints Day, Saturday 1st November, 2008, probably at 11:00am. It is planned that ringing will occur before then.

It is anticipated that the project will come in under budget and at a cost of less than A$1 million.

The committee has decided that as an extra fund-raising initiative there will be the opportunity to either (1) buy a brick(s) at $25 each and/or buy an engraved paver at $150 each. The paver will be slightly larger than A4 size and there will be up to 30 characters (including spaces etc) available.

It is possible that individual towers may wish to donate a paver to assist in the fund-raising; such pavers could be grouped together.

If any individual wishes to donate a paver in memory of a loved one, this is also possible and these pavers also could be grouped together.

Ross Langford-Brown