Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers

Update July 2025

Fr Mick Court, Parish Priest

In early July, I spent a week in Darwin assisted by Jim Doyle and Alan Glover, working on sound control at Palmerston. Deadening material was installed behind each set of the 10 sets of louvres. We added tubes between the belfry and the ringing room so the insulation material can't enter the ringing room. We installed a hard plastic type material between the clappers and the bell strike point to reduce the volume produced by the bells. After all this, the bells sound fine but no where as loud as before. You can just hear them across the road at the front of the church. Fr Mick walked all around the church and up the road while we ran two the bells and confirmed that the sound level is just fine.

Fr Mick is very keen on the bells and wants them rung, but vistors will need to take their own band and negotiate an appropriate time with Fr Mick.

Ron Shepherd
19 July 2025

ANZAB has contacted Fr Mick to open discussions regarding recruitment and training of new ringers. Deryn Griffiths, ANZAB President, 19 July 2025

Inaugural ring December 2023

Those present for the inaugural ring on 7 December 2023.
From left: Kathy Campbell (Darwin), Eugene Scaturchino (non-ringer), Jim Doyle (Randwick), Ron Shepherd (Menagle), Lorenzo Lodge (Darwin), Jo Cruikshank (Darwin), Umberto Villa (Darwin) and Steve Allen (Darwin)

After three years work, the bells at Palmerston are now ringable. This is the culmination of years of anticipation as these are the first bells in the tower, purpose built for bells in 1990.

The local priest request, Father Tom English, asked us to ring for a Christmas Carol Service on 7 December. The Darwin ringers joined me and Jim Doyle to make up a band.

The bells sound very good and go well. Special thanks should go to Eugene Scaturchio and Jim Doyle for their practical support throughout the project and for putting up with me!

The bells in the tower prior to the floor and ceiling being put in.

Ron Shepherd

Palmerston Bells Arrive in Darwin, July 2023

The photo above is of the treble bell for the new ring at Palmerston, and the inscription reads "Welcome to country land of the Larrakia people". While it never went to sea it started its life as a Trinity House bell. The tenor is a Trinity House bell that served time at sea. The treble bell also has a Charles III insignia cast into it, as it was cast within 12 months of the King's coronation.

Kathy Campbell, Claudio Rimondi and Jo Cruikshank, ringers from St Mary's Cathedral, Darwin, with five of the six Palmerston bells

Ron Shepherd