A different blog this week.
For a bit of a break from job searching, I’ve spent time editing a video (which can be viewed here). This followed a visit to my old home in Hampshire. In 1999, when Sarah and I were living together in Crondall, near Farnham, we restored the bells of our local church. After nearly 400 years life in the case of the oldest bells, it was time to re hang them in a new frame.
We thought that it would be good to have something more to aim for, so we also set a target to add two new bells, knowing it would be easier to raise funds for that. After £75,000 raised, and much planning and meetings, the village donated one bell to mark the millennium, and another family in the village gave a second bell. A tremendous band of volunteers set out on 6 months hard work. Looking back, it was an amazing achievement, and shows what can be done when you have a team with a variety of different skills working together.
In doing this, the band of ringers created a true legacy for the future. The earlier frame had been in service for over 300 years, I wonder how long the new frame and bells will call people to worship in the church? Amazingly, the band still today continue with one of the fund raising ideas, making preserves. That alone has raised more than £10,000 and they estimate they have made about 5 tons of chutney and marmalade. Importantly the bells continue to ring out every week as “the voice of the church in the community”.
Here is the link to the video – I hope you enjoy it.