On Saturday 12 November a band seven CDG resident ringers, plus one from North Wales, rang a very special peal at the church of St Laurence, Frodsham. Almost one hundred years to the date it was a repeat of the first peal on the newly augmented eight. The same method with the same composition was chosen, but thereafter comparisons are harder to find. The 2011 peal band, as the 1911 one, might have been all male, but it had two teenage ringers, which would have been most unusual one hundred years ago. I am also certain that there were some ringers in the centenary peal older than any of those in the earlier one. Interestingly, both bands had a clergyman in their ranks.

In 1734 Abraham Rudhall cast six bells for Frodsham. The fact that the church was within two miles of water must have influenced the choice of the Gloucester foundry. The last part of the journey, however, would not have been easy. In the 1880s the tower, along with the rest of the church, was restored; and at this time the bells were quarter-turned and hung in a new timber frame, made for eight bells. In 1910 a Mr Holbrook Gaskell wished to make a thank-offering to the church and he offered to have two more bells cast, the old six tuned and put in good order, and to bear the cost of making the clock-room into the belfry. The latter involved altering the position of the clock and adding a new plaster ceiling. In July 1911 the old six went to Loughborough and they returned in September along with two new trebles. The Coronation of George V had taken place on 22 June, and that would explain why the Taylor foundry chose the inscription ‘Love God, Honour the King’ on the second, and put the medallion of the King and Queen in their coronation robes on the waist of the bell. The account of the dedication of the new bells in the Ringing World of 20 October 1911 adds: ‘The old six are immensely improved by tuning on the Simpson principle, and the trebles are, of course, in perfect tune, and form an excellent splice. The “go” of the bells leaves nothing to be desired.’

The Service of Dedication took place on Monday 9 October 1911 at 7 p.m. The Ven. Archdeacon of Chester (Edward Barber), Master of the Chester Diocesan Guild, gave the address. At the close of the service the clergy went to the base of the tower, the bells were raised individually and rung in rounds by the local band.

It is clear that the first peal should have been rung on the afternoon of the same day. The ringing arrangements were in the hands of the Rev. A T Beeston, who was at that time the Guild Secretary. He had issued an order: ‘Superlative at 2.30 sharp.’ However, since some of the band got lost on the way to Frodsham and did not arrive until 4 o’clock, it was decided to ring a quarter peal instead. The Ringing World account tells us that ‘the rest were suffering too much from nerves to ring a peal of Superlative, with so much noise in the belfry – as the ceiling is not yet finished.’ The quarter peal was of Stedman Triples and the ringers were: A Barnes (Reddish), Rev. A T Beeston (New Mills), D Brearley (Bolsterstone), G R Newton (Liverpool), H W Wilde (Eccleston), E H Lewis (Frodsham, conductor), J Morgan (Pulford), H Chapman (Pendleton).

After tea the local band rang Bob Minor for the service. Then, after the service and before some ringers had to go to the station, there was just time for Harry Chapman to call two courses of Kent. Later there were touches of Grandsire, and a course of Little Bob in which Mr Denison Taylor took part.

The band for the first peal was similar to the one that rang the quarter of Stedman, but with two new ringers. There were now two Frodsham ringers, and one of them was a Bibby. This was William Bibby, the father of John Edward (Jack), Francis and Norah, and grandfather of Bill Bibby, the last of this famous ringing family still ringing at Frodsham. William Bibby had also rung the treble in the last peal on the old six, which was a 7200 in ten Plain Minor methods, on 1 May.

The details of the 1911 peal - published in the Ringing World of 24 November - are as below.

FRODSHAM, CHESHIRE.
THE CHESTER DIOCESAN GUILD.
On Saturday, November 11, 1911, in Three Hours and Eight Minutes,
AT THE CHURCH OF ST. LAWRENCE,
A PEAL OF SUPERLATIVE SURPRISE MAJOR, 5088 CHANGES

Tenor 12 cwt. 1 qr. 3 lbs., in F sharp.

1. WILLIAM BIBBY
2. EDWIN H. LEWIS
3. REV. A. T. BEESTON
4. ROBERT SPERRING
5. GEORGE R. NEWTON
6. HENRY W. WILDE
7. JAMES MORGAN
8. HARRY CHAPMAN


Composed by H. W. WILDE, and
Conducted by E. H. LEWIS.

Edwin H. Lewis was also a Frodsham ringer. He had learnt to ring in Nottinghamshire and in 1901 he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took a degree in Mechanical Sciences. After university he was appointed assistant manager of the Liverpool Silver and Copper Co., Ltd in Widnes. He moved to Frodsham in 1906 and he became Ringing Master in 1911, after the augmentation. (He had conducted the Minor peal in ten methods.) In 1914 he moved to Scotland, and in 1930 he became the fourth President of the Central Council. He was the author of Towers and Forces (1914), a treatise on the effects of swinging bells on towers.

The Rev. A.T. Beeston was the Vicar of New Mills, Derbyshire. He had been ordained at Durham Cathedral in 1890, and had come to New Mills in 1895. He became a ringer after six bells had been given to the church in 1898, and he was a member of a self-taught band. A very capable ringer, for several years he accompanied William Pye on his peal tours. In 1907 he was elected Secretary/Treasurer of the Guild, and served until 1923 in that position. He remained as Guild Treasurer until 1932. He was responsible for the development of Spliced Minor ringing at Norbury. We remember him today through the Beeston Library, which is housed at St George’s, Stockport. This was his collection of manuscripts and books which he donated to the Guild before his death in 1933.

Robert Sperring was a Chester ringer. For many years he was a member of the band at St Mary’s-Within-the-Walls. He was, by the standards of the day, a prolific peal ringer - becoming the first member of the Guild to ring 500 peals - and an accomplished conductor. He called the first peal of Holt’s Original in the Chester area in 1904, and the first Stedman Triples in Chester in 1906. Perhaps his greatest achievement was to call the record length peal of Kent (17, 280) at Over in 1923.

George R. Newton was from Liverpool, where he came to ring in 1904. He had actually learnt to ring at Oxton and rang his first peal at Woodchurch in 1898. He was a member of the band at St Nicholas, Liverpool, where, in 1928, he took part in the first peal of Cambridge Maximus in the North of England. His reputation as a very good conductor was justly earned and he called Cambridge from Minor to Maximus.

Henry (Harry) W. Wilde was also from Chester, but he rang at Eccleston. He came, at the instigation of Arthur Heywood, to work for the Duke of Westminster on the Eaton Railway in 1896. He too was a most accomplished ringer, and also a composer. The 5088 of Superlative is probably not one of his best, but very typical of the day. Although he had rung peals from Doubles to Maximus, at the end of his life he was enjoying Tuesday evening outings to ring extents of all the Surprise Minor methods in the Central Council Collection. There were only three left to ring at his death.

James Morgan accompanied Harry Wilde on the Surprise Minor outings, he having provided transport. He also worked on the Eaton Estate, and became the Clerk of Works. His tower was Pulford, and he was active there over many years. His ringing was not, however, confined to Pulford. He had, in fact, rung in the Guild’s first peal of Superlative at New Mills in 1907. His CDG peal total was 224. He was a composer – of sorts. None of his compositions could be described as particularly memorable; but one has already featured in another important centenary peal this year: Albion Treble Bob at Pulford in March 1911, and published in the first edition of the Ringing World.

Harry Chapman was a tenor ringer of some repute. This was an easy task for him, as he had turned in the old 52 cwt tenor at Manchester Town Hall in 1909. He had also taken part in some memorable long length performances: 12, 240 Kent Maximus at St Michael, Ashton-under-Lyne in 1911 and 14,112 London Major at King’s Norton in 1903. Superlative must have been very familiar to him as well, as he had, prior to the Frodsham peal, rung in a 9312 in 1894 (the then record length) at Crawley. He came to live in Manchester in 1888 and rang many peals in and around that city. A peal to inspire the historian to further inquiry is one at Witton, in which the band rang through a christening, a marriage and a burial. Later he was to ring in that 1928 Cambridge Maximus peal at Pierhead.

We should, at this point, perhaps mention a connection involving long lengths between Frodsham ringers and one of the 2011 band. The 1894 peal of Superlative, in which Harry Chapman rang, was superseded in 1927 by one of 11,232 changes rung at Bolton in 1927. This was conducted by Edward Jenkins, and Jack Bibby rang in it too. Jack Bibby also took part in a very memorable peal at Over in 1950: the then record length (21, 600) of Bristol. This took nearly 13 hours to ring. Brian Harris, of course, has rung in several long length peals, including the ultimate one on tower bells: the extent of Plain Bob Major (40, 320 changes) at the Loughborough Bell Foundry in 1963.

There is a long tradition of co-operation between Chester and Frodsham ringers. (The 2011 peal band had three Mid-Cheshire ringers, all of them Friday night regulars; three current Chester Branch ringers and one former one; and one from Wirral.) The Bibbys, along with the legendary Ted Jenkins, joined forces with the likes of Bob Sperring, Harry Wilde and the Swindleys in the 1920s. Great progress was made in Chester and Frodsham after William Bibby introduced Ted Jenkins to the local band. The latter supplied the conducting expertise and Harry Wilde provided compositions. It is fitting to record, too, that Ted Jenkins called the 1928 peal of Cambridge Maximus at Pierhead (off the treble); and as well as George Newton and Harry Chapman the band also contained William and Jack Bibby.

The 2011 peal details are these:

Chester Diocesan Guild
Frodsham, Cheshire
St. Laurence
Saturday, 12 November 2011 in 2h 55min (12-1-3)
5088 Superlative Surprise Major

Composed: H W Wilde
1 Patrick W J Deakin
2 Brian Harris (Cheshire)
3 J David Adams
4 Andrew J Rawlinson
5 David T G Jones
6 Geoffrey Parting
7 Duncan L C Hyde (C)
8 Peter Wilkinson
First of Major: 1
Marking the centenary of the first peal on the eight (11/11/1911)
with the same method and composition.
Rung half-muffled for Remembrance.


The composition

23456	B	W	M	H
45236			-	-
65432		2
36524	-			2
23564			-	3
Repeated twice.

One thing is certain: in no way will the 2011 photograph resemble any photograph taken of ringers in the second decade of the 20th century. We may laugh at those waistcoats, watch chains, ties and very formal clothes; but they did have a certain sartorial savoir-faire. As for this lot, well, what more can be said? Just one thing: three poppies are being worn, which would have baffled Mr Lewis and his band. The eleventh day of the eleventh month had no significance for them, but it would not be long before they would have all known of young men – some not much older than Andrew and Patrick – who would end their lives in the mud of France or Belgium.

From left to right: Andrew J Rawlinson, Peter Wilkinson, Duncan L C Hyde, J David Adams, Geoffrey Parting, Brian Harris, David T G Jones, Patrick W J Deakin.

Geoff is from Buckley, but since he learnt to ring at Dodleston and rang there for many years he must be counted as one of our own. He is a Frodsham regular, anyhow. Thus, this band was more a truly representative CDG one than the 1911 band. Most would have travelled by train in 1911, and David Jones did just that. Whether anybody cycled in 1911 is not recorded, but Patrick did – and all the way from Tarvin. The rest came by car, and not many ringers had cars in 1911.

And finally, an important point. The ringing of church bells is a public performance, and that is why bands should strive to ring as well as possible. After the 2011 peal most of the band repaired to the Ring O’Bells, opposite the church, as is traditional. They were delighted to receive the compliments of the staff and patrons, and this, apparently, was repeated on the following Friday. We can win and retain friends as long as we ring at reasonable hours, and - above all – as long as we make a proper effort to strike our bells.

David Adams

Guild Archivist