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Ring Out Wild Bells
Reflections on Middleham Bells by Nigelle Munro 1999
Important events in the lives of people and nations have always been marked by the sound of bells, joyous peals for celebration and tolling for mourning. During the last war the ringing of church bells was to have been warning of a German invasion - happily, this was never necessary. In Middleham and East Witton we have fine peals of bells and dedicated ringers. We shall be able to celebrate the millennium in fine style.
I have been lent a treasure. The family of the late Harry Parrish, a notable bellringer for fifty-eight years and captain of the Guild of Middleham Bellringers since the end of the First World War, have entrusted me, a mere incomer, only resident for a paltry ten years ,with Harry's notebook. This treasure is full of yellowed press cuttings, cards to commemorate 5040 changes of grandsire triples, old photographs and lists compiled by Harry. It ends with the press reports of his death on February 23rd. 1968.
From this collection, I have learned that the earliest mention of Middleham bells is 1640, when one of the two bells was recast. A note in the Parish Register of 1684 states that: “The great bell was cast the 28th day of August and was hung the 11th of September”. So in the 18th. century services were announced by three bells. In 1824, John Breare, Esq. gave a ring of six bells and a local humourist produced this rather less than elegant verse:
Oh, Middleham is a pleasant place and seated by a moor
Where they train horses for to race that never raced before.
But in the winter time, it's often cold and dreary
So now they've got six bells to chime, put up by Mr Breary.
Our present peal of eight bells are the gift of the Rev. H.G. Topham and other members of his family. Like the bells of York Minster they were supplied by Messrs. Taylor and in June of 1911 the Bishop of Knaresborough came to dedicate them. The ringers, who at that time were famous and very active and claimed record performances of such mysteries as Kent Treble Bob Major, 5056 changes, which would have rocked the tower, were in fact putting themselves in danger. When Mr Breare's bells were installed nearly a hundred years earlier, they were hung on two huge base beams, which had supported the three old bells. The beams were decayed at the ends, so they were "spliced and bolted”. By 1911, when Taylors came to install the new bells, “the old bell frame on removal was found to be very decayed and the joints on the weather side of the tower quite perished”. It was indeed fortunate for Harry and the rest of the Guild that this state of affairs was discovered in time.
Harry joined the ringers when he was 16. One of his lists names 42 churches which he visited. He rang 12 times at West Hartlepool, and in all, he made 324 visits to churches, mostly in Yorkshire, which gives some idea how well-known was the Middleham Guild in the area. Also they were renowned for their skill with handbells and had the honour of performing before Neville Chamberlain when he was staying at Swinton Castle. After his death in 1940, a letter conveys the ex-premier's wife's thanks for their sympathy.
Middleham is a source of endless fascination. From a shabby exercise book names and faces, some of the faces well known but rather younger, and facts and stories of a Middleham that was quieter, smaller but still the same in essence. I wish I had met Harry, but his smiling face behind those big glasses, and the notes and cuttings he treasured, bring back something of the character of a man who loved and worked for our town and earned the respect of visitors and locals alike.
Nigelle Munro