THE BELLS of Bromsgrove’s St John’s Church will ‘Ring for The King’ from 9.30am on Saturday, May 6, in celebration of the coronation.
The band of 21 bell-ringers will also peal again at 8pm on Sunday, May 7, as the ‘RocKing the High Street’ Coronation Party comes to an end.
On Saturday morning there will be a selection of short rings including the ‘coronation sequence’ used at the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the other two devised for the occasion.
On Sunday evening the performance will be a quarter peal using six bells which will last for 50 minutes.
Tower captain Sarah Marshall said: “Given the situation with the tower, we will only ring the light bells for a quarter peal, not the three hour coronation peal which we would have liked to do.
“We couldn’t let the occasion pass without contributing, so we will ring six of the town’s 10 bells to celebrate the coronation and to conclude the town’s street party.”
The cracking at the top of the spire and the need to replace the top section of Worcestershire’s tallest spire has prompted the structural engineer to advise the bell-ringing should be limited until the restoration work is complete.
It is estimated that £350,000 will be needed to complete the work.
A fund-raising project is underway – to contribute towards the St John’s Spire Appeal, text the word SPIRE to 70450 to give £10.
The ringing at St John’s will be one of many rings taking place across the country.
Anyone interested in joining the team should contact the Tower Captain via the church by calling 01527 878801
Visit cccbr.org.uk/bellringing/ring-for-the-king/ for more on ‘Ring for The King’.
