A grant has been awarded from the BRF to Christleton, giving them £3000 towards major refurbishment works to improve these bells, including refurbishing clappers and wheels, cleaning and repainting the frame and replacing the rest of the roller boxes.
Wybunbury completed the work on their clappers, and the bells are now much easier to strike, and they have been paid their grant.
Grappenhall’s grant of £18k has also been paid, following completion of the works to the bells. There’s more work to be done up the tower but the bells are fully ringable and in excellent form, a credit to all who have worked on them. They are available to visiting bands, so get in touch if you want to try them.
A couple of unusual requests came through last quarter, which saw the BRO inspecting a single bell in the church of Holy Cross, Appleton Thorn, which the PCC wish to get chiming again. A Branch Rep is soon to inspect some tubular bells in Crewe, which have just been rediscovered by the church, an area in which the BRO has experience in a different county; we don’t think there are any other rings of tubular bells in the Guild…
The application form for the BRF has been updated to state that for applications over £10k (ex VAT) two quotes are preferred. Regardless of the number of quotes, the contractor choice must be justified. Some towers have been struggling to get second quotes, so the message from the BRO is to enquire with a few contractors early on, when considering work, as it then gives you time to chase up and get all the information you need from them. Details of contractors are available on the BRF Resources page along with the updated application form.
Finally, please keep Branch BRF Reps and the BRO up to date on what’s going on in your tower, and how projects are progressing. The team is available for advice and guidance at all stages, not just when it comes to awarding grants!