image of St Peter's Cathedral, Armidale

The Bells

Cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry on 30 January 1996 (treble, 3rd, 5th and 7th) and 14 March 1996 (2nd, 4th, 6th and tenor).

Bell Note Diameter at Mouth Weight Inscription on Band Inscription on Waist
Treble Bb 560 mm
22 in
137 kg
2cwt 2qr 22lb
EX SAPIENTIA MODUS UNE
The University of
NEW ENGLAND
2nd A 572 mm
22.5 in
139 kg
2-2-26
  IN MEMORY OF FREDERICK SPERRY COVENTRY
26.8.1908 - 21.6.95
3rd G 600 mm
23.6 in
154 kg
3-0-3
SERVICE ABOVE SELF HONOURING PAUL HARRIS ROTARY CLUBS OF ARMIDALE
4th F 630 mm
24.8 in
166 kg
3-1-2
REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAY ROBERT AND LYN BACKHOUSE 1996
5th Eb 676 mm
26.6 in
206 kg
4-0-6
MAY YOU RING OUT THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE IN THE AEONS TO COME IN THE MEMORY OF MEGAN McMILLAN
1922 - 1994
6th D 705 mm
27.8 in
229 kg
4-2-1
O SING TO THE LORD A NEW SONG JOHN AND MERLE GOLDSMITH JUBILEE
1945 - 1995
7th C 768 mm
30.2 in
276 kg
5-1-21
STRIKE HARD 33RD INF. BN. A.I.F W.W.I
2/33RD INF. BN. A.I.F W.W.II
Tenor Bb 846 mm
33.3 in
359 kg
7-0-7
  THE CITY OF ARMIDALE

Armidale 27th Anniversary Weekend

The weekend of 3rd to 5th November 2023 was set aside for the 27th anniversary weekend ringing at Armidale; a week later than usual to allow all our learners to benefit from the presence of visiting and returning ringers. The primary aim of the weekend was to develop the capability of the Armidale band, plus giving some of our visitors their first chance to ring for some months or years. We were pleased to welcome eight visitors from Sydney (4), Newcastle, Coffs Harbour and the Gold Coast (2). Here they are!

Ringers at the Armidale 27th anniversary
Cartoon credit: Kathy Creamer.   Photo credit: Hayden Gray

Ringing on Friday evening was on both silenced and open bells, to enable handling practice for our learners and 'cobweb brushing' for others. Due to a baptism service being held in the Cathedral, Saturday morning's ringing was on silenced bells until lunch time. Use of the simulator allowed this session to be for both handling and more advanced ringing. After lunch, open ringing ran until 4pm, by which time everyone was exhausted. Evening refreshments and dinner followed at The White Bull Hotel. Service ringing on Sunday was followed by morning tea and coffee, before a successful quarter peal of Grandsire Doubles rounded out the weekend.

Our thanks go to Enid Roberts, Kathi Downs and Geoff Milne for running the ringing sessions, and to all the visitors for helping our learners further up 'the learning curve', and for re-energising Armidale ringing yet again!

One of our new ringers, Kathy Creamer, is a published illustrator of her own and others' books. Kathy agreed to render one of our group photos from the weekend into a cartoon. Click the image above to see the photo on which the cartoon is based (it's not nearly as good).

Kathy is also responsible for creating a recruitment poster, which we've used around Armidale and online - see below. It has achieved results, as we've acquired four new learners who saw it.

Armidale recruitment poster
Designed by Kathy Creamer

Simon McMillan

Armidale Anniversary Weekend, 2022

The weekend of 28-30 October 2022 saw the welcome resumption of anniversary weekend ringing at Armidale after a break of 3 years due to the vicissitudes of COVID.  We were pleased to welcome six visitors from Turramurra, two others from greater Sydney, one from Melbourne and another from the Gold Coast - 10 in all!

The ringing program followed the traditional schedule of general ringing on Friday evening, followed by sessions on Saturday morning and afternoon. The Saturday afternoon session was meant to accommodate a wedding at 2:00 pm and provide pre-arranged 'after' ringing. The wedding would offer a convenient break between ringing sessions.  Things didn’t go quite to plan, as the wedding actually began at 3:30 pm and this led to a very long general ringing session after lunch. All was not lost however, as the wedding band rang some mesmerisingly good Grandsire Triples and Call Changes immediately before the service and followed up with more of the same afterwards. This concluded the afternoon’s ringing and heralded evening refreshments and a repast at The White Bull Hotel.

A slightly extended service ringing session on Sunday was followed by morning tea and coffee, and a visit to the monthly Armidale street markets, before two quarter peal attempts were successful - Grandsire Triples and Plain Bob Doubles.

Grandsire Triples band, Armidale, 30 October 2022

The Grandsire Triples band in ringing order, l-r

Thanks to Deryn Griffiths, Enid Roberts and Jeff Price for running the ringing sessions, and to all the visitors for helping our learners further up the 'learning curve', and for re-energising Armidale ringing after a long hiatus.

To cap the weekend off, an SMS arrived on Monday morning from Saturday’s bride - Thank you for the amazing ringing on Saturday. It was so good we were happy with it all. As one of our ringers was heard to remark - What she said!

Simon McMillan

Armidale Commemorates ANZAC Day 2020

Normally, the Armidale community's annual commemoration of ANZAC Day begins with a dawn service, followed by a larger gathering at 11:00am. Both services are held at the cenotaph in Central Park, adjacent to St Peter's Cathedral, and the ringers are involved from the outset in setting the Cathedral's flag to half-mast at dawn and then raising it to full mast when reveille is sounded during the 11:00am service. As well, the 7th bell, dedicated to the memory of the 33rd and 2nd/33rd Infantry Battalions AIF, is tolled 11 times during the minute's silence. Following the service a commemorative quarter peal is rung, if there are enough ringers available.

What to do in a time of COVID-19?

Despite the restrictions the ringers were keen to participate. Flag duty was easy. This could be done by two people, very much isolated from the community atop the 85 foot tower. Dawn and dusk, no problem; with flag raising in the middle of the day timed for 12:00 noon in line with Commonwealth guidelines. It was decided to toll the Battalion bell 105 times just prior to noon as this would fit nicely with the flag raising.

Meanwhile, it turned out that the usual commemorative services had not been abandoned altogether, and small "by invitation only" socially-distanced ceremonies took place at dawn and 11:00am. During the minute's silence at the later service, the Dean of the Cathedral, Chris Brennan, chimed the service bell "Maud" 11 times, so the ringers' involvement was complete. Chris is, after all, patron of the bellringers' society!

ANZAC Day 2020 was a glorious Armidale autumn day as this late afternoon image of the tower shows.

St Peter's Cathedral, Armidale - ANZAC Day 2020

From the top of the tower, the intricate nature of the eastern end of the Cathedral roof is evident, as is the deserted carpark and largely empty Central Park.

St Pater's Cathedral, Armidale - the roof, ANZAC Day 2020

My co-self-isolator, Jane McMillan, was my safety backup, flag-raising assistant and auxiliary counter.

Simon McMillan

Armidale 23rd Anniversary Weekend, 2019

Armidale's anniversary weekend is usually held at the end of October. This year it was delayed due to competing commitments. When it finally happened, on the weekend of 15-17 November, we were pleased to welcome 5 visitors from Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane, who can be identified in the image below, and who worked their way valiantly around various road closures caused by the devastating bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland.

Armidale Anniversary Weekend 2019

Participants in the Armidale Anniversary Weekend 2019

The weekend was a great success, with 6 hours of general and training ringing on the Friday and Saturday, and service ringing and a quarter peal on the Sunday. The presence of the visitors meant that we could ring on 8 bells, which has been a rare experience for us in recent times. Dry times indeed!

The weekend's ringing ranged from Grandsire Doubles, through Plain and Surprise Minor, to Grandsire and Stedman Triples. 'Come and try' methods included Double Oxford Bob Triples and Superlative Surprise Major. There was some outstanding call change ringing on 6 and 8 bells, and even a touch of Original Minor. Two of our newer ringers, Hayden Gray and Kristal Spreadborough, scored firsts in Sunday's quarter peal of Grandsire Triples.

Simon McMillan

Armidale 19th Anniversary Weekend, 2015

The 19th Armidale Anniversary Weekend was a great success, with 6 hours of general and training ringing on the Friday and Saturday, and service ringing and a quarter peal on the Sunday. As ever, we could not have done it without the assistance of our visitors from Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane, who can be identified in the image below. We also welcomed Dru Haywood from nearby Bellingen (well, 2 hours away by road) and hope to see her again soon.

Armidale Anniversary Weekend 2015

Happy participants at the Armidale Anniversary Weekend 2015

This year the particular focus was on Surprise Major ringing, and I am pleased to report that the successful quarter peal was a first of Surprise Major for one of our band, the weekend's organiser, Carol Quinn.

Armidale Anniversary Weekend 2015, QP band

Armidale Anniversary Weekend 2015, quarter peal band

We gratefully acknowledge the training grant from ANZAB which assisted in the running of the weekend.

Simon McMillan

Armidale Training Weekend, 24-27 April 2014

Armidale took advantage of the offer of a training weekend from Deryn Griffiths, NEANZAB's Education and Training Officer for our region. Deryn was ably assisted by Elaine Lee and Pam Brock. We just managed to stand still for long enough to have a group photo after Sunday service ringing.

Armidale Training weekend, April 2014

Simon McMillan, Carol Quinn, Geoff Milne, Kim Quinn, John Hadfield, Elaine Lee, Pam Brock, Deryn Griffiths, Nicholas Hadfield, Lois Beaton, Trina Beldan

The weekend concentrated on consolidating our 8 bell ringing, and one of a number of highlights was a quarter peal of Grandsire Triples conducted by local ringer Geoff Milne.

Simon McMillan

This page supplements the ANZAB Tower Directory, and records further information about the tower, its bells and ringers.

Some of this has been provided by local ringers, but most is historical and has been gathered by the ANZAB Webmaster since 2002.

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