Blog Oct 24 Bells July Stop Press May 24
Next fundraising event Friday May 24 th at 7pm – Wine Tasting in the Village Hall
This will be led by Jonathan Williamson who is a Director of a wine merchants in Ipswich, ‘Wines of Interest’: https://www.winesofinterest.co.uk/
This should be an enjoyable evening with 6 good quality wines to taste, in a fun and semi-competitive way, between teams (who will have to guess the right description of each wine from a number of possible alternatives).
Tickets cost £15. Closing date is Sunday May 19 th.
Book your team (any number up to 6 people) by phone (07751 765675) or email ( drinkstone@suffolkbells.org.uk).
If you don’t have a full team then let us know and we will find others to join with you to make a team.
All welcome!
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Background to the project
The 6 bells that currently hang in the tower of All Saints church, Drinkstone, have been unringable since just prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, due to the unsafe condition of the bell frame and fittings. The bells themselves are generally of poor quality and badly out-of-tune with each other. These bells were installed in 1891 during the latter part of Queen Victoria’s reign, but there had been earlier bells in the church since around the 15th Century.
A fundraising project was started in late 2023 to raise the money, primarily by donations and grant applications, in order to have the bells recast into a modern, more tuneful ring of 6 lighter-weight bells in a new steel frame with all new fittings. This will enable a new band of local ringers to be taught the skills of English-style ringing and, hopefully, mean that the bells will once again be regularly rung for current and future generations.
The estimated budget for the restoration project is:
| Cost of new bells, frame and fittings | £100k* |
| Cost of sound control system | £8k |
| Tower structural survey | £1k |
| Architect fees | £4k |
| Other expenses | £3k |
| Contingency (10%) | £11k |
| TOTAL | £127k |
(* includes a saving of ~£15k by using local labour for the work, etc.)
Funds raised or promised to date (Feb 2024) £58k
Additional funds needed £69k
For any further information, please contact:
Nigel Gale – Project Chair: 07751 765675 or email drinkstone@suffolkbells.org.uk