Handbells

Higher Walton Handbell Ringers

The Higher Walton Handbell Ringers meet in the Higher Walton Church, just outside Preston, Lancashire, England on Thursday evenings at 7:30pm.

It seems that before the 1914-18 war there was a large thriving handbell group with in the church, with a collection of 100+ Whitechapel bells. In 1914 the bells were put away, and discovered 50 years later within the depths of the church. Shortly before being sold for scrap, the bells were rescued and gradually restored to playable condition by some of the tower bell ringers. Enthusiasm grew, and the new team travelled hundreds of miles giving concerts and attending rallies.

Things change with time. Now there are just eight of us, but the bells are still in regular use at practices, and for the occasional concert.

New ringers, with or without experience or talent, are always welcomed.

Location of Higher Walton


Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Multi Media Mapping.

The church is by the A675, in the centre of Higher Walton. It is clearly visible from the road.

More history

Walter Mansley wrote an article about the Higher Walton Handbell Ringers.

Handbell Music

Via links below you can find some discussion of software for Handbell Music. I have taken to using MusixTex.

Handbell links


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John Smith <john.smith@arrows.demon.co.uk>
Last modified: Tue May 14 20:42:23 2002