Plain Bob Minor at Redgrave, Suffolk

A plain course of Plain Bob Minor, following a successful quarter peal on this sweet little six.

Redgrave, sited right on the Suffolk-Norfolk border, is a small village of around 450 residents. The church is a magnificent building, dating from the 14th century, but probably built on the site of a previous Saxon edifice. However, it is sited nowhere near the village itself; a Saxon hall and a hunting lodge both existed nearby, and it is believed the church then was built primarily with one (or both) of these rich occupants in mind, rather than the ordinary parishioners (so what's new?). Unsurprisingly, the church's rural location, set outside the village, meant that the demand just was not there, and it was made redundant on 1st April 2005. It is now vested in the Churches Conservation Trust, who have carried out significant work to make the building weatherproof and restore the interior (with the welcome addition of toilet facilities and a mini kitchen, sited in the base of the tower).

The rather tall, generous-looking tower is rather smaller inside than it appears, and contains a light ring of six bells. The back five were cast in 1736 by Thomas Newman of Norwich. A treble was added in 1785 by Thomas Osborn of Downham Market, at which point the bells were hung in a new oak frame. Between November 2017 and January 2019, the bells underwent a massive restoration at the hands of Nicholsons. The frame was removed, shipped to their Bridport works, and strengthened; meanwhile, the bells were tuned and provided with new ringing fittings. The project was paid for by longtime local ringer Albert Driver, who left £142,000 in his will to refurbish the installation. As part of his legacy, the tower now houses a ringing centre, including CCTV footage of the bells in action (most distracting to see whilst ringing!) - this can be seen at 2:50, and the tenor is the bell at the top of the screen (furthest away from the camera).

Tenor 7-2-25 in A

https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/tower/11475


(As a footnote: this video was made in part because there exists very little footage of a plain course of Bob Minor on YouTube, although numerous touches are present! Hopefully, this video will help bridge that gap somewhat).