The Lilliputters Guild Summer Tour 2025 – Day 4

0:00 Poole
6:06 Brownsea Island
11:55 Evening


Day 4 promised to be the highlight for many; it was the day we got our sea legs out, ready to sail the ocean blue. But more on that in a bit!

Unusually for a Lilliputters day, we were able to forgo the cars. We started the day with a leisurely amble around the harbour and into Poole, where we were booked to ring at St James’s before setting sail. Nestled in the Old Town, a church has stood on this site since 1142. The present edifice, with its Georgian design, dates from 1819-21, the wealth of the Newfoundland trade contributing to its rebuilding. The new church was supplied with eight bells, cast and hung by William Dobson of Downham Market in 1821. (The Dobson frame is a rare survivor of his). These were not the first bells to be installed at Poole however; local lore states that, during Edward VI’s short reign, the Duke of Somerset ordered eight bells to be sold in aid of Poole's fortification; however, they were lost at sea on their voyage to Holland! The eight Dobson bells were augmented to ten by Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel in 1937, to commemorate the coronation of King George VI. They were refurbished in 2008 by Taylors, and consequently handle very smoothly. They also sound very respectable, and are best heard behind the 4th, where a sound chute allows a lot more volume in. Perhaps buoyed by the fresh air, but we produced some of our best ringing from Tour here, with call-changes and Grandsire Caters filmed (and the very respectable Cambridge Royal not). Avid followers may also note that this is the first time on Tour where Connor’s special touch of Grandsire does not appear… however, fear not; a separate video has been prepared, capturing our performance of this in all its glory!
https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/tower/14824


Ringing completed, it was down to the quay to catch a ferry to Brownsea Island, retracing our steps from our inaugural 2015 Tour, where we visited the spiritual home of Scouting. However, there was trouble ahead – the boat departure time we had been given didn’t exist! Fortunately, this mixup was quickly resolved, albeit at the expense of Connor and Alex’s lunchtime shopping trip, and we were soon aboard and sailing across Poole Harbour.

We had been given two ringing slots at Brownsea. Having arrived at the Island, eight intrepid ringers headed straight for the church to ring a quarter peal, of Grandsire Triples, commemorating the one we rang here (in the same method) ten years prior. This was brought round with no trouble in 40 minutes, and a short extract, recorded by Jimmy Hodkin, features here.
(Details of the quarter peal may be found on Bell Board here: https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/view.ph...)

Our second slot was open ringing, for everyone to join in with. The church was built in 1854 by William Waugh, and is not connected to mains electricity, hence the rather gloomy lighting! The bells themselves however are truly delightful, and one of my favourite light eights. They were cast by Whitechapel in 1980, and replaced an unringable Warner 4. The Royal Marines took command for transporting the bells between the church and London! They handle well and sound lovely, and the ringing chamber is most homely, complete with a fireplace; almost like somebody’s living room! Fuelled by Emma Hodkin’s sausage rolls, we worked our way through some tasty fare here, including the Stedman Triples and Grandsire Doubles featured here, before breaking off to enjoy some free time exploring the beautiful Island.
https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/tower/10975


Having safely docked back on the mainland, our first stop was a pub for refreshment, before a sociable curry in the town. It would of course not be a Lilliputters Tour without our Talen Show, which was scheduled on arrival back; with seven cracking acts, consisting of singing, dancing, music… and even some pesky crabs!... there could only be one winner; congratulations, Lauren! The evening concluded by watching the fireworks display over Poole Harbour; this was a lovely way to end our first three Tours, and it’s great that these displays continue. We also held a Viking Funeral for our most esteemed member and mascot since 2023’s Tour; however, it was time to bid farewell to Brick. Rest In Port!

Coming up in Day 5: A return to some of our first haunts – but which towers did we pay homage to on this, our Anniversary Tour? And some friends (old and new) joined the merry cast… I wonder who they were?! All will be revealed in the next instalment!