Bell Ringing at North Tawton, Devon

Slight edit: just noticed I forgot the title intro. Bugger.

Having trawled through old recordings on my phone, I found an audio recording I made of the North Tawton bells from the last time I attended ringing on all eight bells there... Christmas 2017! My brother, who lived in North Tawton at the time, moved away in May 2018 and I have not rung there since sadly.

St Peter's Church holds an 18cwt ring of eight bells in the key of E. The two trebles were cast in 1899 by Mears and Stainbank of London when the existing six bells were rehung in a frame by Harry Stokes. The back six bells are all Penningtons of different eras - bells 3-7 are simply down as "Penningtons" and cast in 1765, and the tenor is noted as "J III,C IV & W Pennington & Co" and was cast in 1770. It is a gorgeous sounding bell. All in all, in my opinion, these bells are a very fine example of an old fashioned mid-weight eight. In the 1970s, the tower and band was well known for its impeccable Devon call change ringing and won many awards thanks to the guidance of tower captain Brian Drake. I would very much recommend these bells!