Posts By: PJG

The RSA Trust is delighted to report that the ring of bells at St George’s Memorial Church in Ypres were officially rung for the first time on Sunday 22nd October at a blessing officiated by the Bishop of Gibraltar, Right Rev’d Dr. Richard Innes.

The RSA Trust was one of a number of supporters that raised £195,000 to see the bells cast at the John Taylor Foundry in Loughborough. Each bell has dedications by donors cast into it, the RSA Trust chose to dedicate our donation on the number five bell to “The Workers of The Royal Small Arms Factory”.

BBC East Midlands reporter Amy Harris covered the story on 1st November:

As always we are grateful to Alan Regin, David Smith and the rest of the Bells4StGeorges team in completing this memorial to the Fallen and especially to Alan in his work researching the stories of the bell ringers who gave their lives in the Great War, ensuring their remembrance.

We are pleased to announce that the RSA Interpretation Centre welcomed over 300 visitors this Saturday, an increase of 50% on last year’s visitor figures.

As has been the case in previous years the Centre was manned by a team of former engineers from the Factory, organised by Ray Tuthill and the Royal Small Arms Factory Apprentices Association. Ray was particularly busy, showing off our recently refurbished John Thwaite birdcage clock. This work was carried out earlier in the year by Thwaites & Reed, its original manufacturers. The Enfield at War display, delivered through an HLF funded project in association with the London Borough of Enfield, also proved popular.

Yesterday a delegation of trustees of the RSA Trust attended the dedication ceremony for the ring of eight bells cast for St George’s Church, Ypres. The bells have been cast to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres) in 1917. The church was built in 1927 and was designed to house a set of English bells, but none were installed. Alan Regin, David Smith and other bell ringers from around the UK raised £195,000 to cast and install the eight bells at the church to rectify this.

The bells were transported to Belguim on the backs of two preserved lorries manufactured in 1915, both of which saw service on the Western Front before being placed in the aisle of the church for their dedication ceremony. The fifth bell was cast with a dedication to “The Workers of the Royal Small Arms Factory” with an accompanying dedication in the book of remembrance,

“The RSA Trust are proud to be the custodians of the former Royal Small Arms factory in Enfield. This inscription is in recognition of the dedication of the factory workers whose efforts in manufacturing the Lee Enfield Rifle contributed so much to support the Allied troops. It is also in memory of the many workers who sacrificed their lives in the WW1 battles.”

The RSA Trust is grateful for the efforts of Alan, David and their fellow bell ringers in seeing this important deed done and look forward to hearing the bells ring out in the autumn.

In September 2016 The RSA Trust agreed to sponsor a dedication on one of a set of eight ‘full circle’ tuned church bells, destined for St. George’s Anglican Church in Ypres, Belgium. The church was built as a memorial to the fallen British troops from the First World War battlefields in the 1920s. However a ring of bells was not installed at the time of construction. This is now being remedied by Alan Regin, David Smith and the rest of the Bells4StGeorges team who have raised £195,000 to cast and install the bells in time for the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele.

On Thursday 1st June RSA Trustee Michael Polledri MBE and our Heritage Manager attended the John Taylor & Co Bell Foundry in Loughborough to witness the fifth and seventh bells being cast. The day included a visit to the Bell Foundry Museum as well as a tour of the forge and tuning shops. We are very grateful to David and Alan for their tireless work in not only arranging the casting of these memorial bells but Alan’s work to research and tell the stories of all 1,077 bell ringers who fell in the First World War. Michael was also able to enjoy a recital by the group of bell ringers in the Foundry’s own belfry.

The RSA Trust’s dedication appears on the fifth bell and is dedicated to “The Workers of the Royal Small Arms Factory”. The set of bells will be taken to Ypres at the end of august. The video and photos below give a flavour of the casting.

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