LATEST NEWS
The bells are back!
After months of careful restoration at Taylor’s Bell Foundry, our eight bells returned to St James’ church in March. To mark their return, a special service of blessing was held, which drew together over 80 donors, parishioners and ringers from neighbouring churches.
The two-week process of re-hanging the bells then began. A mechanical hoist was used to raise the bells from the ground floor ringing chamber, through two trap doors, into the frame at the top of the tower. The bells then had to be swung across the belfry until they were in the correct ringing position. This required a lot of effort, especially with the largest (tenor) bell, which weighs in at 616 kilos.
After a seven month gap, we were delighted to hear the bells ringing again for our 10.30 service on 22nd March.
Once again, our grateful thanks go to everyone who donated to our restoration fund. It is because of your support that our bells will again be ringing out across Bramley on Easter Sunday and for many hundreds of Sundays, weddings and special events to come.
Pancake Party
St James’ Church welcomed over 30 children and their families to their traditional annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Party.
The children took part in themed crafts and pancake races before all enjoying eating over 100 pancakes with lots of toppings! ​
New Defibrillator
Bramley now has a new defibrillator – at Cross House next to the church. Beth Pinnock and other members of St James’ Church thought it would be beneficial to have one in this area as it attracts a lot of visitors and walkers. Nigel Alderman led the project and obtained a grant from Barratt Redrow Southern Counties, who are developing Stocks Farm. Their contribution covered the cost of the defibrillator which was then purchased from the British Heart Foundation and installed by Dave Knights, churchwarden, and Jordan Smith.
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest affects 100,000 people a year in England and it is estimated that defibrillators save around 30,000 lives a year. The machines deliver a high energy, electric shock in an attempt to restore a person’s heart rhythm; they automatically detect the abnormal heart rhythm and tell the user when a shock is needed. The devices are designed for use by members of the public with no training or clinical background, before the arrival of the emergency services.
Thank you to all those involved in this project: your time and generosity could save lives.