Ringing in the changes at Mottram Parish Church

A steady stream of visitors seized a once in a lifetime chance to see the bells of Mottram Parish Church close up at ground level.

Specialist engineers had the delicate task of bringing the eight bells down from the church tower for the first time since 1910, to be taken away for a long awaited new supporting frame to be built around them.

The viewing afternoon proved so popular with parishioners and pupils from the next-door Mottram CE Primary School, it is likely to be repeated when the bells return later in the year.

Tony Kershaw, the church’s maintenance team leader, said about 300 had visited including all five classes from the school.

“The children were a bit awestruck by the size of the bells. Most of them were not much taller than the smallest and half the size of the biggest!”

He explained the work now under way to preserve the full peal for generations to come .

“The bells themselves are fine, but the girders that underpin the frame have rusted away over the years.

“Blythe and Co will build a new frame at their factory in Newark-on-Trent which will be galvanised steel and should last 150 to 200 years.

“They will hang the bells in the frame, make sure everything works as it should and then bring it all back to Mottram.”

The long delayed restoration project had kept the church on Historic England’s ‘At Risk’ register for the past five years.

“This work will finally take us off it,” Tony added.

The vision has finally come to fruition thanks to a ‘generous’ legacy from former honorary curate the Rev Richard Hills MBE, who died in 2019.

The familiar sound ringing out from St Michael and All Angels across the Longdendale valley may be missing for the next few months, but bell ringing captain Christine Broadley is hoping absence will make the heart grow fonder and encourage more volunteers to come forward.

Teams around the country have reported a surge of interest following the celebratory peals across the nation for the recent Coronation.

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