The bells ring again

The bell tower at St Peter and St Paul's Church on Blackburn Road, which was condemned as unsafe in 1988, has been restored following a £18,000 fund-raising appeal.

Now the church, commonly known as Rishton Parish Church, is searching for people to form a regular band of bell ringers.

The bells were silenced in 1988 after an inspection revealed the framework which supported them was unsafe and a new roof was needed on the bell tower.

The church was keen to repair the tower - but was forced to delay the work after dry rot was found in another part of the building.

An appeal for the bell work was launched in February last year and since then £18,000 has been raised through donations and sponsored events, including a walk from Blackpool Tower to the church tower.

The vicar, Rev Paul Smith, said: "We got a firm in to do the professional work but quite a lot of people have done the donkey work which reduced the cost considerably." He added that without the efforts of parishioners the project would not have been possible.

"A group of people have put a great deal of enthusiasm and effort into it and it is because of that we have been able to do it. I would like to congratulate them for all they have done."

Tomorrow morning the Bishop of Blackburn will attend a special service to celebrate the restoration of the bells and members of the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers will ring the bells afterwards.

The next step is for the church to build a bell-ringing team of its own.

Mr Smith said: "We really need our own regular band of ringers. It is an art and it needs practice and they need to be getting going now if they are to be ready for the millennium celebrations, when church bells across the country will be rung."

Anyone interested is asked to contact Ian Smith on 01254 706260 or Jean Barnes on 01254 59964.

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