A team of Grimsby Minster church bell ringers won a countywide striking competition in Wrangle, near Boston, last Saturday.
The team of six ringers saw off competition from six other towers from the whole of Lincolnshire to win the Edward Colley Plate, a trophy dedicated to a late Caistor ringer who taught and encouraged many to ring.
Team leader Matthew Jeffery said, "I am very proud of my team. Normally we don't do very well at these competitions, but we all made a special effort this year and it gave us the right result.
"There were actually two competitions on the day - the other, in nearby Butterwick, was for the John Freeman Cup. Both of them determine which team can ring church bells the most accurately.
"It is not an easy thing to do, because when you pull the rope, the bell actually sounds a second or two afterwards. The bigger the bell, the later it sounds. Even the best teams in the country don't ring perfectly, and we were no exception."
The tower at the Minster was recently made famous by BBC1's The One Show, which featured a piece about former Grimsby ringer and Tower Captain Frank Kennington, and Matthew said, "I'm sure he would be very pleased."
The team of six ringers saw off competition from six other towers from the whole of Lincolnshire to win the Edward Colley Plate, a trophy dedicated to a late Caistor ringer who taught and encouraged many to ring.
Team leader Matthew Jeffery said, "I am very proud of my team. Normally we don't do very well at these competitions, but we all made a special effort this year and it gave us the right result.
"There were actually two competitions on the day - the other, in nearby Butterwick, was for the John Freeman Cup. Both of them determine which team can ring church bells the most accurately.
"It is not an easy thing to do, because when you pull the rope, the bell actually sounds a second or two afterwards. The bigger the bell, the later it sounds. Even the best teams in the country don't ring perfectly, and we were no exception."
The tower at the Minster was recently made famous by BBC1's The One Show, which featured a piece about former Grimsby ringer and Tower Captain Frank Kennington, and Matthew said, "I'm sure he would be very pleased."
