Bells of Leigh Parish Church - Love then or hate them?

By davidpwelch | Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 12:05

Recently the church bells of Leigh Parish Church (St.Mary the Virgin C.of.E) have been ringing again. The set of eight bells are in a bell tower build in about 1593.

Of the current bells the oldest are from 1740 and these replaced a set reputedly given by Queen Elizabeth I.

The bells are due to be removed for refurbishment soon, but have recently been ringing for services on Sunday mornings and weddings, plus Monday nights 7:30 to 9 for the new bell ringers to get some much needed training and practice.

Letters have been written to the council asking them to silence the bells on Monday nights. But, if new ringers are not trained then the bells will fall silent, and if a new generation of rings are not trained then there will be no one to train the following generations.

Do we want church bells in Leigh? Are we willing to accept the noise of practice? Or would we prefer the bells of St.Mary the Virgin to fall silent?

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Comments

Given the considerable size of Leigh Parish Church, are you telling me that these flat dwellers were not aware of the church when viewing the flats? Oh come on. The church was here before them, get over it. Calling people to Christian prayer with the bells is as old as organised religion. What would the flat dwellers think if the church was a mosque and loudspeakers were used 5 times a day to chant prayers? Even if they silence the church bells, by living in a town centre, they are opening themselves up to noise pollution of all kinds. The bells should be the least of their worries. Are they next going to call for the emergency services to silence their sirens? I'm Buddhist not Christian, but this all seems like another case of faith bashing. We should all stand shoulder to shoulder and celebrate our diverse beliefs.

By phoenix2706 at 17:36 on 30/06/10
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If you don't like church bells, don't live near a church. It was there before the incomers. The Parish Church is big enough- don't tell me these people weren't aware of it when viewing the flats? We're going to end up with the ridiculous situation they had in Bolton in 1995, where complaints from a "minority" silenced their Parish church bells, and the next thing the "minority" were given permission to use loudspeakers to call people to the mosque 5 times a day. I'm not Christian, I'm Buddhist, but this episode of the bells in Leigh seems like another case of faith bashing.

By phoenix2706 at 17:31 on 30/06/10
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News just in from the Wigan Council bunker. Apparently there have been 19 individual complaints about the church bells (they don't say if they were from 19 diferent people) and a petition signed by 63 "local" residents, no doubt the whole population of the incomers flats. I've had enough of the attitude of Wigan Council and have decided to move, a decision not taken lightly after so many happy years but as an adopted Leyther my heart will ache for the good friends that are continuing the struggle and my support will always be there for the real people of a once proud borough.

By riceturbo at 13:01 on 30/06/10
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News just in from the Wigan Council bunker. Apparently there have been 19 individual complaints about the church bells (they don't say if they were from 19 diferent people) and a petition signed by 63 "local" residents, no doubt the whole population of the incomers flats. I've had enough of the attitude of Wigan Council and have decided to move, a decision not taken lightly after so many happy years but as an adopted Leyther my heart will ache for the good friends that are continuing the struggle and my support will always be there for the real people of a once proud borough.

By riceturbo at 13:00 on 30/06/10
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There’s nothing wrong with people of Leigh, Wigan & Atherton etc.

It’s Wigan Council itself that has labelled Leigh & other close by towns
as Townships, which is a step backwards.

I was picking up on what riceturbo posted on the 21/05/10.

I do have my eyes open & I am disappointed with the election result.

However I do not intend giving up the fight for a more locally controlled
Leigh. As always I respect all point of views.

I stand by my statement that I do not like Leigh being referred to as a Township, Leigh & Leythers deserve better.

By DAVID_HULL at 17:18 on 29/06/10
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