Ringing at Uffculme, Devon

St Mary the Virgin, Uffculme, Devon
(8), 21-3-6 in D
Cast by John Taylor & Co, 1927
Uffculme, located in Mid-Devon near the Somerset border, is a pretty village, with rows of old houses, narrow lanes and a mill. The Church of St Mary the Virgin, featuring Devon's longest rood screen and a rare broach spire, is a local landmark, reaching 120 feet (37 metres) high.
Originally a peal of five bells, they were recast and increased to six in 1801 by Thomas Bilbie III. The tenor was recast by Charles and George Mears of Whitechapel in 1849. In 1927, Taylor's recast and augmented the bells to eight, with a tenor of just under 22cwt. Apart from work to the bearings and clappers in 2010, the bells have had no major attention since their recasting. They are hung in a tall two-tier frame, with the 2nd and back four on the lower tier, and treble, 3rd and 4th on the upper tier.
They are an excellent eight in every way, loud and boomy in the ringing chamber, with good acoustics and lovely hums, despite the four tenor bells being hung underneath three of the four trebles. Prior to our visit on the 26th March 2022, when this recording was taken, the bells had not been rung for 18 months, as the local band has sadly disintegrated since the pandemic started.
Despite this, the bells all went very well indeed, and we were made extremely welcome by the remaining ringers. It was an especially nice touch to have so many local residents come out to let us know how pleased they were the bells were being rung.
This recording, featuring a few excerpts of Bluebell Doubles on the back six, was taken in the clock chamber and is accompanied by a few photos by myself and Devon Church Land. We were on reduced numbers due to covid, so only managed change ringing on the back six, but I hope to post another video in the near future of all eight.
dove.cccbr.org...

[@angiecheshire3440]

Seamless. Thank you.

[@bellminsterboy]

thank you for having us! Looking forward to coming back.

[@Bellr1nger]

Awesome tone. Nice video 👍

[@bellminsterboy]

thank you! I only really found these because of your video :)

[@RingerThomas]

Lovely bells! Remind me of the back six at Hampstead and Penzance and Deeping St James.

[@bellminsterboy]

Penzance yes, the tenors are almost identical in nominal, only half a hertz between them! They're cracking bells.

[@RingerThomas]

@@bellminsterboy I think these are underrated to some extent. Nobody really talks about them. The only eight bell rings I hear about in Devon are Heavitree, Broadclyst, Kingsteignton and Wolborough.

[@bellminsterboy]

@@RingerThomas Yes, they're something of a hidden gem.