August update
Pembroke Bell Restoration - August update
Pembroke Bell Restoration - New Ceiling, Visit, Tee-Shirts, and more!
Our ringing room now has a beautiful oak ceiling, to match the floor above. You can see in the photo that its high up. The oak is heavy and inflexible, so was difficult to work with, but it will outlast us! Well done Simon and Peter.
Councillors Jon Harvey and Aaron Carey visited the tower to see our progress and find out more about the bell restoration project and its benefit to the town. The photo shows them on the tower roof after surveying their respective wards (Pembroke St Mary North and Pembroke Monkton & St Mary South) from the high vantage point.
You can purchase lovely supporter tee-shirts embroidered in Cardigan (details on website) and handmade leather key rings. All profits will go to the bell fund.
September 8th is the start of the next phase of work that will last 2 weeks. Offers of lunches, labour, making tea and clearing up will be gratefully received and help to keep the donated funds for the essential work. Please call Anne on 07977541520. Check the Volunteers webpage for the latest schedule https://pembrokebellrestoration.wales/volunteers
In the recent Bell Restoration Quiz the tie breaker question asked “what are you most looking forward to about the bells coming back?” Some examples of the answers are
• Welsh cakes made by Dilys.
• Bohemian Rhapsody rung from Pembroke tower (a couple of notes anyway!).
• Being all back together.
• To be a part of and to hear a new chapter in Pembroke town's soundscape and milestone in its rich history spanning George III to Charles III.
• They have got to be better than they were!
• Regular practice night.
• Hearing the bells ring for Pembroke Castle’s Christmas Market.
• Getting back into Sunday morning ringing (and having the best bells in the guild!).
• A ringable second bell.
Thank you to our supporters who donated the new ladder for the tower.
Tell your friends about this website, where they can subscribe for our Supporter Updates, or become one of our regular donors.
Join the Pembroke Bell Restoration supporters
Stay up-to-date on our latest news and events, connect with other supporters, and learn more about how you can get involved with Pembroke Bell Restoration by joining our supporters and helpers today.
June update
Pembroke Bell Restoration - June update
Pembroke Bell Restoration - Replacement of the rotten floors in the Norman Tower of St Mary’s Church
Saving Pembroke’s Bells - June update
We’ve completed week one of two, following on from the work in February. Most of the upper floor that previously supported the bell frame is now down at ground level. Seeing the rusted beam ends is a scary reminder of why taking the bells out was an emergency! Huge lumps of rust crashed down to the floor below as they were cut out.
With much physical effort, pockets have been made in the extremely hard limestone walls of the Grade 1 listed Norman tower. These will take the new steel beams for the middle floor where the bells will go. All the stone removed has been carefully winched into the vestry and is stored for future use in restoring the tower.
Pembrokeshire County Council are drawing up a legal agreement back dated to 1 st April that will allow us to start restoring the bells with the money we have raised so far, while they sort out a conflict of interest in another part of the Levelling Up Fund for Pembroke.
Prices are constantly rising and there are unforeseen expenses. We’ve just bought a light-weight triple section ladder for £175 to replace the tower’s very old bendy wooden one that was no longer fit for purpose (it probably hasn’t been for many years). If you would like to contribute to this extra
item, you can have your name on it! It will live permanently in the tower so we can reach everything to do with bells and tower fixtures.
Ask your friends to sign up to our updates, or join our regular donors via our website https://pembrokebellrestoration.wales
A mobile phone ringtone of the Pembroke Bells can be downloaded from the website.
Join the Pembroke Bell Restoration supporters
Stay up-to-date on our latest news and events, connect with other supporters, and learn more about how you can get involved with Pembroke Bell Restoration by joining our supporters and helpers today.
14 February 2025
Dear ringers, supporters and helpers,
Replacing the tower floors is a major construction project. At the end of week one the church is full of steel, wood and tools. The rotten ringing room ceiling is in the church yard along with lots of rubble and debris. Two new steel beams have been hoisted, levelled and cemented in. Some steel beams have been hoisted all the way up to the bell chamber.
As of 14th February, one week of three is complete. Many volunteers have helped with labour, church minding, accommodation, cooking & cake baking, and cleaning during the first week (Peter, Stefan, Jo B, Walter, Steve M, Iestyn, Annabel, Helen & Alan, Paula, Penny, Dilys & Dave W, Richard, Simon, Jonathan M, Dave L, Steve & Steffan W, Francis, Andy, Jonathan & Angela, Karen). Thank you to everyone who has contributed in any way.
Work continues on weekdays until the 28th February so lunches, evening meals, contributions to the parking dispensation charges etc will be very welcome.
Special mentions for Jo B for noticing and doing all the little things that often get missed, Stefan for his working at height skills, Francis for having people to stay and cooking meals, Jonathan M for buying buckets, Dilys for her prize winning Welsh cakes, the traffic wardens for ‘not noticing’ the Manitou parked outside the church to unload the steel.
Best wishes,
Anne
23 February 2025
Dear all,
We have made so much progress. Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far.
Special mentions this week to:
The Lewis family for their dawn rubbish and rubble raid with their horse box,
Jonathan M for the delicious vegetable tagine,
Eldon for this week’s Parking Dispensation,
Peter for teaching a bunch of bellringers how to work on a major building construction project.
Joanne B for working hard all day, everyday.
Revd. Heidi and Church Warden Marcia say
Dear Anne
Thank you once again for all your hard work and dedication! Please also give my sincere thanks to all the workers and builders who are continuing with the work on the tower.
Brilliant job 👍
Blessings
Heidi
Well done Anne to you and all your helpers. A huge task carried out by everyone of your team, congratulations. Hope all goes well for you next week.
Regards, Marcia.
26 February 2025
Work on the floor continues. Weather vane needs some help too!
9 March 2025
More progress from our fantastic workers and amazing volunteers. Tenor bell gets weighed at the bell foundry. It weighs 566kg, lighter than the expected 648kg!
25 March 2025
Our poorly broken weather vane got a mention this week in The Ringing World! (the weekly national publication for bellringers). We will get him repaired, so we'll keep fundraising!
Copyright © 2025 THE ST MARYS PEMBROKE BELL RESTORATION PROJECT FUND- All Rights Reserved.
THE ST MARYS PEMBROKE BELL RESTORATION PROJECT FUND
Registered Charity Number 1205082
Sort code: 30-16-20, Account number: 07358466
(Donations of £20 or more will be recorded in a donations book)
We can claim gift aid of 25%. If you donate £20 we get £25!