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40 years of silence broken as church bells sound
AFTER a silence of more than 40 years, parishioners at St Paul's Church in Peterborough have heard the sound of its bell ring out once more.
AFTER a silence of more than 40 years, parishioners at St Paul's Church in Peterborough have heard the sound of its bell ring out once more.The bell at the church, in the Triangle, New England, had been out of action since 1969.
But at a special thanksgiving service on Saturday, the 140-year old bell was brought back to life.
It had been out of use since the ropes snapped, but there will be no such problems again as it will be operated using a new electronic system.
Today, the Rev Ron Watkinson said he was delighted to finally be able to ring the bells again.
He said: "We have been fund-raising for the bell to be restored since 2002, so this has been a long time coming.
"We have done a lot of restoration work on the church, with a new cross and work on the roof as well as the bell, so we have had to raise more than 30,000, but people have been very generous."
Mr Watkinson also said that a little bit of history had been re-created when the restoration was being carried out.
He said: "We used Taylors, Eayre and Smith bell founders to carry out the restoration work on the bell.
"It was the firm which made the bell back in the 1860s, so it is nice that it has gone full circle.
"The bell has been an integral part of the church since it was consecrated in 1869, and I am delighted it will be an important part of parish life again, acting as a call to prayer."
Councillor Charles Swift, who represents the North ward of the city, was married in the church.
He said it would be emotional to hear the bell rung again.
"The church is known as the railwayman's church.
"Whenever there was a funeral of a railwayman, the bell would sound 15 minutes before the service.
"All the workers would line the streets in uniform until the cortege had gone past before going into the church.
"I think it will bring a few tears to the eyes of some of the older parishioners.
"Bringing the bell back to working order is like bringing the dead back to life."
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Weather for Peterborough
Friday 25 May 2012
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Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
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