There would have been an almighty clang if something did go wrong, but churchgoers breathed a sigh of relief as eight bells were safely winched down the side of an Oxford church yesterday for retuning.
Workmen safely removed the bells from St Giles’ Church in Woodstock Road for delicate cutting to the inside so they can ring in perfect pitch over the city’s dreaming spires.
Pictured, left, is bell ringer Damaris Everett winching one of the bells from the scaffold on the church roof.
Tower captain John Pusey said: “It went faster than we expected, the timetable was moved forward. We had some rather disappointed people hoping to see things but it had all finished.”
He said: “I was nervous somebody might get hurt or the scaffolding might fall apart or, worst of all, if we dropped one of the bells.”
Bell ringers are being encouraged to fulfill their clanging urges by practising in other city churches, he said.
A fundraising campaign raised £54,000 towards the £56,000 cost. The bells are expected to return in October or November.
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