BELLS have rung out over Witney for the past 50 years thanks largely to the efforts of one man.

Terry Hester, 71, has been ringing the bells at St Mary’s Church in Church Green for weddings, funerals and celebrations since December 1961.

The Witney resident has now been honoured for his decades of service at a ceremony in St Mary’s Church.

Mr Hester, who was brought up in the town, started bell ringing after he was confirmed at the church and quickly became “fascinated” by it. He rose to become the church’s tower captain and, in the past five decades, has rung in more than 1,300 churches across the UK.

He said: “I have had lots of favourite moments, but for me ringing my first full peal to mark Winston Churchill’s death was the highlight.”

That took more than 5,000 changes over three hours and Mr Hester has carried out 181 such marathon sessions in his career.

He added: “All the belfries are different – some have light bells, some heavy – but there are two places that a lot of ringers are nervous about going up.”

He said Merton College in Oxford, where ringers work in front of a long drop, and Pershore Abbey in Worcestershire, where they ring in a suspended and “shaking” cage 80 feet up, were the most frightening.

But he added: “I have never regretted becoming a ringer. It has become a way of life.”

He said it was the friends he had made during the past 50 years that had kept him ringing for so long, adding: “You meet so many people. I know people from all over the UK because of bell ringing.

“Bell ringing is also mentally and physically satisfying. It is good exercise and you are using your brain to remember all the methods.”

As well as ringing the bells at St Mary’s Church, Mr Hester also has responsibility for maintaining them and helps train new bell ringers.

Mark Wastie, who has been ringing with Mr Hester for the past eight years, said: “Witney’s bells have not fallen silent for at least 50 years because Terry has been there.

“He has always made sure, no matter what, that we are there and ringing.

“He is probably the most passionate man I know about bell ringing. He knows all about the bells and how to fix this and that. It is his total life.”

Mr Hester can be heard ringing the bells of St Mary’s Church every Sunday morning from 9.45am.

He was honoured at the special service on Thursday.