A reader wants to know why St Anne's rings forty-five minutes early. It is the pigeons, partly.
Why do the bells of St Anne's ring at quarter past nine on Sunday mornings, when the service starts at ten? (Asked by Pat, Chapel Row.) Because quarter past nine is when the ringers arrive, Pat. The bells are rung by a team of eight volunteers who climb sixty-one steps to the ringing chamber, and they ring for forty-five minutes before the service. The habit is older than the church clock. Before most houses had one, the bells were how the town knew to set off: the first peal meant leave now, the last meant you were late. The ringers keep the timing out of habit, and because the tower captain, Gerald Mabey, says changing it would "confuse the pigeons". The team is short of two ringers. Practice is on Wednesday evenings and no musical ability is required, Mr Mabey says, only the ability to count to eight and to stop when told. Got a question about Port Avery? Write…
I ride the N4 home after a late shift three nights a week. Please tell the council that the buses are not a luxury. Before April I was paying £14 for a taxi I could not afford. Now I pay £2 and I sleep on the way home. (Name supplied, Fiveways) The gas holder is the ugliest object in Port Avery and I have looked at it from my kitchen for thirty-one years. Keeping it as a "heritage feature" is like framing a scar. (Doreen Lyle, Foundry Lane) I disagree with the letter you will no doubt print from Foundry Lane. The holder is the only thing on that side of the river that anyone could draw from memory. (Tom Ashworth, Mill Lane) Your piece on the corner-shop sourdough did not mention the price. £4.50 is a lot for a loaf. It is very good bread. It is still a lot. (R. Hosking, Alder Road) Letters may be shortened. Write…
Thursday. Lifeboat station open evening, 7 pm, the slipway. Tea, and a chance to sit in the boat. Friday. Funeral of Ruth Penhaligon, St Anne's, 11 am. Penhaligon's closed until 2 pm. Saturday. Rovers v Ashby Town, Riverside Park, 3 pm: the first game in front of the new east stand. Market on Exchange Square, 8 am to 2 pm. Sunday. Bell-ringing, St Anne's, 9.15 am (see Ask the Courier). Guided walk along the old tram line, meet at the depot gates, 10 am, two hours, free. Tuesday. Planning committee on the gasworks site, council chamber, 6 pm. The public gallery seats forty; arrive early. Wednesday. Bell practice, St Anne's tower, 7.30 pm. Beginners welcome. Bring soft shoes.
Rock pools, a ferry ride, a film on the library carpet and a tram that will tell you about its brakes.
Half-term starts on Friday. Here are twelve things to do in Port Avery that cost nothing, tested by the Courier's own children, who were not asked. 1. Count the bubbles. The Merrow Field Station runs a free family morning at the lake on Saturday: nets, trays and a microscope that shows what lives in a drop of marsh water. 2. Ride the ferry and back. Under-twelves travel at no charge with an adult, and the view of the harbour from halfway across is the best in town. 3. The library's Monday matinee. A film, a carpet and no talking, at two. 4. The tram depot. The volunteers restoring Tram 11 let visitors watch on Wednesday afternoons, and will explain the brakes at length. 5. Rock pools at Gull Point, two hours either side of low tide. Put the rocks back the way you found them. The other seven, from the climbing wall's free taster hour to the bakery on Mill…
