Welcome to St John's Tower
Views from Inside the Tower courtesy of Vic Gethin
The treble given by the Parish Church Bell Ringers.
The second bell given in memory of Frank and Gertrude Warburton by their children.
The sixth bell given by Miss Elsie M. Coope in memory of her parents George M. and Emily Coope and of her sister Nora P. Coope.
Miss Elsie M. Coope’s grandfather gave the original sixth bell in 1899.
The tenor was given by the Parishioners in 1954 to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
The original peal of bells was installed in 1844, and first rung on 2nd February 1845. In 1899, a peel of 8 bells were cast by Thomas Blackbourne of Salisbury, and first rung on september 23rd. As part of the celebrations, the largest bell was filled with beer, though history does not recount how long it took to empty, or whether everyone sobered up before the bell was hung!
In 1954 the famous bell founders John Taylor of Loughborough were commissioned to cast a new peel of 8 bells, the Tenor (largest) of which weighs 12.5cwt, and was dedicated to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
St Johns does not have a regular team of ringers, but the peel is often
rung by visiting teams.
Above the ringing chamber is the clock room, with a mechanical clock,
displaying on 3 faces, located just above the bells. The clock has been
converted to electric winding, as the regular trip up the ladder to
wind it was proving to much for the clock winder!
The clock mechanism is shown on the right.
At the top of the tower, 25m (82ft) above ground level a St Georges flag
flies all year round. The tower provides a fantastic view of Bolton,
Little Lever, Bury, Rochdale, Manchester, and even on a clear day Jodrel
Bank. However for those tempted, the route up involves three flights
of stairs and 4 flights of ladders.
More photos of the views from the top of the tower, courtesy of Mr Vic Gethin. Click thumbnails for larger images.
In addition,
Joe Thornley writes.......
Reading John Lever’s article about St John’s Clock brought back more happy memories of my time as Bell Tower Captain at St John’s Farnworth and Kearsley Parish Church.
In 1954 I was at a bell ringers meeting, at a church located in what was then called the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was around this time that our bells were being re-cast. At this meeting I had a chance conversation with a fellow ringer, Ronald Dove. I later discovered he was a director of Potts of Leeds, the famous firm of premier clock makers. I was telling Ronald that I had always wanted to see the 8 bells at St John’s, which were hung in 1899, restored for ringing again. They had been silent for 30 years because of their poor condition. I told him that the PCC had given me permission to try and persuade individual people to pay for the re-casting of a bell in memory of a loved one. Seven bells were promised but the tenor, the largest bell, was a bit expensive so the whole parish were working hard to raise money to pay for it.
I remember him asking me what condition our church clock was in and I told him that it was worn out. I told him that it was the original clock that had been installed when the church was built in 1826, and was well over 100 years old. He told me that they had a ‘none striking’ clock in their workshop that had been taken out of Brighouse Orphanage, which at the time was being converted to a boarding school. Mr Dove explained that the orphanage had stopped the clock from chiming because it woke the children up. This got me thinking about the possibility of St John’s acquiring the clock and reinstating the chiming mechanism, would not be too big a hurdle.
When I returned to Farnworth I spoke to members of the PCC, who were only too well aware of the condition of our clock. They were all in agreement that this was an opportunity not to be missed as it would remedy our situation. Local people were always ‘chunnering’ as to how much they had missed the clock, when it stopped – which was a frequent occurrence. The PCC agreed to the purchase the clock for £230, from Potts, which included installation and conversion back to a chiming clock. It took 3 men a week to install, during which time they stayed at a shop at the bottom of Peel Street, where the proprietor took in lodgers.
The mechanism was relocated to a lower level in the bell tower – its present location.
Joe Thornley
Former Bell Tower Captain
May 2017
It was in the very early part of the last war (1939 – 45) that I read the book by Dorothy L Sayers “The Nine Taylors”, this book deals with the activities of Bell Ringers in East Anglia and the authoress went specially to live near to “Terrington St Clement”. This is the church and village that features in the book and the main character is Lord Peter Wimsey, the famous detective. It was during this time Mr Churchill, the wonderful wartime Prime Minister, lifted the ban on the ringing of church bells. They had been intended to be rung in the event of an invasion of our Country.
I was just 15 when I went to St Paul’s Walkden to learn to ring, after reading an appeal in the Farnworth Journal. St Paul’s has one of the finest rings of 8 bells in the whole country. England is known as the Ringing Isle, and the art of ringing changes on various numbers of bells is a pure English art. It has, of course, been taken overseas by English emigrants, to the U.S.A., Africa, Canada and of course Australia. They all follow the British Standard of bell ringing. Of course, the war was not over by a long way and off I went to serve King and Country as a machine gunner in the Manchester Regiment, of which I was very proud and have such wonderful memories. During training in England, I was able to ring in Chester Cathedral, St David’s Cathedral and Manchester Cathedral. Army Service took me to South Wales, Norfolk, Northern Ireland, Sussex, Kent, London, Wiltshire, and for a long time, the island of Malta where I rang on the 6 bells of the lovely Anglican Cathedral of St Paul in Valletta.
On demob, I went back to St Paul’s Walkden but had always wanted to see the 8 bells at St John’s, Farnworth restored for ringing again. They had been silent for 30 years and were in poor condition. The PCC gave me permission to try and get individual people to pay for the re-casting of a bell in memory of loved one(s). I had a motor bike and used to travel around as far as Southport in order to obtain the funds for new bells. Seven were all promised but the tenor, the largest bell, was a bit expensive and so the whole parish worked hard to raise the money. The bell was cast to commemorate the coronation of our present Queen and this bell is suitably inscribed, as all the other seven bells now in the tower.
It is a fascinating art being a bell ringer and as one goes about the country and spots a particular tower the question pops up, how many bells?, what weight?, what practice night? etc.
There are also musical hand bells to practice on, both change ringing and tunes. Some groups are known as bell orchestras and we have visits to Bolton by some of the bell orchestras. All sorts of people are involved in our exercise in ages from 9 to 90 and the welcome we receive when we visit other towns is very cordial.
It is a calling of ringers that they feel they are sharing in the work of the Church and most of them occupy important offices in parochial life. We have a central council of church bell ringers composed of representatives from the various county associations, all of whom hold annual meetings with church services, meetings, meals etc. These are very happy occasions, especially the renewing of old friendships. The exercise is good for the body and the mind, as the power to ring comes from energy and the ability to ring the intricate methods exercises the brain. I have rung in over 500 different towers and rung over 1147 peals, comprising of over 5000 changes, with each taking an average of 3 hours to ring. I intended to go on until I dropped or until I could no longer climb the tower steps.
It was in 2005 that alas! I could no longer carry out my beloved calling/hobby serving God! Call it what you may but I do miss ringing and the companionship it affords.
Thanks be to God.
This Article, by Joe Thorney, appeared in the June 2017 issue of St John’s Magazine
On Friday 28thDecember 2018, at St John’s Church, a peal was rung by the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers. The peal, in 5040Quorn Alliance MajorMethod, lasted 2 hours and 46 minutes.
The ringers standing as follows: -
Composer M Maughan
- Peter C Randall (C)
- James E Andrews
- Jane Owen
- Gail L Randall
- Raymond A Hutchings
- Derek J Thomas
- Brian J Owen
- Peter G Bellamy-Knights
Conducted by Peter C Randall
It is now 55 years since our recast bells were hung in the tower and the ropes attaching them are as old. Unfortunately, 2 of the ropes, for the treble and 5thbells, are in need of replacing, as they are broken. The cost to replace these two ropes is in excess of £400.
We are launching an appeal towards the cost of the ropes and maintenance of the bells. Are you able to help? If you would like to make a donation, please speak to Dorothy McGlynn. In addition we will be holding a raffle during March.
March 2019
Church Magazine April 2019
Joe Thornley, bell tower captain at St John’s Church in Farnworth for 50 years, passed away in April at the age of 93.
“He was a very generous man who will be much missed,” said Dorothy McGlynn, St John’s PCC Secretary.
Mr Thornley was born in Farnworth on April 20, 1926. He and his younger brother Bill grew up in Cross Street, Farnworth. He attended Queen Street Council School, before joining Wadsworth’s in Bolton as a lift engineer, a career which was to last until he retired in 1993.
When he was 15-years-old he was inspired to become a campanologist, after reading an appeal for ringers at St Paul’s Church, Walkden, in the Farnworth Journal.
He served as a machine gunner in the Manchester Regiment, during the war and whilst serving in Malta rang the six bells of the Anglican Cathedral of St Paul’s in Valletta.
On ‘demob’, at the end of the Second World War, he went back to Wadsworth’s and also to ring at St Paul’s Walkden.
However, he had always wanted to see the eight bells at St John’s Farnworth and Walkden Parish Church restored for ringing. Mechanical Ringing had been installed as part of the Church Centenary in 1926.
After the presentation of new ropes in 1943, the bells were manually rung only on special occasions, such as Sermons and Christmas, because of their poor condition.
It was decided in 1953, when Rev L.P Burnett was vicar, to re-cast the eight bells to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
The PCC gave Joe permission to try and get individual people to pay for the re-casting of a bell in memory of a loved one. Joe had a motor bike and travelled as far as Southport in order to obtain the funds for the new bells. The castings were completed in 1954.
Joe took a week of his holiday leave in January 1954 to help the bell founders John Taylor of Loughborough to remove the bells.
He took a further two weeks leave four months later when they were re-hung.
Mrs McGlynn said: “During his time as Bell Tower Captain, at St John’s, Joe bought many artefacts for Church. It was during the tenure of Rev Philip Arthur Wrigley, that he bought a full set of vestments. Those vestments, apart from the green and purple set which have recently been replaced, are still in use today.
“On a trip to the Passion Plays in Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany, with a group of parishioners from St Aiden’s, Bradford, Manchester, he had the Crucifix, which still hangs above our pulpit, specially carved. He also bought the statue of St John the Evangelist, which is positioned on the balcony wall.
“The hand bells, used by our men’s group, were a gift from Joe. Most recently he presented the church with a framed Waterloo Medal.”
The medal had been produced by the Royal Mint to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. Shortly after the Battle, St John’s was one of the churches erected with money paid for by the Church Commission.
Through his work, Mr Thornley travelled the country and would often ask at the nearest church if he could join in the bell ringing.
Mrs McGlynn said: “Joe rang in over 500 different towers and rung 1,147 peals. He intended to go on until he dropped or until he could no longer climb the tower steps.”
In 2004, the 50th Anniversary of the re-casting of the bells, Joe wrote to the Queen, telling her that the Ring of Bells at St John’s had been restored to commemorate her coronation. He received a reply on behalf of the Queen during her stay at Balmoral Castle.
However, in 2005, illness meant that he could no longer carry out his beloved calling and serve God as a bell ringer.
Mr Thornley, who never married, suffered ill health for a number of years and eventually had to move from his home on Bolton Road, Kearsley, to the Four Seasons Nursing Home in Bolton where he died on April 11.
Bolton News 27 May 2019
On Sunday 13th October 2019, following the Harvest Festival Service, our new Rector, Revd. Stephen Nolan was presented with a welcome gift of two sets of vestments.
The vestments, a red set and a white set had been gifted by Dorothy McGlynn and Susan Stevens, both former bell ringers, in memory of Joseph Thornley. Joe died earlier this year at the age of 93. He had been the Bell Tower Captain at St John’s, for over 50 years.
Father Stephen will bless the vestments, during the Remembrance Service, on Sunday 10th November 2019.
A view looking west down Church Street from the top of St John's tower.
The clock mechanism inside the tower.
The story of our bells
-by Joe Thornley
Please click on the picture below to download and read the full story of our bells.
Many people are aware that Rivington Pike is part of a chain of beacons that were lit to warn of the approaching Armada in 1588. It is not so widely known, however, that St John’s church tower has also been used as a signal station in the past, though not to warn against oncoming Spanish ships.
In 1842 manufacturers had imposed heavy wage cuts on workers. Much of Britain was in the grip of a general strike. In Lancashire, mobs of angry workers went from mill to mill removing the plugs from the boilers, disabling the steam engines which powered the mills. Farnworth did not escape the Plug Drawing Riots, so a committee was formed which met daily at the Bowling Green Hotel on Market Street and a strategy was quickly put in place in case the rioters should return. All the gentlemen of Farnworth were sworn in as special constables, with 330 truncheons being issued to them.
The committee was keen that the local military, headquartered at the Swan Hotel in Bolton, should be able to help the special constables deal with any rioters. So it was decided to appoint four watchmen to stand on top of St John’s Church tower, two at a time for 6 hour shifts, to provide a watch day and night. If rioters were seen, then the watchmen at St John’s were to raise the flag atop the tower. On seeing the flag, men stationed at Bull Hill near Moses Gate would also raise their flag. The Bull Hill flag would alert men stationed at Hamer’s Bleachworks in Burnden to raise their flag. The plan then was that the Burnden flag would be seen by spotters on the old Bolton Parish Church tower, who could inform the soldiers based at the nearby Swan Hotel that they must immediately ride to Farnworth, where there first task would be to meet with the committee to decide how best to tackle the rioters.
All did not go to plan, however. On a summer evening when Mr Hamer was out to dinner, his men decided it would be a good joke to hoist the flag up the flagstaff on top of the bleachworks. The flag was seen by the watchers at Bolton Parish Church and they duly dispatched the soldiers, who galloped to Farnworth with great speed to meet the committee at the Bowling Green Hotel. Unfortunately, however, because they had no idea that a signal had been sent, the committee were nowhere to be seen. When the truth of the matter emerged, it is understood that to say the men at Hamer’s bleachworks responsible, got the severest telling off of their careers, would be the understatement of the year!
Source for this article – B T Barton ‘ History of Farnworth and Kersley’ 1887
It brought back great memories reading the article ‘The Watchmen of St John’s Tower’ by John Lever, not least as I taught John to bell ring nearly 50 years ago.
In 1993, just before I retired, I was working in Manchester City Centre. I was walking along Deansgate when I noticed a number of plastic flag staffs at the front of Kendal Milne’s Department Store. The staffs, which were set at an angle along the frontage of the store, were being taken down. I thought to myself – ‘one of those staffs would be an ideal replacement for the rotten and damaged one at St John’s Church’. I walked into the store and asked to see the manager. He was very approachable and listened intently to what I had to say about St John’s Church and was sympathetic to my request for the store to donate a flag staff to St John’s. I waited in the store as he made a few enquiries. When he came back he told me that the church could have a flag staff and he would make arrangements for it to be delivered. I set off for home and by the time I had returned to Farnworth it had been delivered and was on top of the new church yard wall.
When I next met Derek Gee, we arranged a day to climb the tower and replace the old and rotten staff with our ‘new to us’ Kendal Milne plastic staff. We took the old one down and were just putting the new flag staff up when the rope fell out. Well the only course of action was that I had to climb up the staff to re-thread the rope. Oh happy days and happy memories.
Joe Thornley
Former Bell Tower Captain
April 2017
Clock Face
The following photographs were taken on 13th June 2008, when work began to give the church clock a new 'Weatherproof Face'.
A Photograph from Bolton News
Monday 18th December 2017
The man in the centre of the photograph is Joe Thornley, who at the time was St John’s Bell Tower Captain.
Joe took a week of his holiday leave, from work, to help remove the bells.
He later took two further weeks leave to help install the new metal frame and re-cast bells.
Please click on the image below to see a larger version
Rev Brian Hartley writes……
We enjoyed reading the items about Joe Thornley and about bell-ringing in the magazine.
It brought to mind an incident which I remember soon after my arrival at St John's. Joe enlisted the help of Derek Gee, Vic Gethin, me and a fourth person whom I can't remember at the moment. He wanted us to go up the tower with him to shift a baffle board that had fallen onto the bells. It was very precariously balanced and Joe was up on top of it not at all worried that he could plunge down the tower if the board moved very slightly. In the end - Derek refused to help him until he came off the top of the board. He was eventually persuaded and the job got done. Joe had no fear of heights at all and I recall another occasion of seeing him almost running along the top of the parapet on the south side of church. I wish him all the best.
Church Magazine July 2017
PEAL OF BELLS IN MEMORY OF NORMA RUSHTON AND JACK LONGWORTH
On Thursday 24 March 2016, Maundy Thursday, a peal of bells was rung at St John’s church. The peal called Californium Surprise Major lasted for 2 hours 48 minutes and involved 5088 changes.
The peal was in memory of Norma Rushton and Jack Longworth, both long standing parishioners at St Johns.
Norma was associated with Brownies and Guides in the parish for over 70 years.
Jack had been an active member of our ‘Tuesday Gang’, helping to carry out maintenance of the church and keeping the church yard tidy.
All the ringers, which performed the peal, were visitors from various parts of Lancashire and members of the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers. What a pity St John’s has no ringers of its own.
JOE THORNLEY
Former Bell Tower Captain at St John’s
Anyone interested in becoming a Bell Ringer at St John’s should contact Dorothy McGlynn, PCC Secretary.
Bell Ringing at St John’s
On Friday 27thApril 2018 at St John’s Church, a peal was rung by the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers. The peal, in Castor Alliance Major Method, lasted 2 hours and 44 minutes and involved 5040 changes.
The peal was rung as a 92ndbirthday compliment to H.M. Queen Elizabeth and Joe Thornley, former bell tower captain at St John’s Church.
The ringers standing as follows:-
- Gail L. Randall 5. Peter Randall
- Anne C. Orme 6. Brain J Owen
- Jane Owen James E Andrews
- Derek J. Thomas Peter G. Bellamy-Knights
Conducted by Peter C. Randall
The man in the centre of the photograph is Joe Thornley, who in 1954 took a week of his holiday leave, from work, to help remove the bells. He can be seen helping to lower the 7thbell, the last to be removed, before they were re-cast.
Bell Ringing at St John’s
In Memory of Victor Gethin
On Friday 25thMay 2018, at St John’s Church, a peal was rung by the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers. The peal, in Odyssey Alliance Major Method, lasted 2 hours and 41 minutes and involved 5096 changes.
The ringers standing as follows:-
Composer M Maughan
- Peter C Randall 5. Derek J Thomas
- Anne C Orme 6. Brian J Owen
- Jane Owen 7. James E Andrews
- Gail L Randall 8. Peter G Bellamy-Knights
Conducted by Peter C Randall
Rung in memory of Victor Gethin, lifelong member of St John’s Church and Church Warden for over 20 years, who died 11thMarch 2018, aged 68. R.I.P.
Bell Ringing at St John’s
In Memory of Keith Entwistle
On Friday 27thJuly 2018, at St John’s Church, a peal was rung by the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers. The peal, in Xtraction Alliance Major Method, lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes and involved 5096 changes.
The ringers standing as follows: -
Composer M Maughan
1 Gail L Randall 5 Peter C Randall
2 Anne C Orme 6 Brian J Owen
3 Jane Owen 7 Derek J Thomas
4 Raymond A Hutchings 8 Peter G Bellamy-Knights
Conducted by Peter C Randall
The peal was rung in memory of Keith Entwistle, former Group Scout Master, School Governor and Church Warden at St John’s Church, who died 22ndJuly 2018, aged 64. RIP
On Friday 4 th October 2019 at the Church of St John the Evangelist, Farnworth and Kearsley, a Quarter Peal was rung by the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers. This preceded the Service of Institution and Induction of The Revd Stephen Nolan, as Team Rector of the Benefice of Farnworth, Kearsley and Stoneclough.
St John’s PCC would like to express their thanks to Andrew Ingham, from the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers, for arranging the Quarter Peal. In addition they would also like to express their gratitude to James Andrews and the Peal Band, who repaired the broken bell rope in order to make this peal possible.
Six new bell ropes, have been gifted by Mrs. Cynthia Gethin and her family in memory of her husband Victor Gethin, a former Church Warden and Chair of Governors at St John’sSchool.