Veteran bell-ringer fights to save historic tower

A man who has rung hundreds of bells in churches throughout the country from his wheelchair is campaigning to save the bells in his home town.

Bell captain Mike Wigney broke his spine in a climbing accident 24 years ago but his passion for bell-ringing has helped him with his rehabilitation and fitness, he said.

He has rung at more than 2,800 bell towers, including most of England's cathedrals, and not been deterred by poor access for wheelchair users, he added.

His local church - St Peter, St Paul and St Thomas of Canterbury, in Bovey Tracey, Devon - is trying to raise £120,000 to fix steel supports which hold up the bells.

Wigney is passionate about music and carried on ringing after spinal injuries and rehabilitation at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

He has also supported other wheelchair users to get back into the hobby they loved.

Churches and bell towers are notorious for poor disability access because of their age, but Wigney and his band of ringers have not been phased by the challenge of getting access to the ropes.

Bell towers often have very narrow steep steps and hatches that have to be climbed through.

Wigney said: "I rely on people to carry me up.

"Occasionally I can pull myself up with a rope up the staircase. We get there.

"The chair comes apart and the team brings it up with me."

The bells at Bovey Tracey have been rung for 500 years and Wigney said he was trying to ensure that carried on, even though they needed urgent repair.

Where many churches struggle to find people to ring the bells, his church has a thriving bell-ringing community.

The youngest members of the band that are training to ring are still in primary school.

But there are real fears the bells will fall silent if they cannot afford to replace the structure they hang on.

"It's Devon, it's damp and the steel frame is rusting," said Mike.

"When it rusts, it expands and it's beginning to crack the stonework.

"The bells are fine, the main bell frame is fine; but the supporting steelwork is threatening the tower.

The group is determined to reach a target of £120,000 to keep the peel of bells ringing throughout Bovey Tracey for the next 500 years.

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