Chertsey peal rung in Chertsey

For only the second time, the Chertsey Surprise Major peal was rung in a church in Chertsey.

The peal, which involves 5,024 changes and lasts three hours and 25 minutes, was rung on the eight bells at St Peter's Church in Windsor Street, on Saturday (17).

It was rung by members of the Guildford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers, with representatives from Chertsey, Farnborough, Guildford Cathedral and Old Woking.

Malcolm Loveday, tower captain at St Peter's Church and part of the bell ringing team, said: "The bells at Chertsey are widely regarded as some of the most difficult bells to ring in the Diocese, mainly because they are rung from the ground floor and thus have a very long length of the rope in between the ringers and the bells.

"And Chertsey is a particularly difficult method to ring, and the ringers are not allowed to have any visual aids to help them remember where they should strike their bell relative to the other bells.

"The ringers have to exactly remember the pattern of the method, while they are ringing it."

The first time the peal was rung at Chertsey was in October 1988 and Mr Loveday rang in both peals.

It was the 32nd peal rung on the bells at St Peter's, with the first in 1886.