Lympne bellringers met for the annual outing on a warm, sunny October day. We visited five churches with the aim of seeing the churches and ringing for about 45 minutes in each tower.

First stop was Ringwould and the parish church of St Nicholas. The present church is thought to date from around 1130 and is situated on rising ground overlooking the English Channel. It is possible that a wooden building previously stood on the site as the village has had settlements since the Bronze Age, and Saxon graves were recorded nearby.

Two mighty yew trees in the churchyard predate the present building. One tree has been aged as 1300 years and the other at 1000 years.

The bell chamber is on the ground floor and can be accessed from the churchyard. It has an attractive wooden barrel ceiling and a picture on the wall of a past bellringer Richard Lawrence, known by all as Dick, with his horse and cart. Dick, a local farmer and highly respected member of the local community, was tragically killed by a bull on his farm in 1929 and is buried in the churchyard. Possibly d*** still exerts influence because whenever the bells are rung the clattering in the bell chamber sounds like his horse and cart are in the rooms above.

The second church visited was St Leonard's in Deal and we were taken aback because the church looks, at first sight, like a converted army barracks. No wonder ecclesiastical dignitaries have referred to it as 'The most cockeyed church in Christendom'. It turned out to be the oldest building in Deal, the present church incorporating parts of an older Saxon building, and is quite attractive inside. Outside the appearance is dominated by an ugly 19th centaury extension added as Deal grew from a small fishing village. No planning laws then to protect the lovely old building.

The present church was built in 1180 and the steeple with three bells fell down in 1658. The tower was built in 1684 with five bells. These were re-cast in 1887 and a sixth bell added as a Jubilee gift to the town.

The church of St Martin's at Great Mongeham was locked so we went on to Nothbourne for an extended lunch at the Hare and Hounds.We were all happy to fill the time enjoying a beer in the sunshine before going inside for a slap up lunch.

St Augustines in Northbourne has lovely bells to ring, smooth and light and in the same position as Lympne bells. This made it easy for our inebriated band to remember what bell they were ringing. We could remember but not hear, because the bell chamber was just above the ringing chamber and the noise was deafening. We left in high spirits after our lunch and the comedy of trying to call changes over the noise. And who was rocking the iron spiral staircase making it difficult to get down?

So on to our last church, St Mary's in Eastry. This Norman church almost certainly replaced a Saxon building, since Eastry boasted a Royal Palace for the Kings of Kent as early as 660 AD. The tower has eight bells and we thought them very nice sounding bells. Several of us were getting tired so there was rather more chattering than ringing. Perhaps we should return and make this church first on the list next time.