About Martinstown Cricket Club
We are a progressive club based in the centre of Dorset, between Dorchester and Weymouth. We have two Saturday sides in the Dorset Funeral Plan League, with the senior team competing in Dorset Premier division, an Evening League side and we also play friendly matches on Sundays and midweek. We enjoy hosting touring teams at our beautiful ground.
We are an ECB Club Mark club. This is in recognition of our excellent standards and dedication towards youth cricket. All sessions are led by a team of qualified coaches, supported by parent / guardian managers. We are always on the lookout for committed and dedicated help.
Our youth sides are: under 9s, 11s, 13s, 15s and 18s, although youngsters from 7 and up are more than welcome at our friendly club. We are looking to start a girls section, so if interested please contact us.
To find out more about sponsorship or offers of support please contact:
David Gargrave - Chairman • 01305 889291
Dick Corbett–Winder - Vice Chairman • 01305 889410
CLICK HERE to visit our website at…
www.martinstown.play-cricket.com
St Martin’s Church has a ring of 6 bells which were cast and set in an iron frame by John Taylor, Bellfounders of Loughborough, and incorporated the metal of the one remaining bell from an earlier ring of 4 bells. The new bells, costing £877, were paid for by funds raised through public subscription and were hung in 1947. They are Martinstown’s war memorial to the 5 men of this village who were killed on active service during the Second World War and whose names are commemorated on a tablet at the west end of the nave. The bells are tuned in the pitch of A, the tenor weighing 8 cwt.
We are particularly short of ringers at the moment so everybody - ringers and novices alike, are very welcome. Ringing for Sunday Services is occasional and Practice Night is Wednesdays at 7.30 pm.
Contact is Mr Howard Bowering - 01305 889521
A bit of history about our bells...
The first peal on these bells was rung on November 9th 1947 a few months after the new ring of six had been cast and installed by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough. In 1945 the village had decided to buy the bells as a War Memorial in memory of the five men from the parish who lost their lives in the Second World War. A tablet bearing the names of Frederick Chick, Alfred Dunford, John Hocking, Frederick Park, and Albert Trent is on the wall near the tower stairway. The total sum of £872 was collected principally by individual contributions. Five new bells were cast and a sixth, the large tenor of 8 cwt 1 qtr 4 lb, was recast from the metal of the one remaining bell of a former ring of four dating from 1746. The three others had been sold at some time to defray a debt. The inscription from this bell is reproduced on the new bell incorporating the name of Joseph Blanchard.
The Dorset Daily Echo of July 17th 1947 records the dedication service and particularly notes, “So great was the congregation that the service was relayed to an overflow congregation on the village green. The service was also relayed to the German Prisoner of War Camp opposite in appreciation of all the work put in by the Germans in getting the belfry ready and in helping to load and unload the bells.” Last November a half muffled quarter peal of 1260 changes was rung before the Remembrance Sunday service and it is hoped that this will become an annual part of the commemoration. The bells are considered “an excellent ring and sound well outside”. They make a fitting and active Memorial in Martinstown.
ref. Dalton Bells and Belfries of Dorset pt.II Dorset Daily Echo 18 June and 17 July 1947
