LAST last week saw the re-hanging of the bells of St Andrew's church in Presteigne.

Local volunteers working with employees of Whites of Appleton spent the whole of March 11 getting the eight bells and all the fixtures and fittings back into the bell tower of the church in the hope that the bells would be ringing out in Presteigne by the weekend.

The bells of St Andrew's church have been calling people to services for almost 300 years. In 2014 began fundraising began so that the bells could be given some much needed once-a-century maintenance. By July 2015 all the money was raised and work began in late October 2015.

Whites of Appleton removed the bells (with a considerable amount of local volunteer help) and transported them to Oxfordshire.

They were retuned at the Whitechapel foundry in East London and Whites have made new headstocks and other fittings.

They arrived back in Presteigne on April 8.

In their absence the cast iron frame has been cleaned and painted, bird netting has been installed, and some experimental sound control has been put in place in consideration of the neighbours.