Three hundred years ago Buriton church was struck by lightning and partly destroyed by fire. To mark the exact anniversary of the fateful day, Buriton's bell-ringers rang a quarter peal on the morning of Saturday 17 November 2012 and, in the afternoon, gave a public demonstration with opportunities for anyone to have a go at ringing the bells.
About fifty people turned up to learn the ropes, go like the clappers and try to avoid dropping a clanger.
According to Tower Captain David Hughes, most people got the hang of it quite quickly.
The bell ringing team are always looking for a few new recruits as, in David’s words, ‘some of us are fast approaching our sell-by dates.’