THE bells of Nevern Church have moved a tantalising step closer towards their first Full Peal in 120 years.

Members of the Nevern Bells project hope St Brynach bell-ringers can deliver a 10-bell peal around the end of June – subject to the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

On Easter Sunday the church re-opened to welcome thirty members of the congregation as the newly-installed 3 bells Ellacombe – rung by Vicars’ Warden Cilla Evans and People’ s Warden Sue Watkins –sounded across the Nevern Valley for the first time since October 2019.

“It is an incredible achievement in the teeth of the lockdown to have raised £500,000 for the restoration of the Nevern Church Tower and Bells and to now be the only Church in Wales to home 10 bells except for the Cathedrals,” said Maggie Campbell, secretary of Nevern Church Tower and Bells Appeal Committee.

“We still need to raise the last bit of money, but our project is now more or less complete.”

Last month’s first National Day of Reflection was marked by the tolling of the new 'Agatha Christie’ Bell

One of the major donors to the Nevern project is The Colwinston Trust, a charitable trust set up in 1995 by Christie’s grandson, Mathew Prichard.

Donations can still be made at www.nevern-church.org.uk