Bell-ringer 'thrown around' belfry after getting tangled in rope

A bell-ringer became entangled in ropes and was knocked unconscious at a belfry near Bath. A fire service spokesman said Helen Springthorpe, 58, had been "thrown around the belfry" at St Nicholas Church, Bathampton, on Monday night. A section of the bell-ringing gallery floor was lifted up and Ms Springthorpe was lowered 20ft (6m) to safety.


Photo from SWNS.

She said she had only been bell-ringing for three months and that she had been "just a bit unlucky". Ms Springthorpe said she was unconscious for part of the rescue as she had tripped and hit her head on the wall. She said the bell-ringing gallery floor that she fell on was at the top of a "very tiny and twisty spiral staircase".

Fire and ambulance crews were not able to rescue her via the staircase and had to lift up a section of the floor in order to lower Ms Springthorpe to the ground on a stretcher. Paramedics gave her morphine and made her comfortable while she was waiting to be rescued.



"I remember lots of people around," she said.  The bell tower was full of firefighters and paramedics. I remember being strapped to a stretcher and lowered through the trap door, seeing all the plaques on the wall in the church as I was lowered down." She said the accident happened on her first "pull" of the night.