When the bells fell silent ahead of bride-to-be Helen Hutchins’s big day in a pretty Gwynedd village church engineers from a local fire and security company came to the rescue.
Wear and tear and plenty of Welsh rain had caused the steel bell–pull at St Garmon’s Church in Betws Garmon to give up the ghost just a week before Helen was due to be married to fiancé Andrew Hutchins
Picture by Mandy Jones Photography
But Sion Greasley and Sion Lewis, of Snowdonia Fire and Security, took a break from fitting sprinkler systems to new houses to hurry round to the church and carry out repairs.
Father-of-the-bride and warden of the church Mel Nevitt had mentioned the impending crisis in his daughter’s nuptials to David Greasley, founder of the company based just up the road in Waunfawr and a fellow parishioner.
In no time at all Snowdonia Fire and Security had sprung into action as the two Sions popped up at the church after work, put up scaffolding and soon had the old bell in full working order in time for the happy occasion.
Mel Nevitt said: “The church was built in 1842 and is the only one in the area where the bell-pull is actually outside and over 20 or 30 years the corrosive atmosphere had caused bell and pull to part company.
“My daughter was due to get married and I mentioned it to David who passed it on to Snowdonia and his grandson, Marc, Sion’s brother, got in touch to say they’d be round to fix it and they were as good as their word.
“Come the big day the bell was in full working order, the weather was glorious with brilliant sunshine and everything went wonderfully well.”
Sion Greasley said: “When we got the call we were happy to help so after work we picked up a scaffolding tower and got down to the church.
“We soon had the tower up and rigged up a new wire bell pull, tested it and it did the job.
“It was a bit of a break from our normal work but we were delighted to help out.”
Happy bride Helen, an occupational therapist who lives near Preston, said: “We have been going to St Garmon’s for a number of years and the bell is an integral part of the service so when my dad told us the bell was out of action we were so disappointed.
“My dad said he’d do everything he could and we’re so grateful to the team from Snowdonia because on the day the bell was rung for us to go into the church and then again when we came out.
“You can see from the smiles on our faces how important that was. It was the icing on the cake and just made the day magical.”
Melvyn’s wife, Jean, also baked a delicious chocolate cake which was delivered to company headquarters and he added: “This is a wonderful and beautiful area but the best thing about it is the people. There’s a real sense of community and everyone helps each other.”
Marc Greasley said: “We’re just so glad that we were able to help out and ensure that Helen and Andrew’s big day went well.
“We are very much part of the communities where we operate and we want to make a contribution to those areas.
“We support a number of local charities and sports clubs including several football clubs and have also backed
“As a company we carry out a wide range of services relating to fire safety and security and we employ staff right across North and Mid Wales.
“Recently we’ve been increasingly busy across the border too and in Wales since it became compulsory to install sprinkler systems in new homes we have become even busier.”
