Scarborough Couple Celebrate Double Diamond Anniversary for Marriage and Bell Ringing

Alan and Betty Grundy are celebrating sixty years of marriage alongside Alan's remarkable sixty-year tenure as Ringing Master at St Laurence’s Church.

Alan and Betty Grundy, a couple residing in Scarborough, are celebrating a double diamond anniversary this year. On the fourth of June, they mark sixty years of marriage, which coincides with Alan's sixty-year milestone as Ringing Master at St Laurence’s Church.

The couple first met in 1958 as bell ringers at Selby Abbey. In the same year, they both qualified as members of the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers after ringing their first quarter peal of 1,260 changes.

Betty trained as a nurse at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, gaining State Registered Nurse status before their wedding at Selby Abbey in 1966. Alan had qualified as a chartered accountant in 1965. Following their marriage, the couple relocated to Scarborough when Alan secured a position with Ashby Berry Chartered Accountants. He was offered a partnership the following year and remained with the firm until his retirement around fifty years later. Betty continued her nursing career at St Mary’s Hospital in Scarborough until the birth of their first child, Sally, who was later followed by a son, Martin.

Bell ringing is considered a uniquely English art, with over 5,000 rings of bells capable of a full 360-degree rotation in the country, compared to just fifty or sixty in the rest of the world. St Laurence’s Church originally housed two bells cast in 1674, with a third added in 1919. In 1961, a generous donation from Mr and Mrs Gilbert Mann funded three new bells and the refurbishment of the existing ones, allowing a whole ring of six to be hung in a new metal frame.

In 1966 Reverend Canon Chris Tubbs invited Alan to become Ringing Master at the church, with Betty joining the team.

Under Alan's leadership, the team achieved significant milestones. By 1972, he had trained a band capable of ringing a full peal of 5,040 changes, which they rang half-muffled on Remembrance Sunday for two hours and forty minutes. The St Laurence's team has also won the George Beech Memorial Trophy twenty-four times. The striking competition is for the Scarborough and District branch of the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers, a district extending from Bridlington to Hovingham and Fylingdales. Furthermore, the team won the Yorkshire-wide six-bell striking competition in 2010 and 2024, making them the best band in Yorkshire.

The couple's involvement extends deeply into church and community life. Both joined the church choir in 1976. Alan served as Parochial Church Council Treasurer for ten years, Churchwarden between 1998 and 2003, and remains a member of the Finance Committee. Betty became Brown Owl for the Scalby Brownies in 1976, and together they served on the church’s Social Committee for twenty years.

They also formed a handbell team in 1966 after receiving an octave of handbells as a wedding present. Initially transporting the bells in a handcart around Scalby village to collect for charity, the team now possesses three octaves and has performed at local hotels, hospices, and Castle Howard.

Former team member Bishop David Wilbourne praised the couple's dedication.

"To serve as ringing master several times a week for six decades is a remarkable achievement, made unique by Alan and Betty’s warmth and care for the ringers they have charge over; a truly Christian example of love and service."

Fellow bell ringer Linda Thompson added her appreciation for the Ringing Master.

"St Laurence’s Church should count their blessings and give thanks for Alan’s remarkable achievement."

Alan and Betty will celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary near Manchester in June with their two children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandsons. A special celebration of their sixty years of ringing at St Laurence’s is planned for the fifth of September, featuring a quarter peal with past and present ringers.