St Machar's, Aberdeen

d. 14 Jan 2025

 

Sylvia Greig first came along to St Machar’s Aberdeen bell tower in 2016. She came along not to learn to ring, but to bring her son Ross along to learn to ring as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Award, through his school.

 

Whilst watching with interest as Ross started to learn to handle a bell, the other ringers at St Machar’s encouraged Sylvia to have a go herself, which she did. Over the following months she succeeded in learning to handle a bell, soon moving on to rounds and call changes and plain hunt. As time went on pressures of work meant that Sylvia was not always able to make practices, but she was still a stalwart of the tower helping out with special occasions and catering for SACR meetings in Aberdeen.

 

Ross moved away to University at St Andrews where he continued to ring, but sadly Sylvia developed some health issues which meant she was not able to continue ringing. She did come up the tower periodically to see the ringers when Ross was home and coming to ring. Sylvia would often get in touch with the ringers when Ross was going to be home and there was a wedding or some other special occasion to ring for to offer his services.

 

Sadly, Sylvia passed away at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary on 14 January 2025, after a brave and determined battle with cancer.

 

Ian Talboys


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