With these bells I thee wed

From the The Bolton News, first published Monday 27th Aug 2007.

THEY had not chimed for 27 years - but Paul Berry was determined that the bells would ring on his wedding day.

When the builder and his bride-to-be, Ailsa, discovered that the bell tower of Christ Church in Harwood had been silent since 1980, he vowed to do something about it.

So with tools in hand, the 37-year-old clambered his way to the top of the bell tower and, after calling in a few favours, the happy couple were able to leave the church in traditional style to a sound the village had not heard for decades.

Paul, from Newby Road, Breightmet, said: "When we found that the bells didn't work I asked if I could have a look to see if there was anything I could do.

"They needed a new bracket and new rope, so I called in a few favours from people I know to get the bits I needed, and spent a few hours crawling about in the bell tower to fix them.

"We both wanted the bells ringing for a traditional wedding. The people at the church were so pleased they were working again and they said they would do the wedding flowers as a thank you."

Ailsa and Paul met at the Three Pigeons in Astley Bridge in 2002 when Paul went to see a friend play in a rock band and Ailsa was working behind the bar.

Ailsa, aged 33, said: "He was very determined that everything was going to be perfect and I'm proud that he managed it.

"We had a great day."

Despite the couple's wishes that their wedding was as traditional as possible, they did step outside of the boundaries in one respect - Paul's best "man" was actually a woman.

He has been best friends with Jo Slater for 15 years and decided to ask her to do the honours traditional reserved for men.

Jo said: "I was delighted when he asked me because he has lots of male friends who he could have chosen."

The couple will honeymoon in the Maldives.

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