Neil Hitchens RIP.
It is with great sorrow that I have to report the death, after a short illness, of Neil Hitchens, for many years a prominent member of the Guild and a leading member of the Western District.
Neil was brought up in Truro and learned to ring at St Clement where he was involved in the augmentation of that church’s bells from four to six in1970.
A mining engineer by profession, he spent much of his working life underground, not only in Cornwall but much further afield including at least one period in Hong Kong.
He and Jane met through ringing and were married at Kenwyn in August 1976, and for most of the time since then they were committed ringers at Gulval.
Their son, Trystan, learned to ring and one of Neil’s proudest achievements in ringing was to conduct his first peal which he achieved one month before his eleventh birthday.
Neil was a great supporter of Guild events, including not only regular attendance at Western District Festivals and its Annual Dinner and in recent times was a regular member of the West Cornwall Monday evening quarter peal band.
He was a member of the first Cornish band to ring a 12-bell peal – Plain Bob Maximus at Buckfast Abbey in 1976, a peal in which Jane also rang and more recently had been a keen supporter of the 12 bell practices at our Cathedral.
I myself first came to know Neil and Jane in the early 1970’s and like so many others greatly lament his passing. I know that I write for a great many ringers, both in Cornwall and elsewhere in saying how sorry I am to learn of his death and to express our very best wishes to Jane and Trystan as they come to terms with their loss.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
Robert J Perry
Guild President
