	1880 to 1885
	On Easter Sunday 1880 the tower bell ringers walked out. The vicar had reprimanded them for not attending the very services to which they summoned parishioners. The Bells were left hanging in silence. Unabashed Mr Gordon recruited a new band of ringers from the senior Sunday School. A year later he appealed for £20 to buy new ropes, tubes and pivots for the tower bells and to replace the worn out hand bells used for training new ringers. At that time the Stockport Advertiser took the opportunity to point out the virtue of the new Norbury Ringers. For there are too many churches where the ringers, immediately after calling others to worship, are seen slinking off, in their everyday clothes, to their homes or the nearest public house. At Norbury things are different for the young men who ring not only attend church, but themselves form a class who, Sunday by Sunday, meet in the belfry. We venture to think this class is unique and one which may, with advantage, be followed by other churches in the neighbourhood. From 'this time the regular appearance of the Norbury hand bell ringers was noted in the local press, while the performance at the Belle Vue festival some years later earned them a creditable reputation.	Large congregations were now a regular Sunday feature and serious thought was given to the extension of the church building. A committee suggested that a chancel should be added, of adequate size to house the organ and the choir, which could then include treble voices. No action was taken. Unfortunately, in the latter part of 1880 Mr Gordon's health began to suffer and to recuperate he spent the first seven months of 1881 on the shores of the Mediterranean. On his return he baptised four infants with water he had brought back from the river Jordan. Again during the winter of 1883 he took a cruise to the sunny climes and for the rest of his ministry at Norbury he spent protracted summer holidays in the Isle of Man, during which time his brother the Rev. William Gordon, vicar of Paddock near Huddersfield, officiated for him on a number of occasions. In 1882, at the request of the parishioners, and to bring the church services into line with others in the neighbourhood, evensong was held during the summer months at 6:00 pm. There was no evening service during the winter months because the congregation in the galleries would no longer tolerate the fumes from the old fashioned oil lamps. However, with the installation of gas lighting in 1884 the 6:00 pm service continued throughout the year.
	Norbury Parish Church, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Telephone: 0161-483 6325

1880 to 1885

On Easter Sunday 1880 the tower bell ringers walked out. The vicar had reprimanded them for not attending the very services to which they summoned parishioners. The Bells were left hanging in silence. Unabashed Mr Gordon recruited a new band of ringers from the senior Sunday School.

A year later he appealed for £20 to buy new ropes, tubes and pivots for the tower bells and to replace the worn out hand bells used for training new ringers. At that time the Stockport Advertiser took the opportunity to point out the virtue of the new Norbury Ringers.

For there are too many churches where the ringers, immediately after calling others to worship, are seen slinking off, in their everyday clothes, to their homes or the nearest public house. At Norbury things are different for the young men who ring not only attend church, but themselves form a class who, Sunday by Sunday, meet in the belfry. We venture to think this class is unique and one which may, with advantage, be followed by other churches in the neighbourhood.

From 'this time the regular appearance of the Norbury hand bell ringers was noted in the local press, while the performance at the Belle Vue festival some years later earned them a creditable reputation.

Large congregations were now a regular Sunday feature and serious thought was given to the extension of the church building. A committee suggested that a chancel should be added, of adequate size to house the organ and the choir, which could then include treble voices. No action was taken.

Unfortunately, in the latter part of 1880 Mr Gordon's health began to suffer and to recuperate he spent the first seven months of 1881 on the shores of the Mediterranean. On his return he baptised four infants with water he had brought back from the river Jordan.

Again during the winter of 1883 he took a cruise to the sunny climes and for the rest of his ministry at Norbury he spent protracted summer holidays in the Isle of Man, during which time his brother the Rev. William Gordon, vicar of Paddock near Huddersfield, officiated for him on a number of occasions.

In 1882, at the request of the parishioners, and to bring the church services into line with others in the neighbourhood, evensong was held during the summer months at 6:00 pm. There was no evening service during the winter months because the congregation in the galleries would no longer tolerate the fumes from the old fashioned oil lamps. However, with the installation of gas lighting in 1884 the 6:00 pm service continued throughout the year.

1880 to 1885

Norbury Parish Church, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Telephone: 0161-483 6325