Residents of Elderslie have been able to hear church bells in the village for the first time in more than 12 years.
The bell tower at Elderslie and Linwood Parish Church, formerly Elderslie Kirk, recently underwent a huge refurbishment, which has also included the church roof being replaced.
The work on the three-bell tower included two deep cleans and the fitting of new strong wire mesh, as well as the control unit being sent to Loughborough in Leicestershire to be reset.
David Bruce, property convener at the Main Road church, said: “We know the community has missed hearing the bells on a Sunday morning and it was great to see everyone’s reaction when they were turned on again."
The bells were manually played until the 1960s when the church, which was built in 1940 and is c listed, switched to electrical bells.
John Taylor & Co, who originally originally fitted the bells, were able to overhaul and upgrade the control unit to ensure they are fit for purpose.
This was then refitted by the electricians working on the project.
Scaffolding had been up around the church since the end of August 2025, and the work took around 13 weeks to complete.
The roof, which is believed to be the second roof on the original building, has had new slates fitted and a fifth of the wooden sarking and trusses replaced.
The contractor also had to deal with the autumn weather, including Storm Amy at the end of September, which delayed the work slightly.
READ NEXT: People convicted of crimes at Paisley Sheriff Court have done this amazing thing
"A huge amount of work has gone into replacing the church roof, and we are delighted that the bells could be fixed while the scaffolding was in place,” added David.
“The bell tower is normally completely inaccessible and needed extensive work to get the bells ringing again.
“Our thanks to our contactor, Gerry Devine Roofing & Roughcasting, for all their work.
“It’s a huge investment in futureproofing this beautiful building.”
