Chichester great-grandfather marks Clap for Carers by ringing his father’s war-time bell

John Chappell said his father would ring the bell to warn residents of air raids when they lived in Tangmere.

Every week at 8pm, the 86-year-old heads out onto his doorstep in Swanfield Drive to start ringing and rouse the neighbours to join in the applause.

Many comparisons have been made between our current circumstances and the war, but – recalling his childhood memories – Mr Chappell said it was ‘entirely different’ back then.

“It was a different scenario,” he said. “We were being bombed and shot at.

“My father grew his own vegetables in the front garden, there was nothing in the shops, very little. There were rations.”

Mr Chappell, who went on to do his national service between 1952-4, moved to Chichester when he got married and has lived there ever since.

The father-of-three worked on the railway for 42 years, dealing with track maintenance locally, until he retired in 1998.

He said it was very important to honour the NHS each week. “I think they are doing a marvellous job, they really are,” he said.

The octogenarian has extra reason to be thankful, after he was admitted to St Richards Hospital following a fall two weeks ago.

He said the procedures at the hospital were ‘very thorough’, with staff completely changing their PPE between seeing to each patient.

Despite still recovering from his injuries, he was back on his doorstep with his bell on Thursday.

And to mark VE day on Friday, he wore a replica of his national service uniform for the socially-distanced celebrations.

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