MUSIC lovers of a certain age will remember the catchy tune and whistling introduction to the words: ‘Winchester Cathedral – you’re bringing me down…’

Fifty years on from its first release by The New Vaudeville Band in 1966 the famous song’s words have been re-worked by the original songwriter, Geoff Stephens.

A new arrangement by Winchester Cathedral’s Director of Music, Andrew Lumsden, has recently been recorded by its Boy Choristers and was released last week. So now, with the same catchy tune and whistling intro, Winchester Cathedral’s ‘beautiful bells are sending a message all over the world.’

A CD of the ‘new’ song, along with two other numbers recorded by the boys at the same time - Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Climb Every Mountain - is available from the Cathedral Gift Shop in person or online, priced £5.

The first recording peaked at No. 1 in the charts in November 1966, and sold 3 million copies on both sides of the Atlantic, the song has been covered by numerous artists including Petula Clark, Dizzy Gillespie, and Frank Sinatra. It won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1967.

It was The Dean of Winchester, The Very Rev’d James Atwell, who first approached Geoff Stephens to suggest a 50th anniversary re-launch with a reworking of the words.

He said: "We are hugely lucky that Geoff Stevens, who wrote the melody and the lyrics, has backed this venture and written a new set of uplifting words. The arrangement by Andy Lumsden is stunning. It is a Dean’s dream come true!”

The new recording, which was released under the Signum Classics label on Friday, was premièred at a Gala Fundraising Concert in the Cathedral on Saturday.