bellringing

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Thompson
Date: 05 Sep 09 - 05:25 PM

BBC Radio 4's Bells on Sunday has bells from different churches each week. Very meditative and enlivening.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 05 Sep 09 - 04:01 PM

Change ringing is much less known here in the States than in the UK, but here's a nice short audio+slideshow on the annual meeting of the North American Guild of Change Ringers in New York City recently: ding.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: squeezeboxhp
Date: 18 May 09 - 07:02 AM

I am up for a Quarter at Whitby and the Vicar of Whitby is a ringer so some sympathy there,
Ken

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: open mike
Date: 17 May 09 - 08:08 PM

all this talk must be from some other planet..
but here are some sites to find out what it all means..
http://www.nagcr.org/
http://www.nagcr.org/pamphlet.html
http://www.nagcr.org/grands.wav
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_ringing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campanology
http://www.cccbr.org.uk/ringing/ringing.php
http://www.cb1.com/~john/ringing/index.html
http://www.ringing.info/
http://www.ringingworld.co.uk/

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: SussexCarole
Date: 17 May 09 - 04:20 PM

I've not rung for quite a few years now - but I'm still up for a Mudcat quarter peal

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: GUEST,Joe P
Date: 17 May 09 - 10:18 AM

One of the interesting sounds I discovered moving to Beverley is listening to two towers ringing at the same time (St Mary's and the Minster). Our house is positioned so that the volume from the two is about the same (depending on the wind) and the effect somewhat takes away from the beauty of bellringing.

I used to ring but since I moved I never really got back into it. Shame, but always leaves me something to get back to at a later date.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: jenstie
Date: 17 May 09 - 10:04 AM

Been ringing for 25 years and i'm only 33! I found this site while googling The bellringers song, found the lyrics and also the comment that it wasnt sung much these days...well Im glad to say thats not the case, as I sang it last night at Moulton festival!

Keep ringing everyone!

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: LadyJean
Date: 29 May 04 - 01:58 AM

I was the guest who mentioned that they ring changes at Bond Chapel at the University of Chicago. It was simply beautiful when they rang a peal for my sister as she and her then husband came out of the church.
If you're in Salisbury this summer, Wednesday night is Bellringers' practice night. All the churches ring peals. I was there with my mother and we were both delighted to be among the bells.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: SussexCarole
Date: 28 May 04 - 01:12 PM

I'm really disappointed...not going to be able to make Whitby this year!! A quarter of Bob Royal sounds superb         Carole

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 28 May 04 - 05:44 AM

I'm a bit late with the owing up... but I'm a bell ringer too.. though admittedly just a learner, I'm just starting plain hunts....

I enjoy it too, good laugh and a nice group at our tower.

Ella

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: brid widder
Date: 27 May 04 - 12:23 PM

I'm hoping to be at Whitby week but it might just be the weekend...& just maybe Monday if so I'll manage to ring for the morning service but that's probably all... sorry... if I am able to be there for more I'll let you know but I think I'll have to pass on a quarter for this year.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Mary Humphreys
Date: 26 May 04 - 07:04 PM

Brid widder - get practising. We have a date at Whitby. You could ring the treble to bob royal once you can plain hunt. All we need is a band and conductor. And the bells of course.
Whitby practice night is on Thursdays at 7.30pm - I checked with the Yorkshire Assoc C-R site, so failing a quarter, we could all arrange to meet up then. I am hoping that nice Malcolm Storey hasn't put me in for a concert spot.
Mary

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: brid widder
Date: 26 May 04 - 05:33 PM

Well Whitby has a tower...a nice 10 ... and ground floor... once you've climbed the 199 steps! but I'm afraid I can't be there... I'm away on holiday in Scotland.

I'd love to go for a mudcat quarter but I'm a slow learner & don't think I'm ready yet... I've rung only one and that on the tenor... Whitby's 19 cwt+ tenot would be too heavy for me just yet. I am now hunting confidently to plain hunt on the treble so hopefully it won't be long... have fun give Pete & Cheri in the Tap & Spile my love.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: IanC
Date: 26 May 04 - 12:14 PM

Brid Widder

I'm up to Whitby for the Sword Spectacular this weekend. What chance of getting enough for a MUDCAT QP? Got a handy tower?

:-)

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: brid widder
Date: 24 Dec 03 - 01:50 PM

well I am excited... way back in Nov 01 I'd only been ringing a few weeks and had never even gone solo on the rope... now I'm thinking of trying for a Mudcat quarter!

I'm going to need to get some practice though... at practice the other night I missed the Sallie...a 8cwt lump of swinging metal with an inch thick 70ft rope attatched!!! scary.

As for today... well tonight I'm taking part in one of the BEST bits of ringing... letting the whole city centre know it's Christmas by ringing for Midnight mass.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Mary Humphreys
Date: 23 Dec 03 - 06:10 PM

Hi SussexCarole,
I recently rang for my son's wedding. I thought I might have forgotten how to ring after a 3-year holiday, but slid into Stedman Triples and Cambridge major without a hitch. As someone said before, it's just like riding a bike. You never forget.
Just name the method. I'll be there, provided Malcolm Storey doesn't have me singing for the festival punters at the time.( We are booked for the week, so Malcolm's wishes are sacrosanct!)
See you there.
Mary

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: SussexCarole
Date: 23 Dec 03 - 05:01 PM

Hi Mary(Vectis)

Sorry you're not still ringing regularly, but if you can manage a quarter to changes 'inside' you'll be welcome. Will probably be a 'plain' method to start, doubles or triples. It's more important to have a quarter that is well struck and enjoyed by all than to try for spliced surprise maximus to start!

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: IanC
Date: 23 Dec 03 - 03:41 PM

I'm up for a QP but Whitby might be best during the International Sword Spectacular in May, as it's a long haul otherwise.

As regards ringing changes on small numbers (like 3) ... I'm yer man!

Here's my advert for my 3-bell methods handbook. Sold over 200 so far (since last Easter) and an abs. WIZ! for the 500 or so 3-bell towers in England. At least 3 towers are using it as a textbook.

I'll ring on anything, but I've never rung a peal (much more tedious than a QP on 3).

:-)
Ian

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: breezy
Date: 23 Dec 03 - 07:09 AM

steady and true wus they???


Ho Ho Ho


bleedin' bells' bleedin' bells clanging all the day
We were drinking late last night and now we want a lay -in
Bleedin bells, bleedin' bells wish they'ld go away
Didnt get to sleep last night nor likely to today

Mike Sparks has penned a little parody on 'In Ashwater Town' that chronicles the night the St Albans folk club - with Martin carthy as guest - was delayed by the St stephens bell ringers

But then he has contributed a few songs to the 'tradition'

'My Lady of tesco' 'Embalming Tommy'

Mike is resident and co bookings organiser of the Herga Folk Club Wealdstone , Harrow, Nth London

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: GUEST,Jim Knowledge
Date: 23 Dec 03 - 06:33 AM

I `ad those bell ringers from North Looe in my cab once. One of `em was wearing an `at wiv all lace round it. I asked if they`d won the prize or somefing but they said, Nah, they`d just been up Carnaby Street.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: breezy
Date: 23 Dec 03 - 06:21 AM

they practice every Friday at St STephens Church opposite the King Harry where the folk club meets in St Albans

Its a pain if we are holding the folk club in the church hall and they go into overtime.

Mary get in there and control 'her who shall be nameless'

Sats 3rd and 17th January session at the British Legion, verulam road

this was not an intended Hi jak


Happy Christmas

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Dec 03 - 01:00 AM

I've never rung a change, but, since I read "The Nine Tailors" I've wanted to.
They do ring changes at Bond Chapel at the University of Chicago, or they did when my sister was married. I remember how beautiful it was when she came out of the church and the bells pealed. The marriage didn't last. But I don't think it was the bell ringers' fault.

I was in a church in Abbeville South Carolina. The bell rope was within easy reach. The bell itself was brought across the state during the civil war, and nearly melted down to make cannon. I was sorely tempted to ring it, and resisted. I don't know that I will be so forbearing if I ever find myself there again.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: vectis
Date: 22 Dec 03 - 07:47 PM

I'll come and supervise if you like. I used to ring when I was a teenager but when I moved to London I stopped. Had a crack a while ago but my dratted leg won't let me stand long enough for a quarter much less a peal.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: SussexCarole
Date: 22 Dec 03 - 02:22 PM

Well it looks as though there are enough of us for a quarter and I'm happy to organise it! Send me a pm if you're interested & let me know what methods you can ring. Whitby sounds a good venue.....Carole

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: brid widder
Date: 22 Dec 03 - 02:20 PM

we've got 4 so far willing to try for a quarter... Whitby sounds good...any more? and anyone to conduct?

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Ringer
Date: 22 Dec 03 - 05:45 AM

I'm in for a Mudcat quarter. Whitby would be fine.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: treewind
Date: 21 Dec 03 - 06:48 PM

That should be
http://www.kingstownringers.org.uk

A.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: treewind
Date: 21 Dec 03 - 06:35 PM

Brid Widder - you'll find Mary's name all over the Whitby programme as we're booked for the week. Have to make sure Maclom Storey gives us a bit of time off so Mary can go ringing with you!

Anahata

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Beardy
Date: 21 Dec 03 - 06:11 PM

www.kingstownringers.org.uk

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: brid widder
Date: 21 Dec 03 - 02:16 PM

Ringing bells at St Mary's is a bit special ...they were silent for about 45 years! Mary if you ever have chance to come to Hull I could possiby arrange a ring for you... not just service or practice time... you'll pass Hull on the way to & from Whitby... it would be worth a detour! I too will be at Whitby folk week... and will try to get to ring...I'll wear my Mudcat badge ... look out for me. I'm also going to Whitby for the Moor & Coast festival... & for New Year so I could get a bit of practice ...I can't imagine being ready for an away from home quarter by August, however, but would be willing to try.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Mary Humphreys
Date: 20 Dec 03 - 03:19 PM

I have only just now seen this thread - and I am really glad I am not alone in the folk world by also being a ringer. ( I did meet 3 other people up the tower at Sidmouth at the fesitval in 2000 but they were dancers I think. )When I lived in Yorshire I used to get a lot of friendly teasing by the Ryburn crowd for being a ringer.

I have been ringing for about 20 years and I have rung about 50 peals for mainly Lancashire, Yorkshire & Manchester University Guilds though I haven't been a Sunday service ringer for about 3 years. I first learnt at St Michael's Headingley ( that's the one you can see from the cricket ground ) and later rang for Sunday Service at Manchester Cathedral ( 10 bells ) then Halifax Parish Church( a lovely Gillet's 12).
Congratulations brid widder! I am consumed with envy - I used to attend St Mary Lowgate in the days when the bells were classed as 'unringable' because the tower was said to be unsafe. I always wanted to ring the bells there. Now I live in Cambridgeshire, and I'll probably never get the chance.
If anyone wants to arrange a Mudcat quarter (or a peal ) I am up for it!
I shall be at Whitby this year and that's a tower I'd love to grab.Any conductors out there?
Mary Humphreys

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: mack/misophist
Date: 20 Dec 03 - 10:57 AM

Would some of you ringers consider movint to San Francisco? The church up the hill has retained a tone deaf spastic to ring the bell there. Please help.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 20 Dec 03 - 06:01 AM

And it's like riding a bicycle- you get a little rusty, but you never forget! I could probably slip into Plain Hunt pretty quickly, even thought it's been 25 years since I pulled on a rope!
Here is a link that explains change ringing to North Americans. There's even an audio clip!

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 20 Dec 03 - 04:18 AM

The bells have to be 'rung up' into that position. They can be left like that, but it is a little dangerous. Anyone tugging on a bell rope could be snatched up to the ceiling.
Not drunken nor sober,
Keith.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: open mike
Date: 19 Dec 03 - 07:44 PM

The album is "A ringing tour, Bells of the Cotswolds"
the "cuts" are:
Burford, Oxon, 8 bells
Bledington, Glos, 6 bells
Stoe-on-the-Wold, Glos. 8 bells
Morton-ini-marsh, Glos. 8 bells
Bourton-on-the-hill, Glos, 6 bells
Chipping Campden, Glos, 8 bells
Ebrington, Glos, 6 bells
Ilmington, Warks, 6 bells

(What does it all mean??!!)

The liner notes say that ringing means
the bell goes all the way around, full-circle.
And that other mode of sounding are called
chiming. It also says that the bell starts
and stops in the upside-down position.
Can this be? hard to imagine how it all works..
sounds good though.

the album goes on to note that with the advent of the
motor car, a "band" of bell ringers can sample or
practice on 6-8 bell towers in a single day!

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: open mike
Date: 19 Dec 03 - 07:22 PM

i got a vinyl record album of british bells.
I offered it as a wedding present to my cousin
and her new husbande who is from near Birmingham
(England) They were not interested in it so i
brought it home...maybe i can figure out how to
digitize the tracks so they can be heard here!

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Amos
Date: 19 Dec 03 - 07:18 PM

I feel you lot should know, not to dampen your enthusiasm or anything, that no-one over here can understand a word you're saying. Your high spirits are charming as hell, though! :>))

A

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: brid widder
Date: 19 Dec 03 - 07:05 PM

Oh yes please... but I might need a bit of time to practice... & I normally ring anticlockwise!

that blue clicky didnt work... we're at www.kingstownringers.org.uk

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: SussexCarole
Date: 19 Dec 03 - 04:31 PM

Anyone game for a Mudcat quarter peal..I'm happy to organise it!!

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: brid widder
Date: 19 Dec 03 - 03:35 PM

I certainly am! I rang my first quarter in the summer... covered to Plain Bob doubles... at St Mary's Lowgate in Hull I ring at two towers... Holy Trinity which I mentioned in my earlier posts and St Mary's... which is anticlockwise ="http://www.kingstownringers.org.uk/index.php">http://www.kingstownringers.org.uk/index.php

I think the idea of a Mudcat quater is brill!!... we often get to festivals in towns ith bell towers... Whitby would be perfect... but I'll need a bit more practice first.... maybe next year... or the next!

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: SussexCarole
Date: 19 Dec 03 - 02:11 PM

Hi Brid I've been ringing tower bells since I was in my teens....home tower used to be Warnham W Sussex until I moved down here to Worthing....have rung lots of peals and quarters....have we enough UK catters to ring a quarter perhaps. Stick with it Brid it all seems a little mystifying at first but you'll be sure to enjoy it.    Carole

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Ringer
Date: 19 Dec 03 - 01:50 PM

Hey, Brid Widder -- are you still ringing? How's it going? (Just asking now 'cos I'm off to practice-night).

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: cyder_drinker
Date: 08 Dec 01 - 09:07 AM

It was 5040 Cambridge Surprise Minor, on the back 6 at Pig-Le-Tower campanile in Somerset. The tenor there only weighs 20lbs!
Similar speeds can be got on full-size rings but they better be small! Ston Easton and Whipsnade come to mind...

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Ringer
Date: 19 Nov 01 - 07:47 AM

Wow: an hour 23 is very quick on tower bells (was it on tower bells? Where?) My quickest is about 2 and a half.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: cyder_drinker
Date: 18 Nov 01 - 03:34 PM

And lots of ringing links I found.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: cyder_drinker
Date: 18 Nov 01 - 03:31 PM

5040 changes for a full peal are only required if there are 7 or less changing bells (5040 being the extent on 7 bells). For 8 or more you only need 5000 changes. Of course you can ring more (my maximum so far being 7500).
Keeping track of where you are in the peal is the conductor's job - he (or she) is the one who has had to memorise the composition. Usually the comp is fairly regular, so when you get to the same point next time round the positions of the bells in the change tell the conductor where they've got to. (no, I don't conduct!)
My quickest full peal: 1hr23mins
My slowest full peal: 3hrs 45 mins

And here is a Blue Clicky for the song mentioned above.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Nov 01 - 04:49 AM

Average time to ring a peal is 3 hours, depending on number of bells. It's bloody hard work!

LTS

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Nov 01 - 04:48 AM

West Stafford in Dorset has only 3 bells (and gets mentioned in one of Thomas Hardy's books), and I've rung them with only one other ringer! Changing was interesting, but a peal would be terribly tedious....

LTS

And I seem to remember it's 5054 changes to a peal.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Ringer
Date: 18 Nov 01 - 04:39 AM

Here's a link to an earlier thread on this subject. I brink it up to respond to Mousethief's comment about ringing changes on 4 bells. The first post in the previous thread provides a link to Mike Chester's web site. Mike Chester is somewhat unusual in that he's rung several peals on 4 bells! On 4 bells, 24 changes can be rung before you start repeating yourself (we say the extent on 4 bells is 24). A peal, which is a length of ringing containing at least 5000 changes, must therefore contain 209 extents. How they ever keep count, or stave off the boredom, I don't know. But changes are possible on 4 bells (and on 3, as many towers less than overly subscribed with ringers can testify on a Sunday morning).

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: mousethief
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 05:29 PM

No, it's not terribly loud. They're just little bells, mounted on a beam outside the side door of the temporary chapel. Someday we hope to get real ones, nice big ones that need a tower. These were gifts, actually. Better little bells than none at all.

Alex

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 05:27 PM

I used to, don't have many towers here in London that aren't wired for sound or muted. Have rung on the heaviest 8 in the country (Sherborne Abbey) and the lightest 10 in the world(The mobile ringing tower that was set up in the grounds of Salisbury Cathedral in Sept 1982 - the 100th anniversary of the Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Ringers and my 18th birthday!). Managed to 'grab' about 80 towers up and down the country.

It was fun, but I preferred to sing, so gave it up for the folk club....

LTS

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: GUEST,Paul
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 04:19 PM

triskadekophobic = fear of the number 13

Nice word! Thanks, Guessed.

Mousthief, is your largest bell really only 12 inches across? Can't be very loud...

Paul

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Guessed
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 04:01 PM

Upton-u-Severn May bank Holiday (the May BH next year) has a peel of sorts. AND Tewkesbury nearby has bells numbered from 1 to 12 with a 5A. Are you triskadekophobic?

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: brid widder
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 03:09 PM

actually Keith I know the bellringing song ...

'One day in October neither drunken nor sober o'er Bradbury Down I was wending my way, when I heard of some ringing some dancing and singing, I ought to remember that jubilee day...

and so on...I've sung it...relatively regularly for several years but never thought I'd actually be a bellringer!! maybe one day I'll ring 'for a belt and a hat laced with gold'

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: brid widder
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 02:38 PM

I have only just started about 3 weeks ago...I go to practice nights and have had a few individual lessons with the clappers tied to try and get the knack of pulling the rope...which is not as easy as it looks. This week I 'covered' on plain hunt apparently!!! of course I had a lot of help...with an expert holding the sallie.I know it'll be a long time before I'm let loose on a sunday morning!

I ring at Holy Trinity in Hull...15 bells!!! 2 x 12s 26 combinations(I think thats right) no it doesn't make sense to me but those who know bells might understand!! the biggest bell is a ton and a half! Two local towers have joined forces and early next year we will start ringing at St Mary's Lowgate...the bells there have been silent since 1956!!!I can't do a blue clicky thing but have a look at www.lowgate.org.uk

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 02:26 PM

There is a fine bell ringing song on the site.It's about a contest between village teams.
Keith.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: mousethief
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 02:03 PM

I'm a bellringer at our parish. We only have small bells (the largest is maybe 12" across at the mouth), and only 4 which is (of course) not enough to ring changes, which is one of the most mathematical of musical adventures. I keep plugging for getting a full octave. We shall see.

alex

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: cyder_drinker
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 01:46 PM

I have been a bellringer since 1995 (sounds like an AA meeting!)
Musicians would relate to this: You know that time in a sesion, when suddenly something clicks with everyone at the same moment and the music takes on a life of its own, and becomes something much larger than the sum of people playing? The intense feeling of euphoria and kind of "natural high" that you get when this happens?
Well when you get it right whilst ringing bells as part of a team - timing spot on, the rhythm is flowing - that's the same feeling.
Oh, and it's also really nice when you stop after a full peal (which can take up to 4 hours on the bigger rings!)

Where do you ring, Bridwidder? My "home tower" is St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: brid widder
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 01:00 PM

Thanks everyone...anyone who has chance and has never tried change ringing I'd recommend to have a go...I think it would be an interesting topic for a workshop at a festival especially at week long ones like say Whitby.

Bald Eagle I know what you mean about it being almost as good as a sing and a beer, and I am encouraged to know it will take such a long time to get to grips even with the basics...I am an absolute beginner and thought I was just hopeless!!

I quite like the idea that it's an 'unlikely' pastime!!

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: GUEST,Paul
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 10:20 AM

General Information on Change Ringing

Quite interesting (to me, anyhow)

Paul

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 10:06 AM

My change ringing experience is strictly a fantasy (not many opportunities in this neck of the woods) based on "The Nine Tailors" by Dorothy L. Sayers. Oh, and a delightful juvenile book about bells whose title escapes me.

Bat Goddess (I've got bats, but no bellfry)

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Ringer
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 09:36 AM

I think member, IanC, is also a ringer. And occasional contributor "GUEST French Guest" ditto.

As to the attraction of ringing changes, it's just not describable in words - it has to be experienced; unfortunately, you have to be able to control a bell first (say 3 months practice), then place your bell accurately amongst all the others (anything from another 3 months to 6 years) before you can get that experience. But when you are ringing changes to an interesting method with a good band, the enjoyment is immense - almost as good as singing-with-beer.

It's always struck me that ringing is a very unlikely pasttime.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Sarah the flute
Date: 14 Nov 01 - 03:37 AM

I've tried it a long time ago in Devon where I grew up but decided it wasn't for me. However my mum who is in her eighties still rings regularly as does my deputy here at work who is also an avid fan. Keep ringing!!!

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 11:10 PM

That's what I was talking about John. I enjoyed the TV series too, but the books have always been great reading. We got 'em all.

Spaw

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Sourdough
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 11:10 PM

I rang bells for a couple of years in high school. We had chapel services eight times a eek and for each service a bellringer climbed the tower and we played three or four hymns while the students assembled below. I never understood the attraction of ringing changes though except as a technical achievment.

Our bells were rung by depressing large levers hard and fast. It was fairly demanding physical activity. The biggest strain was the fear of making a very public mistake on a well known melody. An odd thing is that not only don't I remember ever making a mistake, I don't remember anyone else making one either so I suspect that selective memory is at work here.

I forget now but I think we had a peal of no more than fourteen bells but it seemed that the rank of levers stretched a very long way.

The scariest part was thatwe never could practice quietly. We could mime he lever sequences, just jiggling the handles but when it came time to play, the sound spread out over the little Connecticut town. Even though none of us ever got more than a few years experience ringing bells, we became a fixture in town and I like to believe that many of the residents of the town associate the bells fondly with their home.

Steve

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Joe Offer
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 10:45 PM

I used to ring the Angelus bell at our parish when I was in grammar school. The bell could be heard for miles around, so we altar boys thought that was a cool job to get. We used to beg Brother Anthony to let us do it.

Are there techniques for ringing a single bell so it has more than just a regular rhythm? We just rang it twelve times and stopped - Animaterra's message made me think some single bells may be rung differently.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 10:28 PM

Spaw-Have you reads the books by James Herriot? I would definetley recomend them.john

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: catspaw49
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 10:23 PM

One of my favorite stories from the "All Creatures Great and Small" series was the story of Tristan and the Christmas Peel. I'd love to know more about it.

Spaw

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: Sorcha
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 10:21 PM

I love campanille bells, the real hand rung ones, not the computer generated ring. I went to a Handbell concert once, and all the songs sounded like the same song. Oh well. I can see the attraction to ringing either,though.

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: 53
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 10:07 PM

we used to hear them on sunday morning but now its been replaced with the radio. BOB

Subject: RE: bellringing
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 09:47 PM

I tried change ringing in my youth- even rang in Old North Church, Boston, on the 18th of April in '75 (1975, that is). I didn't have the kind of brain required to figure out the changes beyond Plain Hunt or a simple change, so when I moved away from any towers it was easy for me to gracefully retire. I still love the sound of the bells, though I almost never hear them anymore.

Subject: bellringing
From: brid widder
Date: 13 Nov 01 - 07:52 PM

I recently saw a post from Bald Eagle mentioning bellringing. I've just started ringing (tower not handbells) and wondered if any other mudcatters had given it a try? after all it has commponents that most of us would find ap'peal'ing(sorry). Granted you wouldn't be welcome at many sessions with a two ton instrument but it is musical and traditional, involves commitment and team work, and it's really good fun! I've been thinking about all the folk festival towns that have bells...I hope when I've got a bit of skill I can disturb you at...Warwick, Beverley, Otley, Whitby....