What makes bells ring

In the rural areas, standards of behaviour deteriorated with bell ringers described as layouts and drunks. Often locals saw an opportunity to earn a few shillings however this was often transferred quickly from the church tower to the village inn. Any and every opportunity taken to ring, for which the tavern keepers were very grateful. Attendance at church services was considered no part of bell ringing. The first true peal a extent of ringing with over 5 different variations in was believed to have been rung on May 2nd at St Peter Mancroft, Norwich.

By the middle of the 18th century many newspapers indicate that the ability to stand for three hours and to ring a peal of changes was common and also that there was a crowd of listeners near and far eager to hear. At Debenham in Suffolk a band of eight young men rung a peal of Bob Major, consisting of 10, changes and taking over six hours.

Change ringing began to lower in social esteem, with swearing, smoking and a barrel of beer in the tower normal. Some belfries became notorious as the meeting place of the village riff-raff, who indulged in heavy drinking and riotous behaviour. A deep rift developed between ringers and clergy, with some towers closed by their incumbents.

The ringers often broke into the belfries to ring or drink and were usually very independent, reserving the right to choose when to ring. High Wycombe, Bucks in … bells rung out to celebrate the passing of the Reform Bill but a few days later on the occasion of the annual visit of the Bishop the ringers refused to turn out as a mark of their disapproval at his having voted against the Bill in the HoL.

Are church property, so Rector has law on his side, but little can do against a difficult band of ringers. Smaller congregations and collection money. The Victorian reform of the Church of England included a reexamination of practices used since the Reformation.

In , the Cambridge Camden Society began a national spring clean of churches, including the tower and bell ringers. Church leaders want to improve the standard of ringing and, above all, to ensure proper and reverent behaviour in the ringing chamber and to encourage ringers to attend church services. Many churches had the floor of the ringing chamber removed and the ropes lengthened so that the ringers now performed in full view of the congregation. By the late 19th Century, women began to take up bell ringing.

Miss Alice White of Basingstoke was the first woman to complete a full peal in As more women became interested, the Ladies Guild of Change Ringers was formed in Bell ringers were encouraged to appoint a Tower Captain to be responsible for the regular attendance and general conduct of ringers — including giving penalties for bad ringing or behaviour. By , a new generation of ringers had emerged and bell ringing was once again respectable and part of the church.

Many bell installations also improved, making the bells easier to ring and triggering more complicated methods requiring a greater degree of concentration, not to be attempted when fuddled with alcohol. After World War I, disillusion with politicians manifested itself in a swing against organised religion. When we ring the bells, a team of ringers ring one bell each in turn. In order to produce different rows, a pre-learnt mathematical pattern is rung which changes the order of the bells.

Learning the patterns and ringing them in a team is where the fun really starts! Once you have mastered handling the bell itself, there is the mental task of learning and ringing the patterns; this requires a lot of concentration. There is also the musical task of keeping in time within a band and striking your bell accurately and evenly spaced among the others.

As a team we try and maintain a good sense of rhythm so that we can ring well together — this is important as we frequently ring in towers where the public can hear us! There is now, however, a danger that, if the ringer is over-enthusiastic, the force of the stay hitting the slider could shake the whole frame and even damage the whole tower!

This can be frightening but rarely does any harm. Practically all learners break a stay at some point - it is part of learning the right strength to use pulling the rope and the tower should carry a stock of spare stays which are not too difficult to fit again.

The final thing to learn about bells is what makes the noise. The noise is made by a "clapper" which swings freely in the direction of the bell swing. When the bell is down at rest, the only way to get the bell to sound is by swinging the bell until it hits the clapper, let the bell swing back and then hit the clapper again with it. This is called chiming and can be likened to hitting a cricket ball the clapper with a bat the bell.

If this is repeated and the bell swung more vigorously then the clapper itself will start to swing.