Every Church across Wokingham Borough will ring its bells for the King’s Coronation on Saturday (6th May). St.Paul’s Church in Reading Road, Wokingham, will ring with a full peal of bells, with the bells starting to ring at 5pm for four hours, running into the Coronation evening. Other churches will follow suit.
It is likely the bell ringing will be led by Westminster Abbey, whose bell ringers will ring a full peal. A full peal comprises of a minimum of 5,000 different changes (or sequences) and takes more than three hours to complete. There are about 6,000 sets of bells across the British Isles, totalling nearly 38,000 bells and only around 30,000 bellringers.
Bellringers often support several towers to fill the gaps and with the announcement of the date for the coronation of the new king, the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers put out an appeal to recruit more ringers so they were trained in time to Ring for the King.
For centuries church bells have sounded, calling people to worship, in celebration of special occasions, in remembrance and to mark special events. Cathedrals tolled their bells most recently to mark the death of HM The Queen.
Vicki Chapman, of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, said:“Bellringing is a great way to find new friends, a new hobby, take gentle physical and mental exercise and a great way to connect with local communities.”
Bellringing is taught, not in a classroom or lecture hall, but in the belfry of church towers, as a hands-on practical exercise for the body, the mind and the spirit. You might have to access the belfry via a spiral staircase, or even a ladder, so some flexibility is required.
If you’re interested in learning to ring, the first stage is to visit a bell tower, watch a practice, see some ringing, meet the team and ask any questions. Most bellringing teams love having visitors, and will be pleased to make you welcome. If you’d then like to learn, someone from the team will help you get started with handling lessons. The Association of Ringing Teachers (ART) can help you find a friendly band who can teach you how to ring.
Your first lessons will concentrate on developing the skills to handle a bell; the technique to control the bell using the rope. This is done on a one-to-one basis with your trained instructor and is often done on a silenced bell. This initial skill can take 10 to 15 hours of tuition to acquire.
Once you can handle a bell safely and competently you will start to learn how to ring with others. This will require you to attend a weekly practice. Soon, you’ll find you’ve got the ringing bug and continue ringing, enjoying a lifetime of different ringing experiences.
Photo by My Wokingham’s Paul King
