A new challenge every week

Bellringing is a totally unique hobby offering something different for everybody. At heart it’s a welcoming team activity, where everybody works together to produce a sound present at all our historic moments, call out for our celebrations and toll sadly in empathy with our grief.

Some ringers enjoy the continuation of a traditional activity and the opportunity to visit and see the hidden parts of many of our historic buildings. For the more logically minded, there is the personal challenge of learning and trying new things each week and putting them into practice. Ringing is a dynamic hobby, enabling you to ring with many different people and the adventure of having an excuse of visiting many amazing places to ring.

“I enjoy the variety. You never quite know what you will be doing next. It may be a tour, a new method, a quarter peal or just something odd the Tower Captain wants to have a go at or see if I can do it.”

An intergenerational team activity

Bellringing is an activity for life. Many of our ringers start as children and find a welcoming environment where they are treated just the same as adults and rewarded with new opportunities as their skills progress. By their late teens ringers often start to show their potential leadership skills, organising ringing for ringers of all ages – from 9 to 90.

From the earliest days of bellringing history, when ringing the bells was much harder work, the bellringers would often retire to the pub. This tradition continues today, and you can often find a band of bellringers visiting the local pub after an evening ringing session. But bellringers also do far more, with regular gatherings and social events including meals and quizzes. Many ringers take a short break away each year to ring on different bells across the country – or even as far afield as Australia!

“Making new friends in the community has been really good for me socially – I now know many more people and go on regular outings. I have a fascinating hobby as well!”

A life-long adventure

With more than 5000 towers with bells to ring on worldwide, you’ll become part of a vibrant community that spans generations and continents. Bellringers are an exceptionally welcoming community and will be made welcome in almost all towers with an active band. The friendships and connections you make through bellringing can last a lifetime, creating a network of support and camaraderie that enriches your life in countless ways.

Some ringers like to try and ring at all towers, some chase towers with the heaviest bells whilst others like to visit places with unusual rings or with unique architecture.

Ringing has a different adventure available to everybody. Along the way, you'll have the opportunity to ring in historic churches and cathedrals, participate in local and national events, and even travel internationally to join ringing tours and festivals.

“I like to ‘collect’ different towers - I have almost rung everywhere in the county. I know there are some ringers that have rung in more than 6000 towers!”

A gentle physical workout

Bells are the largest and loudest instrument in the world. But they are also the perfect way to get gentle physical exercise and increase active living for people who are looking for alternatives to conventional sport. What’s even better is that bellringing is open to everyone – young and old – and with any level of existing fitness. The movement of bellringing often helps many people to stay active longer and increase agility

Some research commissioned by the Churches Conservation Trust asked experts from fitness and training provider, YMCA Fit, to observe the process of bellringing. They found that bellringers could look forward to improved agility, co-ordination, reaction time and balance, plus improved muscle endurance and cardiovascular fitness. The study also identified that as a gentle and inherently sociable pastime, bellringing was an ideal gateway to improved fitness and healthy living.

“It’s a good physical challenge – not hard but it needs coordination. It keeps me fit mentally and physically.”

A 400-year-old tradition

The bitter-sweet sound of just one bell or the majesty of a whole peal, has become part of the English heritage and much of the country’s history can be traced through the history of its bells. They call us to wake, to pray, to work, to arms, to feast and, in times of crisis, to come together.

The British style of bellringing is often called full-circle ringing, as the bell’s connection to a wheel allows it to rotate 360 degrees. A ringer must pull the bell at each stroke to make it rotate again for another full circle swing. Each time the ringer pulls the rope the bell swings and sounds. The bell sounds when the clapper hits the inside of the bell near the end of each stroke, so the sound is not produced at the same time as the rope is pulled. In change ringing, it is possible for the bellringers to adjust the time at which they pull their rope to control the speed of striking in order to produce the pattern of changes.

“The bells are an integral part of the community that I live in, and by ringing I am giving something to my town and continuing a heritage activity that has been part of the lives of the inhabitants of this area for hundreds of years. I am privileged to do so.”

Bellringing and maths

Bellringing music is unique; it isn't written on a standard score but is performed entirely from memory, learned by following the order in which each bell sounds. Bells start by ringing down the scale, creating the familiar sound we all recognize. This sequence is written as 1 2 3 4 5 6 if there are six bells. However, to ring changes, bells swap their positions in the order each time they strike.

For example, the first change after ringing down the scale might be 2 1 4 3 6 5, where all six bells have swapped places with their neighbours. The next combination could be 2 4 1 6 3 5, where the internal bells move while the leading bell (number 2) and the back bell (number 5) remain in place. Bellringers learn the path their bell takes through the sequence, remembering the route known as the blue line. These sequences are called methods and have names like Plain Bob Minor and Cambridge Surprise Major.

“Learning new methods and ringing them successfully is challenging but you really feel you have achieved something when you succeed.”