Ringing Forums

Hi Oliver - I'm really pleased to hear that you enjoy peal ringing - so do I! It can be difficult to get started. I think there are 3 immediate options for people in your position:

• Find out who the peal organisers are in your local area, and tell them that you are interested in ringing more peals. This might not immediately be followed by a flurry of invitations for several reasons, including that peal bands have already been organised for the foreseeable future, the band might be ringing methods that are outside of your ability, or that there are other people who the organiser is also trying to support, but at least they will know that you are interested and potentially available
• Organise your own peals. This can be tricky to get started with, as you need to have a group of people around you that you get on with that might like to ring with you. Talking to your ringing contemporaries and asking if they would be interested is a good start, but (speaking from experience) organising a tower, conductor and a band that is likely to produce good ringing is not always an easy task
• Speak to your district ringing master and let them know that you are interested in ringing peals, so that they can keep you in mind if a suitable opportunity becomes available

Unlike other ringing opportunities, peals are not always arranged to include as many people as possible. They can be a time for ringers that support lots of other ringing training to have some time ringing for themselves (rather than for other people), and as a result can become a bit exclusive. Whether this is right or wrong is another matter, but new peal ringers don't always appreciate this.

People get quite upset if they meet for a peal and then it is lost, so if you are asked to ring a peal, be absolutely sure that you will be able to ring what you are being asked to, and ring it well, so that there is a high chance of success. The best way to do this is to ring with people that know you (and your abilities) well. If you do get an invitation from someone that you don't know so well, be very honest upfront about what you can and can't ring - don't be flattered into going for something too ambitious. You could use a ringing mentor to help advocate for you in this situation?

Good luck in your peal ringing endeavours, and thank you for being so enthusiastic!

Also following this with interest. We are actively considering a paid position in Essex, with heavy support from the membership, but lots of concerns from our trustees about liability and practicalities - hard to align the two. Concerns that paying someone will disincentivise volunteering. However, society has moved on: our members have less and less spare time to "give back" and the membership of territorial societies have higher (and justifiable) expectations of what we should be able to deliver.

We use SumUp - very successful and popular