Ringing Forums

As Jonathan says, it's quite understandable if the ringers don't wish to ring large tenors for whatever reason. If we make up the numbers so that all of the bells can be rung, we sometimes very politely/tactfully ask/offer to raise/ring the back bells if they would like us to. At one tower we visited on holiday, some of the newer local ringers hadn't heard all 8 for a very long time and were absolutely amazed at how lovely they sound compared to the front 6!

Introduce Grandchildren to Ringing
We have been discussing Ringing 2030 at district meetings and committee meetings.
Sadly, there are few younger adults with children to take ringing, so we thought about encouraging more mature ringers to take grandchildren ringing.
It's easier if they live nearby but, if they live further afield, it would also encourage them to visit other towers.
We will try to encourage this in our area.
We also have a young committee member who was taught by their grandparent, proving that this can be successful.

It helps us to explain the weight of the bells, especially the treble, to those who are not familiar with cwt: We have lots of non-ringing visitors :grin:

Being the size of a slight 12-year old (under 5' and less than 1cwt), I use body weight to pull bells off, going up to full body weight (technique described by Jonathan) for heavy/deep-set bells. If that doesn't work then I bounce them off. As a last resort I ask for help! (Muscles don't work for me because I'm lacking in that department!)

Indeed. Sadly seen too frequently nowadays.

It's backwards rounds. I thought that it was well known that ringing reverse rounds (for longer than normal) is a sign of invasion. Similar to flying the Union Flag upside down being a sign of distress.

As well as the other tips - Practise with a bell below the balance so you ring handstroke with just your right hand on the sally (like ringing up/down). Then you can concentrate on your right hand transferring onto the tail end without worrying about your left hand too.

Our rope heater is not 'home made'. It is a small oil-filled radiator on a timer. The ropes rest on a wire cage at a safe distance above, with the option of moving the tail ends to one side so they don't over-dry, while the gentle heat travels up the rest of the rope and reduces the chill in the Norman tower. The cage takes up very little space when not in use. Photo here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y35pIjERUnNw5OZyw7q2YzHHfL9_WpC6/view?usp=share_link

Relax! is also a useful reminder for ringers who tend to 'over-think' (e.g. Plain Bob) and worry so much that they forget what they should be doing. It can be difficult to help them to relax, listen and allow the rhythm to guide them.

That picture is a Chesterfield District meeting at Old Brampton a few years ago. There were in fact 6 youngsters present. I took the photo because it represented the diversity of ringers in our local area at the time.

Try 'ringing' it on the stairs at home: Number the hallway 1 and the bottom 5 stairs as 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6. Then walk it through on the stairs. Going upstairs equates to ringing slowly, going downstairs relates to ringing quickly. To make it harder, allocate one foot as handstroke and one as backstroke. This will help you to see that the backstrokes go back the other way to make the dodge. NB please be careful, and I'd recommend not trying to turn round on the stairs, but to come back down to lead backwards. If you have no stairs it can be practised on the flat. It helps to keep you fit too :)

As PRO for the Derby DA my role has evolved to also cover Internal Communications, and we have a local (Derbyshire Bellringers) Facebook group. For external social media I set up the Bell Ringing Derbyshire Facebook page, and share posts to other local (non-ringing) FB groups/pages as appropriate. I've also set up an Instagram account for the tower where I am TC, as I've been advised (by a young ringer) that Instagram is the most popular social media channel for young people (and to avoid TikTok).

Our sandstone broach spire rises directly above the bells. During lockdown spiders made webs over the bells and fittings, which caught the falling stone dust. We use a vacuum cleaner to remove the stone dust and webs (to avoid sweeping and causing dust clouds). We also 'sweep' the stone stairs by vacuuming.

We rubbed linseed/teak oil onto our 1923 wheels.