Tower and Town, March 2023 (view the full edition)Bell RingingThe bells are calling the people of Marlborough to prayer and are marking important national occasions like Jubilees and Coronations, but St Mary's is short of bell-ringers for its eight bells.
'Change ringing' and 'method ringing' are English inventions. While church bells in continental Europe and the Middle East make small swings like a clock pendulum, the English style is for the bell to swing through 360 degrees which allows for accurate timing of the striking of the bell. Our bell ringing is described as 'full circle ringing'. The bells are 'set' with the mouth of the bell facing up. They are held in this position by a wooden stay. The ringer pulls the bell over the balance and the bell strikes after rotating 360 degrees. 'Rounds' are when the lightest bell (the treble) strikes first, followed by the bells in order of weight and lower notes with the heaviest bell (the tenor) striking last. St Mary's tenor weighs ¾ of a ton and the bells are in the major scale of E flat. The bells cannot ring tunes or melodies but do sound musical. 'Method' ringing allows for each bell to change one position (the only thing that is mechanically possible) on successive rings and achieve all the possible combinations. With five bells there are 120 combinations (5 factorial shown as 5!) which take a few minutes to ring. With seven bells there are 5040 combinations (7!) which takes about three hours and is a 'peal'. There are many different methods such as Plain Bob, Grandsire and Stedman which achieve the objective of ringing all the different combinations. A ringer can be happy with just ringing rounds and call changes or can go on to learn some of the methods. Come and have a look at us! David Chandler |
Bell ringing is an interesting and rewarding activity which offers mild physical and mental activity. It takes a few months to acquire sufficient bell handling skills for a beginner to be able to ring for Sunday services. I would describe the skill as being like learning to ride a bike or swim: once learned, never forgotten! Come along to a Tuesday practice at 7:30pm and see what it involves.