One of the delights being a bellringer is the tour – an organised occasion, usually annual, when you go round other churches ringing their bells. Often one encounters bells that sound wonderful (or sometimes dire), usually you see the great English countryside and its churches, and occasionally there is a novel twist. It all comes with the added benefit of company among friends, and a nice hostelry for lunch.
This year's outing took us to South Gloucestershire and North Wiltshire, and to Fairford in particular. A lovely looking church with some ancient stained glass, and great sounding bells. However ringers there are not tucked away in a belfry. They perform at the central crossing in full view of the congregation, in fact by standing among the choir stalls, to the extent that some ringers were worried about their ropes catching on the furniture. But that wasn't the only curiosity. The church has an extremely high ceiling and the bells are up in the tower. This means that the rope between ringer and bell is long, and that most of it is on display. So it is quite unnerving to see the ropes snaking around high above you as you ring.
The fourth church of the day was Hannington, and here the arresting feature was the staircase up to the belfry. A majority of ringing chambers are elevated from ground level, and not all are stone spiral stairs like here at Wokingham. In the past we have encountered sloping ladders, vertical ladders, trap-doors but the elegant wooden spiral staircase was a novelty, and quite beautiful in its way. It must have taken much skill to make.
These are just two aspects of a super day. Perhaps in future we should open the occasion to 'passengers' who just come for the ride and to participate in a really enjoyable time.
Steve Smith (July 2024)
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