Ringing Forums

There seems to be some confusion. The video link Tina posted is promoting bell ringing in Spain, not Italy.

I expect that’s how they rang the bells here before the 17th century

For those interested a recently published House of Lords report on Intangible Cultural Heritage

https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/43438/documents/216057/default/#:~:text=AGREEMENT%20REPORTED%20FOR%20INFORMATION,-1.&text=The%20Convention%20for%20the%20Safeguarding,expires%20on%2022%20February%202024.

interesting criticism of DCMS for misinterpreting the convention by assuming that beyond creating a UK inventory it doesn't imply any commitment to actually do anything to safeguard cultural heritage, just to make people in the UK aware, and that it doesn't intend to submit anything to UNESCO (supposedly 'for the first few years').

Yes, Nice point that. Whatever the reason they decide they should join is not as important as them taking the step. DCMS getting on the train is more important, let them realise thereafter how much the tickets cost ;)

Hi All,
The House of Lords has published their recent report into the ICH you can check it out here. https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/43438/documents/216057/default/#:~:text=AGREEMENT%20REPORTED%20FOR%20INFORMATION,-1.&text=The%20Convention%20for%20the%20Safeguarding,expires%20on%2022%20February%202024.

That's the same link you posted a couple of weeks ago. Did you mean to post a different one?

No, John, just making it more widely accessible. I did get a written acknowledgement from DCMS to my written submission so hopefully I'm in the loop as far as future engagement ahead of next steps :smile:

↪Ian Sterritt That's the same link you posted a couple of weeks ago. Did you mean to post a different one? — John Harrison

I discovered Ian's post had been lurking in a moderation queue for about 3 weeks, so released it. Sorry for the delay and probable duplication.

On Intangible Cultural Heritage I just received this update from DCMS....
Hi All,
A short update on implementation of the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention, which officially came 'into force' at UNESCO on 8th June.
Election
As you know, a General Election has been announced for the 4th July. There are a lot of restrictions on work during the pre-election period so we've had to put the publication of our consultation response and further discussions on hold, but will be continuing to progress work in the background.
Next steps
We're not able to give any details or expected timings at this stage, but will provide further updates around late summer after new Ministers have been briefed and settled in.
In the meantime, let us know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
August Crocker
DCMS Manchester, 17 Marble Street, M2 3AW

So, it seems UK government is progressing along with first step of signing up to the convention, at least I interpret 'into force' as meaning UK ratification.

Latest Update I have received on Intangible Cultural Heritage....

Hello everyone,
We thought it would be useful to update you on all things Intangible Cultural Heritage or 'Living Heritage.'

Progress has been slower than expected due to the General Election, plus Phil and I have both had to spend a lot of time on some other UNESCO work.

We're nearing a draft of the consultation response - it'll need to go through a few approval / sign-off stages but it will hopefully be published by the end of the year, otherwise early next year. In the background we've been working on how the inventory websites are going to work, looking into data management and considering accessibility for minority languages. All this and more guidance will be published as part of the community and outreach work when we launch the call for nominations to the Inventories (c. spring 2025).

We'll keep in touch!

Thanks,
August Crocker
Policy Advisor - UNESCO, Intangible Cultural Heritage - International Hub
Manchester, 17 Marble Street, M2 3AW.

So we keep an eye open for when they publish the consultation response and see what they plan but anticipate that we should draft a nomination. Anyone know someone with experience of such 'applications' ?
Regards
Ian Sterritt

Has any association/guild made any attempt at safeguarding with respect to the growing phenomenon of private rings where these rings are registered with their association? Rev. Clive Thrower VP Derby Assoc.

this is nothing to do with world heritage status. I suggest you start it as a new topic. That will make it much easier for everyone to keep track, and ensure your question gets read by people interested in it, who might not be interested in the world heritage question.

Latest communication on Intangible Cultural Heritage is below (things move slowly BUT maybe we get there eventually). Soon as we are clear on the process to follow we can decide action to take.
Hello everyone,
We still don't yet have a date for opening the call for submissions for the inventories I'm afraid, due to factors outside our control. The delays are frustrating, but we are ready to go and pushing for a date as soon as possible. So I wanted to email and tell you a bit more about what's coming - and then we'll hopefully be in touch again in the very near future to let you know when we go live.
The website is looking great, and has a lot of guidance, FAQs and information - including some fun fictional case studies that we've made up as examples! There will also be a range of ways to engage in person - we'll have bi-weekly online information sessions (a daytime and an evening slot) where you can come along to find out more, and there will be targeted sessions and workshops later on to help with specific areas like gaining community consent. Plus, we have 11 Community Support Hubs around the UK who will be another place for you to get advice and support, and to connect with others to collaborate on submissions - information about who they are and how to join the sessions will all be published when we go live.
The call for submissions will also stay open for around 4 months - we tried to find a balance between having sufficient time and not dragging things out too long. But don't forget that the inventories will be a live ongoing process - we'll have regular calls for submissions going forward if you're not able to submit this time around.
In terms of how the process will work - this is described in the consultation response we published earlier this year. It's a bit of a long read as we wanted to respond to as many as we could of the questions and ideas that we received, but the executive summary at the beginning gives a quick overview of the key points and outlines the criteria / code of ethics and categories so if you just read that you'll know roughly what to expect.
Hope that's useful - and we'll be in touch again soon. Thanks for your patience and ongoing interest.
Many thanks
Phil Foxwood
Head of World and Living Heritage
Media and International Directorate

On a follow up note, for those interested Bell Ringing in Italy and Spain is already on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage register so we can clearly show there is already a precedent! Here's a link to the register.
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/manual-bell-ringing-02100

The submission process for this is finally open:

*We're pleased to announce that the call for submissions to the inventories
of living heritage in the UK is now open!*

You can visit our website here [https://www.livingheritage.unesco.org.uk/]
for more information. There's a comprehensive guidance
<https://livingheritage.unesco.org.uk/info/guidance> page detailing the
steps needed for submissions, along with extensive FAQs
<https://livingheritage.unesco.org.uk/info/faqs>.

There are a range of ways to get involved, including:

- Community Support Hubs
<https://livingheritage.unesco.org.uk/get-involved/community-support> -
we have 11 organisations who are helping to provide support and advice
- Information sessions
<https://livingheritage.unesco.org.uk/get-involved/info-sessions> -
we're running regular online sessions where we'll cover the basics of the
inventories and applying
- Review panel members
<https://livingheritage.unesco.org.uk/get-involved/review-panel> - if
you'd be interested in helping review submissions, please send us an EOI
- Plus we'll be adding details about workshops on Community Consent and
other specific areas soon...

We'll be open for submissions until Friday 27 March 2026, but inventory
submissions will be an ongoing, live process, so there will be future calls
for submissions too.

@Tina@Vicki Chapman will the CCCBR coordinate the application for full circle change ringing? Presumably it makes sense to have one organised entry than multiple similar but different entries for bellringing?

Presumably it makes sense to have one organised entry than multiple similar but different entries for bellringing? — Lucy Chandhial

They specifically ask for groups to coordinate to avoid duplicate registrations, so yes.

coordinate the application for full circle change ringing — Lucy Chandhial

So change ringing in hand isn’t cultural heritage? interesting that they chose ‘livingheritage’ for the website. I used that name as the title of my book because it summed up the message i wanted to get over to (non ringing) readers about ringing, but I don’t recall it in the UNESCO context.
If interested, see: https://jaharrison.me.uk/book/

So change ringing in hand isn’t cultural heritage? — John Harrison

That's an interesting question, should they be registered together or separately? What about in-hand ringing that is tunes rather than changes?

https://handbells.org.uk/

I think there is a greater divide, culturally, between change ringing and tune ringing on handbells than there is between change ringing on tower bells and on handbells.
Tune ringing on handbells is conventional music, and handbells are a tiny fraction of the range of instruments used to make such music, whereas change ringing, an any type of bells (or other instruments) is a unique form of music.
Likewise tower bells rung English style are a unique type of instrument.
Whether to register together or separately is an interesting question because there’s an overlap between a performance style and a music style.

Hi, We will be putting together a request for volunteers to join a task group to start getting this organised, in the first instance to fully understand the requirements for getting registered, and also to advise on scope/partners and other stakeholders we would need support/involvement (church, heritage/conversation bodies etc). Fom the Spanish and Italian entries clearly there was a lot of work going into the preparation for the listing bid, although I think this is just a UK step to get onto a UK-based 'inventory'. That's one of the things we need to understand clearly.

In the meantime, if anyone is interested in getting involved in this (and by getting involved I mean actively participating in this planning and possibly in the bid preparation process), please definitely get in touch.

I think one of the things that needs to start straight away is meeting the community consent requirement:

Community consent is the process of getting agreement or approval of your community of practice on the decision to submit an element to the inventories.

'Prior’ means that consent was given before the living heritage was submitted to the inventories.

How do I gather community consent? / What do we need to include to demonstrate consent?

The process for gaining consent from the community of practice will vary and will be informed by the community’s customary decision-making processes. It could include (but is not limited to) a vote of hands at a meeting, an online poll, an exchange of emails or a collection of signatures, but we are not setting specific requirements and would ask that you demonstrate consent in the way that is best suited to your community of practice.

And there's only 4 months until the submission date:

We will keep the call for submission period open for around four months. We tried to find the balance between giving people enough time to write a submission and get community consent and not making the process too long.

https://livingheritage.unesco.org.uk/info/faqs

The community of practice in our case equals ringers. It's clearly not practical to get individual consent from 30,000 ringers by eg 'a show of hands in a meeting' and the guidance recognises that. Fortunately we have an established structure of ringing societies and the Council that can represent ringers.
I can't find an actual cut off date, but 4 months gets to say 1 April, which is before either the CC ACM or many society AGMs. Most societies will have the means to take soundings, especially from their more active members and officers so it should be doable.
If the Council can show the backing of 60-70 (independent) societies across the country I think that should carry considerable weight.
So the question is whether any society would oppose the submission. I would expect enthusiasm to vary from strong support to neutral. I can't see any obvious down sides that would justify opposition, but that can't be taken for granted, so early engagement of both territorials (because they repreent the mass) and the elites (because they may have disproportionate influence) will be needed.

yep, that all sounds right to me. As far as I can tell, the clock is already ticking - which is a bit ridiculous as it's taken them 2 years to get the thing under way.

That's an interesting question, should they be registered together or separately? What about in-hand ringing that is tunes rather than changes? — John de Overa

In my opinion living heritage includes all three forms of ringing as up until the Victorian belfry reformers changed things (and re-wrote history), all three forms were closely linked. If we just focus on change-ringing we're missing out on a lot of our living heritage. Many villages had sets of handbells which were used for tune ringing. Many belfries still contain them. In the North of England in particular it was quite popular with some teams having upwards of 100 bells. It was Phileas T Barnum the Great Showman that saw a team of tune ringers performing in Liverpool in around 1850 and took them to perform in the USA. They also rang the first tower bell peal in the States. There are also connections with West Gallery bands, which took over from the church organs that the Puritans took out, with the Victorians later ripping out the galleries and putting back organs. Have a read of Peter Fawcett's book Ringing For Gold, and let's focus on a very rich 400+ years of heritage.

In my opinion living heritage includes all three forms of ringing — Roger Booth

That's a good point. Maybe I down played the value of handbell tune ringing.
As Roger says, there were closer links between tune ringers and change ringers in the past, and there is still some overlap between the practitioners, but in the context of the current discussion there is a clear divide that is refleted in separate national bodies: CCCBR for change ringing (in tower and in hand) and HRGB for tune ringing.
I have no doubt that similar debates are being held in the HRGB world.
Maybe we can learn from each other's campaigns so it's worth CCCBR and HRGB comparing ideas, but in my view the cultural heritage is distinct so separate cases need to be made for their inclusion.

Hi All,
I believe there is a valid case for separate entries.

Yes Please, I'd be happy to get involved:) We should ensure engagement as soon as possible, an Expression of Interest at this point in time will give a heads up as we work on an application and ensure we stay in the loop. Multiple EoI can be submitted so in case others don't catch this I will submit one immediately. Also 15th December is the date for a Teams information workshop. I am happy to attend but clearly no limit on how many can do so therefore others can sign up as well.