Ringing Forums

If you just need to get them used to the bigger bells, 3-7 makes a lovely minor key. Where I used to ring we used 3-7 half muffled for remembrance and funerals, which left the tenor open for tolling off the years after the funeral.

The treble where I used to ring is just over 4cwt so perhaps "lighter bells" will always be relative. At the tower where I learnt to ring the treble is 5-3-7 and oddly enough I found it more flighty than the 4cwt one.

OK, thanks. That answers my question, as the saying goes; if you don't ask you don't learn.

Interesting. I thought that a repeated row made it false and unacceptable for record purposes. Is this a new change in definitions or have I been misinformed?

Slight tangent: the advice for pregnant women was that if they were competent ringers they could continue, but learners should stop. Perhaps something similar would apply to age/infirmity? I don't know.
For knees/hips, moving to lighter bells may help for a while, but ultimately if you can't stand for a 5 minute set of call changes it is time to retire. You also need to have a realistic appreciation of how easily you can get down the tower in an emergency.

@Alan C
I was trying to give you a smiley or similar in agreement, but I may have flagged your post as problematic. It's not a problem, I am! Is there anyone I should contact to reverse the flag?

The date shown on a website may be a copyright claim, and generated automatically each time it is downloaded. Examining the HTML may help sometimes.

Thanks for the link. I also heard the next item which was about a boat up near the Shetlands that had managed to leave their mike open on channel 16. For those not in the know, channel 16 is the emergency and hailing frequency which should always be kept clear for "Mayday" traffic or similar. 12 hours of Radio 4 does not count as a "Mayday"! Ooops.

Excellent. Thanks.

A cotter pin has a variety of meanings:

• a pin or wedge passing through a hole to fix parts tightly together [British usage]
• a metal fastener with two tines that are bent during installation [US usage]
• R-clips [US usage]
• circle cotters; similar to a keyring but with one end protruding inwards to locate in a hole [US usage]

However, in some trades US usage has crossed the pond, maybe this has happened in Richard's case?

Err, <pedant>a steeple is the assemblage of tower and spire, not just the spire.</pedant>

From the OED:
"A steeple is the tower of a Church with all its appendages, as turret, octagon, and spire. It is often incorrectly confounded with the spire."

W. F. Hook, Church Dictionary (1871) 725

OK, I'll put the question back on the wall. Thanks for the reply.

Totally off the wall question: if you have a surplus of ringers could you form two bands and get the bells going in on of the other towers in the town?

I couldn't get the forum to accept formatted text, so I hope the screenshot works.

Here is part of a risk assessment which may be of interest to readers in this context.

Link to the history here.

Scroll to the end to see the "old" (1966) church with its diminutive tower.

An interesting and good point John. You often hear the assumption that all ringers much be good church-going folk, and indeed I know of one church where the incumbent insists that all ringers are regular attendees.

When St. Margarets' Rochester had their bells brought back into use about 10 years or so ago they were run from the ground floor whereas previously they had been rung from the ringing chamber. The first wedding for which they were rung it was clear that ringing could only be by sight, the organ drowned everything. They now have a rope pulley on the hinged trapdoor in the floor of the old ringing chamber so that it can be raised whilst ringing and sufficient sound comes down for the ringers to hear the bells. A glass screen has also helped to deaden the organists contribution!

Precisely. People are people whatever their heritage, which is why I find Tom's dissection of the Ely team by age, race and sex irrelevant, except where it directly impinges on physical ability. Included in the latter caveat is continuity; an ageing team will need replacing eventually, as I well know having had to retire from ringing.

What on earth has either the sex or the racial background of people to do with maintaining bells? All that matters is competence and availability.

<grin> More to the point, are the bells ever used or simply forgotten and allowed to deteriorate in splendid isolation?