[Transcribed by Emily Watts]

Introduction

[00:00:00] Cathy Booth: What is it that makes bellringers so passionate about ringing bells? In this final episode of the Fun with Bells podcast, I reveal what I've learnt over the past 75 episodes. I'm Cathy Booth, a non-ringer with a bellringing husband who started this podcast nearly six years ago to find out what makes bellringing such an all-consuming hobby.

This episode takes an audio extract from each of the previous episodes. I've themed them under six main headings. Skills, Community, History, Travel, Wellbeing and Teaching. Firstly, Skills.

Mastering the Skills of Bellringing

[00:00:40] Cathy Booth: ​People who don't ring usually underestimate the physical ability and mental agility required to ring bells.

[00:00:48] Judy Vale: An awful lot of people, think they're very easy to play, and they're not at all. There is a huge technique in playing a handbell.

[00:00:55] Mark Regan: ​You're controlling a fast-moving piece of metal to split-second accuracy using a very long springy rope that disappears through a hole in the ceiling.

[00:01:05] Cathy Booth: Bellringers are motivated by the challenge of mastering these unique and complex skills.

[00:01:10] Chris Shore: The things that are hard to do and are worth doing often take a long time to get the basics under your belt. 

[00:01:17] Oscar: I'd say for people who are learning, try not to rush, because if you haven't mastered your backstroke or handstroke, it's very hard to put them together, and as you go later on down the line, if you haven't learned it properly, you'll get people telling you that's not how you're meant to ring, and then you'll have to relearn it, which creates a huge pause.

[00:01:37] Lyndsay Cawte: Don't give up, keep persevering. Because it's like that thing, it's three steps forward, five back, couple forward, four back.

[00:01:45] Colin Newman: Learning to ring well takes a very, very long time. It's not something that you can pick up and be excellently good at in six weeks. So, if you're ambitious, you want to make progress, go out and find the opportunities, but be patient and consolidate at every stage. 

[00:02:03] Cathy Booth: Bellringers first learn to handle a bell on their own, then they ring with others in an ever-increasing complexity of patterns called methods.

[00:02:13] Tina Stoecklin: I came to tower Bellringing relatively late by British terms, but it was something that required physical coordination that I could do, and I was never good at anything requiring physical coordination. And it has provided a lifetime of learning opportunities. I haven't stopped learning yet. 

[00:02:29] Helen MacGregor: I like learning the patterns. I enjoy playing chess and bridge and Scottish country dancing and Fair Isle knitting. I enjoy patterns, crosswords, puzzles, jigsaws, and bellringing is just more of that. And it's more of it, but it's, it's always developing because, for me, one of the great joys of ringing is that you can always try a bit harder and learn something more complicated, or perform the same piece better, get your striking better, or be of more help to the other ringers that are struggling to learn that method.

It's just tremendous fun. Hugely addictive. 

[00:03:08] Cathy Booth: These methods are sometimes mixed or spliced together.

[00:03:11] Phil Gay: I like ringing spliced. About 100 of my peals have been spliced surprise major and about the same number spliced surprise minor, including 40 of 41 spliced, which is one of the sorts of things that surprise minor ringers like to ring. 

[00:03:26] Simon Rudd: I'm ringing two or three times a day with various groups of people. And some of the ringing we're doing is very challenging.

So, I'm feeling personally challenged and I find the whole process quite enjoyable 

[00:03:39] Cathy Booth: Determining the order of the bells for these methods, which have to adhere to precise rules, can also be challenging and mathematically rewarding.

[00:03:49] Cathy Booth (2): Tony Ayres discovered some 200 previously unrecognised doubles place methods in the 1980s. 

[00:03:55] Hammish Corfield: Andrew Johnson, who rang and jointly composed the first bob's only peal of Stedman Triples.

The Bellringing Community

[00:04:03] Cathy Booth: But bellringing is way more than just a technical hobby. Yes, you need to learn how to ring the bells, but it's clear that community is a massive part of it. Firstly, they talk about how welcoming everyone is and how you can make great friends. 

[00:04:17] Matthew Butler: ​Bellringers are really one big community, and because it's so open and so sociable, you can make very good friends through ringing very easily.

[00:04:28] Emily Roderick: Something that comes straight to mind is the community aspect of bellringing, which is something I really love because I'm more of a nomadic ringer at the minute. I bounce around different towers in London and what I really love is being able to come into any tower and feel completely welcome and supported and it's a really lovely environment to come into. 

[00:04:51] Cathy Booth: And a tip for using social media was to advertise that bellringing fosters a sense of community and belonging.

[00:04:57] Chrissie Van Mierlo: So, I think for most bellringers, that's the thing to sell because someone is looking at that post thinking, would I like to join this group? Would I like to join this team? And if you're true to your personality, then that's going to be the thing that shines through and that pulls people in. 

[00:05:15] Cathy Booth: And bellringing can provide a sense of connection and belonging without requiring a high level of social interaction, offering a sense of community to those who may prefer a less extroverted approach.

[00:05:26] Simon Linford: You can be a ringer with other people but not feel you have to participate socially. I thought that's really quite interesting, and I think that looks after a lot of people. So, teamwork, without you necessarily having to be sociable, but obviously many people are. 

[00:05:38] Christopher O'Mahoney: That's the good thing about ringing, isn't it? There's something there for everybody. So, there's something for the engineers. There's something for the musicians. There's something for the socialites. There really is something for everybody. 

[00:05:49] Cathy Booth: This community even stretches across the globe, some of the time. 

[00:05:54] David Smith: ANZAB is a bit like the North American Guild in that we're part of the ringing community, but also, we're separate and we both have this ambivalent feeling that sometimes. Yes, we're very much part of the international ringing community and it is a great community. Other times we think everyone in the UK has completely forgotten we exist, and we feel a bit left out in the cold. 

[00:06:14] Cathy Booth: Friendships and teamwork matter in bellringing.

[00:06:17] Tim Keyes: It says something about any hobby that you really enjoy, that if you do it with people you get on with and there's a common sense of purpose and teamwork, my goodness, you can have tremendous fun together and it forges great friendships. And these friendships have been one of the most enriching things in our lives. 

[00:06:34] Nigel Taylor: I think from my point of view, I've enjoyed that camaraderie and the teamwork aspect of it. 

[00:06:41] Cathy Booth: And here's a pretty good example of how close you can become with the people you ring with.

[00:06:45] Jo Laws: And we were away from our ropes when Graham suddenly called look to and everybody stopped talking and I wondered why he called look to because he doesn't ring the treble and the next thing he started this wonderful speech that he hadn't rehearsed or practiced and he was saying such lovely things and he asked me to marry him and it was a complete surprise on the day.

[00:07:15] Cathy Booth: Bellringers have a shared passion.

[00:07:17] Charlie: My favourite bit about bellringing is the social aspect, how there's so many bellringers and we're all like the same thing. But I also like the theory side of it. 

[00:07:30] Helen Ottaway: The bellringers that I worked with, they were very enthusiastic about bringing the focus on to bellringing and showing people what bellringing is all about. 

[00:07:42] Cathy Booth: And bellringers believe it is a privilege to contribute to their local communities through bellringing.

[00:07:47] Tim Sunter: So, it does give a feeling of satisfaction that you can visibly see an improvement and you can hear an improvement in your ringers. And I think that is hugely satisfying. And it's been satisfying as I think it has helped to bring the community together in Briley Hill.

[00:08:09] Josephine Leggett: Ringing has given me the chance to become a real part of my village community. So, I was very fortunate that when Dame Vera Lynn died, I was able to ring for her funeral and to stand there ringing as my entire village stood outside the church, was just something else and something that I don't think you can match anywhere.

[00:08:33] Owen Borlaise: I feel very privileged to give something back to the community by ringing for services, weddings, funerals and other special occasions. 

[00:08:41] Cathy Booth: Bellringers understand that there is a significance in what they're doing, not just for themselves and the others who are ringing, but for those who are listening.

[00:08:49] Diane Smith: I do think the bells sound very joyous. A ring of 12 bells and if you're in the vicinity and you hear them, they give people pleasure. Glad to be part of that. 

[00:08:57] Nic Boyd: There's something about managing that bell, that lovely, resonant, traditional English noise that's been around for years and years, and you're doing it. You're not just doing it on your own, you're doing it with other people. 

[00:09:12] Vicki Chapman: The bells were about to ring along with all the bells across the world and I took hold of my bell and I must admit I did have a bit of a wobbly bottom lip for a moment just thinking about the sheer impact of all of these people, all of these bells that are about to ring at 12 30 at the same time and I had a little bit to do with that.

Historical Significance and Traditions

[00:09:35] Cathy Booth: Bellringers are often attracted by the related history and traditions.

[00:09:40] Chris Richmond: Every tower tells a story. What I love, you can go up and you can see in the belfry and see all these little pieces of history that no one ever gets to see. Like the different frame and bell installations and things like peel boards hidden up in old ringing chambers and old equipment lurking about, old bits of wheel and headstock and things laying about. I find it all interesting.

[00:10:04] David Sparling: As you step into the base of the tower, look up to the collection of hats from previous tower captains dating back to 1716 which are fixed high up on the wall just beneath the ringing room. 

[00:10:18] Oliver Lee: I think the most fascinating thing I've found is that in many towers, the ringing chamber hasn't always been in the same location as it is now, because during the 18th century it was common practice for towers to have gallery rings, which were often shared with the organ or the band if a church had one.

But during the 1870s, there's something called belfry reform, these were taken out.

​

[00:10:35] Gareth Davies: I'm genuinely interested in trying to understand what ringing was like in the past. We tend to assume that it was like it is now. So, most people don't think about getting paid for ringing except for the occasional wedding. But from my research, it is that it seems that if you go back one or 200 years, actually the payment was quite an important reason why some people rang. 

[00:11:00] Neal Dodge: There's a very interesting story that highlights the dispute that went on between ringers and the church during the 1700s and 1800s. In 1863, the ringers broke into the church to ring for the marriage of the then Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VII, against the wishes of the vicar at St Peter's.

[00:11:20] Rose Nightingale: According to local tradition, a relative of a former rector, one Colonel Brown, had led one of the famous cavalry charges at Waterloo. One of his chief delights was to take a barrel of beer into the church on each anniversary of the battle for the refreshment of the ringers who rang on that occasion.

The Rector disapproved of this and so constructed the awkward means of approach to the ringing chamber by which it would be entirely impossible to introduce a barrel.

[00:11:47] Cathy Booth: While these facts and stories offer a glimpse into the quirky traditions of bellringing, the outbreak of World War II cast a shadow over it.

[00:11:55] Bob Christopher: On June 14th, 1940, an order in council was made prohibiting the ringing or chiming of church bells, except by the military or the police, as a notification of the landing of enemy troops by air. We, as ringers, have a special deprivation, for we are debarred from that activity we most delight in. 

[00:12:17] Jonathan Stuart: What the bells of England really mean to the people of England, we should never have known without these three years of silence.

The victory ringing of last November was a most surprising revelation. The dramatic announcement of the ringing by the Prime Minister at the climax of his great speech, we have had continued and abundant evidence that church bells mean much in the life of this country.

[00:12:43] Cathy Booth: While the sound of bells can deeply affect people, how the bells are made is equally fascinating.

[00:12:49] Andrew Wilby: This large Victorian bell foundry fulfilling its original purpose, which makes it quite rare. It's Grade II star, the star means what's inside it is listed as well, and considerable significance.

[00:13:05] Cathy Booth: Making bells shows off how skilled and creative people are, but bells have also picked up many myths and legends over the years.

[00:13:12] Rose Nightingale: ​Given that church bells are steeped in mysticism and folklore, it's unsurprising that for centuries many have believed them to have magical or healing powers. The custom of blessing or baptising new bells before anointing them with holy oils was undertaken in order to make sure the devil would flee whenever they were sounded. 

[00:13:32] Richard Booth: Located east of Hawley in Surrey is the 12th century double moated site of Thunderfield castle. Said to be the resting place for Harold's army as he marched towards the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Locals have reported that its sunset on the 11th of November ghostly bells can be heard, tolling gradually getting louder and louder until midnight when the ghosts of Harold's army marches through the area.

[00:13:58] Cathy Booth: Like these ghostly apparitions, bellringers have also recreated historical events.

[00:14:04] Lianne Brookes: On the 2nd of July, we dressed up as Edwardian ladies for the year 1912 touring at Desford, St. Martins, for the Desford Heritage Festival, which was a centenary.

[00:14:20] Cathy Booth: Whilst taking part in an Edwardian re-enactment lets those experience the restrictions of the clothes of the past, the discovery of an old newspaper article settles a dispute. 

[00:14:33] Chris Ridley: I ring at Battersea Church, and the bells there were cast on the other side of the River Thames, and there was a great debate over many years about whether the bells were brought across the river by boat, or over the old wooden bridge at Battersea, and we managed to come across a newspaper extract describing the bells coming over the wooden bridge with a band and everything else. 

Travel and Unique Experiences

[00:14:52] Cathy Booth: ​Bellringers really enjoy how bellringing gives them the chance to travel to unique places and connect with local cultures.

[00:15:00] Alan Regin: It really is an amazing hobby. It gets you into places that most people would never get to in bell towers, in churches and cathedrals and town halls across the country. And I certainly couldn't do without it.

[00:15:17] Bruce Butler: I probably wouldn't have been able to travel, wouldn't have travelled as extensively as I have and seen so many beautiful parts of the world.

[00:15:27] Graham Nabb: I've rung in 5,785 towers, of which about 100 are abroad, and I've only got about seven or eight in the UK that I haven't rung at. It's great. It's fun. You'll get hooked. You'll see places that you'd never see if you didn't ring, and it's a great challenge. It's a never-ending challenge.

[00:15:52] Euan Thomas: I've been to some pretty spectacular places. Washington National Cathedral, that was incredible. And the Post Office Tower, they're incredible.

[00:16:00] Linda Garton: We were fortunate enough to go on a trip to the Antarctic, happened to be there with some other ringers, and we rang a handbell peal on the boat just off the coast of Antarctica and just off the coast of South America, which completed a peal in every continent, which I was quite pleased about because travelling is my other love apart from bellringing.

[00:16:19] Roger Booth: Ringing a set of bells on the back of a tugboat and almost ringing a peel on the back of a lorry are quite interesting.

[00:16:26] Cat Nettle: I would never have gone to Singapore but for handbellringing.

[00:16:29] Steph Runting: The outings, the competitions, there's just so much to offer and the different towers you get to ring out, you get to travel everywhere. You just get to meet so many new people. It's just an amazing thing to be part of.

[00:16:42] Cathy Booth: And social connections formed are a vital part of the journey.

[00:16:47] Emily Hall: You will make friends for life to begin with. Ringers make fantastic friends. You will go out on outings and go to places that you'd never think you'd ever go to. 

[00:16:57] Simon Aves: One of the great things I like about ringing is the social aspect of it and it's wonderful that nearly 50 years later I can still go back to the same ring of bells when I'm visiting my family in Kent and find that there are people there who I have known all that time. 

[00:17:13] Andrew Slade: Bellringing put me in contact with people who helped me understand that there was a lot more to life. They introduced me to structures of civic society. They introduced me to the ancient society of college youths. They introduced me to ringing all over the country. 

[00:17:32] Matt C Austin: Every time I go ringing somewhere, there's this competing tension between I want to be ringing, and I want to be working on my practice, but there are also fascinating people there who know a lot about ringing and who know a lot about other things. 

[00:17:44] Cathy Booth: And their passion for ringing opens the door to incredible travel opportunities.

[00:17:48] Ryan Trout: I get to go to some absolutely amazing places across the country. Even just the, the ringing in Devon gets you to places where you would never, ever think about going. Go into places like the Cotswolds, ringing at places in Oxford, a lot of the university colleges there, ringing at Fettes College, up in Edinburgh in Scotland, you know, all just fantastic things, really. 

[00:18:09] Julia Cater: It's the opportunity to space your holidays around ringing. Cape Cod, Vernay in the south of France, Dordrecht, and the intimacy that it brings, and meeting up with the locals. 

[00:18:20] Cathy Booth: For some, traveling to different towers also allows them to explore their other interests.

[00:18:26] David Bagley: I've rung at over 1,500 towers, and I've been into the belfry's of quite a few of these, as well as several I haven't actually rung at. But when I do visit somewhere, I tend to keep my eyes open for insects, mammals, and birds.

​

Physical and Mental Benefits of Bellringing

[00:18:39] Cathy Booth: Bellringers note a beneficial effect of bellringing on their well-being.

[00:18:43] Peter Heard: As one gets older, I think that the brain finds things more of a challenge, and also physically you find things more of a challenge. Having come to it very late in life, I'm finding that there is no doubt it's a great workout. It's helped enormously in terms of my physical agility, but probably more importantly, my wife will say that I've become a much, much more rejuvenated person.

[00:19:12] Annie Longstaff: It's the mental side of things as well and I've also taken mindfulness, and this is one very good skill that you can use while you're bellringing because it takes your whole concentration. So yes, it's very good not only physically but mentally as well.

[00:19:25] Bryn Reinstadler: I love how it keeps all of my brain busy, so every cycle that my brain has is totally taken up by thinking about what's going on, and if you ever get bored, there's more to think about, whether it's thinking about the coursing orders, or the composition, or thinking about exactly what's going on. Who is making that same mistake, and whether it's me, in the third part of the lead, or whatever it is, there's always something to keep your mind occupied, and it feels very meditative to me, in addition to feeling very social.

[00:19:57] Cathy Booth: So, bellringing is really satisfying because it's mentally challenging. It's like the harder you have to work at it, the more you get out of it in the end.

[00:20:05] Ruth Suggett: It can make your ringing so much more enjoyable if you feel you're doing something that's relatively unconscious and you can just enjoy the moment and the oneness with the bell.

[00:20:15] Cathy Booth: And to help enjoy your bellringing moments, you need to be able to relax.

[00:20:19] Nicky Carling: When you're relaxed, then you feel so much better about things, and things happen much more naturally. I think the worst thing, when you go and you catch hold of a rope, if you do so with anxiety, I'm not sure it's a good place to start from, but when you relax, just let it happen, it tends to work better.

[00:20:39] Cathy Booth: Many bellringers find that the activity has a positive effect not only on themselves, but on those around them too.

[00:20:45] Rebecca Legowski: I ring primarily because it puts out so much wonderful positive energy for the other ringers around, for listeners and for the wider collective. But I also ring because it's therapeutic. It has a healing effect on me and the other ringers. I also ring because it's a good way to exercise and it's a good way of getting to know so many other people.

It's really widened my social network.

[00:21:13] Cathy Booth: And bellringing can have a positive effect on a young person's confidence.

[00:21:17] Tina Stoecklin: Pupils still remembered the pride they felt in bellringing for school assemblies. And for one or two young people who I think hadn't found anything they could be praised for, found this life transforming. And I met one of them a couple of years ago and she's not a different person, but she's a much more confident person and has done some amazing things.

And that was on the back of that first step of confidence.

Teaching and Learning in the Bellringing Community

[00:21:41] Cathy Booth: Some bellringers really enjoy sharing their knowledge with others.

[00:21:46] Martin Mansley: There's a lot of satisfaction in seeing somebody progress. Sometimes it's that little click that says, "Oh, I understand that." And when you get that moment, it's worth a lot. 

[00:22:00] Andy G Smith: To me, I enjoy training as much as going quarter pealing.

[00:22:03] John Malala: Right at the beginning you find it's a hectic task. The joy that we get is seeing people knowing how to ring. It really gives us joy. 

[00:22:16] Don McLean: I really get my enjoyment from teaching people both the basics. It's just great to watch them progress and you can relive yourself, the enjoy you had as you made progress at that. And more importantly, in the more advanced stages to make it possible for people who get to the level of doing call changes, that they can, if they wish, progress further and also ensure that those who don't wish are still valued and realize that their importance is as much as anybody else's. 

​

[00:22:43] Cathy Booth: ART, the Association of Ringing Teachers, gives bellringers tools and techniques to teach ringing.

[00:22:49] Andy Cope: We managed to recruit 18 learners in our first year. Those 18 learners have all now achieved their Association of Ringing Teachers Level 1, and some have moved on to Level 2.

[00:23:04] Lesley Belcher: I saw two people arguing very strongly about whether ART was a good thing or ART was a bad thing. And I was thinking, I don't know what ART is, because it all started whilst I was not involved in ringing at all. So, at that point, being curious, I thought I'm going to go on one of those ART courses. And I went and I was a convert straight away.

I thought this is a really wonderful thing. 

​

[00:23:27] Cathy Booth: At the ART conference we picked up many tips on what to say to new learners.

[00:23:32] Les Boyce: Just keep calm, listen to what we say, don't be concerned if you think you're not making rapid progress. We are trying to help you achieve, become competent ringers by breaking things down into small steps for you and keep at it.

[00:23:48] Cathy Booth: ART has also put together a call changes course.

[00:23:51] Claire McArdle: It was very daunting trying to put together a scheme where you're not an expert yourself in Devon call changes but trying to open that out to the rest of the ringing fraternity. 

​

[00:24:02] Cathy Booth: Bellringers have used technology to help teach others.

[00:24:05] David Scrutton: We had five or six groups of potential learners. Each course consisted of five PowerPoint hours with Zoom and using Ringing Room. And then we would introduce the potential ringers to their tower captain during the course and say, please go along and meet your captain and start being taught how to ring a bell.

And without exception, they were all very enthusiastic and pleased to have. gone into a tower and a lot of wonderment on people's faces. Such things go on in a tower. They were delighted. 

[00:24:42] Steve Farmer: Young people quite like competition and with the simulator software that's around nowadays you can get results for things like striking. So how accurate are they when they're ringing rounds for five minutes? And it will give them all sorts of statistics and graphs.

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[00:25:00] Cathy Booth: Maybe bellringing is unusual in that sometimes the same person can be a teacher and at other times a learner.

[00:25:07] David Smith: Some towers, it was very much, "Oh, David, that's good to see you here. Now, because you're here, we can ring this that we couldn't without you. And can you help this learner and stand by them and give them some assistance? And maybe you could call this touch of something or other." And I was very much a helper or a teacher.

And then I'd go along to another tower, and it was exactly the other way around. And they said, "Oh, look, David's asked. He'd really like to try and ring Bristol Major or something and he's very wobbly on it, so let's do it just for him and we'll all try and help him through and nod wisely at him and try and keep him right."

So, you're very much learning from people who are more experienced and better than you are and also teaching people and helping people who haven't got as far as you have and I think that's something that's very unusual and special about ringing and I think it's marvellous.

​

Thank you

[00:25:55] Cathy Booth: I hope you enjoyed this recap of the podcast. As I sign off, I'm really thankful for all the things that I've learnt and the experiences I've had as host of the Fun with Bells podcast. I want to thank all of the wonderful people who've helped me along the way. There are too many to mention individually.

163 podcast guests, all the people that sent me feedback, those that have provided me with audio and video clips. and those who've helped me with the quizzes that required technical expertise. I'd particularly like to thank my sponsors, Jessica Wood for chipping in with the hardware costs, and the Association of Ringing Teachers for their generosity in paying the ongoing costs.

Without their generosity, the podcast wouldn't have been possible. If you're interested in learning to ring, improve your skills, or even learning to teach, then do go to the Association of Ringing Teachers website, bellringing.org. There's loads of useful resources to help ringers at all levels. I'd like to thank my mentors, Lesley Belcher and my husband, Roger Booth, for helping me brainstorm ideas and giving me access to their contacts.

I'd also like to thank the team. Firstly, John Gwynne and Anne Tansley Thomas, who've been with me since the beginning. John for his quality reviews. And Anne for her show notes and takeaways. They're wonderful. Thanks, Anne. And also, my later recruits, Emily Roderick, whose artwork has helped with the podcast.

She's helped with social media, brainstorming ideas and lots more. And Emily Watts, who's helped with the transcripts. Together with Deb Margason-Baker, who's helped me recently with humorous posts to social media. And of course, to all of you, the listeners, without whom there wouldn't be a podcast. I'm excited for the future of bellringing with so many dedicated and talented people working on new and innovative ways to take this wonderful tradition through to the future generations.

Maybe one day there'll be another podcast about bellringing and the new podcast host can start their journey into the wonderful world of bellringing and its fantastic community. Until then, happy ringing! 

 If you've enjoyed this episode, then please share it. 

This podcast was put together by a team. Special thanks go to Anne Tansley Thomas, Emily Roderick, John Gwynne, Emily Watts, and for the video at the end of the show of the ringing by the Lilliputter's Guild, YouTuber, Simon Edwards. 

Thank you.

[Bells ringing call changes]