Elizabeth Johnson started ringing in 1956 as part of a recruitment drive to teach ringers to form a band for the new church being built in the tiny village of Little Chart in Kent. The medieval church had been totally destroyed in 1944 by a doodlebug. The bells were saved and recast into a 6 cwt six.
Initially, they were taught at the nearby village of Egerton, by September 19th 1956 the band was sufficiently competent to ring for the consecration of the church – a really special day. In May 1957, Elizabeth rang her first quarter peal. This was after a failed peal attempt so she could conceivably ring a peal within a year of starting ringing! Her first peal was in October 1957.
When starting physio training at The London Hospital, Elizabeth gave up ringing having clocked up a few quarter peals and 11 peals.
In 1980, Elizabeth found ringing again and has rung at St John’s New Alresford ever since. A peal total of 107, a quarter peal total of 800, tower total over 1300 towers from New Zealand, South Africa, USA, Canada. Elizabeth has been secretary of the Winchester District of the W&P for 7 years, chairman for 3 years, President of the Guild of Medical ringers for 3 years and is a member of the SRCY.
This entry was written in September 2022.
Related Episodes
What Ringers wear
This episode sees host Cathy Booth explore the question of what ringers wear. You may or may not be surprised to hear that the answer is not bell-bottom jeans. Guests Deb, Alex, Elizabeth and Michaela touch on history, safety and decorum as they share experiences, research and anecdotes on what to wear, or more importan...
Test your bell ringing and general knowledge
In this month’s show, podcast host Cathy Booth transforms into the next Anne Robinson as she joins the ringers of St John’s in New Alresford for their fortnightly Zoom quiz. Fingers on buzzers as the ringers introduce each other and ask their two allotted quiz questions. There’s one point for each corr...
