Simon Gay

Simon Gay and Tina Stoecklin are the team behind the Learn to Ring Handbells blog (www.handbellringing.co.uk), and are authors of Change Ringing on Handbells Vol1.  While they met in a bell tower (St Mary Abbot Kensington), they have a shared love of handbell ringing.  They have been ringing handbells with their current band for over 12 years, and have progressed together from single Surprise methods to ringing Smith’s 23-spliced and Horton’s 4.  They host regular handbell gatherings with the aim of spreading ringing activity in Scotland (and having fun with handbells). They are now working to develop a Surprise Royal handbell band in Glasgow and teaching handbell ringing to new ringers.  Simon is also one of the developers of e-Bells.

Simon, who comes from a ringing family, was taught to ring by his father at the age of 9, picking up handbell ringing along the way.  He became a more serious handbell ringer after starting a degree at Imperial College, and rang many peals with Roger Bailey and the other members of the Imperial College lunchtime band.

Tina’s ringing journey started in Kalamazoo College, where she attended a lecture on change ringing by Jeff Smith.  She rang her first peal in hand before ever touching a rope.  Despite gaps of no handbell ringing at all, and a particularly long ‘Kent apprenticeship’ she has always considered herself a handbell ringer first.

Tina and Simon moved from London to Glasgow in 2000 and have been regular members of the band at St Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow, and between them have held several roles within the Scottish Association.

This entry was written in August 2021.