Knowing the ropes

Christmas is one of the busiest times of year for those who ring the bells before church services. Roger Ratcliffe talks to some ringers about the appeal of the bells.

There's a TV commercial in which four dark-cowled monks are piously ringing the bells at a remote hilltop abbey. They stop to eat a well-known chocolate bar, and the resulting rush of energy makes them ring so hard that the ropes pull them up and down inside the bell tower like yo-yos.

The advert has had many thousands of views on YouTube and causes particular amusement among real bellringers, since what they actually do depends not so much on strength – or munching energy bars – as on technique.

To read the full article, click here.

Campaign to repair famous Beccles church bells

For hundreds of years, the beautiful sound of the church bells in Beccles has pealed out across the marshlands of the Waveney Valley.

The 10 bells that hang in the church tower at St Michael’s were last re-hung a century ago, yet still produce a pure and joyful sound.

But the Beccles Company of Ringers has been advised by experts that work is necessary to preserve the bells in good order for another 100 years.

Over the past few months, the company has been fundraising in a bid to raise £40,000 to carry out repair works.

To read the full article,click here.

Oldest ring of bells played again

For the first time in almost 25 years, Ipswich is waking up to a unique medieval sound.

The Suffolk town's St Lawrence Church houses the oldest circle of church bells in the world.

The five bells have been silent since the 1980s, but now they are ringing out over the rooftops once again.

To read the full article and to see the BBC video of the ringing bells, click here.

The custom of ringing a bell or bells to call Christians to prayer dates from the early Middle Ages and was introduced by the Irish monks that evangelized a large part of the British Isles. In some parts of England in recent times secularists have objected to the practice and have sought to use noise abatement laws to suppress it. The custom is a part of our Anglican heritage and we should seek to preserve it.