The sound of bells ringing is deeply rooted in British culture. Almost everyone in Britain lives within hearing range of bells. Bells call out for us to celebrate and are in empathy with our grief when they toll sadly. They are interwoven with our historic moments and mark special dates in our history. They call us to prayer and in times of crisis to unite us. Bells can be the sound of freedom and of peace, as they were in World War II when they remained silent until they could be rung to herald peace.
On Thursday evening between 7pm and 9pm you can hear the bells of St Mary’s, Rye ringing out across the town. Thursday is bellringing practice and a group of men and women from all backgrounds come together to learn the ropes. The group welcomes newcomers and on Thursday November 5 there were three newbies from Iden, two ladies from Lydd and Simon, who has been ringing for a very long time: his father rang before him and was also church warden. Frank comes from Stone and is teaching the learners.
Kevin Clifton is the organiser of the bellringers and has been ringing since he was seventeen. All his ringing life he has rung with Frank and has lots of memories and stories to share:
“You have to learn to ring the bell and not let the bell ring you. You need not to fight the bell and keep it in balance. It doesn’t matter what age you are. You can be any age to learn, and Frank and I can say with hand on heart that there has only been one person who could not be taught. He was so stiff and rigid it just didn’t work. You have to have some idea of rhythm because it helps to keep the bells flowing. The rhythm depends upon the speed that you are ringing: the faster you ring the easier it is to maintain. We ring every Sunday morning, we ring for weddings and occasionally for funerals, and for all the different services at Christmas and Easter. The main celebration we are working towards now will be the Coronation. We are looking for some new recruits of all ages to come and be trained so that we will be able to play for such a wonderful occasion.
“Ringing used to be the way the country communicated news to neighbouring parishes. On the death of the monarch the bells would be muffled: the front bells fully muffled and the tenor half muffled. That is how people knew what the news was. For Remembrance Sunday we ring six or eight bells half muffled in memory of those who gave their lives so selflessly. Different combinations of how the bells were muffled was how they spread the message through the countryside. The message would go from tower, to tower, to tower.
“At the moment we are very short of ringers, so we need people to come forward. We would love to welcome younger members and once they have learnt the skill of ringing in Rye they can take it with them to different parts of the country. You don’t just learn to ring the bells of Rye: you can ring in any church throughout the UK. There is no cost to anyone, just their time and we would welcome anyone with open arms. It is a free gym and a very friendly group of people to work and learn alongside.”
Image Credits: Kt bruce .