Gloucester Branch of Bell Ringers
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Ringing Bells

With the bells in the upright, almost weightless position, the bellringer can control the time at which the bell strikes. Using this facility, a ring of bells (the collective term for a set of diatonically tuned ringing bells) can be interchanged, giving different orders of notes, or changes. The maximum number of changes possible on a given number of bells varies enormously – from 120 on 5 interchanging bells to many millions on 12 bells. A full peal consists of at least 5000 changes and no change in a set of changes can be repeated, this process takes approximately 3 hours and must be completed in one ringing session. Furthermore, a bell must not move more than one place at a time, so that if bell number 1 wishes to occupy number 3’s position, then it must go via the changes 123, 213, 231. It is also a rule that the bells must start and end in the ‘rounds’ change, the ‘down-the-scale’ change from the smallest bell (always the ‘treble’ of a ring of bells) to the largest bell (always the 'tenor’). Many ways of producing these changes exist, and various names apply to these principles, or ‘methods’ as they are commonly known. The ‘Grandsire’ method is a very early example – from the 17th Century – and is still one of the most widely used methods today, on account of its ability to produce good bell-music simply. The number of bells to which a method applies is also known by a distinctive name. Changes on 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 changing bells are known respectively as Doubles, Minor, Triples, Major, Caters, Royal, Cinques and Maximus. Hence the Grandsire method applied to 7 changing bells is known as Grandsire Triples. Rings normally consist of even numbers of bells, therefore when ringing, for example, Grandsire Triples on 8 bells, the tenor rings in 8th place continually while the first 7 bells interchange. One of the ringers acts as a conductor for the ringing, whose function is to start and stop the bells, and to alter and check the order of the bells as the composition of the method being rung requires. London has always been noted for the number of churches it contains (over 100 before the Great Fire of 1666, since reduced to less than half that number), and for its church bells, as testified by the famous 'Oranges and Lemons’ rhyme. In 1602 a German visitor to London wrote, "On arriving in London we heard a great ringing of bells in almost all the churches, going on very late in the evening. We were informed that the young people do that for the sake of exercise and amusement". The ‘Young people’ he referred to formed ringing Societies throughout the 17th century. The most famous of these, and the only one to have survived, was the Ancient Society of College Youths. Fine rings of bells can be found in most counties of England and the beautiful church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol has the full complement of twelve sonorous and majestic bells. Not only are the bells beautiful but the church itself was described by Queen Elizabeth 1st as “the faerest and goodliest parish church in all my realm”. The old ‘wool towns’ of the Cotswolds have many fine churches and bells. The large market towns tended to have more bells than the village churches and so we have just the minimum number required for change ringing at Bledington with somewhat larger peals at Burford and Moreton-in-Marsh. Click here for part 1…..
Gloucester Branch of Bell Ringers
Ringing Bells
With the bells in the upright, almost weightless position, the bellringer can control the time at which the bell strikes. Using this facility, a ring of bells (the collective term for a set of diatonically tuned ringing bells) can be interchanged, giving different orders of notes, or changes. The maximum number of changes possible on a given number of bells varies enormously – from 120 on 5 interchanging bells to many millions on 12 bells. A full peal consists of at least 5000 changes and no change in a set of changes can be repeated, this process takes approximately 3 hours and must be completed in one ringing session. Furthermore, a bell must not move more than one place at a time, so that if bell number 1 wishes to occupy number 3’s position, then it must go via the changes 123, 213, 231. It is also a rule that the bells must start and end in the ‘rounds’ change, the ‘down-the-scale’ change from the smallest bell (always the ‘treble’ of a ring of bells) to the largest bell (always the 'tenor’). Many ways of producing these changes exist, and various names apply to these principles, or ‘methods’ as they are commonly known. The ‘Grandsire’ method is a very early example – from the 17th Century – and is still one of the most widely used methods today, on account of its ability to produce good bell-music simply. The number of bells to which a method applies is also known by a distinctive name. Changes on 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 changing bells are known respectively as Doubles, Minor, Triples, Major, Caters, Royal, Cinques and Maximus. Hence the Grandsire method applied to 7 changing bells is known as Grandsire Triples. Rings normally consist of even numbers of bells, therefore when ringing, for example, Grandsire Triples on 8 bells, the tenor rings in 8th place continually while the first 7 bells interchange. One of the ringers acts as a conductor for the ringing, whose function is to start and stop the bells, and to alter and check the order of the bells as the composition of the method being rung requires. London has always been noted for the number of churches it contains (over 100 before the Great Fire of 1666, since reduced to less than half that number), and for its church bells, as testified by the famous 'Oranges and Lemons’ rhyme. In 1602 a German visitor to London wrote, "On arriving in London we heard a great ringing of bells in almost all the churches, going on very late in the evening. We were informed that the young people do that for the sake of exercise and amusement". The ‘Young people’ he referred to formed ringing Societies throughout the 17th century. The most famous of these, and the only one to have survived, was the Ancient Society of College Youths. Fine rings of bells can be found in most counties of England and the beautiful church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol has the full complement of twelve sonorous and majestic bells. Not only are the bells beautiful but the church itself was described by Queen Elizabeth 1st as “the faerest and goodliest parish church in all my realm”. The old ‘wool towns’ of the Cotswolds have many fine churches and bells. The large market towns tended to have more bells than the village churches and so we have just the minimum number required for change ringing at Bledington with somewhat larger peals at Burford and Moreton-in-Marsh. Click here for part 1…..