Living in a small Cotswold village with a lively community provides ideas and inspiration for writing my cosy mystery novels. I’ve served on many committees, belonged to different organisations, and taken part in lots of activities since I moved here over thirty years ago.
One of my favourite activities here is ringing the church bells, which were installed in our parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Hawkesbury in 2021. As I soon discovered, in the English tradition of circle-mounted church bells, there’s much more to church bell-ringing than one might think. Full-circle ringing is not just a question of pulling the end of a rope at random.
I soon became hooked, and I’m now evangelical about this ancient craft. In my column for the September issue of the Hawkesbury Parish News, written during a month with a busy ringing schedule, I wrote the following piece to encourage others.
Writing this column in between two weddings and VJ80 Day, all three of which events involved bell ringing at our parish church, I’d like to share some of the surprising benefits of being a bell ringer. You never know, my revelations might persuade you to give it a try yourself.
1. Exercise
The slow, steady pulling of the bell rope (sally) against the resistance of a bell’s weight provides a gentle but significant workout in manageable bursts. Time and again, ringers arrive at the tower saying, ‘Not sure I can ring tonight, I’ve put my back out’ – only to skip down the tower stairs afterwards, fully restored.
2. Teamwork
While each person is responsible for only one bell, we work as a band led by a conductor, just like any other group of musicians – only our instruments are bigger than everyone else’s.
3. Belonging
The mental health benefits of feeling part of a community are well known. Bell ringing creates a great sense of camaraderie, not only in one’s home tower, but at other churches. Travelling beyond the parish, bell ringers are assured of a warm welcome in any other tower.
4. The Best View
Because we ring in an open-sided chamber rather than on an enclosed platform, we have the best view in the house. It’s especially enjoyable at weddings, watching from above as the bridal party processes.
5. Historical Role
We play a part in history, not only on a local level at parishioners’ christenings, weddings and funerals, although that’s also an honour. It has been a memorable privilege to ring to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth, the proclamation of the King, his coronation, VE80 and VJ80. It’s especially exciting when we know we’re ringing simultaneously with ringers nationwide, even though we can neither hear nor see them.
6. Tradition
We’re keeping an ancient craft alive. I learned to ring to honour the memory of my great-grandfather, a distinguished ringer of complex peals of 12 bells long before I was born. I may never be able to ring to his standard, but that feeling of following in his footsteps and passing ringing on to future generations is priceless.
New bell ringers are always welcome at St Mary’s. No experience is necessary, and free training will be given. Most ringers aren’t religious, and you won’t be expected to stay for church services or to commit to specific ringing events. So if you fancy trying your hand at bell ringing this autumn, contact Colin Dixon, St Mary’s Tower Captain, or join us at St Mary’s at practice nights, 6.30-8pm every Wednesday. All ages welcome – you just need to be tall enough to reach the ropes.
PS Just thought of bonus point 7 – as the nights draw in and temperatures dip, it’s worth knowing that ringing church bells will warm you up in winter!
If you’d rather read about bell ringing than ring in real life, try my cosy mystery novel, Death at the Village Chess Club, where the denouement takes place at the bell tower!
PPS Our parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Hawkesbury, will be the setting for the next Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival event on Saturday 27th September, with a fabulous day of talks, readings and panel discussions on the theme of “Strength of Character“. For more information and to book your tickets now, visit hulitfest.com. I’d love to see you there!
What I Read This Week
Usually, I prefer to read the original book before watching a film or TV series of it, but in the case of Evelyn Waugh’s heartrending Brideshead Revisited, I first experienced it as the very faithful BBC TV dramatisation in the 1980s, starring Jeremy Irons as the narrator, Charles Flyte. Waugh has since become one of my favourite authors, and I’ve read many of his books many times.
Needing something soothing to listen to in the car on long journeys, I downloaded the Audible edition of Brideshead Revisited, narrated by Jeremy irons. It’s a flawless rendition, with Irons rendering the voices of the many characters, male and female, with a multitude of accents.
I was instantly transported into the heady world of the book, and long drives flew by – even though I’m not usually very good at listening to fiction on audio, able to concentrate better on non-fiction.
This audiobook was a hard act to follow, but I’m now revisiting another Waugh favourite, the darkly comic novel Scoop, narrated equally brilliantly by Simon Cadell.