Our July meeting was an outing to St Leonard’s Church, Leverington. A church with a very impressive looking tower in the village just outside Wisbech.
Paul Barker, husband of Caroline, and a keen bellringer, organised a talk on the history of bell ringing, and this was followed by a demonstration by local ringers.
Meeting at the church, we were educated and entertained by a very informative presentation on bell ringing. We learnt not only about bells and bell towers, but how the bells are set ready to be rung.
The purpose of the bells is to notify locals of activities from the regular church services and funerals, to very special events such as the recent Coronation of Charles III and the D-Day commemoration.
We may hear but rarely see our local church bells. When you realise that the tenor bell at St Leonards weighs ¾ of a ton (and St Peter & St Paul’s tenor is over a ton) you have to try and comprehend the skills of the church builders and the towers that have to cope with several tons of metal swinging around on a heavy oak frame!
The bell metal is usually 80% copper and 20% tin, and the clappers cast iron. The most famous bell foundry is in Whitechapel. Most of the Leverington bells were made in 1752.
We also learnt that a ‘peal’ of bells has a specific meaning (and can take about three hours for a typical set of bells). We are more likely to hear a quarter peal. Most of our local churches have 6 bells, some have 8 and Wisbech has 10.
You need a team to ring bells, it needs ability and stamina, but the most important skill is being able to count. Teams can be made of any age (you just have to be able to handle the rope) and you often find people of all ages within a team. As family historians we were advised to look for information in bell towers listing the ringers where you may find multi-generation family links.
Several of us had heard about ‘ringing the changes’, but we heard about what ‘changes’ were. The ringing always starts with the treble then progresses clockwise around the ringers with technical terms such as plain bob doubles, and Queen’s method of ringing.
Although we picture bells hanging down with the central clapper; when being rung the bells are initially set upside down, with a pull on the rope sending them on their way. The bell hits the clapper on its way up so the sound is directed up and out.
The theory lesson was then put into practice with us being able to hear the bells played by local bell ringers, and hearing how the tower captain ‘calls the changes’ (it’s amazing how many bell-ringing terms are in common English usage!).
Then came the audience participation with opportunities to have a go.
Some members had brought their families along to enjoy the evening and there was a whole range of ages given a chance to try something new.
The evening also gave the opportunity to explore this wonderful church with points of interest from the 12th to the 20th centuries.