Page 27 - link magazine

See us on the net @ www.i-way.co.uk/—swindonlink The Link Magazine • February 1998 27

FOR QUALITY
PAINTING
DECORATING

Contact

Andrew Goddard
A member of the
Dulux Decorators Network

Tel: 01793 876436
Mobile: 0467 421798

PEMW7
V
j '/ 4 REMO k ; _ STORAGE

4N}71ME ANY CF ANMW
More bell ringers are needed, ready for 1 January 2000, writes David Franklin
At the turn of the century, church bells across the land will peal loudly, reminding us that 2,000 years have ' WHO GIVES THE VERY
passed since the birth of Jesus Christ. To achieve this, bell ringing teams across Britain need people to come BEST SERVICE HE CAN
forward to learn the techniques which will allow us to proclaim the good news.
LARGE OR SMALL - WE MOVE IT ALL
People living in Grange Park and an opportunity for us to improve up to three hours; it requires *Commercial or domestic
Shaw hear us regularly. We ring our skills and repertoire. stamina and a lot of concentration. *Single items to a full house
on Sundays before two of the three The tower was added to St Bell ringing is great fun, so if *Storage *6 different size vans
services and also for weddings. Mary's Church in the fifteenth you would like to consider learn- * House clearances undertaken
Practice night, Tuesday from Century, but nobody knows when ing or joining our band please con-
7pm - 9pm, throughout the year is the bells were first placed there, tact the Tower Captain, David Tel: 0 1793 828576
The bell chamber is above the Miles on 874054.
ringing room with the bells
mounted on a sturdy steel frame-
work. Two swing north / south and
four swing east/ west. This is nec-
essary to prevent the tower col-
lapsing into Lydiard House next
door. To help us ring these rela-
tively heavy bells, each one has its
own ringer.
The distinctive feature of Eng-
lish change-ringing is that the bells
start from an upside-down posi-
tion and swing from side to side,
until the clapper strikes the rim.
This enables each ringer to modify,
to a surprising degree of accuracy,
the time interval between each
strike. Thus, bells can continually
'change places' with each other.
The beautiful sounds that are
heard when the church bells are
calling people to worship are only
achieved with long practice and
i experience. We are continuously I
practising basic bell control,
rounds and call-changes, then pro-
gressing to learning different tunes
or 'methods'.
Using one or more methods,
ringers sometimes attempt very i
long rings, call peals or quarter-
peals. These often celebrate par-
ticular events such as Royal wed-
dings or the induction of a new
vicar, as was the case for the Rev.
Ann MacKenzie's induction at St
Mary's. At about two and a half
seconds per round, a peal can take