Keep It Local

There are few sounds more closely associated with the ideal of an English town or village than the melodious peal of church bells ringing out. They are part of our heritage and provide the soundtrack to our historic moments and community celebrations: they announce the weekly Parish Eucharist, call out to mark weddings, or toll for funerals. During the Second World War, bells were silenced and were only to ring out if there was a German invasion.

Bell ringing has a long and fascinating history. However, it is a dying art and we can no longer take this typically English sound for granted. Fewer and fewer people are taking up bell ringing in no small part, due to the fact that church communities are getting older. But I suspect that, if the bells stopped ringing, we’d feel the loss of these wordless, musical and deeply expressive community announcements.

I was lucky enough to chat to Malcolm Fairbain, who’s a bell ringer at St Mary Magdalene in Woodstock and through his joy and enthusiasm for his hobby, he made me aware of a whole new world. Malcolm’s been ringing bells for decades here and in Oxford. When you become a bell ringer not only do you join a group of local people who share the same interest, you become part of a worldwide society. Whether you holiday in Jersey or Australia local bell ringers will welcome you to their towers, and show you around their neighbourhoods.

There are schemes to try and get young people interested in bell ringing. For example a church in Abingdon works with a local school, to give students the chance to try bell ringing and learn more about it.

If you’d like to give it a try, you can join Malcolm and the ringers every Thursday at 19:30 and… learn the ropes! If you'd like to find out more, please email stmmwoodstock@gmail.com