From the Ringing ChamberNov 2004 |
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| One of the things
that we bellringers like
to do when
not ringing in our own tower is go and ring in someone else’s. The
Ranmoor Ringers had such an outing on 15th September when 15 ringers
set out on our autumn outing to Nottinghamshire. |
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At 10am (very early
on
a Saturday for some) we assembled at Selston, not far from junction 28
on the M1. This is a tower with 8 bells and where we rang for 45
minutes before moving on to Kirkby-in-Ashfield. |
| We had expected 8
bells
here, but were working on old information (they were recently augmented
to 8) a pleasant surprise! |
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| Our third church,
with another ring of 8,
was in Sutton-in-Ashfield. |
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| Following an
excellent lunch at The Hutt,
Ravenshead (by Newstead Abbey Gates), a pub to be recommended if you
are in that area, we moved on to Blidworth. |
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| This time the tower
really
had only 6 bells, then on to Farnsfield (6 bells) and finally to
Mansfield, again with 8 bells. Strangely we discovered that two of the
churches, Selston and Farnsfield had been previously been burnt down
and the towers survived, as happened at Ranmoor. |
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We had a very
enjoyable day and managed some reasonable ringing. It is always nice to
ring elsewhere to remind us of how nice Ranmoor bells are. |
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This outing report was also published in Sprials |
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| Two weeks later seven of us went down to Eckington at SS Peter & Paul, Eckington where we tried out their bellringing simulator. This is a fine device, where the clappers on the bells are tied so that they do not hit the bell when it is rung – a usual way to be able to practise with no sound. The difference here is that there are sensors on the bell wheels, so that a sound comes via a computer in the ringing chamber. The computer has an exciting programme with lots of different possibilities. You can ring the bells as usual, and it just records what you have rung – so you can see how accurately you are ringing. You can also set it to make the sounds of the other bells itself while you ring just one – and try to get it in the right place. This is another excellent way of testing the ringer, and a very good way to practise without annoying the locals. The ringing centre is a great resource, and we hope to visit is again in the New Year, we will publish the date nearer the time in case anyone is interested in coming with us to see how this works. |
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| Listen out for the
bells on
Tuesday 2nd November – All Souls Day
– when
at 7.00pm there will be a quarter peal to commemorate all those from
our Church who have died, particularly during this year. This will be
on half muffled bells, which means that every other round sounds more
quietly, a very evocative and effective sound. |
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| Pauline Heath (Tower Captain) |
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