Edington Tower Captain, Dusty, was recovering from a knee replacement operation when I first got in touch, but vice TC Mark and the rest of the band welcomed me and showed me the ropes (and the bells!). Climbing the steps up to the ringing chamber and then journeying even higher to see the bells themselves was quite intimidating. But seeing the bells and wheels really helped me understand the theory of bell ringing and underpinned the importance of tower safety.
My training started in Jan 2024 with a lot of watching and waiting for my turn. When the opportunity arose, I started ringing the backstroke with Mark on the sally. We then swapped roles and I rang the handstroke. After a couple of weeks of practice, I was able to put it all together, progressing to pulling off and standing the bell under close supervision. But by that time, I had already caught the bell ringing bug! By April 2024 I was ringing rounds on my own and was therefore put forward to join the Guild. Shortly afterwards, I started attending Devizes branch meetings for extra practice and even joined the band ringing call changes in the branch striking competition due to a last-minute drop out.
As well as weekly training sessions, there is an opportunity to ring for Sunday services as well. My young family mean I am not available to join the band every Sunday, but I do my best to be there when I can. As a tower, we try to make sure the bells are rung for all services and celebrations.
It was an email from John, Edington tower secretary, in October 2024 that alerted me to Guild Quarter Peal week. I was rather gung-ho with a reply saying that I would be keen to give it a go without really knowing what I was signing up for! Before I knew it, a band of extremely kind and tremendously experienced ringers had been put together around me so that I could ring the treble to Plain Bob Doubles. The first time I rang to a touch of PBD was the QP itself, but with the support of the band, we got through it and my first QP certificate hangs proudly on the wall at home!
Attending the monthly branch meetings has been of tremendous value to me. I’ve met lots of lovely people who have all helped me along the way, be it with tips for handling, or help learning methods. I’ve also been introduced to the joys of handbell ringing too! The branch training courses have been great to cement my technique and meet fellow bell ringers.
Next for me is to master Plain Bob Doubles on an inside bell, ring a QP on the tenor, ring a QP on an inside bell, master treble bobbing, and get through a plain course of plain bob minor on handbells… I won’t be bored!
My advice to anyone thinking about bell ringing; give it a try.
And to anyone who has recently started bell ringing; go along to a branch meeting and introduce yourself to some people.
I look forward to seeing you in a tower soon!
Caroline Noonan
Edington
