Let the bells ring out! Ring for the King!

How many times have you walked past a church on a sunny Saturday and enjoyed the beautiful sound of the bells pealing in celebration of a wedding? Perhaps you have heard the bells calling the faithful to church, whether you attend or not. Church bell ringing is an ancient and fascinating art that has been practiced and developed for more than 300 years. Your knowledge of what is involved may be limited to adverts for Mars Bars and seeing John Noakes learn to ring on Blue Peter (depending on your age, of course!). It is, in fact, an art that is easy enough to pick up, but sufficiently challenging and stimulating to provide a lifetime of learning and enjoyment.

Learning to ring is both a mental and physical challenge. It is also a great social activity - a group of ringers is called a band – who all work together to produce beautiful sounds in changing patterns. A basic ability to handle a bell will give anyone a warm welcome to ring at towers from Abbotsbury to Wool, Aberdeen to Penzance. Going abroad? You will find ringing towers in several old British Colonies too.

Bells have been rung for major festivals, celebrations, weddings, and funerals for centuries, and hopefully will continue to do so. Bellringers are wonderful team players, helping out at other towers when asked, particularly for commemorating special events. One such event recently was the death of our much-loved Queen, Elizabeth II. There are 6000 towers in the UK and several thousands of those rang to mark the Queen’s death, and subsequent funeral, something picked up in local and national press.

More recently, the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers are aiming to recruit the next generation of ringers in time for the coronation of Charles III in May, and you may well have seen something about this on the television or read it in your daily newspaper. This is a national scheme for everyone to take part in, whether young or old; male or female; religious or not. If you would like to learn an ancient skill, improve your mental and physical health, whilst making new friends and helping to make history, then your Dorset contact is Nigel Pridmore, Secretary of Dorset County Association of Church Bell Ringers at dcacbr@gmail.com and let’s get all the bells of Dorset ringing for our new King!

CHILDREN from Symondsbury Primary School who were rehearsing Noyes Fludde, the one act community opera written by Benjamin Britten, on Wednesday 22 March in St Swithun’s Church, Allington, had a surprise visitor. The Right Reverend Stephen Lake, Bishop of Salisbury since April 2022, dropped in to hear the rehearsal and to encourage the performers and organisers.

The opera was written in 1957 and has been a favourite with children’s groups and local community music groups ever since. It tells the story of Noah’s Ark and the large children’s choir represent the procession of animals as they board the Ark to escape the Flood.

The production by Symondsbury School draws upon the talents of professional and amateur local musicians, a huge array of supporters and helpers from the community and the musical efforts of every pupil, from older children taking lead solo roles to the smallest child in the chorus.

Bishop Stephen said “ It was a great joy to drop in on the children during their rehearsal and to see and hear their enthusiasm for this retelling of the centuries old mystery play. Benjamin Britten always intended performances of Noyes Fludde to be held in church halls and churches, so it was wonderful to see it being performed in St Swithun’s.”

Canon Deb Smith, Rector of Bridport, said “we couldn’t be more pleased to welcome this wonderful group of musicians and this lovely children’s choir here. The sound is wonderful and the enthusiasm infectious. St Swithuns has great plans for the future and events like this are very much part of our vision”

The Revd. Chris Grasske, Rector of the Colmer and Eggardon Benefice that includes Symondsbury, said how much he was looking forward to the performance and congratulated the children, staff, parents and all the supporters of Symondsbury Primary School on their hard work and engagement with this powerful Old Testament story. The performance has been under the direction of Matt Kingston, a local composer, musician and parent at the school, and teacher and musician Ruth Wakefield. Matt had long wanted to put on this work and said St Swithun’s provided just the right venue. He was particularly pleased at the way in which the children had risen to the challenges of the music and the way the community had come together to bring the opera to life. Ms Wakefield, commented “we were due to perform the opera just before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and it sadly had to be cancelled. We are so delighted to stage the work at St Swithun’s and the story’s message of hope and new life is especially poignant. This really is a celebration of the children’s resilience and the power of community collaboration”.