Our tower is home to a unique training course for young ringers, called 'Let's Ring! It has been very successful at recruiting and training youngsters, and news about the course has reached far and wide.
All Saints’ tower hosts ringing lessons in August 2022
Top row: Pupils Ruby & Sophie, Zoe (helper), pupil Josh, Will (helper), Ben (teacher) Bottom row: pupil Will, Catherine (teacher & Let's Ring dynamo), pupil Oliver. (Everybody here learned to ring in All Saints' tower!)
Every day from Monday 8th August to Friday, between 10 and 12 am, Stone’s bells were sounding. Rather randomly, not very musically. That’s because we were teaching five youngsters, ages 11 and 12, to ring from scratch. 'Let’s Ring!' was conceived in 2017. Its aim was to use our six light bells at All Saints’ to teach young ringers how to handle a bell, no trivial thing, before moving them on to the heavier ring of eight at St Mary’s, Thornbury. The aim remains the same today. Let’s Ring! 2 & 3 followed in 2018 and 2019, and were amply reported in the bellringing publication 'Ringing World’. Covid-19 caused us to suspend Let’s Ring! in 2020. Now, a week into ‘Let’s Ring! 4’: all five Thornbury-based pupils have 'half-rung' their bell among a band of six, assisted by their teacher. They have been introduced to the physical ringing elements: hand-stroke, back-stroke, how to tie the tail, and ringing room conduct. We anticipate their being able to ring ’solo’ after another session or two. While not ringing, and between biscuits, they were introduced to the hardware inside the bell tower, some basic ringing theory and ringers’ special terminology - including how to call the bells to ring in different orders. Now that we are up-and-running again, we would welcome the opportunity to teach anyone, age 11+, particularly from our own benefice! [Apply to Jeremy Sargent (Tower Captain) - 01454 260376]
From the left: Charlie (visitor), Richard, Alistair, Jiahan, Zoe (with North, the penguin) and Lydia, after having rung Plain Bob Minor on Monday 17th February 2020
The bell-ringing team, just before successfully completing 'Norwich Surprise Minor' on 21st December 2019