Bell-ringing is a practice steeped in tradition, but it could be under threat as it fails to attract newcomers to take part. Bucks Free Press feature writer Alice Eaton joined a local group to see what goes on…

I arrive late at the church. The bells have already begun to swing into action, tolling out my tardiness in regular chimes.

I run from my car, through the graveyard of St Lawrence’s church in West Wycombe, into the porch and clamber up the steep spiral staircase to arrive in the ringing chamber breathless and apologetic where the campanologists are already gathered to begin practising their peals.

I have come to spend an evening with the church’s dedicated team of bell-ringers whose job it is to sound the chimes every Sunday, and remind the local churchgoers of West Wycombe that it is time to rise from their beds and head for St Lawrence’s.

Alice is shown the ropes

Eight ropes hang down into the chamber through rope guides in the ceiling, each attached to a huge cast iron bell, weighing from 400 to 1,600cwt.

I am keen to select one and give it a good tug, but before any novice bell ringing can take place, the experts have to get the bells from their dormant downward position to a poised upward position, ready for action.

This in itself is quite difficult as each bell-ringer needs to get their bell to synchronise with the others before stopping it just on its balance at the top of its swing. It looks like hard work, and at the end of the session, the team are more hot than warmed-up.

With all the hard work done, I am ready to have a go. I clutch the sally (the woolly tip to the rope) and tug tentatively at the rope, wondering if I will be propelled into the air and left hanging from the rafters in a Benny Hill-style homage as the mighty bell swings into action.

But I am under the watchful eye of Roger Hagon, captain of the bell ringing team, who assures me there is no risk of flying journalists as the bells are held secure by a stay that prevents them from swinging a full 360 degrees.

To start with it is heavy and at times my feet rather alarmingly leave the safety of terra firma but soon the momentum of the bell takes over and it is a case of controlling the bell by bringing it off and then back on to its balance.

After only a few minutes, I can feel the effect of my exertions in my arm muscles, and, having had my fun, I hand the rope over to the experts and stand back to see how it is meant to be done.

The group begins by ringing a Grandsire Double, which is one of hundreds of methods that are the equivalent to a piece of music. The method contains numerous sequences which are controlled by the conductor, who calls out instructions indicating a change is due.

In this way, the sequence can change in order and the longer the peal is, the more intricate the pattern gets. A full peal can last up to three hours and contain over 5000 changes.

On occasions of mourning and on Remembrance Sunday, a leather muffler is wrapped around the clapper inside the bell which half-muffles the sound.

There is a further benefit to all this bell-ringing, which the fitness fanatics out there might find particularly interesting: it tones the body.

Sadly, this long tradition is under threat, as numbers in the group deplete.

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