You won’t, perhaps, be surprised to read that Rye Ringers are often heard but rarely seen in action. They are part of a very long tradition: the bells in St. Mary’s have been rung since the 14th century.
The present band of ringers displays a range of ages, both men and women equally represented. You can start learning whilst still at school, and you can be ringing into your eighties and beyond. Britain is covered in parish churches, many of which have bells. Bell-ringing is a skill you can take with you on your life’s journey and you can easily find a ringing band to join if you move to a new area.
Weddings, funerals, Sunday services and special occasions all require ringing: a recent example was when we rang for HM Queen Camilla’s visit to the town.
We also arrange annual ringing outings to church towers; our latest on a Saturday just a couple of weeks ago saw sixteen ringers heading out to Romney Marsh to ring at four towers during the day. We started at St. Augustine’s, Brookland, which is where the attached video was filmed. We continued to St. Nicholas, New Romney; St. Peter and St. Paul, Newchurch; and St. Matthew, Warehorne. Of course we arranged for a pub lunch re-fuelling along the way.
In Rye we can be heard practising on a Thursday evening. We will be honing our skills as a team, working to achieve good striking. As an individual there is always a new achievement to aim for. Throughout the evening we ring rounds, call changes, plain hunt and methods. There is a general friendly atmosphere in the tower, with people teaching, supporting and encouraging ringers to try new ringing skills. This leads to a sometimes challenging, but very often fulfilling evening.
If you would like to be involved or come along to see the ringers in action on a Thursday evening practice night, please contact Kevin Clifton, the Tower captain, Tel: 07826 525728 or email kevinclifton1@sky.com to make an arrangement. Age and sex are no barrier to getting involved but a level of fitness is obviously a consideration.
Image Credits: Kt bruce .