On Wednesday 4 March Rye residents were treated to three hours of change ringing from St Mary’s Church, starting at 11am, by a visiting group from the Kent County Association of Change Ringers, invited by our own ringers. It was splendid to listen from our garden. The visitors clearly enjoyed themselves, although I do wonder how they managed to maintain their momentum and accuracy over such a long ring.
For the cognoscenti of campanology the peal was a 5088 change Bristol Surprise Major composed by DF Morrison. If you are not a bellringer and want to be thoroughly confused visit the description of the peal by the Ripon Cathedral Bell Ringers, which contains many familiar words put together in an utterly incomprehensible way. I think I shall stick to looking after the clock. One of the Quarter Boys’ bells is a little dull at present, but the clock was serviced last week and it is striking normally again.
Our Visitors Book records our visitors as
1. Robert J Cocker
2. Anne L Rueff
3. David Kirkcaldy
4. Phillip Barnes
5. John Keeler
6. Stephen Coaker
7. Peter Ellis (Conductor)
8. Alan Regin
The peal remembered Margaret Hodgson (1902-1995) on the eve of the anniversary of her birth. For many years a resident of Church Square, her four children were all Rye bellringers.
The record boards in the ringing chamber record previous visits by the Association, and we hope there will be many more.
My thanks to Rosemary Dearden for the exact ringers’ details from The Ringing World’s Bell Board (a couple of signatures in the book were undecipherable!).
Image Credits: Dr Andrew Bamji .