Monday 29 July 2013

Bells appeal at halfway point Ledbury Reporter
AN APPEAL to keep the bells ringing at Malvern's landmark church has almost reached halfway. Malvern Priory's Bellframe Funding Appeal has reached almost ...
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Bell ringers in full peal challenge Mid Sussex Times 
Bell ringers in full peal challenge ... If you were passing through Wivelsfield on Saturday you may have heard the quintessentially English sound of church bells.
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News from Balsham/Weston Colville/West Wickham/West WrattingCambridge News
BELL RINGING The annual Quarter Peal, in memory of all Balsham children of whatever age who have died prematurely or unexpectedly by whatever cause, ...
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Sunday 28 July 2013

[Anyone interested in Russian bellringing? This article uncludes a short sample]
Russia's Baptism day: 'Bell ringing awakens people's hearts' - studentVoice of Russia
The celebrations were accompanied by a 15-minute bell ringing session in all churches and cathedrals throughout the three countries, from Bering Island in the ...
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Thursday 25 July 2013

Bells ring out in joy for royal baby birth Kidderminster Shuttle 
Bellringers of the Worcestershire and Districts Change-Ringing Association met at St Mary's and All Saints Church on Tuesday to celebrate William and Kate's ...
Imperial's Queen's Tower bells ring for the Royal babyImperial College London
The bells of the Queen's Tower on Imperial's South Kensington Campus hailed the arrival of the Royal baby earlier this week. The ten bells, collectively known ...
Nirvana Dance CrewThe Canberra Times
Young bellringer Matthew Stokoe arrives at dawn to ring the St Johns church bells in Reid. Up next... Royal Baby Bell Ringing: St John's Rings in Birth. Play now.
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Nirvana Dance CrewThe Canberra Times
Young bellringer Matthew Stokoe arrives at dawn to ring the St Johns church bells in Reid. Up next... Royal Baby Bell Ringing: St John's Rings in Birth. Play now.
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Wednesday 24 July 2013

Bells ring out in St Albans to celebrate royal birthHerts Advertiser
BELLRINGERS at St Albans Cathedral waited patiently for hours on Monday so they could announce the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby ...
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24/07/13...'Happy coincidence' that bells ring as baby prince ...Thame
AS the church bells of Thame rang out across the town last night, many people thought they where to celebrate the introduction to the world of the new baby ...
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Abbey bells mark royal birth
ITV News
The bells of Westminster Abbey sounded out today in celebration of the royal birth. A team beganringing a full peal on the Abbey's 10 bells at 2pm to coincide with a gun salute in Green Park. Share. Share on Facebook · Share on Twitter Share on ...
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Gun salutes and peals of bells mark arrival of future King
Yorkshire Post
Three of the bell-ringers who sounded the full peal at Westminster Abbey also did so to mark William's birth, as well as ringing the celebratory bells at his wedding to Kate. One of them, Clarke Walters, said: “It's always a great honour to ring at the ...
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Bells ring and shots fire out as baby fever grips nation
The Times (subscription)
In the end it was the thunder of gunfire and the peeling of church bells that broke first over London. At 2pm, 41 shots were fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery in Green Park, and the Honourable Artillery Company delivered a 62-gun salvo ...

Royal baby … a peal too far?
The Guardian
It's letting everyone know. I'm not sure what the locals will think of it." Of the bell-ringers' feat of endurance, he said: "I hope they've been working out." For three of the bell-ringers, it was the third time they had helped mark a joyous event in ...

Ringing endorsement for Royal baby boy
ITN
The bells at Westminster Abbey have sounded out in celebration of the arrival of the Royal baby. A team of 10 from the gothic cathedral's Company of Ringers rang a full peal from 2pm to coincide with a gun salute in Green Park. The complex peal was ...

Bells for royal baby will ring in Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls Review
Bernadette Secco, Christ Church's resident bell-ringer, will be providing the music Sunday morning when the Zimmerman Ave. Anglican church conducts a 35-minute bell ringing ceremony celebrating the birth of the royal baby. MATT DAY Niagara Falls ...
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Tuesday 23 July 2013

Royal baby remains a princely mystery to the world
CBS News
At the same time, 10 bell ringers began sounding a royal salute to the new prince. The bell peal will last a full three hours, and will be the same one played to mark William and Kate's marriage. Three of the 10 bell ringers who will be in the Abbey on ...
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The Duke And Duchess Of Cambridge Announce The Birth Of A Baby Boy
Getty Images
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 23: Bell ringers (L-R) Chris Rogers, Clark Walters and Alan Frost pose prior to ringing a Peal Composition of Cambridge Surprise Royal at Westminster Abbey on July 23, 2013 in London, England. The Duchess of Cambridge ...
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Royal baby: gun salutes and peal of bells celebrate birth of new heir to the ...
Telegraph.co.uk
Bell ringers (L-R) Chris Rogers, Clark Walters and Alan Frost pose prior to ringing a Peal Composition of Cambridge Surprise Royal at Westminster Abbey (Getty Images). When the Duke of Cambridge was born in June 1982, Clarke Walters helped ring a ...
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Surbiton couple's joy as 18 newborns share royal baby's birthday at Kingston ...
This is Local London
Babies born on the same day as the future monarch traditionally received a special edition silver penny. Bell ringers will continue a historic tradition by ringing in the new Prince this evening at All Saints Church Kingston. In the tenth century, the ...
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Bells ring out in Southwold to celebrate royal baby
Norfolk Eastern Daily Press
The bells were ringing at the church of St Edmund in Southwold this morning to celebrate the birth of the royal baby. Comments; Email; Print. To send a link to this page to a friend, you must be logged in. A peal was rung out across the town at 9am ...
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Local chime song welcomes royal son
Regina Leader-Post
The song Aberdeen Surprise Royal was chiming atop the church for nearly two hours yesterday proceeding the announcement. In 1982, Tunison struck those same bells for Prince William's birth announcement and again in 1984 for Prince Harry's birthday ...
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Royal baby birth marked with 41-gun salute at Green Park
Metro
... to Green Park this afternoon where they carried out the ceremonial salutes. Westminster Abbey also gave the latest addition to the royal family, the third in line to the throne, a ringing endorsement by sounding its bells. Royal baby marked with 41 ...

Bells of Westminster Abbey ring out to mark birth
ITV News
The bells of Westminster Abbey sounded out in celebration of the royal birth. Three of the bell ringers performing the task did the same for the new Prince's father more than 30 years ago. When the Duke of Cambridge was born in June 1982, Clarke ...

Royal baby: Queen 'delighted' at birth of Prince of Cambridge – live reaction
The Guardian
Maev Kennedy is still in Kate's home village of Bucklebury, Berkshire, and has been speaking to John Durham, the tower master in charge of the team of bell ringers at St Mary's, the 12th century church in Bucklebury which has a splendid set of eight ...

Prayers, congratulations and bellringing for royal baby
ChristianToday
Westminster Abbey will be adding a special touch to the celebrations with three hours of bellringing. It is a centuries old tradition at the Abbey to ring the bells for significant royal occasions. The Abbey will ring a full peal on its ten bells ...
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At St. Paul's in Birmingham, 'change ringers' carry on centuries-old musical ...
The Birmingham News - al.com
Clark and a group of several other people ring the bells a few times a week: practices on Mondays and Saturdays, performances on Sundays for the church service at St. Paul's and for special events, including weddings. Monday practices usually run from ...
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The Bells rang out for the new royal arrival
YOURTHUROCK
THE BELLS of St Peter and St Paul's church rang out last night to announce and celebrate the arrival of the prince of Cambridge, son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The baby boy was born at 4.24pm on Monday afternoon. The bell-ringers usually ...
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Monday 22 July 2013

Church 'bells' play for royal baby
Stuff.co.nz
For almost 10 minutes just after 9am, the ''bells'' of St Mary's rang out across inner-city Timaru, thanks to vestryman George Hill, the church's sound system and the CD Church Bells of England . Mr Hill has been on ''baby watch'' since the weekend ...

Bells at historic Detroit church welcome Britain's royal baby
Detroit Free Press
The pastor pushed an electronic carillon that played a recording of bells, and also rang the chapel bell, which dates back to the church's founding in 1859. The bells played for about four minutes at the church, which sits next to Comerica Park and is ...

Bells ring in Regina to celebrate royal birth
CBC.ca
News of a child born to Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William was celebrated in Regina by the ringing of bells downtown. The Regina Bell Ringers used the bells at Knox-Metropolitan church to sound the happy news Monday ...

Forget the town crier, bring on the bells

[This is not the normal topic for this blog since the bells referred to here are a carillon. I've included it because it illustrates the importance of bellringing in the wider sense to mark "big" events and if there are more in the next few days I'll include them too]

Forget the town crier, bring on the bells
The Canberra Times
RAW VISION: A tradition lost in Canberra has been reignited with the birth of the new Prince of Cambridge - the ringing of the church bells. Matthew Stokoe rung in the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first child at St John's Church in Reid.

All Saints' Singleton bells in action
The Singleton Argus
... Arlo and steeple keeper David Gausden. BEFORE all the members of the All Saints' bell ringing group could make their way up the narrow stairwell that leads to the ringing room eager visitors had already arrived at the church to watch them in action.

Slideshow: Rippingale feast a big hit with villagers
Rutland and Stamford Mercury
The Sunday fun kicked off with a quarter-peal of bells from the bell ringers of St Andrew's Parish Church at midday. The Grand Feast Parade, including classical cars and The Joey Dunlop Motorcycle Cavalcade, travelled from St Andrew's Church to the ...
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Sunday 21 July 2013

Photo gallery: Lowestoft church celebrates patron saint
Norfolk Eastern Daily Press
Saturday was St Margaret's Day and to mark the occasion the church's eight bells were rung continually for three hours by a team of hard working bell-ringers. And from Friday to this afternoon hundreds of people will be visiting the church to see its ...

Friday 19 July 2013

Pealing bells to mark 50 years since MLK's rousingDream - USA Today
King Center in Atlanta plans bell-ringing events in USA, around world to mark ... King Center in Atlanta plans bellringing events in USA around world to ...
www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/...i.../2524493/
Ding-dong over Dalton church's bells looks set to end
NW Evening Mail
A DING-DONG over the noise of church bells looks to have been resolved. There were fears an 800-year church bell ringing tradition could be silenced after a resident complained about them to Barrow Borough Council's environmental health department.
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Wednesday 17 July 2013

Steeple restoration project to begin in August
Shelburne News
According to the church website, the building was dedicated on Feb. 18, 1874. The church is notable for its 49-foot steeple that sits atop an imposing 60-foot square bell tower. “Stone, steeple, and church all go together,” says Dave Ely, a long-time ...
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Hartshorne group dusts off the bells to ring the changes
Burton Mail
Jane Horan, who is also one of the church wardens, was one of the people who lobbied to bring bellringing back to the church. The sound of regular bells had been missing for over a decade, following the death of the last tower captain. Now, they ring ...
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Ding-dong over church's bells looks set to end
NW Evening Mail
There were fears an 800-year church bell ringing tradition could be silenced after a resident complained about them to Barrow Borough Council's environmental health department. Supporters of the ringing tradition are celebrating after the council ...
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Bells decision is music to ears
NW Evening Mail
The news of the original complaint was met with disbelief by the church, bell-ringers, people of Dalton and countless Evening Mail readers, who aired their views through these pages and on our website – it was clear that as far as many were concerned ...

Rob still chiming in after 84 years of work
Banbury Guardian
At 95-years-old Rob Harvey could be the oldest bellringer in the country – and he is certainly the oldest in Whichford. Mr Harvey has lived in the village all his life and started bellringing at St Michael's Church aged 11 with a few friends. A total ...

Sunday 14 July 2013

Teams gather for annual village bellringing contest
Northampton Chronicle & Echo
Five teams have gatherers to ring peals on five church bells, one more than 350 years old, for an annual village competition. The teams of five from across the Daventry diocese visited St Luke's Church, in Church Lane, Kislingbury yesterday, to find ...
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Thursday 11 July 2013

BRIDPORT: St Mary's Church rings the changes
View Online
Made by bell foundry John Taylor and Co of Loughborough – who manufactured a new bell for Chideock's St Giles church last year – the new clapper was made to ...

View Online

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Mapping the District
Harvard Crimson
Bell-ringing is less abstract than that, though; it's strictly mathematical. Songs are written out with numbers that indicate the order in which each bell should be rung. Ringers perform the complex patterns from memory, guiding the bells through a 360 ...
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Tuesday 9 July 2013

Bells ringing out to honour Suffragettes
Morpeth Herald
The Mayor listened to the last hour of the peal in a nearby cafe, then joined and thanked the ringers when she was given her first lesson in ringing a bell full circle. The bells again rang out during the Emily Davison centennial anniversary ...
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Monday 8 July 2013

Youngsters compete in Ringing World National Youth Contest
The Press, York
Sixteen teams of eight ringers each, all aged under 18, from across England including two from Yorkshire, showed their skills at change bell ringing at St Lawrence's in Lawrence Street as they competed in the Ringing World National Youth Contest ...
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Sunday 7 July 2013

Church's bells ring out again after repair work

Church's bells ring out again after repair work
Evesham Journal
A £18,000 fund-raising campaign was launched two-anda- half-years ago to restore the six bells at St Peter's Church in Willersey after an expert found they were in need of a major overhaul. In 1712. the tower's original three bells were melted down by ...

Surrey church fundraising plea over 14th Century bells

Surrey church fundraising plea over 14th Century bells
BBC News
A fundraising appeal has started at a Surrey church to repair bells dating back to the Middle Ages. St John the Evangelist in Wotton has three bells, two from the 14th Century and one from the 17th Century. The Reverend Pam Robson said work to restore ...

Friday 5 July 2013

Bristol Lord Mayor's Chapel bell tower works needed

Bristol Lord Mayor's Chapel bell tower works needed
BBC Bristol website
Church bell engineers Matthew Higby and Company Ltd said: "It has to be remembered that this is a musical instrument which involves swinging excessively large lumps of bronze around above people's heads, using equipment which is in excess of 110 ...
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Wednesday 3 July 2013

Southminster Presbyterian Church in Mt. Lebanon

Bell-ringing on the 4th of July a tradition that could be coming back
Tribune-ReviewEight bronze bells ranging in weigth from 494 pounds to 917 pounds are rung in the Southminster Presbyterian Church in Mt. Lebanon Saturday, October 6, 2012. The bells, cast in London, were brought to the church and installed between 2000 and 2002. They swing through a full 360 degree circle beginning with the mouth up. They are controlled by ringers pulling on ropes in a specific mathematical order. The result is a pulsating cascade of sound.

Read more: http://triblive.com/lifestyles/morelifestyles/4277123-74/says-bells-laspada#ixzz2XycpCi00 
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Bellringing on 4th July

[America is trying to revive a tradition of bellringing on 4th July (Independence Day) and there have been many news items in the American press about this, of which the following are a small sample.]

Bell-ringing on the 4th of July a tradition that could be coming back
Tribune-Review
Whatever we're doing at 2 p.m. July Fourth, Carmella LaSpada would love nothing better than for everyone to stop briefly and give the country a ring ... well, several rings! The founder of the No Greater Love foundation, which honors troops, veterans ...

Greater Taunton July 4 events
Taunton Daily Gazette
TAUNTON: The Disabled Americans Veterans, Chapter 57, will be holding its annual ringing of a symbolic bell on Taunton Green on July 4. The event, marking, starts at 2 p.m. Members of the public are urged to attend and demonstrate their patriotism.

Brundidge to sound whistle on Thursday
Troy Messenger
At 2 p.m. on the Fourth of July, the noon whistle in Brundidge will sound in celebration of the 237th signing of the Declaration of Independence and in support of the July 4 National Bell Ringing led by No Greater Love. The non-profit organization ...

Appeal for new bell ringers for Clitheroe church Lancashire Telegraph

Appeal for new bell ringers for Clitheroe church
Lancashire Telegraph
Vicar Andy Froud said: “We are very proud of our fine bell ringing tradition here at St Mary Magdalene and while the spire was being rebuilt we sadly had to stop ringing. “Now we have a chance to bring new people into our team of bell-ringers.” There ...

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Appeal for new bell ringers for Clitheroe church This Is Lancashire

Appeal for new bell ringers for Clitheroe church
This Is Lancashire
A series of taster sessions will be held on Saturday, July 20, with members of the public advised to sign up quickly as places are limited. Vicar Andy Froud said: “We are very proud of our fine bellringing tradition here at St Mary Magdalene and while ...

Hundreds discover bell ringing at Ely church's open day

GALLERY: Hundreds discover bell ringing at Ely church's open day
Ely Standard 
Philip Bailey, education officer of the Ely Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers, the event's organisers, said: “It has been really rewarding to see so many people showing an interest in bell ringing here today. “As well as the many children ...
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