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With the bells in the upright, almost
weightless position, the bellringer can control the time at
which the bell strikes. Using this facility, a ring of bells
(the collective term for a set of diatonically tuned ringing
bells) can be interchanged, giving different orders of notes,
or changes. The maximum number of changes possible on a given
number of bells varies enormously – from 120 on 5
interchanging bells to many millions on 12 bells. A full peal
consists of at least 5000 changes and no change in a set of
changes can be repeated, this process takes approximately 3
hours and must be completed in one ringing session.
Furthermore, a bell must not move
more than one place at a time, so that if bell number 1 wishes
to occupy number 3’s position, then it must go via the changes
123, 213, 231. It is also a rule that the bells must start and
end in the ‘rounds’ change, the ‘down-the-scale’ change from
the smallest bell (always the ‘treble’ of a ring of bells) to
the largest bell (always the 'tenor’). Many ways of producing
these changes exist, and various names apply to these
principles, or ‘methods’ as they are commonly known. The
‘Grandsire’ method is a very early example – from the 17th
Century – and is still one of the most widely used methods
today, on account of its ability to produce good bell-music
simply. The number of bells to which a method applies is also
known by a distinctive name. Changes on 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
and 12 changing bells are known respectively as Doubles,
Minor, Triples, Major, Caters, Royal, Cinques and Maximus.
Hence the Grandsire method applied to 7 changing bells is
known as Grandsire Triples. Rings normally consist of even
numbers of bells, therefore when ringing, for example,
Grandsire Triples on 8 bells, the tenor rings in 8th place
continually while the first 7 bells interchange. One of the
ringers acts as a conductor for the ringing, whose function is
to start and stop the bells, and to alter and check the order
of the bells as the composition of the method being rung
requires.
London has always been noted for the number of churches it
contains (over 100 before the Great Fire of 1666, since
reduced to less than half that number), and for its church
bells, as testified by the famous 'Oranges and Lemons’ rhyme.
In 1602 a German visitor to London wrote, "On arriving in
London we heard a great ringing of bells in almost all the
churches, going on very late in the evening. We were informed
that the young people do that for the sake of exercise and
amusement". The ‘Young people’ he referred to formed ringing
Societies throughout the 17th century. The most famous of
these, and the only one to have survived, was the Ancient
Society of College Youths, whose members are heard ringing on
most of the London bells on this recording.
Fine rings of bells can be found in most counties of England
and the beautiful church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol has
the full complement of twelve sonorous and majestic bells. Not
only are the bells beautiful but the church itself was
described by Queen Elizabeth 1st as “the faerest and goodliest
parish church in all my realm”.
The old ‘wool towns’ of the Cotswolds have many fine churches
and bells. The large market towns tended to have more bells
than the village churches and so we have just the minimum
number required for change ringing at Bledington with somewhat
larger peals at Burford and Moreton-in-Marsh.
Click here for part 1
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