Ringing Outing to Norfolk

On Saturday, Mike and I went to Norfolk to help Paul Norris and his band of learners from Brooke, on their spring ringing outing. Of course it is much easier for the learners if they have experienced ringers around them. And sometimes there is another person "standing behind" to give advice and help.

The first tower is one that I have a great affinity for - St Mary's Redenhall. Mother's maiden name is Fuller - there are many in the US! Samuel Fuller and his brother Edward were passengers on the Mayflower and came from Redenhall. Their father Robert was a well-to-do Butcher in Redenhall, and was one of the subscribers who donated money for the 6th bell. So I feel a real connection here. Not only ancestors, but an ancestor that liked the bells and possibly was a ringer.

The second stop was Starston with six bells. More Fullers lived here, also
Samuel's first wife (it seems he went through several).

Then we went on to Pulham St Mary - I had to stop in the local shop Bossy Boots for a snack here, as I was getting hungry! Eight bells here. The stairs caused alarm among some ....but we managed to ring Grandsire, Cambridge and Stedman .

Lunch was at the Crown in Pulham Market.

Ringing at Pulham Market after lunch - these bells will be out of action this summer as work starts on the tower and also the bells. Most church congregations have to work hard to raise money for costly repairs to mediaeval buildings....

Then on the Forncett St Peter - a round tower. These are characteristic of Norfolk, although there are a few to be found in Suffolk. This one had four old bells and two new ones. A sonic bat repeller did not seem to work, the bats had returned and the alter was covered with a protective cloth. Bats are of course protected by law as endangered animals so cannot be directly interferred with although they do make a mess.

The last tower was Carleton Rode, six light bells here. A church mouse was spotted here...

Spring is on its way and there were wildflowers to be seen in the churchyard including Celandine...

..... and Primroses.

Next Saturday, I hope to go to the quilt study day organised by Region 9 at Swaffam Prior near Cambridge. I'll try to take some photos to share.

Bellringing

Another great British tradition is bell ringing. All Church of England churches have at least one bell - to announce services - and many have rings of bells hung for bell ringing. This is also called Change ringing as the bells do not play tunes but complex patterns called changes. There are many different methods to ring. The bells are rung for services, weddings, funerals, practice nights and also special occasions.

When I was at Smith, I planned to go to England for my “junior year abroad”. I was excited to get into Collingwood College at the University of Durham as an occasional student for a year, 1976-1977.

Knowing that I was going to England, I decided to learn Bellringing over January interterm . Smith had an empty tower in its new theatre complex, which had a ring of eight English bells installed by Whitechapel Bell Foundry (Smith not being short of money). I had no idea if there were bells in Durham and no real idea of what was involved or how long it took to learn. The dreadful crashing noise coming out of the bell tower didn’t dissuade me either.

It was one of my better ideas - there was a strong bell ringing society at Durham and it was rounds and call changes for Pippa that year. There were weekly practices, weekends away, a summer ball and a summer tour. All good fun. I met my best friend, Val and many others. I was able to get into British college life and avoid those Americans who seemed to stick together.

Over thirty years later I’m still learning and enjoying bell ringing. I’ve gotten further than I ever thought I would do. Mike is a very gifted bell ringer and does lots of conducting - he is the Pettistree ringing master. Of course there’s always more to learn and you get to see some very pretty parts of the country side. If you’re on holiday, you can go to local service ringing or practices with friendly sorts (mostly!) And bell ringing is like a little community, there is a great camaraderie and also a fantastically rich history. The bells themselves are expensive and historic instruments and its like making music with a team of people. All in Mediaeval buildings.

What does the ringing sound like?

You can listen to Pettistree bells in rounds here:

http://www.pettistree.suffolk.gov.uk/ringing.html

For more complex touches there is a program called Bells on Sunday and you can hear repeats at this BBC Radio 4 site:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006sgsh


Oh and by the way - don’t ever call it campanology - its just not done.