Bell ringing in the Woodford Valley

We hope anyone who heard us ringing on the morning of the Coronation enjoyed hearing our lovely bells. We rang at 9.30am at St Andrews and from 10am at All Saints. Ringing at the latter included a set of call changes known as Orb and Sceptre which was devised by the Central Council of Church Bellringers specifically for the occasion.

Bellringing often feels like a dying skill and our band, like many others in the country, are mainly aged 50+, so we would very much like to encourage others to join us, to keep the lovely sound ringing out across the valley. Our Tower Captain, Margaret Mauchline, is an accredited ringing teacher and has successfully taught several people to ring.

Both new and returning ringers would be very welcome at our practices, which are on Tuesday evenings, 5.30-6.30pm at All Saints, Middle Woodford. Anyone from age about 10 upwards should be able to ring. Young people can use bell ringing as a skill to meet the requirements of the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. All we ask is that if we train you, that you please make yourself available to ring for church services reasonably regularly, perhaps once a month. There is no obligation to attend church services. We would be particularly interested in having new ringers from Great Durnford, as our team currently has no members from that side of the valley. Please don’t let the bells fall silent, keep an ancient tradition going by joining us!

YouTube video of ringing at Middle Woodford, from 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YepIiP74VXE

More information about bell ringing: https://cccbr.org.uk/