Try Tolling In Tulloch
Glen Spean offers the unusual indoor pastime of bell-ringing
CAMPING and campers are prevalent throughout Fort William and Lochaber, but campanology? While you might think bell-ringing is confined to ecclesiastical buildings, there is a small corner of Glen Spean where the activity has great appeal.
Tulloch Farm lies just off the A86 a few miles east of Roy Bridge. It’s where Sue Turner rekindled her love of ringing and her husband Ian discovered a new pastime.
The Tulloch Ringing Centre, based in a purpose-built belfry, was set up by Peter Bevis and Helen Mcgregor and while they are based in the Channel Islands, they visit Tulloch each year to see how much of an impact the centre has made on the locals.
Suffice to say that the impact has been huge.
“Sue first rang when she lived in Oxfordshire,” says Ian, “and came upon the centre by chance. A few years ago we started a B&B in Tulloch and when Sue was visiting a neighbour, she chatted to the farmer who mentioned he had a Ringing Centre.
“She started ringing again in 2016 and it was her enthusiasm that persuaded me to have a go. I am very competitive and, having given up running and orienteering following a hip replacement, I needed a new challenge. However I do wish I had discovered bell ringing earlier. There’s no reason why I couldn’t have done both ringing and orienteering simultaneously.
“Like orienteering, bell ringing has both a mental and a physical element. It’s a tremendous way to keep fit.”
The bells, purchased privately, came from redundant churches in Greenock and Perthshire and were on offer from the Scottish Association of Change Ringers for use in projects in Scotland. Peter and Helen seized the opportunity to use them to set up the centre at Tulloch.
“It’s a very sociable pastime and one of the best team sports ever invented! We have a core half dozen ringers, supplemented by frequent visiting bands of ringers.
“We occasionally visit other towers in Inverness and Dunkeld. Dave, one of our Fort William regulars, is originally from Somerset where he learned to ring over 50 years ago. He rang there on a recent visit.
The farm at Tulloch has some guest cottages for visiting bell-ringers to hire, and with Ian and Sue’s guest house and accommodation in Roy Bridge, it’s the ideal base to combine ringing with walks along the River Spean and in surrounding woodland.
“Lochaber had plenty of attractions, but I feel we offer a totally different one,” says Ian. “Perhaps the biggest attraction could be the centre’s location. There are no near neighbours – so the bells can ring freely 24/7, 365 days a year.”
I could have done both ringing and orienteering simultaneously!”