Youngsters ring the bells for Charles III
TWO remarkable bellringing teams made history when they rang at sister churches in Twyford and Hurst to mark the coronation.
At St Mary’s Church, Twyford, some of the youngest bell ringers in the area, aged from six to 10, rang.
The team at St Nicholas Church, Hurst, was following a tradition of ringing at that church for coronations since 1626, when Charles I was crowned.
Twyford tower captain Simon Farrar is the father of Grace, six, the youngest of the 16 ringers who took turns there. He said: “Grace does it under supervision. It’s a lovely young team.
“There was a real sense of pride being part of something every bellringer in the country from the smallest parish church to the mightiest cathedral was involved with. It was great to be part of history.
“Generally, the summer between school years five and six is a good time to start learning. British style bellringing is an important folk art and part of our national soundscape.”
Saturday was a real family occasion. Three of the youngest ringers are daughters of Twyford ringers. Max Steele, 18, is teaching his mum Lizzy Steele.
Karen Ricketts rings with her two children, both students at The Piggott School, Wargrave and with years of ringing experience.
Daniel, 13, said: “It was brilliant. You could feel the moment and the adrenaline of that. But it was also knowing you could do it. That calmed things down and focused your ability.”
His sister Helen, 15, said bellringing can be adapted for different heights. Young ringers can stand on boxes to make them taller. And tall people can tie a knot in their bell rope.
Simon’s wife Rachel was one of 15 ringers taking turns to ring the eight Hurst bells. Six of the bells have been in the tower since the early 1600s. Two bells were added in 1911.
Hurst tower captain Graham Slade said: “We rang for about an hour. It felt we were playing our part for the coronation. I have recorded what we did on the Ringing World BellBoard website for posterity.
“You can see there what all the other towers did. It makes you feel part of history.”
He’s pleased so many of the ringers trained at Hurst have stayed with the team. The ringers were presented with badges to mark the coronation ringing.