Gallery

Surprise Minor with just two ringers (and a simulator)

Two 'live' ringers practise Cambridge Surprise Minor, while the Abel simulator fills in the other four bells.
This is an early attempt by Paul Crick (West Ham) at ringing Treble Bob. (Graham Foat facilitates the session from bell 3)

How we silence our bells
Before we begin a simulator session, a section of motorcycle tyre (installed on the clapper ball) is rotated 90 degrees to silence each of the bells.

When the session is finished, the tyre is again rotated by 90 degrees and the bell "speaks" once more.

Using this system, each bell can be silenced in a few seconds.

Full instructions for making these silencers can be found here.


Photo: John Eyre (Wanstead)

Still Ringing After All These Years - A Short History of Bells - a 60 min BBC documentary.

This short film (15 mins) shows what's involved in learning to ring.

For a comprehensive introduction to ringing in the UK, watch this full-length (45 min) documentary.