Bellringing at Holy Cross Church Ryton

Details of our bells can be found in the HERITAGE section of this site on the Millennium Bells page

 

 

 

Our practice night is on Wednesdays from 7pm until 8.30pm.

Ringers from other towers locally or who are visiting the area are very welcome to join us both on practice nights - and for service ringing on Sundays from 0930 hours precisely (!)

 

Our thanks to the Oxford University Society of Change Ringers for this animation showing full circle ringing

 Ryton  Millennium Ring's  Generation Z

Sunday 23 October was quite a milestone in Ryton’s  Millennium  Ring history.

We had a young ringer Daniel Sullivan join the service ringers at number three for the first time in our 8 bell ring for Sunday morning service.

 

At the same time one of our earliest young ringers Anna Craven was in the congregation for the Baptism of her young daughter. We recalled how support with homework used to be available at practices from the many ex teachers among Ryton’s ringers.

 

Tom the Rector and John, Sunday's Ringing Master, always stern critics of the bands’ striking for Service ringing, awarded the band a star in the Register for 23 October!

Matthew, Emma and William, our other current young learners, will be joining the service ringing band on subsequent Sundays.

 

             Listen out for our New Ringers !

 

We are delighted to welcome 5 new beginners to the tower

The picture shows Daniel, Matthew and Emma practicing the different parts of ringing a churchbell.

Emma while we were photographing actually managed to put all the actions together for the first time under the tutilage of our Ringing Master (and Rector) Tom Jamieson.

 

Alex, husband of Trish one of our ringers, prefers learning to ring in his motorcycle leathers (top right) after a brisk trip over Carter Bar and back down via Kielder to limber up.

Sue, seen top left, is further on in learning to ring. She now joins in Sunday service call change ringing before hurrying down to sing in the choir.

 

Beginners learn to ring on a muffled bell (with a leather 'silencer' pad strapped around the clapper). They acquire the sequence of actions one by one for handling the rope that rotates the great wheel with which the heavy bell is swung high up out of sight in the bell chamber over our heads

 

Sequence of actions  (see the animation at the head of the page):

 

1

Pull the looped end of the rope back down at 'backstroke' for several sessions.

2

Pulling off at 'hand stroke' on the Sally (the fluffy red and white strip on the rope) for several sessions, then

3

catch the Sally again as it passes by upwards and pull it all the way down (handstroke again)

4

let go and let it travel up past once more

5

pull the tail loop back down again (backstroke once more)

 

Fitting these components together into one relaxed looking perfectly timed sequence is the foundation of a good ringer (but sadly such perfection still eludes your scribe after 16 years since the Millennium).

 

We like to persuade ourselves we've attracted these new ringers by creating such a terrible din melodic background during the Hirings Bank Holiday afternoon last May.

 

Ryton ringers pass the D&N ringing test

 

Trish and Bob, along with John Robinson our Tower captain, attended the meeting at Tanfield on 11 June of the Durham and Newcastle Diocesan Association of Church Bellringers to be passed in their ringing of steadily struck 'Rounds and Call Changes' by Association officers. 

We were delighted that both returned after being formally enrolled in 'the D&N' and enthusing over the traditional "Bellringers' Tea". 

dh

visitors to the bellringers' page since 22 June 2016