October/November 2011

Well that was different! We quite often have visiting bands come to ring at Swanage as part of their outing and this month we had two. It was our third visitors that were different! They came from a Rock Climbing centre in Devon to look at the tower from a point of view of abseiling down it to raise money for Christian Aid. I didn’t know that apparently they do this quite often though we were the first tower where they had to climb up through the bells to get to the roof.

Talking of visiting bands: this is often a hit and miss affair with regard to the standard of ringing. When they are excellent ringers you very much hope the townsfolk think it’s you, and when they are not you hope to goodness people don’t think its you! For a general rule of thumb I’d be grateful that when you hear good ringing on a Saturday you think its us and if its bad think there must be a visiting band in town!

I read a lovely article this month in a ringing magazine about older ringers and, in particular, older learners – of which I am most definitely one. It listed all the things that went “wrong” as you got older; declining muscle strength, taking longer to learn new tasks, difficulty with short ‘thinking times’, slowness at learning automatic responses, deteriorating visio-spatial skills, difficulty with memory, aches and pains, failing sight, poor hearing etc etc. It got to the point when I wondered how on earth anyone over a certain age ever managed to learn to ring - but we do and we can! The best thing is though that I now have a list of perfect excuses for whenever I’m ringing badly!

We had Quarter Peal week at the beginning of November, and really quite successful it was too. The "Call a Quarter" challange went well with both Matthew (Plain Bob Minor) and myself (Plain Bob Triples) succeding. Our learner Mike Jenkins scored his first QP ringing the treble to Plain Bob Doubles at Corfe Castle and I scored my first quarter of Royal at Kingston.

Finally this month, it just leaves me to wish each and every one of you “down here” a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from each and every one of us “up here”

September 2011

We did it - 100% quarter peal success in September! Ok, so it was only a 3-Sunday ringing month but hey! What was also particularly pleasing was that each of the 3 quarters scored was a first for someone. Martin rang his first ‘treble to triples method’ in a quarter of Grandsire Triples, Kat rang her first quarter of Plain Bob Major and I rang my first quarter of a Surprise Major.

Talking of “our” Kat; we do miss her. She did brilliantly in her A Levels and has gone off to University to study Veterinary Science at the Royal Veterinary School, University of London. Hopefully she will come and ring with us whenever she is home.

Another outstanding success in September was our performance at the Guild Striking competition this year. The aim of the Striking Competition is to promote and improve the standard of Sunday Service ringing for those participating members of the Guild. In essence it’s a test of how good you can make the bells sound. It’s hard enough ringing the bells well - evenly spaced and with not gaps or crashes - but at a church where you do not normally ring it is even more difficult.

Anyway!...... The Guild 6 Bell Competition was held at Witchampton on Saturday 10th September - our band was Hayley Newman, Linda Hough, Angie Jasper, Tim Rose, Julian Newman and David Haysom – and we came 1st out of 9 bands with 14 faults, narrowly beating Wimborne who had 14.5 faults. The judges comments were: “Brilliant piece of ringing, lovely rhythm and speed. Excellent.”

The Guild 8 Bell Competition was held at Cranborne also on Saturday 10th September – We entered as part of The East Dorset Branch band which was made up of 4 Swanage ringers and 4 Wimborne ringers – and we came 1st out of 3 bands.

Well done Swanage!

August 2011

August, for anyone who lives in a coastal town, is busy. We suddenly become very popular and are inundated with people wanting to come and stay. It’s not just at home that August has this effect – up here in the tower it does too. Ringers away, ringers busy – the normal equilibrium of practice nights and Sunday mornings changing. One practice night this August we had 8 holidaying visitors which made one of our band members comment on whether he had stumbled into the wrong tower!

One of the benefits of the Summer is the Music at St Mary’s programme of six concerts. How lucky are we to have this? Unfortunately I was only able to make one of the concerts but what a concert Simon Lole’s was! Magic! I learnt the organ at school so have an inkling of how difficult it is. I can hardly get my right hand to know what my left hand is doing let alone my right and left hands to know what my right and left legs are doing!

August also usually sees a summer social event for the Bellringers and this year again saw the ringers getting together for a BBQ. We were very lucky with the weather. It’s good to get together socially and to talk about things other than ringing.




One more new method for some of us this month - a quarter of St Simon's Bob Triples. I enjoyed ringing this, thought it sounded really nice and wonder why its not rung more often.

July 2011

Up in the belfry we have had a few notable ‘firsts’ recently. Before practice on 29th June Edward Clark successfully rang this first quarter peal “inside”. Ringing inside means that he rang a bell which was not the treble nor the tenor, thereby having to actually know the method. He did brilliantly!
I also scored my first quarter peal of Stedman Triples on 3rd July which I was really pleased about. Stedman Triples is actually a ‘principle’ rather than a ‘method’; I don’t really know myself what this means except for the fact the treble bell rings the method like all the other bells (apart from the tenor) rather than just hunting up and down through the bell order.

July was a five Sunday month with quarter peals being rung for Evensong on each of them – and a successful month it was too with four of the five quarters being successfully scored and the fifth almost being scored! The fifth quarter peal was unfortunate to say the least. We were ringing – rather well as it happens - Cambridge Surprise Minor (NB a 6 bell method) when unfortunately the conductor “miscalled” it. To his great credit he carried on hoping to get the quarter to come round at the end - which he did successfully. However, when he got home and worked out exactly how many changes we had rung it came to 1247 – just 13 pulls short of the necessary minimum 1260 changes (on 6 bells) needed for a successful quarter peal. So I am still waiting for our 100% successful quarter peal month……….maybe August?!

July 23rd saw the very successful annual Parish Fete. Our role for the fete was different this year. Firstly we were asked to ring “open” (ie with the shutters open) for half an hour before the fete opened. We were delighted to do this and really enjoyed it. We were then asked to open the tower (with the shutters closed for noise control) for only a further 40 minutes for people to come and visit us and to “have-a-go” at ringing. In the past we have manned the tower all day and, as well as helping raise funds for the chosen charities, used it as a recruitment opportunity. I have to say that I felt sad to have to turn away disappointed visitors (and potential future ringers) and that the Bellringers were unable to contribute as much as we would have liked to the monies raised.

May/June 2011

I was shocked, stunned and left virtually speechless last Saturday!

The Swanage Bellringers were “out of town” on the first of two outings planned for this year. Outings are a traditional social event for ringers and, apart from being good fun, they give learners an opportunity to experience new towers and handling different types of bells. Usually ringing takes place at 5 or 6 towers with a long lunch and often tea too (I keep telling you that ringers like their food!)

So, last Saturday (4th June) eighteen of us set off to join Gill and Richard Loyd in South Oxfordshire. Gill and Richard have a holiday home in Swanage and ring for us whenever they are down and they very kindly organised this outing for us on their home patch.



We started our days ringing at SS Peter & Paul, Wantage. I’m actually not keen on the town itself as I was unfortunate enough to be sent to school there which, for the record, I hated! However the church is another matter and is particularly significant for me personally as I was confirmed there way-back-when in 1964 and it was lovely to return and remember that day.

Our next tower, St Matthew’s Harwell, was followed by a long and delicious lunch at The Red Lion in the stunning village of Blewbury. This was followed by ringing at St Michael and All Angels Blewbury (rather than a siesta) and then it was off to Cholsey to ring and to have tea. We also visited the grave of Agatha Christie who is buried there. Our next port of call was St Agatha’s in the pretty little village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell.

Finally we rang at the Abbey Church of SS Peter & Paul in Dorchester-on-Thames, more usually known as Dorchester Abbey. The Abbey is actually the parish church of Dorchester-on-Thames, a small village of just 1000 inhabitants. This is the Dorchester (rather than “our” Dorchester) after which the Bishop of Dorchester is named. I don’t really know the history but it’s all to do with Saint Berin’s mission to the West Saxons in 634 which led to the baptism of King Cynegils in the River Thames close to where the Abbey now stands. Cynegils gave Dorchester to be an Episcopal See. In 664 the See was moved to Winchester, Dorchester having become a bishopric in the Kingdom of Mercia. The seat of the bishops remained at Dorchester until the Norman Conquest.

Anyway, back to why I was shocked, stunned and left virtually speechless – which to those of you who know me will appreciate is a difficult thing to achieve! It was during our stop for tea at Cholsey. I was quietly munching away on some rather delicious cake when, out of the blue, I was presented with a Certificate of Achievement for the Most Improved Ringer Award 2010, an award scheme run by the Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Ringers. To get this award was one thing but to have been nominated for it by my fellow ringers quite another.



You might recall that Kat Clark won this award last year. It speaks volumes for the teaching, but more importantly the learning environment, here at Swanage that the East Dorset Branch nomination for this award has come from our tower two years running. Unless you are a ringer it is impossible to appreciate the talent and high standard of ringing we have here. Well done Swanage!

April 2011

Lots of ringing in April – Easter! We were really pleased to ring for the “Churches together in Swanage” Maundy Thursday Eucharist service. We also rang half muffled on Good Friday for the 3hour service. This seems to have become a custom over the past few years as has feeding the ringers with coffee and hot cross buns in St Mary’s Rooms first! A simple but nicely sociable thing to do. Ringers enjoy their food! I was away Easter Sunday and, feeling guilty, decided to leave the ringers an Easter cake to enjoy….needless to say most of it had gone by practice night.



The other event in April of course was the Royal Wedding. We were pleased to ring a Quarter Peal of Grandsire Triples at 2.15pm to celebrate the marriage of HRH Prince William with Miss Catherine Middleton. Tradition dictates that a peal is rung to celebrate such an event but unfortunately we were unable to get a band together to ring one. It is hoped that a peal will be rung in June or July. We also rang for the first Swanage wedding of the year on the 2nd.



21st April 2011

Yippee – my first quarter of (Cambridge) Surprise Minor tonight :o) Thanks to those who rang with me……here’s to Major!

March 2011

March, like February, was a relatively quiet month up in the tower although we did ring a Quarter Peal for the Ash Wednesday Eucharist service as well as for the four Sunday Evensong services. On a personal front, in March I successfully rang my first quarter peals of Single Oxford Bob Triples and Little Bob Major which I was really chuffed about.

I hope you like the posters I have put up in the Church porch. I have also put up our Ringing Programme for the month for you information. Keep an eye on them – things might change!

February 2011

Last week (2nd March) was the Bellringers AGM and I have to tell you that you have me as your Tower Captain for another year. Can you believe it has been a year already? I can’t! It has been a year of information overload – both from the point of view of actually continuing to learn to ring as well as the ins and out of running a tower. It’s amazing I haven’t gone grey!

We have been given permission to use one of the notice boards in the church entrance. It seems the first section on the left is ours – well if the old rather sad notice is anything to go by! I hope to revamp this section shortly with new displays. I will also put up our monthly ringing programme there so, if you are interested, you can see who is ringing what when!

January 2011

January has been one of those rare beasts; a relatively quiet month. Half way through the month our tail ends arrived which was a huge relief! I am now confident that we can continue ringing the bells until the new set of complete bell ropes arrive towards the end of the year.

I thought you might be interested to know more about the actual bells here at Swanage. Until 1888 St Mary’s had only four bells, the earliest of which dates from 1594 (however there is evidence of there being four bells in 1552), three of them by John Wallis of Salisbury and the fourth by Lester & Pack of Whitechapel. The present treble, second, third and tenor were added in 1888. At that time three of the old bells were re-tuned and one was replaced making the total up to eight. The cost of the new bells was met by George Burt in memory of his wife.

The present frame was also installed in 1888 and is of a high-sided “A” pattern which John Taylor & Co. had introduced and was using about this time.  

The frame-sides are iron castings fixed between oak heads and sills; the foundation beams are also of oak.  1888 was some eight years before the introduction of systemic true-harmonic tuning so when the bells were restored in 1940 it was decided to replace the three lightest bells that had been cast in 1888. Also in 1940 the bells were re-hung on ball bearings and some other fittings were renewed.

On a personal front, I scored my first quarter peal of Grandsire Doubles this month…. what an exhausting method that is! Even when you get into the hunt you don’t stay there for more than a few blows – I can only liken it to being on a never-ending switch back ride.

January 12th 2011

Discussing the most boring books Swanage bellringers owned in the pub last night: 1st prize goes to Martin and his “World Guide of Screw Threads”.

December 2010

Great News! We have been granted the funding for a new set of bell ropes and the order has been placed. Thank you! Hopefully these will be with us in the Autumn.

Not such great news is the fact that we are still waiting for our 4 new tail ends. Despite being told when we placed the order in October that they would be with us “in weeks”, and then that they would definitely be with us by Christmas, we still haven’t got them. According to the manufacturers “snow and ‘flu” have contributed to the delay. I can understand how ‘flu can affect rope making, snow I have more difficulty with! Anyway, we continue to ring and, fingers crossed, the worst worn-out ropes will last until the new tail ends arrive.

As always, December was particularly busy up in the tower. Christmas sees us ringing for three services on Christmas Eve as well as Christmas morning in addition to our usual Sunday ringing. This year we were struck down with a lot of illness and there was a lot of “last minute” change of ringers. I was very pleased, and extremely appreciative of our dedicated band of ringers, that we still managed to ring all 8 bells for every service.

One of last year’s learners, Edward Clark (aged 13), rang his first Quarter Peal on Christmas Eve at a few hours notice! This was his first attempt at a Quarter Peal and he rang it excellently. Well done Ed!

We welcomed members of the youth groups “Juice” and “Refresh” up to the tower during the month. We showed them the bells and let them all have a go at ringing a bell. Sadly I don’t think any of them want to take up bell-ringing but it was fun having them – even if I had forgotten how noisy children can be!

So here we are - January. New year, new resolutions, new challenges, new aims but one constant: every Wednesday night and twice on Sundays a Band of Swanage Ringers will climb the 50 steps up to the tower and ring our wonderful peal of 8 bells.

November 2010

Brrrrr the tower is very cold! Luckily we do have two heaters and even though ringing warms you up last night’s practice (Dec 1st) saw us all ringing in jumpers.

The beginning of November was the Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Ringers Quarter Peal week. The aim of this week is not just to encourage quarter peal ringing in general but more specifically to encourage ringers to attempt to ring something they haven’t rung before. I organised six quarter peals during the week of which we got three and lost three. Martin got a quarter of Grandsire Doubles ringing the treble and I got my first quarter peal on handbells ringing Plain Bob Minimus and my first quarter ringing Plain Bob Caters on an inside bell. We’ll gloss over the ones we lost!

You will see from the above that method names, eg Plain Bob, are followed by words such as Doubles, Triples, Major etc . This indicates the number of bells involved in the method and are as follows:
Singles – 3 bells, Minimus - 4 bells, Doubles - 5 bells, Minor - 6 bells, Triples – 7 bells, Major – 8 bells, Caters – 9 bells, Royal – 10 bells, Cinques – 11 bells, Maximus - 12 bells, Sextuples – 13 bells, Fourteen – 14 bells and Septuples – 15. Methods with odd number bells often have another bell, the tenor, ringing constantly at the back.

November is also the month for half muffled ringing with Service ringing and two quarter peals on Remembrance Sunday. There is something very haunting yet beautiful about half muffled ringing. The only problem being that it is slightly soporific and tends to send the ringers off into a dream like trance taking them longer than normal to ring the quarter peal! I rang in both quarter peals on Remembrance Sunday and scored personal firsts in methods called Ashford Little Bob Triples and Middlesex Bob Triples.

On the 21st November the Swanage Ringers made a First in the history of quarter peals by ringing a quarter peal whilst wearing Pudsey Bear “ears” and in so doing, raised £32.50 for Children in Need. Of course we chose to ring Pudsey Surprise Major!

As the year comes to a close, I would like to thank you all for your support and encouragement since I took over as Tower Captain. One of the pleasures of taking over this post has been meeting you and getting to know you.

Finally all of us “up here” wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

October 2010

I’m going to tell you about Sallies and Tail-ends (the most important word there being the “and”!) as we have what almost amounts to a crisis up here in the Tower.

Bell ropes are basically made up of three main parts; the top end, the sally and tail end. The top end is the longest and the length of it depends on how high the bells are above you. It goes up through the ceiling and runs around the wheel and then through a hole in the wheel where it is tied round a centre pair of spokes. It is usually made of pre-stretched polyester rope which wears much better than natural fibre and doesn’t stretch. The top end is machine spliced into the bottom end a foot or two above the sally. The sally is the tufted wool area. The bottom end (sally and tail end) are made from natural fibres. The tail end is where the rope is doubled up, by tucking the rope back through itself, which makes it easier to grip. The length of the tail end can be adjusted by moving the tucks.

Traditionally the ropes were made from hemp, the plant you get cannabis from. Originally most of our hemp came from Russia, but when the First World War cut off supplies we changed to Italian hemp instead. Of course, the Second World War did for Italian hemp what the First World War did for Russian – and growing it became controlled in many places because of the drugs implications. So in the early 1960’s bell rope makers changed to flax(#1).

A rope’s construction does affect the way it wears. Natural fibre ropes take in considerable amounts of water from the atmosphere and therefore are much affected by damp. However most rope deterioration is to do with where the various fibres rub together – internal and external friction. It is important to make sure that the rope doesn’t wear where it hits the floor while being rung. We have a wool carpet on the floor in our ringing chamber and also woollen ringing mats which are for the ropes to land on rather than the ringers’ comfort and information (each of our mats has the bell number on it!).

Anyway, back to our crisis – our ropes are worn out! Despite great care being taken our ropes are nearing the end of their days, even though they are only 3 years old. We have spliced new sections of rope into the bottom ends until we have no more rope left! However what actually turned something urgent into a crisis was discovering that the (shortest) lead time for a new set of bell ropes is 9 months...and we haven’t started to secure the funding of them yet!

However, your world is not about to go silent…………we have ordered 4 new tail ends which will arrive in a matter of weeks and these should see us through until a new set of bell ropes arrive.

(#1) Steve Coleman: The Bellringers Early Companion

September 2010

I was going to start with “September, what a busy month!” however looking back I find I often start this way. It seems that our bellringers are always busy so I shan’t comment along those lines again unless it’s to tell you we’ve had a quiet month (I wish!). As well as our regular service ringing September saw us ringing for five weddings, welcoming two visiting bands and the start of our 2010 Autumn bellringing course. We also held our Summer BBQ.

It is now six months since I took over as Tower Captain. How am I getting on? If I am totally honest I can’t say that I have enjoyed it. I hadn’t really appreciated what an extremely busy Tower Swanage is or the amount of admin associated with running it. It’s akin to being a full time PA to an inanimate object; it doesn’t answer back but you find yourself hitting your head against a brick wall! I also feel that my own ringing has not progressed as much as it should have done since becoming tower captain, Oh well, we carry on………

This seems an appropriate juncture to tell you about the bellringing officers and their roles and to tell you who holds each post at Swanage.

First there is the Tower Captain (Sally Jenkins): The tower boss he - or she - normally runs the ringing and runs the ringers too. Decisions on, and the organisation of, service ringing, practice nights, weddings, quarter peals and learners etc are entirely his/hers.

Ringing Master (Matthew Pike): The person who runs the ringing on practice nights. Many towers don’t have a ringing master because the tower captain usually performs this duty. However, here at Swanage we have just re-introduced this role to enable me to concentrate more on my own ringing (thanks Matt!)

Steeple Keeper (Martin Wickham): This person looks after the bells, frames, stays, ropes etc. This is an important job which involves a lot of time but is often a thankless task.

Secretary/Tower Correspondent (Julian Newman): The person who receives and answers letters about the tower, the bells, requests from visiting bands etc.

Treasurer (Rachael Rutter): The person who looks after the wedding money and donations from visitors. Payments might also be among the responsibilities.

This is though, just a list of “officers”. Bellringing is a team activity and every ringer has an important part to play as without each other we can’t ring! At Swanage we are extremely lucky to have many talented ringers who each bring their own unique and valuable contribution to the band. So now you know who we are and who does what!

18th September 2010

Valuable Lesson Learnt 2: Never wear a strapless dress when bell ringing, let alone when ringing a quarter peal. (NB It wasn't me!)

4th September 2010

Highlight of my day – I discover I have a regular reader of this blog! (Hello Mary)

August 2010

August: What a month! So much happened it’s difficult to know where to start but I’m going to go with the event that, to me personally, was the highlight: The Festival of Flowers. What an amazing display of flowers so beautifully and cleverly arranged – the church looked magnificent. I was in seventh heaven! Congratulations to all those involved. We were thrilled to be asked by Bill Brown if we would ring as part of the Flower Festival celebrations, something we were delighted to do.

Traditionally bellringers have an annual outing and the Swanage bellringers are no exception. This year our annual outing, “The Glorious Guildford Getaway”, took place on Saturday 14th August and, as the name suggests, was to Guildford! Over twenty of us set off very early in the morning. We started our ringing at St Mary’s which is an anti-clockwise ring of 6 bells (usually bells are rung clockwise). This was followed by the 8 bells of Holy Trinity and then the 10 bells of St Nicholas’. A long lunch at a nearby hostelry was then enjoyed by all. St Johns at Stoke-next-Guildford was our next port of call followed by the highlight of the outing; The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit with its magnificent ring of 12 bells. Guildford Cathedral has to be, in my mind, one of the ugliest cathedrals, however ringing there has to be one of the highlights of my year. The climb up to the ringing chamber is long, very long – to the point where you get “muscle burn” in your legs and wonder if you are ever going to make it to the top! When rested you can then climb another couple of flights of spiral steps up to the actual bell chamber. You can walk round the bells and you can also climb higher again to a gallery where you look down into the mouths of the bells and can watch as they are being rung. Fabulous! There’s a load of photos of the outing on the website – why don’t you have a look? Well done and many thanks to Eleanor Wallace for organising it all.

We ran a taster course “Learning Bellringing” on the four Wednesday evenings of the month. Seven recruits signed up for this and by the end of it all of them were able to ring both handstrokes and backstrokes. More importantly they got an insight into what bellringing entails and the commitment needed, not only to learning but to being available to ring for the church services.

Due to the success of the taster course a continuation course follows from mid-September to the end of October. We have a couple of spaces if anyone wants to join us? If so please give me a ring on 422435.

I had two personal firsts in August: A quarter peal of Plain Bob Major and my first quarter peal of treble bobbing on 8 bells. Although pleased to have scored these it has made me realise that my ‘major’ ringing still has a long way to go.

July 2010

What a great Parish Fete! Up in the tower we were kept very busy with over 100 people coming up to see us and having a go at ringing. We thought we might just open the tower from 12 to 2.15 (when we had been asked to stop so as not to drown out the Belvedere Singers!) but such was the interest we re-opened at 2.45 and had to start turning people away at 4.15pm! Actually it was jolly nice to have the half hour break as it meant I could have a wander round the fete – and very good it was too. I was particularly pleased to “win” a cuddly cat and mouse - the cat is now the Tower mascot and has been aptly named Thomas Tower by Max and Alfie Pike. (I think the male ringers are slightly worried that scatter cushions might appear up in the tower next!)

We are always looking to recruit new ringers and I’m absolutely delighted that at the Parish Fete 9 people signed up for the August “Learning Bellringing” Course that we are running. It looks almost certain that a further/continuation course will now take place in the Autumn (the format of which is yet to be decided). This is good news for Swanage Bellringing! If anyone else is interested in learning then please contact me (422435) as we still might be able to accommodate you onto a course.

One of the nice things about the fete was getting some feedback about these monthly articles. I was greeted with “Are you the lady that writes the column” on more than one occasion – and then asked such things as: Could you include A Glossary of Terms, What is a Quarter Peal, What does Grandsire mean?

So this month I am going to try and explain what a Quarter Peal is. Firstly you need to know that a “change” is when all the bells are rung once eg 12345678. A Peal is about 5,040 changes and a Quarter Peal (literally a quarter of a peal) is about 1,260 changes and both must be rung without repetition of any of the changes. To qualify as a Quarter Peal, or Peal, the ringing must also meet a number of key criteria – for example each bell must be rung continuously by the same person, the ringing must be done entirely from memory and the conductor (who must be one of the ringers) cannot have a written reminder of the composition. Quarter peals take about 45 minutes to ring (a Peal taking about 3 hours) and here at Swanage we attempt a Quarter Peal every Sunday for Evensong. They are physically and mentally challenging – and when you first start ringing them you get very sore hands! I was thrilled when I “scored” my first “quarter” and proudly told my children of my achievement to which they both replied “Oh Mum, what have you done now, why have you had a court appeal” Result: Rapid Ego Deflation!

Thomas Tower and friend

4th July 2010:

I was “googling” St Nicholas’, Studland at the weekend to see if there was any information about their bells when I ventured on to the Studland OPC website as I recalled a great aunt of mine was married there. How I wish I hadn’t as there, before my very eyes, was obviously yet another of great-granddaddy’s illegitimate children by yet another (probably servant) girl. If you have any relatives from the 1850’s and 1860’s in the locality with the names Robert Wilson Wright let me know - we are probably related! I hang my head in shame!

June 2010

June didn’t start too well for me as I had a rap on the knuckles from the Rector! We had attempted, but lost, a Quarter Peal of Grandsire on the last Sunday of May and had decided at short notice to have another go before practice on the Wednesday. However someone (me) didn’t realise she needed to ask permission and someone (me) didn’t think about the neighbours trying to enjoy their G&T’s in the garden on a lovely summer’s evening. So to all those whose quiet evening I interrupted…….I’m sorry!

We had one first in June – a quarter peal of Hawkhurst Bob Triples which was a first in method for all who rang in it. I attempted a quarter of Plain Bob Major which we didn’t get. Even though I had rung a touch perfectly at practice a couple of times I was rubbish on the night though I had just got into the “swing of it” when it was miscalled – which is hardly surprising as I think the conductor was so amazed the coursing order was still correct!

July heralds the annual Branch Striking competition… Good Luck to the Swanage team! Good striking is one of the most important aspects of bell ringing. Not only should the bells never “clash” by sounding at the same moment but they should sound to a perfect rhythm, tapping out a steady beat with equally spaced gaps between blows. Next time you hear us ringing why don’t you stop and pause a while and listen……

In August we are going to run a “Learning Bellringing” Course. The dates are every Wednesday in August (4th, 11th, 18th & 25th) from 6.30 – 7.30pm. The cost of the course will be £5. These first four beginner sessions are aimed to give potential ringers the opportunity to sample what is involved. If successful a further/continuation course will take place in the Autumn. Why not give it a go? We’d love for you to join us! Places will be limited so please telephone me to book a place.

Wednesday 16th June

61 years ago today Ron Pocklington started to learn bellringing. He still rings every Sunday with us and is the “father of the tower”. Congratulations Ron!


Valuable Lesson Learnt No 1: Don’t go bellringing wearing a top made of flimsy fabric and then stand next to the fan :oS

May 2010

Phew! May has been an extremely busy month. Not only was it a five Sunday month but there was Ascension Day, the Archdeacon’s visitation and three weddings to ring for too.

I really enjoy ringing for weddings – and not just because it’s the only time I get paid – it is just so joyous. Twice this month though we have arrived at the same time as the bride, one bride being over 25mins late. I wonder if they realise we are sitting around in the tower waiting?

I was really very sentimental the first time I rang for a wedding at Swanage as my great-grandparents were married at St Mary’s on 23rd March 1859 by the curate Lester Lester. I fondly imagined my great-grandmother walking down to the church from Church Hill, where she lived, to marry the man she loved. However, I’ve since discovered that my great-grandmother was 7 months pregnant when she married and was my great-grandfather’s servant. Having paid off another servant girl he got pregnant 2 years previously, he didn’t have enough money to pay my great-grandmother off too so he married her. The thought of her waddling 7 months pregnant down Church Hill doesn’t quite have the same romantic image!

We had one first this month; a quarter peal of Hever Little Bob Triples which was a first in method for all who rang in it. I had my first attempt at treble bobbing on 8 to a quarter of Yorkshire Surprise Major but didn’t get it – I will try again in July!

9th May 2010

Great excitement in the tower this morning: We discovered that Kat Clark, one of our learners, had won the Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Ringers “Most Improved Ringer” Award. I was delighted to present her with the trophy and certificate in a full ringing chamber this morning. Well done Kat!

April 2010

I have just been elected the new Tower Captain of the Swanage Bellringers. This has come as somewhat of a shock to me as I only took up bellringing 18 months ago when I attended the first of the Swanage autumn bellringing courses. I am, therefore, a complete novice.

They say on all the best talent shows – Strictly Come Dancing comes to mind - it’s not how good you are but the journey you take. So I thought you might like to come with me on my journey as I learn not only how to ring bells but also about being a Tower Captain.

During April, in addition to our usual Sunday ringing, we rang half-muffled for the Good Friday 3 hour service. We preceded this with hot cross buns and coffee in St Mary’s Rooms as it’s always a good idea to feed and water bellringers!

We have had quite a few “firsts” during April:

On Friday 23rd April eight members of the band got together at 6pm to ring a Quarter Peal of Plain Bob Triples. We were joining in the National Campaign, “Ringing for England”, aimed at getting greater recognition of St George’s Day as England’s National Day. As far as I am aware this was the first time the Swanage Bellringers had specifically rung for this occasion.





The band who took part in the St George’s Day Quarter Peal
From left: Peter Harris, Eddie Dicken (hidden), Jill Harris, Sally Jenkins, Kat Clark, Phil Miles, Matthew Pike, Mike Pitman

For one of the band, Kat Clark, this was her first Quarter Peal on an “inside” bell. She chose to ring the 3 and rang very well indeed.

I also had two personal firsts: my first Quarter Peal of Plain Bob Minor on an inside bell (11th April) and my first Quarter Peal of Grandsire Triples on an inside bell (25th April).

The clappers of the 2 and 4 bells went off to have new pins and brackets fitted and to be rebushed. No, I don’t know what it means either but the experienced members of the band are all nodding sagely and smiling so it must be good! In time, as space permits, I hope to tell you about the bells and the different methods we ring.

If you would like to come and visit us we would love to see you. Just take the stone steps up to the tower - it’s only a climb of 50 steps. If you are interested in learning to ring, or are a lapsed ringer and would like to join us then please feel free to contact me.

Sally Jenkins (422435)



Any opinions expressed above are mine and mine alone and do not represent the opinions of the Swanage Bellringers - Sally Jenkins, Tower Captain