St Mary's Bell Ringers - School Age

Do you ever hear the church bells as you go into church and wonder who is ringing them?

Well, it could be you!

We have lots of junior ringers (from age 10 to 18) in our band and they follow a ringing scheme called Learning the Ropes run by the Association of Ringing Teachers.

The photo shows three young ringers with their level 1 certificates.

Learning to handle the bell and rope takes about two months of one-to-one lessons, then you join our ringing practices on Friday afternoons from 4.30 to 5.30pm. After that it is a case of learning to ring your bell in the right place along with other ringers and starting to discover the world of ringing methods – which are like tunes.

All our ringers rang for the Coronation of the King

Each Sunday we ring at 8.45am for the 9.30am Service and we often ring something special for the Evening Service.

Bell ringing is all about technique and requires little strength or effort but we generally say you need to be ten years old to start. What is required of a ringer is an ability to count, a sense of rhythm and a commitment to ring for Sunday services and to join us for practice nights each week.

The St Mary’s ringer’s organise an annual bell ringing outing which is a fantastic opportunity to to visit other towers and have a go on their bells.

This is a picture of our outing in June 2023.

You might like to join in the Essex group of young ringers for their monthly practices and take part in youth competitions. In 2021 Essex Young Ringers came second in the whole country in the striking competition.

The Essex Young Ringers at the national competition in Worcester, 2021.