The Ringers We are an enthusiastic and sociable band of bell ringers covering a wide spectrum of ages from school children to the over-sixties. Our tower captain, Brian Bull and his wife Jan, have been regular ringers at St Mary’s for nearly forty years; whilst our newest recruits have been ringing for only a few weeks.  At present we have fourteen regular bell ringers in the band and four learners.
We ring as part of worship for Sunday morning and evening services. We also meet for practice on Tuesday evenings from 7:30 to 9:00pm. We ring for weddings, also to celebrate births and special events both local and national.
It is always our aim to ring the bells to the best of our ability to the Glory of God. We hope that those who hear the bells each Sunday will be stirred into thinking about God and His Church and that those who are not able to come will draw comfort from their sound.
We regularly welcome ringers from other towers, either visitors passing through or ringers from neighbouring parishes. During the year we take part in outings to ring elsewhere and there are regular monthly ringing meetings at other towers in the diocese. 
Contact We are very keen to encourage more people to join us in this very rewarding pastime so if you would like to learn more about bell ringing and maybe learning to ring or visit the tower please contact Brian Bull. Latest News and Events:- Once again the bellringers, thanks in particular to work by David Hancock, Jan & Brian Bull, and Val Weston, were able to display a memorable float at the Radcliffe Carnival parade on 14 July. The theme of the parade this year was storytime and our float illustrated Dorothy L Sayers' classic bellringing whodunit 'The Nine Tailors'. Our efforts were rewarded by gaining second prize in the 'Motorized Float' category.  Steve Sugden, member of the Carnival Committee, handing Dave Townsend, Bellringers' treasurer, with other bellringers, a cheque for £50. We received this prize for coming second in the adult motorised float category of the Carnival. It was very pleasing to have all our hard work recognised, particularly David Hancock who provided much of the inspiration and perspiration for our float this year. 
The handbell ringers perform at the 6:30 Service on Easter Day, 8 April. 
A band of ringers from St Mary's (helped by one outside ringer) won this impressive 'Tom Goodwin Trophy' in the in the annual Bingham District Striking Competition held at St Mary and All Saints, Willoughby-on-the-Wolds, Saturday 14 April.
The team comprised:-
Treble. David Hancock
2. Joan Reynolds
3. Val Weston
4. Lyn Sugden
5. Margaret Left (conductor)
6. George Dawson (Willougby-on-the-Wolds) 
The Bells We have eight bells, ranging in weight from the treble of about 4cwt (approx 210kgs) to the tenor, the heaviest bell at over 14cwt (approx 725kgs). The bells were all cast locally by Taylor’s Bell Foundry at Loughborough. 
Although the weights of the bells may seem daunting, with practice it is possible to ring bells considerably heavier than these, because the bells are suspended in a frame which is a piece of precision engineering minimising the effort required to rotate them and make them ring. There are many bells in the country which weigh far in excess of 1000kg.
'THE BELLS OF ST MARY'S CHURCH': This is a new publication of our church bells compiled by Neal Priestland. It is now available, price £2.50, from any of the bellringers. This illustrated booklet gives a fascinating history of our bells and bell ringers over many years.
Handbells We have a set of handbells which are regularly used for tune ringing by church and school groups. The handbells are regularly rung in Songs of Praise services during the year. At Christmas time we have rung at the Manor residential care home and Holme Pierrepont church in a carol concert in aid of Skylarks. Handbells can also be used to ring ‘methods’. About Ringing We generally ring what is called ‘English Change Ringing’. The English style of ringing is unique. The bells themselves move – unlike on the continent where a hammer strikes the bell. English bells swing through 360 degrees enabling the clapper to strike the bell each time it swings. Because of the time it takes for the bell to swing through its arc we don’t ring tunes. Instead each bell rings in turn and then we ‘change’ the order, each bell moving only one position a time. There are many different sequences of changes, known as ‘methods’. The simplest method, Plain Hunt, is shown here for six bells, with the lightest bell (treble) number ‘1’ and the heaviest bell (tenor) number ‘6’ | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 5 | | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 3 | | 4 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | | 5 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | | 5 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 2 | | 3 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 4 | | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Links
For further information, you can check out the following websites to learn even more about the fascinating world of church bell ringing:- Southwell Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers - to which St Mary’s is affiliated www.southwelldg.org.uk Central Council of Church Bell Ringers – the governing body for church bell ringing www.cccbr.org.uk The Ringing World – the weekly magazine for church bell ringers www.ringingworld.co.uk Taylor’s Bell Foundry, Loughborough – one of only two bell foundries still working in Britain www.taylorbells.co.uk |
All welcome for a hot drink (very reasonable prices!) and good company. 
