Fun with Bells: Recent Episodes
Cathy Booth
Bell ringing is a social hobby that has bells and towers all over the globe. Cathy Booth, a bell ringing mum and wife, brings the world of bell ringing together as she interviews fascinating, famous, frank and funny people every month. The fact-filled histories will enlighten you; different perspectives will challenge you, fun quizzes will test you. If you like entertaining and thought-provoking information about our #bellringing heritage, then this is for you.
The Fun with Bells podcast is taking a break this Summer and will be back in September.
Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
It’s time to catch up with part two of the wide-ranging conversation on the future of ringing hosted by Cathy Booth at the recent Art Conference. Just like part one, the panel of Tina Stoecklin, Andrew Slade and Max Drinkwater don’t hold back from tackling the tricky questions! What does the CCCBR do for ringers? How can associations work with Diocese to target bell funds in churches that have a future? How do we empower younger ringers into leadership role and evolve structures that meet the needs of today’s ringers? And by younger we are of course talking under 50s!
Although many of the issues raised may seem familiar, some of the solutions suggested may be surprising. Is it time for ringers to professionalise, be ‘seen’ by the church community and show what skills and resources we can offer? Something to discuss later in the pub …
Top five takeaways
- If you have received any complaints regarding bells under your care, and you need help and advice, email the Complaints Helpline at complaints@cccbr.org.uk
- Encourage younger ringers into leadership roles. Not only will it refresh your tower’s perspective, but it will also enhance their CVs.
- How strategic is your area with your bell maintenance funds? If you’re not already linked into the diocese then now’s the time to get together to make sure investment choices are strategic.
- Has your Tower Captain got a role for life? Maybe it’s time to consider succession planning ready to implement a fixed-term policy.
- If your association isn’t already tackling these big issues why not think about your own role in standing up, showing leadership, and ensuring the future of ringing.
Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
Who better to quiz about the future of ringing than the President of the CCCBR, the chair of the Association of Ringing Teachers, and an ordained ringer and co-author of a book about ringing and the church? Show host Cathy Booth puts this esteemed panel through its paces, posing some vital questions on what needs to happen to keep change ringing alive, and to recruit and retain young ringers.
It turns out that most of the answers lie with young people themselves, and that the ringing community has a lot to learn from the way young ringers organise, communicate, and socialise.
So, tune in for a free-ranging and thought-provoking discussion that might end up with you questioning some of the current values, beliefs, and rituals of ringing culture …
Top five takeaways
- Make the most of the relationship you have with your church – they may well have skills and expertise that can help with your recruitment
- Listen to the views of your young ringers
- Don’t forget the role of parents in encouraging their children’s hobbies. They might even take up ringing themselves
- Make the most of all technologies available to your tower. To find out more about improving your striking through Hawkear check out www.12bell.org.uk/hawkear
- Ringing can link to many parts of the primary curriculum, such as history, maths, music, and PE. A visit to a bell foundry might make for a perfect school trip! Schools | Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust (belltrust.co.uk)
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
‘Unique’ is often overused as a word, but host Cathy Booth’s guests on this wonderful episode, John, and Debbie, can certainly claim it for their ringing experience. That’s because they ring at St Thomas’s Church, Kilifi in Kenya which is one of the remotest rings of bells in the world, with the nearest bells hung for change ringing being at Harare in Zimbabwe over 1,000 miles away.
Cathy learns about the fascinating history of the church and the bells, as well as hearing how John and Debbie became ringers, their learning experience, and their amazing ringing trips to the UK.
Although much will be familiar to other ringers, such as the ringing room with its set of handbells, cabinet of ringing books and bottomless sweet tin, there are also some eye-opening challenges of ringing in a tower that is, well, unique!
If you are beginning to take ringing a little bit for granted, this podcast will stop you in your tracks and possibly rekindle your romance.
Top takeaways
- Read all about the Kilifi ringers 2015 adventures in the UK The Whiting Society of Ringers - Kilifi
- Check out the bells on DOVE Tower details (cccbr.org.uk)
- Struggling to ring or explain plain hunt to a learner? Try thinking about it being like using the stairs – slowly up and faster down!
- Inspired by John and Debbie’s charity work? Is there anything more your church or tower could do to support struggling families in your local area? Or contact John to hear more about John and Debbie's work: mukedy@gmail.com
- Looking for some new ringing recruits? Members of the church choir are often a fruitful hunting ground.
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
Why do you ring in a gallery? Who were the ringers whose names are on the peal boards behind you? Where can you find an example of an art deco ringing association certificate?
Host Cathy Booth quizzes knowledgeable guests Chris Ridley and Gareth Davies about the amazing range of historical sources at your fingertips to help answer these questions and more.
Thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of Chris and the volunteers from the historical and archive working group of the CCCBR there are collections of just about everything - belfry artefacts, newspaper extracts, biographies, rolls of honour, badges, the lot!
Gareth goes on to give some great insight in how historians can make the most of these resources and what we can all do to promote them to the ringing historians of the future. All fascinating stuff.
I think they all deserve a certificate! Yes, there’s a collection of those as well …
Top 5 takeaways
- Access many of the resources mentioned in this episode at the CCCBR website History & Archive (cccbr.org.uk)
- Interested in finding out more and the working groups and getting involved? Check out the webpage Historical and Archive – CCCBR or email halead@cccbr.org.uk
- Intrigued by the illuminated peal books? Take a closer look at the St Martin’s Guild SMG Peal Books | (stmartinsguild.org) and College Youths Peal & Name books · Ancient Society of College Youths digital archive · Ringing Archive (ascy.org.uk) websites
- Why not take photos of your own local peal boards and send them in? Help especially needed in Norfolk, Kent and Scotland – see which peal boards are already included at History & Archive (cccbr.org.uk)
- Why not do a bit of research about your tower and ringers, and share with your local community as part of the Heritage Open Days Homepage (heritageopendays.org.uk)
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
In this special fifth anniversary episode, the Fun with Bells Podcast celebrates by turning the tables on host and producer Cathy Booth, as she takes her turn on the other end of the microphone and is grilled by team member Emily Roderick.
Emily digs into the background to the podcast, its aims, and the entire podcast process from idea to launch. The origin of the name is also revealed. Who knew?
Cathy and Emily also choose some of their favourite episodes from the last five years and play some great ‘best bit’ clips. There is then a tantalising glimpse into what topics to expect in the future, so stay tuned, and with your support, the podcast can keep entertaining and informing ringers for the next five years to come.
Links to the episodes mentioned:
* The Joy of Bells: New Ringers Reflect on Their New Obsession: funwithbells.com/ep69
* Remarkable PhD Study of Cambridge Bellringers Pay and Habits: funwithbells.com/ep23
* Recording Your Bells: funwithbells.com/ep15
* What Ringers Wear: funwithbells.com/ep53
* Thirty Voices, Seventy-five Years, One Story: funwithbells.com/ep26
* Young Autistic Bell Ringer and Historian: funwithbells.com/ep38
* 15 Tips to Improve Your Striking: funwithbells.com/ep24
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
In this episode, David Smith makes a much-welcome return to the podcast for another conversation with host Cathy Booth that’s brimming with insight.
Find out about about the differences between ringing associations in the UK and those in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. With David’s global ringing teaching experience there are plenty of anecdotes and observations, on all things teaching, learning and mentoring.
It’s also an episode that poses some philosophical questions about the nature of ringing associations and what it means, as ringers, to connect and belong. Associations may not be the future, but from David’s perspective, ringing itself has a very positive and promising outlook!
Top tips
- A ringing course might not be for you, but why not think about offering to lend a hand and help out
- Feeling brave? Why not ask another ringer you trust to observe your teaching session and ask for some constructive feedback
- Check out the NorthWest ringing course website nwringingcourse.uk
- Now’s a good time to update your website or social media so other ringers can easily find your tower and arrange a visit
Sound like the ART course might be for you? Take a look at bellringing.org/
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
This episode sees host Cathy Booth catching up with three Ring for King recruits to find out what their first year of ringing has been like. And what a year it’s been!
Jessica, Lindsey and Andy have notched up an amazing collection of ‘firsts’ since starting their ringing adventure. First tower tour, first wedding ringing, first quarter peal and first striking competition have all been ticked off the list. Also worthy of note are their first ringing blisters!
Find out what they have found hard, what they have found easy and what’s helped. Turns out that ringing is not easy as it looks, but as they enthusiastically point out, if it is too easy, it’s not worth doing!
Top five takeaways
- If you’re a novice ringer, pop into the beginners bell handling practice - it will make you realise how much progress you have made!
- Looking for some reading material? Try out Steve Coleman’s books www.ringingbooks.co.uk
- If you fancy a challenge and love a list then give 50 ringing things a go https://smartringer.org/50things/
- Inspired to learn to ring? Find out more at https://bellringing.org/learn-to-ring/
- On holiday? Fancy a ring? Dive into Dove’s guide to check out a tower and find the tower captain’s contact details dove.cccbr.org.uk
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
The debate around ringing and music is taken to an entirely new level in this fascinating conversation between show host Cathy Booth and composer Helen Ottaway.
Deeply inspired by the sound of bells, Helen’s passion for this shared soundscape has led from the creation of individual musical works to an entire bell-inspired festival! It’s amazing to hear what can happen when composers and ringers come together to exchange knowledge and enthusiasm across different art forms, contexts and places.
Be inspired, listen to the recordings and maybe even download the ringtone - but don’t get so carried away that you forget to turn your mobile off before that peal …
Top Five Takeaways
- Why not get in touch with existing festivals to see if there’s a way your tower could get involved
- Given the heritage aspect of ringing, the National Lottery is a good source of funding for creative projects www.heritagefund.org.uk
- Check out the Ring Out Festival website for more inspiration https://www.rooklanearts.org.uk/ringout/
- Interested in finding out more about Helen’s work? Here are some good links to start with https://soundcloud.com/helen-ottaway/sets/ring-ring-bell-1 , https://helenottaway.bandcamp.com/album/ring-ring-bell , https://www.artmusic.org.uk/projects/ring-ring-bell/ and https://helenottaway.blog/
- If you’ve not already got a bell related ringtone, why not try one of these out https://www.zedge.net/find/ringtones/Artmusic or https://www.zedge.net/find/ringtones/Frome%20Carillon
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
Show host Cathy Booth aims high this month in conversation with accomplished ringer and leading light Linda Garton.
Linda strongly believes that “success breeds success” and, as you’ll hear, this is amply illustrated in both her own ringing career and the winning bands that her leadership has inspired.
So muster your motivation, make a plan and put some of Linda’s practical ideas on training and development into action. You’ll then be set to celebrate all levels of ringing, from rounds right the way up to the Society of Royal Cumberland Youths* and beyond.
*Other ringing societies also available
Top 5 Takeaways
- Planning a striking competition? Open it up to all ringers, put on a picnic and make it a celebration!
- If some of your ringers need more time to master a skill, consider putting on some intensive all-day courses with small numbers
- Evolve your practices as your students progress
- Have a target – give your ringers something to aim for
- Does your tower have a set of handbells? Where’s the most unusual location they’ve been rung? Why not take them out for a day trip?
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
How many bells are enough? Six, eight, ten? As show host Cathy Booth discovers from Peter Heard, once the offers of help and support came rolling in to Nevern Restoration Project, it was easy for their ambitious plan to grow and grow!
There’s something for everyone in this engaging episode, whatever your interests. Church history, restoration projects, epic fundraising, setting up a band from scratch and the ups and downs of special guests and TV appearances all get a look in.
Peter feels that ringing has rejuvenated him in later life, but I think this may be the other way about. Judging from the amazing success of this bell restoration and training centre, he has fully reciprocated by doing his bit to breathe new life into an old tower.
Top 5 Takeaways
- Looking for the perfect holiday location with an excellent ring of bells thrown in? Find out more about Nevern church and its bells here Our Church Bells | Nevern Church (nevern-church.org.uk)
- If you’re planning a bell project, check to see what talent there is in your church congregation, you might be amazed to discover the expertise that you have
- Find out more about the Keltek Trust Helping churches acquire surplus and/or redundant bells to be hung for English-style full-circle bell ringing
- Looking to hold a ringing recruitment drive? What better place to hold a welcome and introductory session than the local pub!
- Whilst the Colwinston Trust focuses its funding on projects that benefit Wales, look for unusual connections to your church and local trusts that might be able to help you with any bell ringing project
Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org
Podcast team:
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by:
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
Terrified of Twitter, hesitant about hashtags, tentative about TikTok? This practical podcast sees host Cathy Booth take a closer look at social media and how ringers can make the most of it, whether it’s to recruit new ringers, keep the neighbours engaged or impress other towers with what you’re up to.
And if it’s tips you’re after, this podcast delivers in spades, with great advice from those already up to exciting things on their social medial platforms. Listen and learn from Chrissie and Katelyn from Loughborough Bell Foundry, Sarah Bowyer from Worcester Cathedral, and Richard and Rebecca from Frittenden Bell Ringers.
With so many platforms you might very well be wondering where to start? Well apparently photos of animals, and especially cats, are the perfect clickbait. Get your cute Stedman 'cat's ears' pics ready everyone, as now is the time to use them!
For photos and more information see: www.funwithbells.com
This podcast is sponsered by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to ringingteachers.org.
Contact Cathy at funwithbellspodcast@gmail.com if you are interested in finding out more about our new social media role on the podcast team.
www.funwithbells.com
What, if anything, is worth keeping from the COVID lockdown period? Well definitely the Wensleydale Clusters online ringing course! Host Cathy Booth hears from ART award winners David Scrutton and Jonathan Couchman, who tell the story behind their successful recruitment scheme, now in its third year.
In just five hours of online learning and practice in Ringing Room, the course gets wannabe ringers up to the stage of understanding plain hunt and eager to be matched with a local tower captain so they can begin ringing for real in a nearby tower. The retention rate is impressive too!
Lots of tips here for any ringing project - bring together talented people with towers in need, keep things friendly and informal, and don’t intimidate leaners by exposing them too early to the ‘scary ringers’…
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
This podcast is sponsered by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to ringingteachers.org.
www.funwithbells.com
Is Phil Gay a typical ringer, an atypical ringer or just total legend? Show host Cathy finds out as she delves into a ringing life very well lived.
From inventing a mobile belfry, developing the Keele Ringing Summer School, teaching his family to ring and hanging his own mini-ring in his garage to notching up 1000 peals, Phil has made a massive contribution to ringing both locally and nationally. And that’s without mentioning his years of service at the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers.
Yes, not every one of his innovations has been taken forward, but Phil still has plenty of ideas. In particular, we just can’t wait to see Phil’s quick erection model!
For more information and photos go to www.funwithbells.com.
This podcast is sponsered by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to ringingteachers.org.
www.funwithbells.com
Struggling to strike in the right place? Anxious about unpredictable sallies? Getting no satisfaction from your ringing? You’ve come to the right podcast!
Ace ringing teachers, Ruth Suggett, Judith Frye and Greg Russell, talk host Cathy Booth through the most common bell handling problems and, more importantly, how to solve them. From slow hand transfers, inadequate follow through and not catching the sally at the right time, it’s all here.
Don’t worry though, with the help of a good teacher, early diagnosis and willingness to master the necessary skills, all can be put right. Above all else, aim to be one with your bell - it is not the enemy, but ego is!
For more information and photos see: www.funwithbells.com
This podcast is sponsered by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to ringingteachers.org.
www.funwithbells.com
In this second episode focusing on engaging the media, host Cathy Booth looks at two sides of one ‘Ring for the King’ interview by talking to broadcast journalist Tim O’Callaghan and Simon Linford, President of the CCCBR.
Cathy learns that it’s hard to set the news agenda so if the media pick up on your story, you’ll need to act fast. And once a news outlet runs with your story, others may well follow so make the most of it!
For the CCBR, the recent media blitz is part of a much wider strategy focused on the future of ringing and attracting ‘good’ bell ringers - that stick at it, enjoy it, and add value to their towers. So, ditch the cold, dirty ringing chambers, grumpy old men and unrealistic expectations and begin the adventure of a lifetime of discovery …
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com.
www.funwithbells.com
This episode is jam packed with practical tips as host Cathy Booth, with the help of three engaging guests, explores how to get positive bell ringing stories into the media.
First off, ringers Matthew Butler and Kate Flavell talk Cathy through their experiences of making the news - either after being contacted by local radio, TV and the press, or trying to hit the headlines themselves.
Cathy then gets a very different perspective from interviewing journalist Andrew Napier, who very helpfully explains how things work from the other side.
So if your Facebook post goes viral, or you have a great news story to share, this podcast provides the perfect preparation for your interview, photograph or press release. If you do get the call, just go for it - see it as yet another opportunity to bust that myth that ringing involves monks being yanked up in the air!
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, Cathy briefly interviews Matt Jerome of the YCRA at the recent ART conference.
www.funwithbells.com
Ever wondered what it’s like to learn how to ring church bells? Podcast host Cathy Booth catches up with both learners in Winchester and teachers at the Association of Ringing Teacher’s conference to find out.
It’s clear that all the beginner ringers love the challenge of learning, especially enjoying the feeling of being focused and in the present. However, ringing isn’t quite as easy as it looks. It’s just as well that there are plenty of patient teachers there to help. So listen to your teacher, take small steps and keep going - and if you go through a rough patch, just remember how much progress you have already made.
The good news is that the one thing that everyone agrees on is that the most important thing about ringing is to have fun. That, and don’t forget to breathe!
For more information and photos - see www.funwithbells.com.
At the end of this episode, Cathy briefly interviews Matt Jerome of the YCRA at the recent ART conference.
www.funwithbells.com
This thought-provoking episode sees host Cathy Booth catch up with Emily Roderick, who after volunteering to support the podcast now finds herself featuring in it!
One of the age-old questions that ringers rarely agree on is ‘what exactly is ringing?’ - is it a sport, is it music, or is it art? Ringer and artist Emily is currently exploring ringing from the perspective of performance art, with an Arts Council England grant to boot. What follows is a fascinating discussion into the creative process and where imagination can lead to.
So, if you are a ringer interested in performance, or an artist interested in ringing, now’s your chance to get involved. Get in touch with Emily, and who knows what might happen next ...
For photos and information go to : https://funwithbells.com/?p=1918
www.funwithbells.com
Are your bells too loud, or too quiet? Could some simple tips help your hard-of-hearing ringers to cope better in the tower? This podcast sees host Cathy Booth and guests explore the fascinating world of sound.
First, Alison and Chris share their experiences of ringing whilst using hearing aids, and come up with some terrific tips to make like easier both in the tower and in the pub afterwards.
Then Cathy quizzes her husband Roger on sound levels in towers. Turns out that it’s not just the decibel volume that matters, but reverberation and structural sound count too. Nobody wants a bad case of ‘clapper knock’!
Whether you want to soak up the sound with wall-to-wall carpet, or crank up the volume by leaving all the doors open, this podcast is perfect for you.
Fore more information, including Mike Banks' slides see https://funwithbells.com/?p=1892
www.funwithbells.com
No, we’re not talking about tyrannical tower captains, caustic conductors or belligerent tenor ringers here, but the wide and wonderful variety of wildlife that ringers and steeple keepers share their bell towers with.
David Bagley fascinates host Cathy Booth with descriptions and anecdotes of both welcome and unwelcome species, and advises on how to either encourage them or get rid of them. No, it’s not just bats in the belfry, as insects, mammals and birds all seem to enjoy the atmosphere and make themselves at home.
As well as some fascinating facts, this podcast offers some great excuses for losing a quarter - just blame the distraction caused by that cheeky mouse, plague of ladybirds or rare sighting of an assassin beetle!
www.funwithbells.com
This second sojourn into ringing in redundant churches sees show host Cathy Booth discovering two more exciting projects where ringers have joined forces with the Churches Conservation Trust.
When someone suggests you take the keys and check on the bells in a redundant church, big things can happen. Such an invitation proved inspiring to Andy Cope and his partner who have transformed All Souls in Bolton into a community ringing centre with a winning recruitment strategy.
Meanwhile, the vision for a national centre of ringing in Northampton is coming together beautifully, as Simon Linford updates on progress. Close your eyes and imagine the perfect place - nice ring of eight next door, set of training bells, state of the art simulator, a ringing library and a real ale pub. Yes, you heard that correctly, a pub! Is it too early to book an outing?
www.funwithbells.com
What do you get when you cross The Churches Conservation Trust with bell ringers? Show host Cathy Booth finds out, in the first of two special episodes. In this month’s show, Cathy meets Neil Skelton, David Bagley and Neil Dodge to discover what exciting projects can develop when ringers get involved in supporting historic places of worship.
From remote rural churches where ringers breathe new life into neglected spaces, through redundant churches that become popular unofficial ringing centres, to urban towers reclaiming their proud ringing heritage - the CCT and bells appear to be a winning combination.
As well as hearing about some inspirational projects, there are also some great tips for towers to visit and fascinating bits of history. And it wouldn’t really be a Fun with Bells podcast if there wasn’t a rollicking good tale about a high-profile dispute between some determined ringers and a disagreeable vicar.
www.funwithbells.com
This episode sees host Cathy Booth explore the question of what ringers wear. You may or may not be surprised to hear that the answer is not bell-bottom jeans.
Guests Deb, Alex, Elizabeth and Michaela touch on history, safety and decorum as they share experiences, research and anecdotes on what to wear, or more importantly what not to wear!
At times this could be mistaken for an episode of ‘carry on campanology’, particularly when it comes to the topic of wardrobe malfunction. Preserve your modesty at all costs by avoiding floaty frocks, bringing back braces and being mindful of who is following you up the ladder.
And as always, bell ringers love a controversy - polo shirts with tower logos on? Good or bad? You decide ...
For more info and photos go to the Episode page at www.funwithbells.com.
This month instead of a podcast episode, we are launching a social media competition.
The podcast will be back in the Autumn.
For more details about the competition, go to funwithbells.com/competition.
Hot on the heels of the launch of the new Learning the Ropes Advanced Call Change Scheme, show host Cathy Booth chats with four call change aficionados.
Clare, Dee, John and Ian are all delighted to see the new scheme in place and look forward to the huge benefits it will bring. With the focus on good listening and bell control, the scheme aims to recognise the skills of call change ringers across the country and result in accurate, musical and stylish ringing.
But should you call the changes up or call them down? Possibly the most controversial question tackled by this podcast since the ‘jam or cream first’ cream tea rumpus! Thankfully Cathy’s guests handle this and other sensitive subjects knowledgeably, diplomatically and amicably. That is, until someone brings up the handstroke gap …
For more information and photos go to www.funwithbells.com.
What should you do if the number of ringers is falling, your towers are in dire straits, and you need emergency measures to give ringing any kind of future in your area?
This was the problem faced in the Lizard in Cornwall prior to COVID lockdown, and in this episode, podcast host Cathy Booth talks to the team who, against all the odds, have turned the situation around.
The first step, is seems, is to find a Hayley, Miranda, Andy, and someone called Bob who has lots of mojo! By coming together as a tightknit team with the right set of skills, the Lizard ringers have created a successful hub for ringing recovery, recruitment and teaching.
Once you have someone to work on the spreadsheets and strategy, someone who seems to know everyone in the local community, someone who wants to teach and someone who wants to learn to teach, then everything else falls into place.
Add Facebook, fun and cake into the mix and local ringing will not only recover but may even experience a resurgence! A very inspiring yet practical podcast for all those struggling with empty towers and cancelled practice nights.
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com.
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
In this month’s fascinating episode, Simon Aves takes host Cathy Booth on an entertaining romp through Scotland’s bell ringing history. You may be surprised to learn it is very different to England’s.
Who knew the Scots were so fond of peace and quiet? Cathy learns that in the past the best way to annoy people in Dundee was to travel up there and ring all their bells. And beware of the constable waiting at the bottom of the tower to arrest you for that very noisy peal you just rang. Or worse still, the constable might well follow you to the pub and then ban you from ringing, perish the thought!
Of course, all of this is history - very colourful history and brilliantly told at that. First bells, first peals, first women ringers, colourful characters, court cases and ringers being sick after their eight pints, this podcast has it all.
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
In this inspiring show, podcast host Cathy Booth meets Tim Sunter and hears about his amazing seven-year ringing journey from learner to teacher and Association of Ringing Teachers committee member.
Who could have imagined that a thought-proving tweet in the middle of a field could have such a domino effect, propelling Tim on a path to both individual fulfilment and a new way to reach out to his local community. But such is the power of bell ringing.
Tim shares the deep satisfaction that ringing can bring, both from the sense of achievement of learning to ring and bringing a tower back to life, to introducing local schoolchildren to the joy of bells and encouraging the local community to celebrate its heritage.
Tim’s enthusiasm is clearly infectious and no doubt this podcast will set off yet another exciting chain of events and ringing adventures for him, and possibly for you.
For more information and photos go to www.funwithbells.com.
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
In this special Anniversary episode, podcast host Cathy Booth has two special guests discussing both the beginnings and the future of ART. No, Cathy’s not exploring painting or sculpting, but a landmark development in the teaching of bell ringing. ART stands for the Association of Ringing Teachers, currently marking it’s tenth year. Founder member Pip Penney and current Chair, Lesley Belcher, celebrate the success of the scheme and its plans for the next three years.
Pip, a physiotherapist, combined her understanding of learning a physical movement with her experience of learning to ring, to help develop an innovative approach to teaching bell ringing. Ten year’s down the line, Pip’s fundamental training approach remains the same and new ART chair, Lesley, is focused on delivering these skills in new and exciting ways.
Not deterred by the pandemic, ART’s courses are very much in demand as new generations of ringing teachers make the grade and learners pass through ART’s Learning the Ropes scheme.
Find out what’s next in the story of ART and watch out for an explosion of new teachers, new ringers and celebratory ringing festivals coming soon!
For more information and photos go to www.funwithbells.com.
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
This month, show host, Cathy Booth meets with three frank and formidable female ringers to understand the reasons why, although women make up about half of all ringers, they are greatly underrepresented in positions of responsibility and peal ringing, and conducting.
Elva Ainsworth, Julia Cater and Tessa Simpson - who have all participated in ‘groundbreaking, record breaking and point breaking’ ringing - talk freely about their own experiences and the self-fulfilling prophecy where lack of opportunity leads to a lack of confidence.
Yes, women can ring heavier bells. Yes, women can conduct (and may choose to do this from either the back or the front). And yes, some small girls are just itching to have a go on the tenor, but the boys always seem to get first dibs.
Rather than focusing on the negatives, though, this inspiring podcast offers some thoughtful suggestions about how to encourage greater equality of opportunity and how all bands can flourish with the greater participation of their women ringers.
For more information and photos please go to www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Fingers on buzzers, or perhaps that should be “look to”, as host Cathy Booth resumes the role of quizmaster in this latest Fun with Bells podcast quiz.
This time the focus is on the bells themselves, so tune in, listen up and get set for a different sort of hearing test.
Everyone can play along, whatever their level, with straightforward questions for those new to ringing, alongside more obscure challenges for seasoned bell fans.
However, if you’re a regular listener to the show you may very well have a slight home advantage with the questions connected to previous episodes!
With its quirky questions, ringing recordings and fascinating facts, this episode is a perfect example of how you don’t need to be in the tower to have fun with bells.
For links to the original recordings see the Fun with Bells website.
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Show host, and adulty adult, Cathy Booth meets three more young ringers in this month’s episode, this time all founder members of the Young Change Ringers Association.
Josephine, Emily and Matt share the aims behind the new association, discuss the support that enables young ringers to become tower captains of the future and reveal the power of pizza.
There can be no better advert for YCRA membership than listening to these engaging, enthusiastic, and insightful leaders talk about how the association is meeting the needs of young ringers. And yes, as well as inspiring, it’s fun!
What more could you possibly want from a podcast? Well, a Fun with Bells pin-badge, for a start …
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
What’s got 40 members, stretches across a large part of the country and is a brilliant way to have fun, improve your ringing and make friends? Well, if you are a young bell ringer, the answer must surely be the Liliputters.
Not, as host Cathy Booth discovers, a group from the fictional kingdom of tiny people, but an exciting national Guild for young ringers.
In this upbeat podcast, three Lilliputters - Simon, Molly and Euan - talk enthusiastically about the Guild, what it means to them and the joys of going on tour.
Sounds inspiring? Well if you’re between the ages of 10 and 30 and don’t want to miss out, why not join up now!
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Avoid all ladders, black cats and don’t whatever you do break a mirror in your rush to listen to this month’s Fun with Bells podcast on bells and superstition.
From birth, through to death and beyond, bells have had played a fascinating role in the customs around our key rites of passage. Amongst the many special powers of bells include making the devil flee, warding off plague and pestilence, and easing childbirth. It’s curious to note that none of these warrant a footnote on Bell Board these days!
From bells marking executions, to bells themselves being executed, this podcast has all the grisly and gory details.
Finally, discover the role of bells in warning of the approach of the unclean, untrustworthy and morally corrupt. And no, that’s not the bell ringers!
For further details see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Just as change ringing on handbells requires each ringer to have two bells, this perfectly formed podcast on the subject has two guests. Host Cathy Booth chats with Tina and Simon, authors of the latest must-have handbell manual.
As always, this podcast asks all the right questions. What is best, tower or hand bells? Will online ringing last post lock-down? Is bell ringing music? And should you start with hand bells and then move onto tower bells, or vice versa?
As well as addressing the big issues Cathy also finds out the fascinating process behind writing and publishing their book, discovers the joy of e-bells and gets insider information on the progress of Volume 2 and likely publication date.
Think handbells aren’t for you? Then listen to this podcast and think again.
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
You may not have given ringing simulators a second thought before, but this episode will definitely get you scrambling up your belfry, with some sensors in hand.
Steve Farmer, tells host Cathy Booth the fascinating story of Simbell. Wanting an easy way to get get extra rope time without annoying the church neighbours with his noisy novice ringing, Steve took the unusual step of inventing his own ringing simulator.
Now simulators are not new, having been a thing since the advent of The Seague Silent Ringing Apparatus in the 1870s. However, Steve had the very clever idea of making his simulator wireless. And what is the advantage of a wireless simulator? Listen to the podcast to find out!
With technology moving so fast it’s hard to say what will come next? Steve looks into his crystal ball and gets us to imagine a future where we might all be ringing in virtual reality headsets. Sounds amazing - just as long as the ‘bong’ is in the right place.
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Take a few deep breaths, relax, and tune into this month’s episode where host Cathy Booth meets ringer, counsellor, hypnotherapist and trauma care practitioner, Nicky Carling to talk about building up confidence for returning to the tower.
Yes, it’s probably time you changed out of your pyjamas, dragged yourself momentarily away from Ringing Room and ventured out to the exciting world of real-life bell ringing.
However, if this thought makes you at all anxious then Nicky offers lots of helpful tips and tools gained from her extensive experience as a professional therapist.
From techniques like mindfulness and Emotional Freedom Technique, to alternative remedies like Bach Flower Rescue Remedy, there’s a wide range of help to boost your confidence, whatever your needs and ringing level. And if you’re planning to get back into practice for the National 12 Bell competition, then hypnotherapy might just help give you the competitive edge ...
For more information about photos - see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Cathy Booth’s special guest this month is ringer and project manger par excellence Tim Keyes who gives us the inside scoop of Ledbury’s rather exciting bell restoration and augmentation project.
Tim very helpfully talks through all the different stages of the project, step by step, with plenty of top tips for those of you planning your own bell project.
Cathy hears about the challenges faced, exacerbated by Brexit and COVID-19, but also the enormous highs that come with engaging the whole community in innovative ways.
However, this podcast is much more than the story of a successful project, as the interview takes a surprising literary turn. But then again, we always knew that bell ringing is poetry in motion ...
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
In this fast-paced episode, podcast host Cathy Booth meets 20-year-old ringer, Oliver Lee, and discovers his passion for ringing and ringing history.
Oliver is clearly fascinated by all aspects of ringing and takes Cathy on whistle-stop tour of a huge range of ringing-related subjects, ranging from Ellacombe chimes, through belfry reform and on to John Warner and Sons bell founders.
Oliver also talks about his autism and the support he has had from the ringing community, reliving his positive experiences of the striking competitions he’s taken part in. Good times make great memories.
And just like any other ringer, he vents at the inaccurate depictions of bell ringing in the mainstream media. Did somebody mention Midsomer Murders?
Finally, on the question of Cumberland or College Youths? Looks like the verdict is still out ...
For more info and photos - see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
In this month’s show, podcast host Cathy Booth transforms into the next Anne Robinson as she joins the ringers of St John’s in New Alresford for their fortnightly Zoom quiz.
Fingers on buzzers as the ringers introduce each other and ask their two allotted quiz questions. There’s one point for each correct answer, so why not play along at home and see if you can beat their top score.
Test out both your bell ringing and general knowledge in some great company, whilst getting to know each ringer’s background, interests and talents. As you move round the tower you’ll discover just what an accomplished bunch they are.
And if you’re in need of a tie-break, you can always try working out the band’s combined peal tally!
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
One of the very best things to have happened over the past year is the development of the online ringing platform, Ringing Room. In this special Valentine’s podcast, host Cathy Booth interviews Leland and Bryn, the driving force behind this amazing achievement and now one of ringing’s most famous couples.
Of course, for Ringing Room to have happened, Leland and Bryn had to have met. Cathy wastes no time in finding out the details of their burgeoning romance and discovers that going a transatlantic ringing tour just three weeks into dating might well have been a definitive moment!
Although the interview focuses on their relationship, this podcast is also very much a paean to ringing itself. Both Leland and Bryn are so clearly in love with bell ringing and gladly share the joy and fulfilment that it brings to their lives.
Of course, Leland and Bryn are not the only couple to have been brought together by ringing. A study conducted in 1989 assures that simple eye contact could make a person fall in love with you. Remember this the next time you find yourself gazing into the eyes of the conductor during a peal ...
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Love is very definitely in the air at the Fun with Bells Podcast this Valentine’s Day, as host Cathy Booth explores ringing’s tender side.
First, we hear the heart-warming story of Jo and Graham, whose romance continues to deepen from Ringing Remembers, through Ringing Room, and to a very memorable lockdown proposal. Be warned, if you get invited to an unexpected Saturday practice, there might well be something afoot ...
Cathy also reveals the results of her special Valentine’s survey. Are bell ringers romantic or not? Listen in for all to be revealed. It won’t be giving too much away to say that there might well be a market for a ringing dating app. You too could find love through Dove!
Finally, we hear a Valentine’s message from one ringer to another - there is one very lucky Guy out there.
Whether you are a romantic ringer or not, you’re sure to be whisked off your feet by this episode.
For more information and photos - see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
For Don McLean over in Ireland, one of the joys of bell ringing is teaching others and delighting in their achievements. In this charming episode, Cathy Booth, podcast host, shines a light on Don’s motivation and his own considerable achievements, including masterminding the training of 17 new recruits at St Mary’s Kilmood on ‘The Peace Bells’.
Don is passionate about teaching and, as Cathy discovers, he has spent a great deal of time out and about supporting bell ringing teachers across Ireland. As Cathy and Don chat, we get a fantastic overview of the structure and culture of bell ringing over Ireland’s 37 towers.
And what does Don do when he is not teaching others to ring, organising training sessions, or working hard to get cancer patients the priority treatment they need? Well, he sits down in his garage with the doors open and the mini-ring in action, hoping to lure in new recruits. What about the neighbours? Well of course they would be most welcome to take a seat and join in!
The neighbours are not the only ones to be invited in. Just like towers around the world, Irish ringers would welcome you with open arms and gladly give you a rope. COVID can’t be over soon enough so that Don can get on with his latest ambitious training initiative and we can all book our ringing tour over to Ireland. Get your name down on the waiting list at Kilmood now!
For more information and photos - go to www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
What do ringers do when they are not ringing? Well, judging by this latest episode they write, film, podcast and blog about it!
Podcast host Cathy Booth chats to no fewer than six leading lights in the ringing community who are all doing their bit to share and support the hobby they are all so passionate about.
From Mancroft to Minecraft and from the Ringing World to the virtual world, this bumper podcast can’t fail to inspire. Ringers are a resilient bunch and many have taken the challenge of Covid-19 to learn something new or put their long dreamt-about projects into action. There’s now more need to communicate than ever before.
As 2020 is obviously the year to try something new, why not check out some of these fascinating blogs, YouTube channels, podcasts and publications. Or better still, create one of your own! Think big and aim high - I bet Cathy can’t wait to interview the worlds first bell ringing Tik Tok influencer ...
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Home of the first true peal, St Peter Mancroft in Norwich is now home to the brilliant Mancroft Ringing Discovery Centre. Podcast host Cathy Booth catches up with Simon Rudd and Nikki Thomas to find out what’s been happening.
Well, there’s been so much going on it’s hard to know where to start! Training courses at all levels, lunchtime pay as you go sessions, band visits, junior ringing and ringing festivals all feature. That’s when the team is not out and about taking ringing into schools and letting hordes of excited novice ringers have a go on 12 bells at Great Yarmouth.
But what of lockdown? Cathy discovers that both Simon and Nikki have actually been doing more ringing in lockdown than ever before - extending their handbell repertoire, honing their conducting skills and setting themselves ever more complex challenges in Ringing Room.
For those of you who are more advanced you might want to learn to ring Cambridge Suprise. Or maybe that's not the best place to start! How about starting with Cornwall first? This podcast also includes an excerpt from Matt Austin's conversation with Don Marrison about less traditional steps to learning surprise methods, first broadcast in our North American sister podcast, Treble's Going.
Whatever your level and whatever your pathway, once everything is safe, take yourself and your band for a weekend in Norwich and try out your new skills on the MRDC training bells. You know you want to.
For more information and photos - see www.funwithbells.com.
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Ringing can be spooky at the best of times - you may get shivers down your spine with a nicely struck touch of Stedman, or perhaps an eerie sensation of being watched when you’re on the treble.
However, for Halloween, Fun with Bells turns up the terror with this chilling collection of ghostly goings-on. Yes, this episode is even scarier than the ringing cage at Pershore Abbey.
This petrifying podcast is full of ominous, deathly warnings and the mournful sound of drowned, lost or buried bells ringing without the help of human hands. We also discover that not only has the Devil got the best tunes, he has also stolen the best bells!
Scare yourself silly with stories of bells that ring by themselves or bells that don't ring at all. If you've not heard your church bells for some time don't blame coronavirus restrictions. It's much more likely that pixies have kidnapped your ringers and are holding them captive in a cave. Pixies just hate the sound of the bells - bit like some newcomers to the village then.
Turn off the lights, turn up the volume and be afraid, be very afraid ...
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Following on from last month’s edition, podcast host Cathy Booth reveals another dodgy dozen or so weird and wonderful towers. WARNING - this podcast contains details of hair-raising ringing environments, definitely not for the nervous ringers amongst you!
Enjoy another litany of trapdoors, spiral staircases, beam scrambling, comedy pulleys and 17th century ladders.
We now have a whole new list of things to watch out for - bizarre ringing circles, ropes arranged around the organist, and, erm, falling concrete! And as lovely as weddings are, Cathy discovers these can be the source of much distraction. Please do be careful not to lasso a bridesmaid!
Lastly, and most importantly, always be EXTREMELY cautious if you accept an invitation to ring a quarter peal at a church whose bells are described as “rung from cage above chancel crossing”.
For more information and photos see funwithbells.com.
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
These tales of weird and wonderful towers are definitely not for the faint-hearted ringers among you. Podshow host, Cathy Booth, invites us behind the scenes of 15 of the most outlandish ringing environments from across the world, featuring trap doors, vaults, ventilator shafts, crawl ways and external ladders. Clock cases also play a starring role, along with gas lamps and one particularly chilling occupant!
Features readings from bell ringers from around the UK. For photos and more information see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
This episode sees host Cathy Booth in conversation with Andrew Wilby for a fascinating insight into the Taylor Bell Foundry past, present and future.
Based in Loughborough, we hear all about the history behind the foundry and some of the exiting attractions on site. The foundry has its own museum, 12 bell tower renowned for being the site of the world's longest peal and even a carillon. Plan your visit now for when lockdown is over!
You'll also discover what JS Bach has got to do with bell ringing, the ins and outs of harmonics and what equal temperament is - and no it's not an easy-going tower captain!
Andrew then gets into some heavy stuff, bells that is, before regaling Cathy with some hair-raising stories of his bell ringing travels abroad. Brilliant stuff!
For more information and photos - see www.funwithbells.com.
NB. The photo for this episode was taken by Tommy Pengilley.
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Can one ever have too many belfries? In this fascinating podcast, show host Cathy Booth finds the answer to this is no, as she quizes Helen McGregor about the amazing ringing centres at Tulloch and Alderney.
Helen’s bell ringing started as an excuse not to commit to babysitting for a neighbour but quickly turned into a lifetime’s addiction. What’s more, together with husband Peter, bell ringing has inspired what can only be termed a “belfry creation scheme”.
If developing two ringing centres isn’t enough, Helen also has ambitious plans for her hand bell ringing. She is confident that she could teach you, and possibly your dog, handbells too, if either of you have rhythm.
Whatever your interest is, be it tower bells or hand bells, there’s plenty to interest you in this wide-ranging podcast. And if It gets you thinking about your own ring of bells, there’s always the garage ...
For more information and photos see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Originally timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of VE day, this unique episode sees host Cathy Booth, joined by a whole cast of ringers, bust the myths about ringing during World War II. This is the version of ‘thirty voices, seventy-five years, one story’ for non-ringers. And what a story!
For more information, including photographs and the biographies of the 2 interviewees, Dennis Brock and Eric Hitchins, see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Originally timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of VE day, this unique episode sees host Cathy Booth, joined by a whole cast of ringers, bust the myths about ringing during World War II. This is the full version of ‘thirty voices, seventy-five years, one story’. And what a story!
Bell towers across the country are currently silent due to the coronavirus pandemic. Unprecedented is currently a much-used word, but in this case not warranted, as we discover that 2020 is not the first time in living memory that ringing has had to stop.
Cathy discovers the true story of this earlier ban on ringing, brought to life from archived letters and articles, and the amazing true-life experiences of people who were there, including Dennis Brock, Britain’s oldest bell ringer and Eric Hitchins who rang his first peal on VE Day 1945.
The parallels with the current situation are striking. We discover that ringers’ concerns echo down the years, with their distress at the prospect of not being able to ring at Easter felt as keenly then as now. And, it appears, they were just as resourceful when locked out of their towers. Oh, and not much has changed with the locals either – always complaining about the noise of the bells, until, of course, there’s a ban!
We obviously all know end of the story as we wouldn’t all be here today had the ringers not got back to their towers, rolled out their recruitment plans and shared their passion for ringing. This is a hopeful, positive and inspiring tale – truly a story for our times.
For more information including photographs, background and the ringing biographies of our 2 interviewees see : www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
In this episode you’ll get three for the price of one as a panel of the country’s top strikers discuss their top tips. And no, it’s not football we’re talking about, but bell ringing!
Colin Newman, Lesley Boyle and Stephanie Warboys join podcast host Cathy Booth at the Association of Ringing Teachers conference to chat about the holy grail of bell ringing, which is good striking.
What starts off with a simple explanation of what striking is and its importance to performance, then turns in into a frank discussion of an issue at the very heart of bell ringing. Do ringers focus too much on methods at the expense of good striking? And if so, how do you tackle this taboo subject if poor striking is happening in your tower? You’re all bound to have an opinion and so do our panel members!
So tune in now for some top tips for how to achieve Nirvana of ringing but first things first, work out if your bell goes ‘ding’ or goes ‘dong’.
For more information and photos - see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
In this podcast, historian Gareth Davies challenges everything you ever thought about the history of bell ringing in one of host Cathy Booth’s most engaging interviews yet.
At times, Gareth makes being an 18th century ringer sound like everyone’s dream job. Fancy being paid £80,000 a year, enjoying a free tab at the pub paid for by the parish council and getting pension support in your old age?
However, once you learn about the six o’clock starts, the fines for a no-show and the ringing room chamber pot you might well change your mind!
This brilliant romp through the history of the Cambridge ringers is full to bursting with fascinating facts, eye-opening insights and colourful real-life characters.
And as for bell ringers smoking, swearing and being drunk? Well, maybe some things never change ...
For more information and photos - see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
For this episode, show host Cathy Booth stays close to home and interviews her ringer husband, Roger, a trustee of the Charmborough Ring.
Not just your average mini-ring, the Charmborough Ring is the heaviest portable ring of bells in the country. Heavier, believe it or not, than some rings of tower bells.
So how many people does it take to put up a portable belfry? Roger expertly talks us through the answer to this and all the other essentials, such as how much it weighs, how long it takes to put up and how big your car needs to be to tow it.
As well as talking through all of the practicalities, Roger shows how portable belfries and mini-rings are an inspirational recruitment tool and can lead to ringing in the most exciting places. Anyone up for ringing a quarter peal on a boat?
The message comes across loud and clear - if you can’t get people up to the bells then take the bells out to them!
For more information and photos go to the show notes at www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Ever wondered what it was like to learn how to ring? Or have forgotten what it was like when you first started out?
Discover, or rediscover, in this podcast, as host Cathy Booth talks to not one, but to two new ringers currently following the ART Learning The Ropes scheme.
Linda simply answered an advertisement in village magazine posted by a fellow dog-walker. As for Annie, well two years sailing around the world obviously wasn’t challenging enough and so has now found her land legs and a new passion for bells.
Both ringers talk enthusiastically about their newly found hobby, the patience of their teachers and the friendliness of the other ringers. Find out how ringing is good for your both your mind and your body and also what mischief you can cause
For more information and photos go to the show notes at www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Most Ringing Remembers recruits were thrilled to have rung at their tower for last year’s Remembrance Day but enthusiastic new ringer and amateur film maker Chris Richmond rang at seven!
Podcast host, Cathy Booth, finds out that Chris’s enthusiasm initially stemmed from his interest in sound recording. His desire to record the sound of the bells led him up into a local tower, but it was the sound of the bells ringing down in peal was the final push he needed to take hold of a rope and learn to ring. From then on he’s been hooked.
For photos and associated show notes see: www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Having worked at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry for 40 years, Nigel Taylor is the perfect guide to how to tune a bell, talking podcast host Cathy Booth through the whole process from design to casting and tuning. And if you’ve never considered the actual sound a bell makes before, this podcast will be a revelation.
You might never use the word ‘dong’ again after you discover that a tower bell is inharmonic, which means although a bell appears to have a single distinct pitch, the sound is made up of a variety of different tones.
As Nigel describes how this all works, Cathy gets the answers to a host of fascinating questions, such as why new bells sound different to old bells, how the shape of old bells makes a difference to how you retune them and which bells are the hardest to tune.
Be warned though, after listening to this podcast you may well wish to scramble up a ladder into the tower to look at the bells, just as Nigel did as a boy.
For more information and photos go to www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
The world of 12 bell ringing on enormous bells is indeed a rarefied one, but that there is an overriding sense of outreach and community in Mark Regan’s in-depth and wide-ranging conversation with podshow host Cathy Booth. Being ringing master at Worcester Cathedral, having rung about 2,400 peals, helping set up the first bell ringing training centre in the country and being involved in an amazing number of bell rehanging projects there is a lot to get through!
According to Mark, the secret to all successful bell projects is having a strong purpose and good communications, especially getting the Church and PCC on your side. Enthusiasm helps too and this interview may just well inspire you to aim higher with your own projects. Or even just to get to grips with routine tower maintenance.
One of the highlights of this show is where Mark talks about the people that that both encouraged him and inspired him to become the ringer that he is today. And by the sounds of it, Mark has himself become a role model for a new generation of ringers – especially Sam who recently strapped Liverpool Cathedral tenor at the tender age of ten. Fantastic stuff!
For more information and photos go to Funwithbells.com.
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Find out more about the CCCBR, with its long history, ambitious vision for the future and huge raft of essential services in this wide ranging interview with the CCCBR President.
Christopher O’Mahoney, President of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringing, says that the good thing about ringing is that there is something for everyone.
Find out more about the CCCBR. Now you’ll know exactly where to turn to for help when the neighbours come knocking on the tower complaining about the noise!
And you’ll definitely be making a beeline for the Council weekend in September once you hear Christopher reel off the wonderful line-up of activities that are going to be on offer.
The message from Christopher comes out clear and loud – by getting involved, striving to do our best and contributing our skills, together we can transform bell ringing. Just look what he’s already achieved by stepping forward and giving something back. Not bad for a boy from Sydney who took up ringing to supplement the income he was getting as a choir boy.
For more information and accompanying photos go to funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Bonus episode:
This short episode is a trailer for the YouTube coverage of the national 12 bell striking competition to be held in Exeter on Saturday 22nd June 2019.
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtgohlpICbnCPm0vig3H_oA
National 12 bell Striking Competition website: http://www.12bell.org.uk/
The first Fun with Bells Podcast Season ends with a generous double helping as show host Cathy Booth interviews young ringer Charlie Linford and audio engineer David Richards.
Charlie (11) explains to Cathy that bell ringing is a rewarding hobby for all ages as she throws light on some of the theory behind ringing, including some tips on how to start learning methods.
With seven quarter peals under her belt already and an impressive list of towers she has rang at it seems only a matter of time before Charlie is ringing at the National 12 Bell Competition. Talking of which, if you’ve ever been interested in recordings are made to help judge a striking competition, or indeed the best way to record any bell ringing, then the interview with David will fascinate you.
Packed full of practical tips and suggestions, David talks Cathy through making detailed recording of bells for analysis, ambient recordings of bells to remember a special occasion and spur of the moment recordings when you just happen to be passing a tower and the ringing is brought you joy. This interview will really make you want to get you out and about making your own recordings.
Of course, Charlie doesn’t need to do this as her ringing has already been recorded – on Newsround!
For more information and accompanying photos go do funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
'Recruit 1400 new ringers to remember those who lost their lives in the first World War' – this was the mission that Vicki Chapman chose to accept and the rest, as they say, is history.
Vicki talks podcast host Cathy Booth through her involvement in the overwhelmingly successful Ringing Remembers campaign - from that fateful telephone call one evening to the bells ringing out across the world on 11 November 2018 with the help of over 2800 new ringers. Stirring stuff!
And if you’re wondering what’s next, Vicki reveals some of the exciting plans ahead, so listen in for news of ringing for Versailles, the 75th anniversary of the D Day Landings and a mini bellringing roadshow.
Of course, there’s so much more to Vicki’s ringing story than Ringing Remembers so tune in for a podcast packed with activity - just like Vicki’s life.
For more information, accompanying photos and details of the 'Ask the Expert' section go do funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Ever wondered what the attraction of handbell ringing is? Well, Judy Vale gives Fun with Bells Podcast host, Cathy Both, a whole raft of reasons to take up this absorbing and musical hobby.
Handbells are part of our history and tradition, you can take your handbells out to places like care homes and really connect with your audience and you don’t need to be able to read music to play a tune.
And just like tower bell ringing, Judy explains, handbell ringing is a team endeavour, needs commitment and a great deal of technique. There is also cake involved.
What do you do if you want bells at a wedding in a church that doesn’t have a tower? Just bring your own.
Finally, you can forget about freezing cold church towers in the middle of winter, one of the perks of handbell ringing that Judy reveals is the pleasure of ringing in a medieval banqueting hall of a stately home with a roaring fire.
For more information, accompanying photos and details of the 'Ask the Expert' section go do funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
In this episode Graham Nabb introduces Fun with Bells podcast host Cathy Booth to one of the most English of pursuits - tower grabbing. Graham is the ideal guide to the uninitiated, having notched up the amazing total of 5785 towers to date.
Rather like the twitchers of the bird watching world, keen tower grabbers are always on the look out for the openings of rare towers that they’ve never rung at. If you’re the collecting type then this is the podcast for you as Graham is full of tips on the best way to plan and record your tower grabs.
However, it’s not all about the thrill of the chase for Graham as he also tells Cathy all about the development of the Association of Ringing Teachers and the huge satisfaction that comes from teaching and developing new ringers.
Whatever your stage of ringing this is the perfect podcast for you - you won’t help but smile at Graham’s huge enthusiasm, great advice and his fantastic ringing stories.
For more information, accompanying photos and details of the 'Ask the Expert' section go do funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
You may have heard of rope-sight but have you heard of rope-sense? Podcast host Cathy Booth discovers that this highly developed sense of rhythm is just one of the many tools and techniques that has helped Rebecca Legowski on her ringing journey.
Rebecca, who has been blind from birth, is learning to ring on both tower bells and hand bells, and is already lighting up Bell Board, scoring her first handbell peal in March 2019. Rebecca talks to Cathy about both the extra pressures she faces to perform, given that peals by blind ringers are so rare, and the emotional highs, such as ringing for the Armistice celebrations in November 2018.
Although ringing presents some specific challenges to blind people, some of the secrets to Rebecca’s success are things that every ringer can learn from - great technique, good listening and lots of practice on a ringing simulator.
So, if you want to give ringing a go don’t be afraid – as Rebecca says, just go for it!
For more information, accompanying photos and details of the 'Ask the Expert' section go do funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
The Fun with Bells cream tea debate rages on in this episode as host Cathy Booth’s quizzes Cornish ringer Owen Borlase - but there’s much more to this interview than cream and jam.
Call change ringing in Cornwall is seen as an art in its own right and Owen is clearly championing the cause through his promotion of call change peals, the book he co-wrote and his success in getting this unique style of ringing recorded.
How does a call change peal work? Helpfully Owen describes the maths involved in very simple terms and explains to Cathy how he goes about composing some of the call change peals that feature in the book.
And if you’re the competitive kind they have it all in Cornwall – rounds competitions, call change competitions and method ringing competitions. So if you’re an up-country ringer why not travel south to find out more!
For more information, accompanying photos and details of the 'Ask the Expert' section go do funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
In this episode, host Cathy Booth catches up with Bruce Butler in the USA and teases out some top tips to arranging a successful ringing tour. Bruce has been organising ringing tours to the UK since the 1990s - the logistics of arranging transatlantic ringing tours in the days before the internet are mind-blowing.
Having rung in almost 4,000 towers you might imagine the Bruce has some great stories to tell, and you wouldn’t be wrong. Hear about inaccessible spaces, strange ringing attire and some rather unusual furniture in the ringing chamber. And just watch out for the flowers around the font!
Bruce gives a brilliant overview of the towers of North America, their various merits and the differences between ringing over there and in the UK. Loving the sound of a Cathedral with two elevators to take you up to the top.
As Bruce says, American ringers are a welcoming bunch and love to have visitors - so what’s stopping you from planning your tour across the pond ...
For more information, accompanying photos and details of the 'Ask the Expert' section go do funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
In this fascinating podcast, Cathy Booth catches up with top bellringer and inspirational driving force behind the recent Ringing Remembers campaign, Alan Regin MBE. This is a must-listen interview for any new ringing recruit as Alan reveals the origins of his idea for this amazingly successful initiative.
A prolific ringer, Alan confesses to having ran over over 5,900 peals, with nine of those being in the last seven days! Don’t worry if you’re not sure what a peal is though, as Alan enthusiastically guides Cathy through both the history and technicalities of change ringing, ringing methods and peals.
Not only has Alan’s ringing career resulted in an MBE for services to campanology and heritage, it has also taken him all over the world. Find out what it’s like to go on a bell-ringing tour from listening to Alan’s terrific tales - and why wait for hours at an airport, when you can nip off with your friends to ring a peal at the nearest church instead?
Peals and Ringing Remembers aside, one of Alan’s greatest achievements has been his involvement in installing bells in the church at Ypres to provide a lasting memorial to the fallen, a project so very clearly close to his heart.
Cathy asks Alan about his own bellringing heroes - well, we don’t know about you, but after listing to this amazing interview, Alan is certainly one of ours.
For more information, accompanying photos and details of the 'Ask the Expert' section go do funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Hand bells, bell plates, hand chimes and boomwhackers - who knew there was so much variety!?! In this podcast Cat Nettles talks Cathy Booth through the wonderful world of handbell ringing, filling her in on the history, range of instruments and styles of ringing,
Cathy discovers that hand bellringing allegedly began when church bell ringers, unable to get into their towers for one reason or another, asked manufacturers to make small bells so that they could practice in the pub - smart move. With the addition of some extra bells they found they could join in with the hymns and hand bell ringing became an art in its own right.
How do handbells work? How much do they cost? Can you fit them all into your car?
Cathy asks Cat all the questions that you’re dying to ask, and more. Yes, handbell ringers do occasionally let go of them and yes, they’re insured.
The different style of bells means that all ages can learn to ring - from toddlers up to people in their nineties, and Cat is justifiably proud of her all-age ringing team. Hear about the triumphs and tribulations of leading a team and some of their scrapes - all part of the fun of ringing at weddings, functions and outside events.
For more information, accompanying photos and details of the 'Ask the Expert' section go do funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
What’s different about ringing in Australia to ringing in the UK? How is ringing on eight similar to rowing in an eight? How does it feel to be involved in the inner workings of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers?
David Smith’s amazingly diverse and wide-ranging ringing CV means he can give fantastic answers to all of these questions, and many more, put to him by podcast host Cathy Booth.
In this thoroughly entertaining episode, David also explains the benefits of ringing simulators, the fun of photo-bombing weddings at Brisbane Cathedral and how the Association of Ringing Teachers’ courses can transform able ringers into confident teachers. It’s heartening to hear that teachers can start off just as nervous as their learners!
Bell ringing is on the increase in Australia and New Zealand, and with such enthusiastic advocates as David one can understand why, so stay tuned to the very end - especially as the interview takes a dramatic and unexpected turn ...
For more information, accompanying photos and details of the 'Ask the Expert' section go do www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Sparked originally from her interest in family history, the national Ringing Remembers campaign inspired Diane Smith to step forward to learn bellringing to honour the 1,400 ringers that lost their lives during the First World War. But what does it feel like to learn a new skill in order to take part in such a high profile event?
In this episode, Cathy Booth catches up with Diane after the big day to find out how it all went and hear about all the fun and hard work that’s gone on behind the scenes to becoming a novice bellringer.
Diane went from not really knowing anything about bells at all, to proudly ringing in Sheffield Cathedral as part of the armistice day celebrations - an emotional journey helped along the way by her fellow learners, helpful bellringers and proud friends.
It’s brilliant to hear how far Diane has come as she helps answer some of Cathy’s questions about the basics of bellringing, like rounds and call changes. This podcast is the ideal introduction to what to expect when you decide to take up the art.
For more information, accompanying photos and details of the 'Ask the Expert' section go do www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
This interview smashes any pre-conceptions that bellringing is something that only older people do, with an inspirational interview with a ringer in her twenties, Emily Hall. Emily started learning to ring at the age of seven and then, when aged just nine, set up the Derbyshire Young Ringers so that she could spend time in the tower with people of her own age.
In conversation with Cathy Booth, Emily reveals what it’s like to be a young ringer and the huge benefits ringing can give to young people growing up, going to university and beginning their adult lives.
As well as having fun with her family, making friends for life and the fantastic social life, Emily explains that there’s a competitive side to ringing too and describes what happens at a striking competition when bands of ringers compete to be the best.
And if you’re one of the people Emily has come across that thinks the University Bellringing Society is full of weirdos, Emily’s heartwarming tales of travelling across the country, making new friends, drinking, dancing and discovering love will definitely make you think again - and also make you want to sign your children up for bellringing lessons straight away!
At the end there is a Q &A session with Pip Penney.
For more information and related photographs see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Church bells are an integral part of our everyday life. We all hear the bells ringing on Sunday and other special occasions but do you know what goes on in a church tower and what it feels like to be a bell ringer? Have you ever really thought about who is ringing them and how they learnt?
In this podcast, Cathy Booth chats to Nic Boyd about Nic’s exciting journey of discovery since taking up bell ringing four years ago. Hear why Nic started ringing and why she loves it so much; the highs and lows, the joys and the challenges and how it feels to ring, both as an individual and as part of a team.
According to Nic, learning is effective when you take small steps and celebrate achievements along the way. Luckily, there’s an innovative new scheme called ‘Learning the Ropes’, developed by the Association for Ringing Teachers (ART) which does just this - using milestones to help new ringers learn faster and further.
This scheme has certainly been a great to support to Nic, who talks Cathy though the five levels of Learning the Ropes, culminating in her attending a masterclass in Birmingham last year. And it’s not just the sense of achievement from progressing through the levels that Nic has got out of ringing, as, at the end of the podcast, she reveals one of the exciting perks of being a bell ringer ...
At the end there is a Q &A session with Pip Penney.
For more information and photographs, go towww.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
They do things differently in Devon, so Cathy Booth discovers in this interview with Devon call change ringer Ryan Trout. Not only do they have a distinctive cream tea, Devon also has its very own unique style of bell ringing.
With a great sense of regional pride, Ryan fills Cathy in about this fast and furious ringing style which has it’s own terms and traditions. Listen in to discover more about cartwheeling, Sixties on Thirds, which is also known as the Queen’s Peal, and when to employ a strapper.
Although Ryan’s been ringing since about the age of nine this podcast is evidence that he still gets a huge buzz from ringing, visiting other towers, going up into the bell chamber and, of course, visiting the pub afterwards. And keen to encourage others, he generously shares some great tips on places to ring both in Devon and further afield.
Ryan is passionate about ringing and spreading the word about Devon call changing, and although you can hear it second hand on You Tube, he urges people to come to Devon and experience if for themselves. Sounds like you’ll get an extremely warm welcome and so, with excellent bell striking, delicious cream teas and some wonderful pubs, what’s stopping you?
At the end there is a Q &A session with Pip Penney.
For more information and related photographs see www.funwithbells.com
At the end of this episode, we will tell you about our upcoming episode and about the latest news on our TikTok / Instagram competition.
Coming 28th February 2019, the Fun With Bells podcast will be bringing you true and entertaining stories from the people who ring them. Tune into our trailer to hear clips from our first five interviews and get a taste of the terrific tips and tales we’ve got coming up.
You can also watch the video, of this trailer with images, on the website: www.funwithbells.com where you can sign up to be notified of new episodes.
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Follow us on Twitter and Facebook @funwithbells or email us at funwithbellspodcast@gmail.com.