"Let's ring a Quarter peal each month during the year."
They gave me that look - the kind of look that says "Nice idea, but no chance!"
For the uninitiated, a Quarter Peal is approximately 40 minutes of continuous ringing and involves at least 1250 changes - a change involves all the bells sounding once. A full Peal of 5,000 changes, would take over 2 and a half hours of continuous ringing and is the equivalent of a marathon. A Quarter Peal is a quarter of a full Peal, and is more like a park run - a commendable effort that stops before exhaustion overwhelms the participants!
This evening we rang our Quarter Peal for July. Afterwards, I tallied up our quarters so far this year and discovered that it was our 9th in 2018!!
We have managed to ring one each month,
except for February, when the weather was against us.
In March we managed two quarters - even though snow lay on the ground on both days.
This was the scene when we arrived to ring the second of our March Quarters. By the time the evening service had finished, further snow had fallen, but not enough to be a major inconvenience!
I thought I would post this picture to remind you what cold weather looks like!
The Rector had asked if it would be possible to ring to mark the 20th anniversary of his Ordination on 12th July. Due to the business of life, this evening was the first opportunity.
As it was another swelteringly hot evening, I decided to take one of our fans from home.
It just fitted in the boot of the car.
Getting the fan up the spiral staircase was a challenge, as the stairs were only a little bit wider than the cross-shaped base of the fan.
Unfortunately, I took the one that no longer rotates.
Fortunately, there is a smaller fan in the ringing chamber to complete the Heineken effect - refresh the parts that other fans cannot reach...
We raised the bells, increasing the swing each time, until the bells could turn full circle.
"Do we need to alter any of the ropes?"
I looked at the clock. It was nearly a quarter to. Argh! Time was running out.
"Do we NEED to?"
It was decided that all the ropes were near enough the right length - ropes vary in length with the weather, shrinking when it is dry, and lengthening during damp weather.
Off we went. The first time quickly degenerated into a muddle. We reminded ourselves of the chosen method and started again.
We still had time to get the quarter - just...
After we had completed about 25% of the ringing I glanced at the clock.
It still said nearly quarter to.
"Gosh! We rang that fast!" I thought to myself.
Then I remembered that the clock had stopped last time we rang. This meant that we probably hadn't started ringing just before quarter to, but I had absolutely no idea what time we had begun ringing, what time it was now, or if we even had time to complete the Quarter! Ooops!
I took a few sneaky glances down at the church to see if I could ascertain how close we were to the time the service was due to begin. However, there weren't many people in. This was understandable as it was a very warm Sunday evening, which coincided with both the Men's Final at Wimbledon and the World Cup Final, so attendance would probably be a little lower than usual. No use relying on the number of persons visible below as a guide to how time was progressing. I pondered briefly, as to whether anyone would notice, if we didn't stop ringing before the service began...
On we rang, sweat dripping. Our hands grasping at the rough ropes, moving the bells into the pattern we had chosen to ring. Occasionally someone would make a mistake and the band would work together to sort out the order - ringing is great for teamwork!
We are encouraging the congregation to understand that the bells are there to ring out their celebrations - personal milestones, anniversaries and celebrations - as well as marking key points in the Ecclesiastical calendar and events of national importance.
Our ringing this evening celebrated Christ's resurrection - as it was rung on a Sunday,
the 20th anniversary of the Rector's ordination,
for the blessing of the wedding of a church member earlier in the day, who had got married abroad and for the 70th Anniversary of the foundation of the National Health Service.
I already have a request for the quarter in June 2019!
I wonder what will we celebrate in August?
In March we managed two quarters - even though snow lay on the ground on both days.
This was the scene when we arrived to ring the second of our March Quarters. By the time the evening service had finished, further snow had fallen, but not enough to be a major inconvenience!
I thought I would post this picture to remind you what cold weather looks like!
The Rector had asked if it would be possible to ring to mark the 20th anniversary of his Ordination on 12th July. Due to the business of life, this evening was the first opportunity.
As it was another swelteringly hot evening, I decided to take one of our fans from home.
It just fitted in the boot of the car.
Getting the fan up the spiral staircase was a challenge, as the stairs were only a little bit wider than the cross-shaped base of the fan.
Unfortunately, I took the one that no longer rotates.
Fortunately, there is a smaller fan in the ringing chamber to complete the Heineken effect - refresh the parts that other fans cannot reach...
We raised the bells, increasing the swing each time, until the bells could turn full circle.
"Do we need to alter any of the ropes?"
I looked at the clock. It was nearly a quarter to. Argh! Time was running out.
"Do we NEED to?"
It was decided that all the ropes were near enough the right length - ropes vary in length with the weather, shrinking when it is dry, and lengthening during damp weather.
Off we went. The first time quickly degenerated into a muddle. We reminded ourselves of the chosen method and started again.
We still had time to get the quarter - just...
After we had completed about 25% of the ringing I glanced at the clock.
It still said nearly quarter to.
"Gosh! We rang that fast!" I thought to myself.
Then I remembered that the clock had stopped last time we rang. This meant that we probably hadn't started ringing just before quarter to, but I had absolutely no idea what time we had begun ringing, what time it was now, or if we even had time to complete the Quarter! Ooops!
I took a few sneaky glances down at the church to see if I could ascertain how close we were to the time the service was due to begin. However, there weren't many people in. This was understandable as it was a very warm Sunday evening, which coincided with both the Men's Final at Wimbledon and the World Cup Final, so attendance would probably be a little lower than usual. No use relying on the number of persons visible below as a guide to how time was progressing. I pondered briefly, as to whether anyone would notice, if we didn't stop ringing before the service began...
On we rang, sweat dripping. Our hands grasping at the rough ropes, moving the bells into the pattern we had chosen to ring. Occasionally someone would make a mistake and the band would work together to sort out the order - ringing is great for teamwork!
We are encouraging the congregation to understand that the bells are there to ring out their celebrations - personal milestones, anniversaries and celebrations - as well as marking key points in the Ecclesiastical calendar and events of national importance.
Our ringing this evening celebrated Christ's resurrection - as it was rung on a Sunday,
the 20th anniversary of the Rector's ordination,
for the blessing of the wedding of a church member earlier in the day, who had got married abroad and for the 70th Anniversary of the foundation of the National Health Service.
I already have a request for the quarter in June 2019!
I wonder what will we celebrate in August?
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