On the Internet (particularly on YouTube), you’ll find hundreds of hours of videos about bell ringing. At a time when we can’t get our twice-weekly “fix” ourselves, here’s a chance to look at some:
CCCBR Compendium
The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (that’s a title which rolls easily off the tongue!) has put together a compilation of videos. It’s a huge wide variety of things, ranging from an hour or so (I found “Bells of Cambridge” fascinating) to several that last just a minute or so. As a MiniBell founder, I went straight to the casting of the enormous Olympic bell!
Oddities and Wonders of Bellringing
The CCCBR has done a second compilation. No long videos here (there’s one 12 minute one). No. 19 – Cornish handbells ringers pleased me. An interesting take on call changes and “lapping” (but we’ll not do it like that at Kildwick without some really good padding on the floor!) Our young ringers need to look at No. 8 too!
Stedman Caters (7 min)
Handbell lapping is a Victorian parlour game. The ringers sit in a curved line and pass the bells between them, placing them on each other’s laps. This is as impressive an example as I have seen. Watch the lady on the right. She never lets go of the bell at the end – that’s because “Caters” only involves eleven bells and the twelvth stays at the back, covering.
Bell Ringing: It’s Harder Than It Looks (15 min)
There are several documentaries about learning to ring. I’ve chosen this one because it is local to Kildwick. Ant Smith learns to handle a bell in the tower at Silsden before moving on to ring at Bradford Cathedral.
How to make a bell (10 min)
Personally, I find the commentary to this rather annoying! However, it does explain the process of bell casting very well.
Kildwick MiniRingers (2 min)
Couldn’t finish without this! A rather dated video of the first ever MiniRingers, ringing Plain Hunt on the mat. This was filmed in December 2016.