The rope that can be seen tied to the top of the middle strut of the wheel is the top of the bell rope. It feeds through a small hole in the wooden wheel. Then, as you can see in the photograph below (the front view of the bell) the rope runs down the groove of the wheel. It then goes through a pulley box and eventually down to the room beneath the Bell Tower.
The position of the bell rope on the wheel means that, by alternatively pulling on the rope and then letting it run freely, the ringer can start the bell swinging. To prepare the bell to be rung, called ringing it up, the bell ringer will keep on swinging the bell until eventually it is totally upside down.
The wooden bar called a stay, that can be seen sticking out from the top of the headstock above, acts as a support, allowing the bell to rest in the upside down position ready to be rung.
Once a bell has been 'rung up' it is mouth up. The next time the the rope is pulled, the bell will fall and swing through a full 360 degrees and then swing back to balance on the stay.
As the bell rises, the clapper hits the bell edge and thus a single note rings out. If you read the information about Christ Church's bells, you will discover that because the bells are different weights they produce different notes. This enables Christ Church's bell ringers to produce the lovely cascading sound that you hear at weddings.
The picture on the left shows Pat ringing one of the bells at the end of the Sunday service. Pat and the other bell ringers at Christ Church make bell ringing look such an easy process that the warning notices pinned to the room beneath the bell tower may seem slightly absurd. Danger! What could be dangerous about bell ringing !!!.
It is only when a beginner has their first lesson and pulls a bell for the first time that they discover that bell ringing can indeed be hazardous and that it is far from easy. Indeed many people who try bell ringing find their first attempts quite frightening! Bell ringing can, however, be fun once you have mastered the basics and many people find bell ringing enjoyable
Balancing and rhythm is the key to bell ringing. If the ringer stops the bell too far below the balance point, the bell will not rise sufficiently on the other side. If the bell is pulled too hard, in order to get it mouth upwards again, the bell might swing over the balance point, and the bell will bounce off the stay and come down too soon.
Bashing the stay is a very bad thing to do as it can result in the stay breaking off. Broken stays have resulted in some very nasty accidents such as broken fingers or worse. If a stay breaks, the best thing the bell ringer can do is let go, for once there is nothing to stop the bell, its momentum will keep it revolving. Quite rapidly the the bell rope will be wrap up and and any hapless bell ringer still attached to it will find themselves yanked up to the ceiling!
Having read this page, you may be interested in becoming a bell ringer yourself. Bell ringing practice usually takes place at Christ Church on Thursday at 7.30pm. If you are interested in becoming a member of the team have a word with John Hulbert.
For those living in other areas of Lancashire, visit the website for the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers and find out when different churches hold practice bell ringing sessions.
LINKS TO OTHER SITES
Other sites about bells and bell ringing may be accessed by clicking the underlined links below.
How bells work and how to ring them
General Information about Change Ringing
The sound of bells (A link which enables you to listen to church bells.)
