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Bell Ringers
The bell ringers are one of the luckiest sections of the Church Community. By sounding the bells as a Call to Worship they are able to offer a service to the Church, and this service is also the basis for an enjoyable and rewarding hobby.
We currently have a team of 14 regular ringers at Burton, and we are always happy to teach learners or to simply give people a tour of the tower. If you are fit, don’t mind ladders and have a good head for heights, the view from the top is amazing.
History
Back in the 1600s there were 3 bells at St Nicholas which were housed in a steeple. The steeple became unsafe and was replaced by the present tower in 1724 and 5 new bells were commissioned for the Parish from the well known bell founder, Abraham Rudhall (1657–1736) of Gloucester.
Just before the turn of the century a sixth bell was added and this gives us our present ring of six. These bells have been well cared for and maintained over the centuries
More information about the bells can be found at www.wirralbranch.org.uk.
The Exercise
The bells of St Nicholas are in the key of B flat and we are able to play music on the bells by changing the order in which they strike. This is known as ‘Change Ringing’ and it either involves a conductor calling the changes or the ringers relying on memory to recall different methods and patterns.
So you can imagine that all this requires a considerable amount of concentration and brainpower. In fact, Change Ringing is often referred to as ‘the Exercise’ because of the exercise that it gives your brain!
And all this is quite far away from the common misconception that ringers have to be terrifically strong. Of course, you do need to be fit enough to climb the stairs and you need to be over about 1.45m tall, but it’s not necessary to have the muscles of a weightlifter. A sense of rhythm is far more useful.
Ringing for Services and Special Occasions
We try to ring before as many services as possible; a single bell for 5 minutes before 08:45am service, change ringing before the 10:00am service, and if possible we try to do a special piece of ringing before Evening Prayer.
These special pieces are called Quarter Peals and they are a real challenge. We like to dedicate this ringing to a special event and in the past year we have celebrated the baptisms, weddings and birthdays of Parishioners and we've had the honour of being asked to ring for funerals. We have rung to mark the Royal Wedding Anniversary and in Thanksgiving for the time that previous vicars have spent in the Parish. If you would like us to ring to mark an event, either national or local, then please let us know.
Our practice night is Monday, 7:30pm to 9pm.
Handbells
Now that we have our new set of handbells, we have set up a handbell group. Let us know if you might be interested.
Contacts
Tower Captain – Jane Davies 0151 334 2096
Tower Correspondent – Dwenna Georges 0151 336 6151
Wirral Branch bell ringers web site
www.wirralbranch.org.uk