The Cheshire School of Bell Ringing has arrived. Come and learn to ring with us.
A glimpse of Bob Doubles on the Stretton bells for one of our students during the outing last Saturday. Because these bells are lighter than the ones this group usually practices on, they may pose a different technical challenge.
17/05/2026
On May 16th, we held our first AGM for the School, and the School Constitution was voted in! We thank everyone who has been with us on this journey for the past three years: course leaders, helpers, and students. This all happens thanks to your dedication, interest, and commitment, and we are proud to serve you, continuing our Saturday classes.
Yesterday, just before the AGM, all four of our groups had an outing in the Warrington neighbourhood, with ringing in Grappenhall, Stretton, and Stockton Heath. A couple of hours of practice outside of our home towers helps to break the ringing routine and target the fear of the unknown. Plain Hunt, Bob Doubles, Call Changes, all familiar things may feel very different on new bells for a learner, and we are grateful to the hosting towers for granting us this opportunity to practice them elsewhere.
More is coming, and hopefully, it will be even more exciting and useful!
Stay tuned and ring the bells,
Yours,
The Ringing School Team
A former Pink Floyd bassist became a bell ringer in Sussex, attracted by the ringing community and the rich history behind the bells.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/18VY9nSfPK/
10/04/2026
Well done ringers of St Margaret's Church Altrincham for naming a brand new method: Altrincham Surprise Minor!
St Margaret's bellringers give Altrincham its very own sound It was debuted on Wednesday morning.
Here we have one of our Sandbach learners ringing up with coils.
Ringing up is taking a bell from a position where it is facing down to one where it is resting facing upside down. It is this that allows us to ring in the unique way that we do in this country because it gives us much more control over when a bell sounds.
There’s a lot of additional rope when we’re ringing up, so the coils allow us to keep it out of the way.
St. Mary's Church Sandbach
11/03/2026
What a brilliant read! Around 50% of ringers are women, and much of the reason for that stems from World War II!
Happy International Women's Day!
Bellringing had been the preserve of men for centuries and they had brought the activity into disrepute, particularly in rural parishes. By the mid-1800s there was a sense there was quite a lot more drinking going on up in the tower than actual ringing!
The Victorian elite, with their particular sense and sensibilities, thought it high time to regain control of the towers and ringers were brought back into line. By 1895, The Girls Own Paper was promoting ringing for girls with a sense of adventure and independence.
The first woman to ring a peal was Alice White at St. Michael's, Basingstoke, in 1896. The first all-women band to ring a peal (a peal is over 3 hours of ringing of 5,000+ bell sequences committed to memory - a physical and mental marathon!) was on the eight bells of Christ Church, Cubitt Town, London in 1912.
During and after World War I, in part due to the shortage of male ringers, women were being encouraged to join bands of ringers.
Following on from those trailblazers, around 50% of ringers today are women.
So, if you would like to take up a new activity that combines some light exercise, a dash of mental agility, and make an impact that can be felt all across town, do get in touch (and, no, you won't get wrapped up in ropes, unlike the fanciful image!)
The view up to the Ringing area at Bowdon Parish this morning. Just need some ringers now!
06/03/2026
#14 - Certificate detailing weights of bells; Dunham; date: 1974. Bell weights are in Imperial measures. Cwt stands for hundred weight which is 8 stone, a stone being 14 pounds. An imperial tonne was 20 hundred weight, so you can see that the tenor at Dunham is roughly a tonne and a quarter.
04/03/2026
Meet Molly. Molly is 16 years old and enjoys sleeping, two square meals a day, and sleeping. It’s the simple things.
Exciting times at our teaching tower at Dunham Massey (St Margaret’s church in Altrincham). Here, there is a ringer on the treble and a ringer on the tenor (the lightest and heaviest bells) while a computer is generating the sounds for all the other ones. It’s a really useful listening exercise.
| 10:30am - 12:30pm |