Bell-ringing at St. John’s Church, Epping
Seventeen EFOG members had a really interesting evening in the bell tower at St. John’s Church, Epping, on Monday, 26th March, 2012. The tower is 100 years old, and was built some years after the church, as an addition. I had arranged with Peter Milan, the bell-ringing captain, for us to visit, and I think the evening turned out to be even better than we had expected. Peter was explaining everything to us, and with his colleague, David, we were first shown how to bell-ring before we had a go ourselves. They gave us lighter bells, which was just as well, as when Peter demonstrated the largest bell which weighs over a ton, he actually had his feet off the floor to get it going, hanging on the bell-rope!
Bell-ringing is certainly much more complicated than I thought. When it is being done properly, the bell captain calls out numbers - not the numbers of the bells (they have 8 bells at St. John‘s), but the sequence numbers of the rounds. I couldn’t pretend to understand it, and you certainly need your wits about you! Being amateurs, we didn’t get to that stage, but we all had goes at ringing the bells with the help of Peter and David. It is quite tiring, and Peter and David were there with us, helping us to catch the bell-ropes by the sally - the furry bit on the rope!
Following on from that, we ascended the ladders to see the bells - not for those of a nervous disposition or with a fear of heights! The second ladder was completely vertical up the wall! As we had enjoyed a visit to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry last year, it was good to see to see the bells in situ, and Peter gave us some more information while we were perched on a narrow ledge, overlooking the bells. I think we were all grateful for the wooden railing along that bit! Peter had left one of the bells upside-down, which is where they are when they actually start to ring the bells, so we could see the positioning.
On the floor below the bells, is the complicated winding mechanism for the clock. There are three winding sections (for the time and the chimes), and they have to be wound every week to keep the clock going. Some of us had a go at the winding. As we were winding, we could see the huge weights moving up very slowly. That was hard work, and I am just relieved I don’t have to do it every week!
All in all, it was a really good evening, and we are very grateful to Peter and David for spending so much time with us, explaining it all. Peter and I live in Epping and we love to hear the bells ringing. I shall now listen with a great deal more admiration!
Maz. March, 2012.