changes for a regular pattern and I made a mistake but it sounded so musical. You can be as creative as you want with bells but you have always got the recognised failsafe ones to fall back on.’ St Saviour’s Church bells, which date back to 1732, were out of action for five months when they were recast in 1938. They won’t need recasting for a good while yet, although they may need re-tuning at some distant point in the future, Tim explained. That’s as well for the ringers who as well as their chiming duties, take part in regular competitions in different host churches including St Saviour’s each November.
Anyone is welcome to join Tim’s team of bell ringers, he said. ‘We are known as a friendly tower. We all have a go at ringing, whether you have been here for ages for ages or are a novice. If we were doing bell ringing the old way everyone would have their own bell and women wouldn’t be allowed. You only got to back to the 1970s when there were no women bell ringers, but now we have more female ringers than male ones.
‘Most churches still do it the old way. We just enjoy ourselves. We have a tea break on practice nights and people become good friends – it’s like a club as well. We’re not the best bell ringers there are, we don’t often win the competitions, but the people that come actually enjoy it and to me that’s the most important thing.’•
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