Londoners Magazine

Sarah Riches gets to grips with the art of campanology at St Paul’s Cathedral. That’s bell ringing, to you and me.

“Meet me at four at the crypt,” I was told. It all sounded very mysterious. Should I wear dark sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat, I wondered? I couldn’t find the entrance to the crypt, but then I spotted Alan Ainsworth, 72, the secretary of St Paul’s Cathedral’s guild of bell ringers, who unlocked a wooden door just wide enough for one person. I felt like I was entering Narnia as I ducked inside the dark corridor. In silence, we climbed a narrow spiral staircase, up 96 steps.

We entered the “ringing” room. It smelt musty, like a second-hand bookshop. There was a screech as Alan turned a rusty wheel; 12 ropes thudded to the ground. Each rope threaded through holes in the ceiling, attached to 12 bells on the other side which weren’t visible.

Alan told me to stand on one of 12 platforms, each 50cm high. The platforms are there for the bell ringer’s safety, to prevent their feet getting entangled in the rope. Alan warns: “It can be dangerous if you don’t take care, because the bell is spinning. Once that bell swings, nothing’s going to stop it.” If you were to get caught in the rope there’s a risk of being yanked in the air and slammed against the ceiling. I gulped.

Each rope ended in a noose. Standing on the platform, I couldn’t help feeling as if I was about to be hung. I stood on my tip toes to reach the padded part of the rope, and pulled hard with both hands. Nothing happened. I stretched my whole body, as if I were grabbing for a high ledge while rock climbing, and pulled again. Not a sausage. On my third attempt I heard a distant gong. I was ringing the bells of St Paul’s! If you heard some out of tune clangs on 1 May, now you know why.

Perhaps Alan was keen to maintain the bell ringers’ reputation, because he guided me away from the ropes and up a further 40 steps. We arrived breathless in the bell chamber, which had four windows with views across London. There was no glass, so it was windy. In the middle were the 12 bronze bells in the ringing position – upside down.

The biggest bell, known as the tenor, weighs three tons, and is the third biggest in the country after the bells in Exeter and Liverpool Cathedrals. The other bells are numbered eleventh to second until the lightest one, known as the treble. There’s also a thirteenth bell, called the old banger, which was cast in 1700. It’s kept in the “down” position, not upside down like the others, and doesn’t join in with the usual peal of bells.

Why would anyone want to ring bells? Isn’t it for religious over 70s with triceps of steel? Not so, says Alan. “All ages do it. My children do it and they’re 10. It’s not necessary to be religious. There’re increasingly a number of private bells hung in garages, barns or town halls. You have to be strong enough but not overly strong. It’s a physical activity because you’re using your body. But it’s also a mental activity because you’ve got to learn the methods [tunes].

“You can ring long peals [combinations of tunes] for four hours; this is quite an achievement in an athletic way, you get a kick from being able to do this, like the satisfaction people get running marathons. It’s a traditional art. It’s also a very social activity. We meet afterwards, get married to each other – I met my wife ringing. In our band of 32 people there’re six couples.”

Could bell ringing be the new speed dating?

How to learn campanology

Alan gives free guided tours of St Paul’s bells, usually on Sundays. 01494 727970; visits@stpaulscathedral.org.uk.

Competent ringers (not beginners) can practise at St Paul’s if they contact Alan. The band practises a couple of times a year and rings every Sunday.

The best place to learn is at your local church, if it has bells. The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers has information about courses throughout the UK; www.cccbr.org.uk.

The University of London Society of Change Ringers has information about classes in London; www.ulscr.org.uk.

One to one tuition or beginners classes are usually free.

Did you know?

It takes two or three years to be a competent bell ringer, or campanologist.

Bell ringing was prohibited in WW2; if a bell rang it indicated an invasion such as the Blitz of 1940-41.