The deaf Yorkshire bell-ringer among those ringing for the King today

To ensure there will be sufficient ringers around the country for the King’s Coronation celebrations today, the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers and the Association of Ringing Teachers, initiated the ‘Ring for the King’ appeal.

Bob Schofield, member of the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers, who rings at St Mary’s Church, Oxenhope, says: “I think a catalyst like ‘Ring for the King’ strikes a chord with people – some have been ringers who are coming back into it and there are new people.

“I detect people are wanting to join in with something. Ringing does seem to be an activity people are looking to take part in, possibly because it is local and you don’t have to travel far.”

Louise Connacher, Tower Captain at St James’ Church in picturesque Tong village, says in West Yorkshire alone there have been 30 requests from recruits who are keen to learn the ropes.

Louise believes the reason why bell ringing faced a shortage of volunteers was due to busy lives and competing commitments.

However, the ‘Ring for the King’ campaign has re-ignited interest in bell ringing. “A lot of people heard bells last year for the Queen’s Jubilee and when the Queen died, and I think the ‘Ring for the King’ campaign has caught people’s imagination to be part of a bigger thing.”

For those, like Louise, for whom bell ringing is an integral part of their lives, it is a commitment – and not just for the King’s Coronation.

“It’s something you need to be learning and expect it to be part of your life for the foreseeable future,” says Louise, who fits bell ringing around her role as an ecclesiastical lawyer.

Conscious of a shortage of ringers over the years, Maurice Calvert, Ringing Master at St Wilfrid’s Church, Calverley, had previously appealed through the church newsletter to encourage ringing recruits.

In response to ‘Ring for the King,’ Maurice put a post on the Calverley Facebook page and is training six new ringers – among them Michael Lokuciejewski-Taylor.

The 35-year-old from Calverley has been profoundly deaf since birth and has severe short term memory loss.

Michael was fitted with two hearing aids at the age of four. “Despite the hearing/memory loss, I have an interest in music, history and Calverley heritage,” he explains.

Volunteering with a group to locate and record graves in the churchyard at Calverley church for the village archive in the library gave Michael the opportunity to hear the bells.

“If I was lucky enough on volunteering days, the bells would ring and it fascinated me how they do it and how they can make nice tunes out of relatively a few bells without any electronics; and with the reliance of individuals inside a bell tower – and that something so simple can life people’s spirits.”

After contacting Maurice, initially to see if he could look around the tower, Michael was offered the opportunity to learn to ring.

“Like all new skills it is tricky to start with as I am fully relying on watching other members and watching Maurice, and learning the rhythm and tension of the bell to keep in time with them,” he says.

Remembering the sequence is the most challenging thing, he says, but he is proving anything is possible – despite his hearing impairment.

With encouragement from his younger brother and fellow ringing recruit, Owen, the brothers are on course to ‘Ring for the King.’

“I find that people with disabilities are always unsure about what they can achieve beyond their restrictions,” says Michael. “I would say to anyone considering giving this heritage craft bell ringing a go, find a friendly group like ours, maybe watch for a couple of sessions and hopefully you will be encouraged to give it a go. It can be great for socialising and meeting a whole new group of friends.”

Owen explains the poignancy of the bells at St Wilfrid’s to his family. Their grandfather, an immigrant during the Second World War, lived in a Polish Resettlement Corps (PRC) camp in what is now Calverley Woods, close to the church, after seeking asylum in the UK.

“I find the personal link quite special, to think that our Grandad probably listened to the church bells Michael and I are now ringing,” says Owen, who is enjoying learning alongside his brother and says they hope to continue ringing.

Ringing recruits spend two hours a week practising. “It’s quite a long journey from starting from scratch to being able to ring with a team,” says Maurice. “The thing that fascinates me are the methods involved – the different ways we can ring the changes – that is what makes it a lifetime hobby. Because learning to ring a bell can take 10 to 12 hours, you don’t see where it is going to take you and it is so unique in the way that the change ringing is constructed.”

The bell’s clapper is silenced for practise sessions so it doesn’t make a noise. “You split it into manageable chunks of things to do and put it all together,” says Louise, who has taught approximately 30 recruits to ring over the years. “I have been bell ringing since I was 16 years old. I started because the church in the village where I grew up in Northumberland had a campaign to get the bells ringing again. I was massively involved in the church, I was in the choir and I thought it sounded fun.”

Twenty years ago after moving to Tong village, Louise discovered that the bells at St James’ church were un-ringable, so Louise instigated the campaign to get the bells restored and ringing again.

She also recruited, and taught, a band of ringers once the six bells – the heaviest being the 800 weight tenor - were back in action. Their purpose has always been to call people to church.

“When people didn’t have watches or clocks in their house the church clock was really important. In olden times it would ring on the quarter of an hour and strike on the hour so people would know what time it was. The bells would ring before the service so the local community would know it was time to go to church. Even churches without a full peal of bells, with one bell, are supposed to ring it to call people to church,” explains Louise.

“We ring for the service and we ring for a lot of special occasions and we will ring for the King on the day of the Coronation.”

The ringing at St James’ to commemorate the crowning of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey in London, will comprise a quarter peal rung by the church’s six-strong ringing band which will last around 50 minutes. Interestingly, bell ringing is adapted for both happy and sombre occasions. For sombre services, such as Remembrance Day, the bells are half muffled – one pad of leather is placed on a single bell - creating a sombre sound. The only time a full pad of leathers (full muffles) are placed on the bells are for the passing of the Sovereign.

“It’s nothing like normal music, bell ringing is based on mathematical changes,” explains Louise. “A piece of music is called a ‘Method’ and the ‘Blue Line’ tells you which place you need to be in when bell ringing,” explains Louise, who enjoys passing on a skill which has introduced her to a friendly and sociable community. “It’s about meeting people, having a group of friends and working as a team to make a nice sound.”

www.yacr.org.uk or www.cccbr.org.uk.