Bellringers and why they’ve been missed in pandemic – The Yorkshire Post says

NOTHING is more evocative in this ‘green and pleasant land’ immortalised in verse by the poet William Blake than the soothing sound of church bells being pealed to signify the joy of a wedding or to mark a national event.
By YP Comment
Published 28th Jul 2021, 11:37 BST
The Very Reverend John Dobson, Dean of Ripon, listens to the Ripon Cathedral bell ringers back together in the bell tower for the first practice session since the pandemic intervened. Photo: Tony Johnson.The Very Reverend John Dobson, Dean of Ripon, listens to the Ripon Cathedral bell ringers back together in the bell tower for the first practice session since the pandemic intervened. Photo: Tony Johnson.
The Very Reverend John Dobson, Dean of Ripon, listens to the Ripon Cathedral bell ringers back together in the bell tower for the first practice session since the pandemic intervened. Photo: Tony Johnson.

A tradition that has its origins in the Middle Ages, it is only now, as teams of volunteer bellringers return to places of worship like Ripon Cathedral, that there’s a gradual realisation about the extent to which the ringing of church bells has been missed by so many during the pandemic.

It is one of the evocative practices that is emblematic of England’s uniqueness and it is heartening that the return of bellringers to their elevated positions in the close confines of church towers has been greeted with such acclaim.

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Another indicator of life beginning to return to normal, this newspaper, for one, cannot wait for the day that church bells can sound loudly across the land to signal the end of the pandemic and a nation’s thanks to all those who served on the Covid front line.

Ripon Cathedral bellringers back together in the bell tower for the first practice session since the pandemic intervened. Picture: Tony Johnson.Ripon Cathedral bellringers back together in the bell tower for the first practice session since the pandemic intervened. Picture: Tony Johnson.
Ripon Cathedral bellringers back together in the bell tower for the first practice session since the pandemic intervened. Picture: Tony Johnson.

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