'FA Cup of bell-ringing' comes to South Yorkshire this weekend

After regional qualifying rounds, the top 10 teams in the country will meet in Sheffield in order to contest for the Taylor Trophy in a competition that’s been held at different towers since 1975. Deck chairs and food vendors will be set up on the Cathedral’s forecourt so that the public can enjoy the bell-ringing at their leisure.

Simon Reading is tower secretary of Sheffield Cathedral, and was the cathedral’s ringing master for 28 years. He describes how huge the competition is in the world of campanology.

“It’s the FA Cup of bell ringing,” he says. “To ring accurately on 12 bells is very demanding. Most village churches have between six and eight bells, but there are around 100 towers in the country that have 12.

“There’s an elite number of towers where they have very high standards of 12 bell ringing and they will be the teams featuring in Sheffield. The competition was due to be hosted here in 2020 and we had the final once before in 1996. Since then, the contest has grown considerably and the standard of ringing has improved enormously.

“For us it’s also a great opportunity to practise and improve our own standard of ringing, as well as experiencing the excitement of competing against the best bell ringing teams in the country.”

Simon discusses the rarity of Sheffield Cathedral’s bells in the UK, “Even though many places have 12 bells a lot of them aren’t really suitable for a contest like this. You need to have bells which you can hear very clearly.

“We're fortunate that we have very good acoustics and you can hear every bell in the ringing chamber. Not many places have hosted contests twice.”

The competition is based around change ringing, which sees teams ringing a tower’s tuned bells in sequential permutations.

“There are a few other countries in the world where they practise change ringing, but they're places with connections with the UK. There are about 5,000 churches in the UK which have bells; not all of them are rung frequently, but most of them are rung at least once a month, with a lot rung every week.”

The Very Reverend Abi Thompson, Dean of Sheffield said: “We are delighted to be hosting this year’s 12 Bell Competition and look forward to welcoming teams from across the country. We are proud of our bells here in Sheffield that provide a welcome to the city, an uplifting announcement of our worship, a joyful noise to accompany our celebrations and sometimes, the most solemn of muffled tolling for national periods of mourning.

“People are drawn to the sound of bells ringing and our city soundscape is greatly enhanced by the work of our wonderful bellringing team. It’s a great opportunity for Sheffielder’s to come along and see their Cathedral at its very best.”

Visitors hoping to enjoy the day should arrive early, according to Simon. “Over a thousand people came along when the final was at Exeter Cathedral a few years ago; it's pretty much the biggest event in the ringing calendar.”