(taken from: – John Heaton)
Most ringing sessions are started by the raising of the bells and ended by the lowering of the bells. It is all too common for these bits to be got over with as quickly as possible because they are not performed sufficiently well. It is particularly important that if the bells are lowered immediately before a service that the lower should be of high quality since this may the the part of the ringing that the majority of the congregation hear as they arrive.
There are several reasons why a raise or lower may go wrong: the leader may be inexperienced, some of the ringers may be inexperienced, the bells may be difficult or too little time is allowed. These notes discuss these points and others.
In the following discussion, the assumption is that the reader is a right handed ringer (right hand above the left). Left handed ringers should make due allowances.
For more information, please read the rest of the articles:
(taken from: - John Heaton ) The purpose of raising a bell is to get it into the up position from where it can be rung full circle from balance to balance. Since a bell is too heavy to do this in one pull the technique is to raise it bit by bit by...
(taken from: - John Heaton ) In many ways the procedure for lowering a bell is the reverse of that for raising a bell but it differs in one important point; you don't have to pull as hard. As less force is put into pulling the bell (but without letting...
(taken from: - John Heaton ) Before attempting to raise a bell in peal (with several other ringers, keeping the bells in Rounds) it is necessary to reasonably proficient at raising a single bell. In particular, you should be easily able to get a single...
(taken from: - John Heaton ) Before attempting to lower a bell in peal you should be able to lower a single bell fully in control and without getting your rope tangled up. The objective is to keep all the bells in Rounds. Since the big bells swing...
(taken from: - John Heaton ) When leading up the first stage is to get all the bells chiming on one side in Rounds. To do this the Treble must be swinging far enough to allow the Tenor to swing. This means that the Treble will need to be almost half...
(taken from: - John Heaton ) When leading down it is important to realise that your bell is probably the lightest and will come down quite quickly on its own. With this in mind you should leave enough time at the end of the session for a relaxed lower. Some...
