Ringing is a skill where you can never say that you know it all, there is always another challenge to try but only if you want to! Once you have learnt to physically handle the bell, which takes from a few weeks to a few months, you will become a valuable member of the band. You do not need to be musical or particularly strong and if you can get to the Ringing Chamber you can learn. We are always looking for recruits and if you would like to join us and keep the Brontë Bells ringing you would find it a fascinating and traditional hobby. There is a local and national network of ringing societies (we are part of the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers) as well as an informal, national fellowship of ringers which ensures that members are welcome in any other ringing tower in the country. We also arrange one or two outings per year where other churches are visited to try their bells. The practice is usually followed by a visit to a local hostelry and there are regular social gatherings including the annual Guild Meal. We ring for weddings and other special occasions as required. We have an active and thriving band who ring regularly for Sunday Service at 10.00 am and practice on Monday evenings from 7.30 pm. Some of these performances are recorded on boards in the ringing chamber. The most recent of these was rung by members of the local band to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. This takes about three hours and there have been 19 peals at Haworth. One particular feat is to ring in excess of 5000 changes without stopping and this is called a peal. This style of ringing dates from the beginning of the 17 th century and the object is to ring as many different changes before any sequence is repeated. These patterns are called methods and each method is named. The changes are produced by ringing the bells in a different order each time the rope is pulled and are governed by a set pattern. The aim is not to ring tunes but instead a series of sequences called changes. This way of ringing is peculiarly English there are not that many churches in Wales, Scotland and Ireland where bells are rung in this way and very few outside the British Isles. This gives very precise control and the distinctive ‘swirling sound’ so characteristic of church bells in this country. The bells are hung for change ringing so that each bell turns through a full circle when rung. These bells were raised by subscription A.D. The restoration was carried out by John Taylor’s of Loughborough and the bells have been in regular use ever since. The initial donation was given in memory of Charles Gordon Vestey. The bells were restored in May 1988 with gifts from the Church and Brontë Society, friends and local businesses. Ringing continued until well after the Second World War but then gradually declined until the bells became unringable in the 1970’s. The tower obviously had an active and accomplished band of ringers and the bells may well have rung for Charlotte Brontë’s wedding. (553 kg), bears an inscription to this effect. The tenor bell which weighs nearly 11 cwt. The tower contains a ring of six bells, cast in 1845 by C & G Mears of London and installed by Patrick Brontë with money raised by public subscription.
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