What is Bell Ringing?
Summary
This page gives information about
- who rings bells and
- a brief explanation of change ringing.
Who rings bells? It could be you!
The current band of ringers at Smith College consists of about 12 people and includes: Smith students, faculty, and an alumna (one of the founding members of the original band of change ringers at Smith). There are also members from the wider commmunity (including ringers from Mt Holyoke and Connecticut).
The Ting Tangs: Smith Change Ringers is the Smith College student organization associated with the tower. Its charter is found here.
Marj and Allen with the first group of Smith ringers.
So what is change ringing?
When you hear the bells ring on campus, that means that people are inside the Mendenhall bell tower, where eight bells hang, with a rope attached to each. The bell ringers are assigned to one bell at a time and, starting in sequence from highest to lowest, they attempt to ring them in various permutations. The process is challenging due to the bells’ mechanics, but at the same time very enjoyable. It is something anyone can participate in at almost any age and is a group activity where you work with others to accomplish something.
- Click here for a FLYP article on ringing at the Washington Cathedral, introducing ringers, the bells, handling, methods - everything you would want or need to know about ringing and possibly get hooked.
- Click here for an excellent summary from the North American Guild of Change Ringers.
- Click here for an animation of a person ringing a bell.
There are some fantastic videos on youtube of change ringing in action. Some of our favorites include:
- Trinity Church in New York City. Rounds on 12 bells.
- Spliced Bristol Surprise Major and Stedman Triples.
- A nice touch of Grandsire Triples Leeds UK.
- Rounds at Westminster Abbey. At the end, they go into Stedman Caters:
- Some Cambridge Surprise Royal at St Pauls Church Birmingham UK.
- Hosanna. A really big bell (7.5 ton) at Buckfast Abbey.
- Dunsford Bells in Devon (You see the bells moving in this one.)
The bells
The following description of the parts of a change ringing bell comes from NAGCR.
A bell in her usual position.
- a. Stock
- b. Stay
- c. Slider
- d. Blocks
- e. Wheel
- f. Groove of Wheel
- g. Fillet
- h. Ball of Clapper
- i. Flight of Clapper
- k. Cannons
- l. Timber of Cage
- m. Gudgeons
- n. Lip of Bell
Mathematics and change ringing
The mathematics of the methods and changes in change ringing - coming eventually
Demonstration bell