Bell Ringing is great fun! There are about 40,000 bellringers in the UK, and 40,000 people can’t be wrong! With that many ringers, it’s a great hobby socially too. No matter where you go in the UK, you’re never far from a tower with bells and a band of ringers who will welcome you – including the pub afterwards for the over-18s!
All sorts of people are ringers. Many people seem to think that you have to be musical or perhaps mathematically-minded to ring, which isn’t true at all. We certainly don’t conform to any stereotype – most of us don’t even look all that much like Quasimodo (see ringing myths)!
Some people seem to think that you need to be quite strong to ring the bells, and this isn’t true either. Some bells can weigh just under a ton, which sounds a lot heavier than it feels! Not all ringers are churchgoers or religious either…(partly taken from: Aberystwyth).
Lots of kids learn to ring – generally from the age of ten and upwards.
Many counties also have young ringers’ groups, where you can meet up with lots of kids your own age and ring
A directory of the different youth ringing groups is coming soon… in the meantime, contact us if you need help finding a young ringers’ group near you!
There are a great number of university ringing societies in the UK and North America. They’re a great opportunity to ring with other people
Most university ringing societies will have an active social calendar and some spend as much time drinking as they do ringing! Socials can range from: tours/outings, treasure hunts, picnics, handbells, competitions (including the Southern/Northern Universities Association weekends), peal/quarter weekends, theatre trips, concerts, parties, dinners, and lots more…
If your university has no ringing society, local towers will welcome you to join. Contact us if you would like
Click for more information and to find your nearest university ringing society
We are looking to create a ‘One Stop Shop’ for everything young ringers need to succeed. If you have any ideas for materials that it’d be useful for you to have to support the setup and running of young ringers’ groups, please get in touch!
Welcome to the Young Ringers Hub!
This website will become a “one-stop shop” for young ringers and will link existing organisations and websites to the Hub, and contain guidance for young ringers. The development of this resource will be carried out by young ringers, facilitated by the Central Council, who will host the Young Ringers Hub, provide support and create a sustainable platform that can then be owned, maintained and updated by young ringers.
We need leaders and content creators for the following groups, so please contact us if you would like to get involved!
- Hub Steering Group
- Under 18s content creation
- Over 18s content creation (including University Ringing)
- Content review team
- Social Media
- Website design
- Liaison with other groups & bodies