2025 03Nympton News Autumn final with bleed - Flipbook - Page 56
BELL - RINGING
Kings Nympton has a fantastic history and tradition of bell ringing, going
right back to the 1920s (that we know of, from certiocates in the bell
tower) and probably beyond. At end of of
the 20s/beginning of the 30s the team was
all conquering, and won the prestigious
Devon Final in 1931.
Since then, success has been harder to
come by, but its not all about winning
competitions - at its heart, ringing is an
ancient and revered tradition that was
closely linked with the farming community,
and local pubs - who would put up prize
money knowing it
would be spent with
them!
I was asked to take on the captaincy of the tower
earlier this year, and one of my priorities is to recruit
new ringers. At the moment, we have just four
experienced ringers, so we rely on collaborating with
neighbouring towers to oeld a team like the one that
rang recently for the Harvest Service. But we do have
one advanced learner, and six people who are just
starting their ringing journey - with very promising
results.
I will always nag up ringing sessions on
Facebook (not least because we occasionally
have visiting teams ringing, some of them
among the best in the county, and they are
well worth listening out for) and there is always
tea/coffee and biscuits at our sessions, so even
if you don't fancy learning, you are welcome to
come and see what its all about - who knows
where that might lead.
And if you would like to give it a go, just let me
know - on mpailthorpe@btinternet.com
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