Bells on Sunday is a short radio programme transmitted on BBC Radio 4. It currently airs at approximately 5:43 AM every Sunday, and is repeated at 12:45 AM the following Monday, and features bell ringers ringing the changes. The recordings come from a different church tower within the United Kingdom each week as well as from other parts of the world where full circle change ringing takes place.
New recordings can be submitted for inclusion in the programme by ringers. This is done sending the recording to an official liaison, a volunteer bell ringer, who checks the quality of the recording, authors the accompanying draft presentation notes, submits the recordings to the BBC produces and generally liaises with the BBC.
For many years the liaison was Michael Orme of Congleton however in recent years (since 2018) this role has been taken up by his son Phillip Orme (of Cambridge Great St Mary's and also the Norman Tower Bury St. Edmunds).
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The Nine Tailors is a 1934 mystery novel by the British writer Dorothy L. Sayers, her ninth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. The story is set in the Lincolnshire Fens, and revolves around a group of bell-ringers at the local parish church. The book has been described as Sayers' finest literary achievement, although not all critics were convinced by the mode of death, nor by the amount of technical campanology detail included.
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in which the ringers commit to memory the rules for generating each change, or by call changes, where the ringers are instructed how to generate each change by instructions from a conductor. This creates a form of bell music which cannot be discerned as a conventional melody, but is a series of mathematical sequences.
John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. The business originated in the 14th century, and the Taylor family took over in 1784.
A church bell is a bell in a church building designed to be heard outside the building. It can be a single bell, or part of a set of bells. Their main function is to call worshippers to the church for a communal service, but are also rung on special occasions such as a wedding, or a funeral service. In some Christian traditions they signify to people outside that a particular part of the service has been reached.
Blackburn Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin with Saint Paul, is an Anglican cathedral situated in the heart of Blackburn town centre, in Lancashire, England. The cathedral site has been home to a church for over a thousand years and the first stone church was built there in Norman times.
The Oxford University Society of Change Ringers, founded in 1872, is the official society dedicated to change ringing in Oxford University. Its objects are to promote the art of change ringing in the university and to ring for Sunday services in Oxford during full term.
Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers is the standard reference to the rings of bells hung for English-style full circle ringing. The vast majority of these "towers" are in England and Wales but the guide includes towers from the rest of the British Isles as well as a few from around the world. The latest edition is Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers to the Rings of Bells of the World.
In campanology, a peal is the special name given to a specific type of performance of change ringing which meets certain exacting conditions for duration, complexity and quality.
St Mary Magdalen is a Church of England parish church in Magdalen Street, Oxford, England, dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene. It is one of the city's ancient parish churches and is a Grade I listed building.
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally known simply as the Clock Tower, it was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The clock is a striking clock with five bells.
Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 cast more than 5,000 bells.
Taunton Minster (St Mary Magdalene church) is a Church of England parish minster church in Taunton, Somerset, England, dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene. It was completed in 1508 and is in the Early Tudor Perpendicular Gothic style. It is designated as a Grade I listed building. It is notable for its very tall tower.
The University of Bristol Society of Change Ringers (UBSCR) is a change ringing society. UBSCR is associated with the University of Bristol and is affiliated to Bristol SU. UBSCR was established in 1943 and has rung bells at St Michael on the Mount Without since 1944. Since 1950 there have been over 700 peals rung for the society. UBSCR is also affiliated to the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers and sends two representatives to its AGM.
The National Twelve-Bell Striking Contest is the principal change ringing striking competition in the United Kingdom. It has been held annually since 1975, and is open to any tower where 12-bell ringing is practised regularly. The winners of the competition are awarded the Taylor Trophy.
The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR) is an organisation founded in 1891 which represents ringers of church bells in the English style.
The Guild of St Magnus is a bell ringing guild formed in 2009, following the new installation of the bells at St Magnus-the-Martyr, with the main aim of ringing for Sunday services at St Magnus the Martyr. Guild members are often also members of other guilds and societies in London and support other bands of ringers including: Southwark Cathedral; St Martin-in-the-Fields; St Michael, Cornhill and St Olave Hart Street.
The Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers, known as ANZAB, is the organisation responsible for the promotion of English-style "full circle ringing" – namely change ringing and method ringing in bell towers with a peal of bells – across Australia and New Zealand.
Albert John Pitman is regarded by change ringing campanologists as a remarkable and versatile composer of peals in bell ringing methods. Described as 'perhaps the greatest of all time' in the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers biography of him, An Unassuming Genius, he was an extraordinary talent in the field of peal composition.
The Suffolk Guild of Ringers for the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is a society and charity supporting the bell ringers and rings of bells in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich who practice the art of change ringing. The Guild was established on 2 April 1923 at Ipswich and covers over 200 rings of bells in the county of Suffolk in the area that falls within the diocese boundary.
The Duke's Tower, also known as Inveraray Bell Tower, is the detached bell tower of All Saints' Church, Inveraray, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Standing 126 feet (38 m) high on the shores of Loch Fyne, it is a landmark for miles and amongst the most notable bell towers in the United Kingdom. The tower was built as a memorial to members of the Clan Campbell who died in the First World War. It is Category A listed by Historic Environment Scotland, the highest possible rating.
