A long-serving tower captain from a church in Bicester is hosting a bell ringing competition and hopes to attract people to his team.
St. Edburg’s Church will vibrate with the musical chimes and bellows of its bells on Saturday, November 25 as teams of bell ringers from Oxfordshire and beyond will gather for the annual 10-bell striking competition.
The expected half-a-dozen teams will each be judged on their delivery of a set piece of music, which in past contests has included Little Bob Royal and Stedman Caters.
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St. Edburg’s tower captain Steve Walker said: “This is an important event for us. I’m pretty sure a 10-bell striking competition hasn’t taken place in Bicester.
“Prior to 1998 we had only eight bells. The two additional ones were donated by Bicester Town Council and Richard Stevens, a former tower captain, in 1998.
“It was quite a moment for Bicester when these bells were donated, and this competition is very poignant because it is something Richard would have dearly loved. A great legacy for him.”
The 69-year-old, who has lived in Bicester since 1983, hopes that by holding this event people will come and listen, and potentially find an interest in joining the bell-ringing team.
Mr Walker added: “We’re desperately short of ringers. It’s widespread across the country. If you look at pictures of previous 10-bell striking competitions, you see most of the ringers are well into their senior years.
“It’s not just the case with competitions, it’s ringing generally. Most of us at Bicester are in our 70s and 80s, I’ll be 70 next year. We have one girl who’s just turned 16, and the next youngest person is over 40.
“We need to recruit younger people otherwise it’s going to be a dying art.”
Mr Walker claims that many church bells are rung rarely simply because there aren’t enough people to do it.
He said: “When you consider the size of Bicester as a town, we really are short of bell ringers. We only have three or four resident ringers who show up regularly.
“We do have to rely on people coming from other towers at Stratton Audley or Launton. I’m hoping this event will draw people’s attention to the bells.”
Mr Walker wished to emphasise that bell ringing isn’t what you expect it to be.
He said: “It opens so many windows for people. There’s a brilliant social element to it too.
“It’s a great skill to acquire and presents a physical and mental challenge. Plus you get the joy of listening to the bells.”
If you’re interested in joining Bicester’s bell ringing team, you can contact Mr walker via email at steve.walker247@hotmail.com or call on 07983868234.
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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.
Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.
Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1
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