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Learning to ring the church bells

Paul from Spalding has always been interested in old church buildings and has a book he loves about their history and architecture. He talked about this interest and the things he would like to take part in and achieve in the future with his ubu enabling team. Paul also shared his love for the sound of the church bells ringing too. He said that he would like to become a ‘campanologist’, which is the technical term for being a bell ringer.


Paul decided to find out about learning the skill of bell ringing so that he could join the group of campanologists at a local church who ring the bells together every Sunday morning. With support from his ubu enabler, Paul did some research and made phone calls to a few churches in his local area, to see if any of them offered bell ringing lessons.


It didn’t take long to find a church with an enthusiastic bell ringing team who were only too pleased to welcome a new member and to offer him some lessons.

The bell ringer at a parish church, who tutors new members, suggested offering Paul 1:1 lesson's so that he could get a feel for bell ringing. Paul said he was thrilled at the prospect of getting started. At first, he had a ubu enabler accompanying him which helped him to feel more confident while he got used to the experience.


“We started the first lesson looking at the ropes and hearing the bells go off” says Paul. “I also wanted to know more about the history of the church and I had tons of questions about the church and its bells.”


It was a really good start. “I asked questions like how many bells there were and which ropes to pull. I wanted to know how long has the church had been there for and how many people do the bell ringing on Sundays”.


After all his questions were answered, Paul started his first lesson. “I learnt some different bell ringing techniques. It's not all about how strong you are but that having good rhythm and timing is what’s most important”.


Paul got very excited and after a while he felt that he was losing concentration. From past experience he knew it would be good to have a few minutes break from his lesson so that he could get focused again. His tutor said that was just fine and after a few minutes rest, Paul said he was ready to get going again. The tutor let Paul know that he was picking up the bell ringing technique really well and praised and encouraged him saying that he was doing fantastic job.


“After the lesson, I felt great. Working with an experienced bell ringer made the session go very well” says Paul. “I asked if I could come back for more lessons and the tutor was very impressed with my progress. He said that he was more than happy to book me in for another session!”


“I asked if next time I could take a closer look around because I find church architecture so fascinating”. Paul was delighted when his tutor said that he would be happy to oblige and so they arranged to start the next lesson with a tour of the building.


The lessons have become a regular event now on Pauls calendar. “When I left after my first lesson, I felt really happy and excited. I was already looking forward to my next session and to working towards joining the bell ringing team”.


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