Back in 2023, I joined a cohort of learners embarking on the challenging journey of learning to handle a bell, with the aim of becoming a useful church bellringer. My home tower at Holy Trinity, Barrow upon Soar, had just begun using the ART (Association of Ringing Teachers) Learning the Ropes scheme, making us the first group to progress through the new programme. As many readers will know, the scheme is divided into five stages, each introducing new skills, from safe bell handling through to the completion of six quarter peals.

I completed the fifth and final stage in May 2025. Those who finish the scheme are invited to attend a day of tailored ringing designed to stretch and develop their skills further, so at the end of April this year I travelled to Birmingham to take part in the ART Learning the Ropes Masterclass.

I was placed in a group led by Simon Linford, a highly respected figure in the ringing world. Each participant was paired with an experienced mentor who provided continual guidance and encouragement throughout the day, helping us tackle increasingly demanding ringing on higher numbers of bells and more complex methods.  Over the course of five hours of ringing, my group visited St Paul’s in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham Cathedral, and St Martin’s in the Bullring.

The challenges came thick and fast: Cambridge Royal, my first touches of spliced Surprise Major (Cambridge, Yorkshire, Superlative and Bristol), Littleport Little Maximus, Stedman Caters, and much more. I rounded off the day covering the mighty 39 cwt tenor — bell 16 — at St Martin’s. At just under two tons, it is the heaviest full-circle bell I have rung to date.

The evening provided an opportunity to relax over dinner and meet fellow ringers from across the country, all at a similar stage in their ringing journey. One thing that struck me was just how fortunate we are in Leicestershire to have such a strong community of experienced ringers willing to support those developing skills in what Simon Linford affectionately refers to as the “red zone” of ringing. For many ringers elsewhere, opportunities to ring spliced Surprise Major or to gain experience on ten and twelve bells involve long journeys to infrequent and busy practices, often for the chance to ring just a single course of a method. I came away feeling especially grateful that I could return home and continue building on what I had learned at local practices.

An encouraging discovery during the evening was that the ART scheme seems to inspire not only new ringers, but new teachers as well. Like me, many of those attending had gone on to become ART-accredited bellringing teachers, helping to nurture the next generation of ringers and pass on a pastime that is such an important part of our cultural and church heritage.

The masterclass capped an already memorable week. Just a few days earlier, I had rung inside for the first time in a peal of Cambridge Surprise Major — my third peal. I have since added a fourth, ringing Lincolnshire Surprise Major at Holy Trinity at the beginning of May.  The April peal, however, was much more than another personal milestone. It was the first peal on the newly refurbished bells and new ropes at Oaks in Charnwood, and it was rung in memory of Richard Brown, the tower’s former captain. I had the privilege of knowing Richard during my early days as a ringer. He was an exceptionally accomplished bellringer, but even more importantly, someone with a genuine passion for encouraging and developing others — a quality for which he will undoubtedly be most remembered.

Richard’s ashes were interred in the churchyard earlier that same day, so there was a real sense of occasion and, inevitably, some pressure to score the peal successfully. Thankfully, it proved to be a solid performance, expertly conducted by Sally Brown, and was completed in a brisk two hours and forty minutes. It was a privilege to have been invited to take part, and I’m pleased to have rung as well as I did. Much of the progress I have made over the past three years is thanks to Sally’s outstanding teaching and her constant encouragement to keep learning, improving, and embracing new challenges.

Jez Bowman