The bell then beating one
Hello! Flooding season is upon us.
This is 4 feet above normal, and I’m staying on the other side of the Avon, which I can no longer reach by foot along the river path. In fact I’m staying by the church, and on Tuesday evening I went along to their bell ringing practice…
I walked into the choir vestry and met Rhod, who wondered if I was lost. A stranger, coming for the church bells?! There weren’t many newcomers, and before ascending the spire he graciously gave me a tour of Shakespeare’s grave. His head is supposedly at a nearby church, for reasons I can’t remember, but the rest was confirmed by an ultrasound years ago. Lying next to him is Anne Hathaway, and their 3 kids.
Anyway, I’m gonna learn to ring church bells, HELL YEAH. As if I didn’t have enough hobbies. It’s a niche part of music that I never considered; pianists have scores, guitarists have tabs, and bell ringers have methods. It’s very math-based, and I like the way Wikipedia describes it: “It is a way of sounding continually changing mathematical permutations.”
A wonderful thing is that once you’ve learned them, you can ring church bells anywhere; travel the shires, explore the spires. And a few good things about the bells at Holy Trinity:
- It’s a big room, with lots of space (the veteran ringers assured me some churches are cramped).
- They have 10 bells, whereas many only have 6 or 8. A few big’uns have 12, like St Paul’s Cathedral.
- It’s right by the marina.
How quiet the ringing chamber was surprised me; much quieter than outside, and you can happily hold a conversation. I owe a thanks to my friend Beth for suggesting it, the idea that I could play those bells had not once occurred to me. Many such cases…
It was also a good reminder of how learning something increases the beauty of it, instead of dispelling magic or wonder. I’ve become more aware of them, like “Hey! That’s Robert up there!” as they rang this morning, thinking about what exactly they were doing. It’s fun being an adult and nerding out on the activities that would absolutely get you bullied as a teenager.
Anyway, something about a boat! I finally finished the bedroom wood trim this week, and this morning screwed in the lighting coves:
They camouflage well. Followed by a hoover and wipe down, and then varnishing… I was excited to start, which quickly gave way to “god this fucking sucks.” Every single time; I love having painted, or varnished. The process is fun for all of 30 seconds before monotony sets in.
The natural lighting is awful in there, but luckily I have some fancy LEDs to install after the next coat…
Until next Sunday!
- Nick