Thanks to Katie Law for this report
Buckfast Fair was held in the first week of August: 50 interesting craft stalls, artisan food and snacks, choirs, singers and instrumentalists, Morris Dancers, beekeepers and of course, Bellringers.
From the Bowerdon Mini-ring with a tenor of just 16lbs to the Abbey tenor weighing 41cwt - bells (and ringers) came in all sizes! We even had handbells.
Mini-rings seem to be increasingly popular - there are 48 portable ones listed on Dove's guide, and a further 50 static rings. Four of these are in Devon. The Bowerdon Peal is one of the heavier portable rings, only two slightly larger which are in US and Germany. Ringing on such small bells requires a more delicate touch and a different technique; no stay, just one good tug to raise the bell and then hand-stroke with right hand, backstroke with left. It was interesting to note that during the two days of the fair non-ringers seemed able to pick this up more quickly than ringers! I found that it was easier to explain by teaching it as two separate steps -
• pull down on the sally, let go and allow your other hand to rise, pause at the top
• When ready pull gently on the tail end, catch the sally as it rises and pause
The pauses are important to slow the whole process down to a manageable speed.
The mini-ring was one of the top attractions for children at the Fair, beaten marginally by the small armadillo brought along by the animal man. Children seemed to understand from a very young age that pulling the ropes made a noise and pulling two ropes at once an even better noise! Several planned demonstrations by ringers were delayed as more groups of children appeared just as we were about to start. Some older youngsters showed particular promise and we quickly handed out leaflets and collared talked with their parents. Our premise was that even a very small seed sown in a child's memory might lead to them considering ringing as an interest in the future.
There are two Latin terms which might apply to the mini-ring:
tinting ulna = an assemblage of bells
classicum = clashing of several bells all sounding at once
When the children arrived at the bellringing marquee we definitely had a classicum!
Buckfast is one of just 38 Catholic Churches with bells hung for full circle ringing. It is the only one in the south west, the next closest being the Priory Church of St James at Bristol (27cwt). It is the heaviest Catholic ring by a long way, with the next three heaviest being in Ireland and currently unringable. The Abbey bells were installed in 1930s and the display information had several photographs of these, some of the Bourdon bell, weighing in at 147cwt arriving on Lady Day in May 1936. In the early days of the bells at Buckfast all the monks learned to ring as part of their duties.
We gave two demonstrations of the "big bells", both call changes and method. I remained supervising the mini ring at those times and it was lovely to hear all the compliments from the listening audience. Particularly rewarding was seeing the faces of two newish ringers from Ashburton, a father and son, who arrived at the opportune moment to go up to the Abbey tower and try the big bells: for the son, having only ever rung at the one tower and mainly on one bell, it made his day.
It was a shame that forecasts of high winds cancelled the third day of the Fair - although the mini-ring and marquee were ok, the smaller tents and traders might have struggled. Despite the shortening, we succeeded in handing out many leaflets with QR codes and email addresses and we can only hope that some people will investigate ringing as a potential activity. It was most encouraging that several of our own learners came along to try the mini-ring - we are hoping some of them will become Buckfast Abbey Bellringers in time
Some facts:
Bowerdon peal tenor = 16lbs 5oz
Buckfast Abbey tenor = 41 cwt
Bourdon Bell 147 cwt
1 cwt = 112lb
41cwt = 4592lb = 287 times the weight of the mini ring tenor
126 performances on the Abbey bells since 1930 documented on Bellboard.
Many thanks to Geoff Pring for organising the Fair and including the bellringers.
Also to all the ringers who both rang and minded the mini-ring.
Looking forward to another one next year!
References:
http://cccbr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/200003.pdf
https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/dove.php?eccles_region=RC&geo_region=British+Isles
https://www.buckfast.org.uk/what-to-do-abbey-church/
