Bellringing: a fun hobby, a friendly team activity and a volunteering opportunity

Have you ever heard the church bells ringing for a wedding or on a Sunday morning and wondered what is going on in the church? Would you like to try bellringing but don’t know how to go about it? Well, here is your opportunity!

In Swindon and surrounding villages, we are recruiting new ringers to this fun activity. It doesn’t matter where you live, there will be a tower near you that will teach you the basics; and who knows – this could become a new lifelong hobby that you can share with newly made friends or maybe you will invite your family and friends to join in too!

Dispelling the myths

There are some stereotypical myths about bellringing which are definitely not true! Here are some of the common ones:

  • You don't need to be musical – There is no music to read. The skill is in being able to control your bell and make it ring when required, but it is important that you can hear your bell amongst all of the others.
  • You don't need to be strong – You can learn to ring from about the age of 10, and there is no upper age limit. Many ringers continue into their 80’s and beyond
  • You don't need to go to church – Once you have mastered the basics, we would expect a commitment to ringing for Sunday service on a regular basis and this of course, is the volunteering element of the activity. Whether you attend the service as well is up to you.
  • You don't need to be good at maths – There is no maths required to be very competent. Some of the theory might interest you more if maths is your subject!

Ringing in Swindon and surrounding villages

The towers in the Swindon branch are shown on the Branch Towers page of the main menu. Hopefully there is a tower near you that you could consider joining? Most ringers walk or have a short drive to their local tower, but some do travel further afield for a variety of reasons.

Most towers have a practice night on one evening during the week which will normally last 1 ½ hours and these practice nights can also be found by selecting Branch Towers from the menu page. Sunday service ringing normally lasts for 30-45 minutes, and if you get the bug, you can visit other towers on their practice nights too!

If you would like to find out more about bellringing please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will put you in touch with a tower near you who can arrange some lessons and you can take it from there.