At St Mary’s we follow the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART) program of teaching new ringers how to handle a bell and to ring safety and well.

This structured method of teaching will get an average new ringer to the point of ringing with the band after about 18 hours of teaching and practice, this does of course vary from person to person.

We have a state of the art ringing simulator system installed in the tower which means that we can teach during the day, evenings and weekends without sound coming from the tower.  This means that you can learn when it is convenient for you and your teacher rather than the close neighbours to the church.

When you have got a basic level of control then you will start to come and join the regular Thursday Practice when we ring from 19:30 to 21:00 with the bells open so that everyone can hear them.

We regularily hold extra sessions with the simulator and we often arrange silent practices on a Sunday afternoon, these are held whenever we feel there is a demand.

If you would like to learn to ring, or have a go and see what it is all about, then your first port of call is either our Tower Captain, Jill Farmer, or Steve Farmer who looks after training and development of ringers at St Mary’s, Steve is an fully accredited trainer with ART.  

Jill and Steve can be contacted on 01829 250471 or email: steve.farmer@elginhill.com