A 17-week silence will be broken on Sunday morning when the bells of Southwark cathedral on the south bank of the Thames ring for the first time since the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed.
Luke Camden, leader of the cathedral’s 30-strong band of bellringers, is delighted at the prospect of again climbing almost 200 steps up the medieval bell tower, after the Church of England announced that bells could once again be rung. But only six of Southwark’s 12 bells will be in service as the ringers follow social distance guidelines.
“I’m worried that I’ll have forgotten how to do it. This is the longest I’ve been without being on the end of a bell rope,” said Camden, 32, who has been ringing for two-thirds of his life. “I went to check on the bells earlier in the week, and just being up the tower was exciting.”
Campanologists have been locked out of their towers since churches and cathedrals closed in March. Most bands practice at least once a week as well as ringing on Sundays, and many close communities of friends are formed.
Churches in England were permitted to reopen for services two weeks ago, although choral and congregational singing is still off limits. Concerns over the physical proximity of bell ringers, the dimensions of some ringing rooms and the lack of ventilation in some towers has led the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, which represents ringers of church bells in the English style, to issue guidance that includes limiting sessions to 15 minutes followed by a pause of 72 hours, and restricting the number of ringers.
“The sound will inevitably be different,” said Vicki Chapman of the CCCBR, who resumed ringing at Chelmsford cathedral last weekend, with five of 12 bells in service. “But there are many of us who take the view that something is better than nothing.”
The physical exertion of pulling on bell ropes should not be a cause of worry, she added. “If you have the right technique, you shouldn’t be huffing and puffing.”
Between 30,000 and 40,000 bell ringers operate in about 5,000 churches in the UK, with many starting at school and continuing into retirement. Southwark’s band includes university students and people in their 70s.
The cathedral’s dean, the Very Rev Andrew Nunn, said: “Hearing the sound of the Southwark bells ringing out again will be a joy and a sign that we are beginning to regain some of the things we missed so much during the lockdown.”
