Coronation: Fulmer bellringers prepare to welcome King Charles

The welcoming group of five bellringers comes together every Thursday evening at St James Church in Fulmer, a picturesque village church dating back to 1610.

They have been pulling the ropes together since Covid. They used to be eight, but sadly two members were lost to the virus.  

St James’s belltower houses six bells, with the oldest ‘treble’ dating back to around 1540. Whoever is ringing the treble starts, followed by a numbered pattern as the leader calls out each bell’s number.  

Amersham St Mary’s Church boasts 13 bells, while one of the best bands is in High Wycombe’s All Saint’s Church, which has 12 bells, Keith Sudgen from Denham said.

On the Coronation of King Charles they will all ring in celebration as he is the head of the Church of England.

“You don’t have to be a Christian or follow any doctrine to ring, you can just ring for fun.

“Bellringers will never ring for anything political,” Keith said.

During Brexit the bellringers refused to ring in celebration following a request from a pro-Brexit group.Bellringers Rory Haines (from left), Celia Thomas, Keith Sudgen, Valerie Foa and Grania Wright (Image: Newsquest)

The bellringers mission is simply to keep the bells in England ringing, Celia Thomas from Fulmer said.  

However, a good bell sound doesn’t just happen randomly but is the result of focused team effort. But no big muscles are needed, just a willingness to learn, the group said.

Watch the video below of Keith and Celia tell about bellringing and the group in action. 

The ringers, and everyone else in the village, can hear if the bells ‘crash’ against each other, which “feels horrible” when it happens, Celia explained. Instead, the bells should ring in coordinated succession.

In continental Europe, the tradition of bellringing is very different, where the bells are allowed to crash around without control.

“They don’t make any attempt to ring in a pattern, they don’t even raise the bells so they can control them but it just rings when it wants to ring.

“The object is to ring them steadily, everybody’s got to be able to control his or her bell,” Celia explained.  

The members are in their 60s to their 80s, with John Davidge, 82, who was away ringing in Amersham, having played since he was a teenager.

A commemorative plaque was hung to celebrate the church's 400th birthday. On the adjacent wall hangs 19th century rules for bellringers, which ban drunkenness and fighting (Image: Newsquest)

Celia has been ringing since she was around 60, so for 20 years now, while Grania Wright from Gerrards Cross dived into the fascinating world of bellringing around a year ago and Keith when he retired.

“It’s kind of addictive,” Grania said.

Big part of bellringing’s appeal is the social aspect, the group said. Anyone is welcome to join any practice and many members travel around to ring at various churches.

The group praised the congregation for being very kind “even when we make a mess,” Keith said.

“You could play here every night,” he added.

The biggest problem facing bellringers across Britain is the lack of ringers. In Fulmer, the group is eager for new people to join the practice, which takes place every Thursday from 7.30pm.

“We’re a friendly little group,” Keith said.

“We’re short of bell ringers. When there’s an event like Jubilee it means everyone has to go to their home churches, it’s convention,” Rory Haines from Slough said.

The elite teams are in London’s Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral and the tower of Windsor Castle.

“You can tell from the sound if it’s a funeral, on Coronation and Jubilee it will be more joyous,” Keith explained. To get the mournful funeral sound, someone has to climb up the belltower, lay on the dusty floor and attach handmade leather straps on each bell for a muffled sound.

Thursday’s practice was the final session before the Coronation on Saturday, when the bells at Fulmer will ring in celebration from 9am to 9.30am like hundreds of others across Britain.