Captain:  Martin Pendlebury

The bell ringers meet on a Wednesday evening.

The bells in the tower were originally cast on Lord Mayor’s Day, Nov 9th 1866, by a company called Mears and Stainbank. They were installed in Feb 1867, being first rung by a team of ringers from Leigh Parish Church. The heaviest bell weighs 13cwt 1qtr 21lbs and is known as The Tenor. The lightest bell weighs 3cwt 3qtr 23lbs and is known as The Treble. The bells in between are numbered 2 to 7 and range from 4cwt to 9 ½ cwt. The bells are tuned to the key of F, both the treble and tenor are tuned to this key.

The bells were extensively renovated in 1935, by Taylor’s of Loughborough, and these are the bells which are still heard today. The picture below shows the bells ready to be sent away for refurbishment. The photo was taken at the entrance to church at the side of what is now the meeting room.

The official title of bell ringing is Campanology.

The tunes that are rung are called methods. A sequence of changes for each bell are called by the conductor and are known as ‘called changes’. These need to be done in order to get the correct tune.  When rung in order 12345678 the method is called rounds. When ringing ’called changes’, the conductor will shout two bell numbers to change position. In doing this, each ringer has to slow down slightly or speed up depending on the position they are being moved to. You can only stop ringing a bell when the conductor calls “stand”, which means you are to make the bell still by stopping pulling on the rope.

Whilst ringing a bell, you also have to learn “rope sight”. This is the ability to see the other ringers and work out what position or “place” as it known, that they are in and also to see which bell they are following and also who is following you.

Methods are more advanced than ‘called changes’. Each ringer has to remember the sequence as the conductor does not call an individual change, they just call the method name and the team then ring that particular method. It ends when the conductor calls ‘this is all’. Methods rung on six bells are known as Minor, and methods rung on eight bells are known as Major.  When ringing 'methods', the team may be asked to ring what's known as a Touch in a particular method. This is an extended version of a method, when the conductor calls Bob or Single at set points during the course of the method. This alters the position of certain bells and changes the coursing order.

The bell ropes have different parts that are all named. The coloured furry part is called a sally and the very bottom end is called  a tail. The sally is made from wool and can be any single colour or a combination of up to three different colours. At the moment our sallies are black, gold and purple. The total length of each rope is approx 85ft.  

All churches with bells have what is known as a practice night. This is to practice the called changes or  methods, and also to teach new people how to ring a bell. St Peter’s Church have a team known as a band of ringers and practise on a Weds night. The bells are sometimes rung for Church Services or to celebrate Weddings or other occasions. They were rung at the end of the war to celebrate the happy event, and they were also rung to celebrate the Millennium.

The part of the tower where the ropes are pulled is called a ringing chamber or ringing room. The bells are hung on a frame higher up the tower, which is known as a belfry. The tower is also home to the town clock, which needs to be wound up twice a week to keep working. It was placed here as it was the tallest building in Hindley at the time and also was very central and could be seen quite easily. The clock at St Peters was installed in 1888.

As with many organisations, there is a governing body for church bell ringing. St. Peter’s is part of the Wigan Branch of The Lancashire Association of Change Ringers, and the branch holds monthly meetings at various towers. Three of the churches in the Wigan Branch are in Southport, others are local such as All Saints in Wigan and St James Poolstock.

I have been a member of the association since 1983, which is when I started  learning to ring. I was asked to give it a go and have been there ever since. I took over as tower captain and ringing master in 1990 and have seen many people come and go since.

I have taught many people to ring, some of whom have left the area but continue to ring at the local church there. Currently we have a band of 6 competent ringers who ring for weddings and other special occasions, and two learners who are in the process of learning and ringing called changes.

We currently practise on Wednesday evenings from 7.00pm  - 8.30pm and would welcome anyone who is interested in learning this activity. You don’t have to be very strong to ring a bell, or musical. Bell ringing is more mathematical, as you only need to count to 8.

Please click for a larger photo.