The Lilliputters Ringing Tour 2017: Days 1 and 2

Описание: The third Lilliputters Young Ringers’ Tour took place once again in the Poole area, from Monday 31st July to Friday 4th August

As is custom, Day One involved settling into the Lilliput Sea Scout Hut, where we were staying, before joining the practice at Christchurch Priory in the evening. Special thanks to Tim Martin and the Priory ringers for making us welcome for the last three years! I have plenty of footage of the bells elsewhere on YouTube, but some call changes on the 12 are featured here for completeness.


The Tuesday dawned bright and early – too early! It was a 5 o’clock alarm to get up and get going to the Isle of Wight for the day, with six towers to fit in.

Needless to say, the ferry produced the normal array of antics, including handbells, hide-and-seek with Ashley’s phone, and entertaining the Mighty Kaleeb, the group mascot.

Arriving an hour before our ringing time at Godshill, we took a morning tea break before we’d done anything! Congregating at the church, we were met by Ringer Ollie and a number of Islanders, raring to join us for the day. With over 30 in the party, the group had to be split into three bands taking it turns to get up the tower! This ring of six, cast by Llewellins and James of Bristol in 1887 and rehung by Taylor’s in 1934, were enjoyed by the group; call changes, London Surprise Minor and Plain Bob Doubles are featured here.

Next it was onto the recently augmented octave at Brightstone, and quite possibly my favourite bells of the whole tour. A good six, they make an even better eight, which go like tops and sound excellent. The trebles were amongst the last ever cast at Whitechapel, and compliment the original 1960’s bells superbly. Three leads of Bristol and Cambridge Surprise Major are featured here.

The pre-lunch tower was the lovely little six at Chale, with the oldest full-circle bell on the Island; the 3rd was cast in c1360. London Surprise Minor and call changes again featured heavily here!

Taking a picnic lunch to Carisbrooke – where cake, tattoos and human bellframes were highlights – it was soon up the tower again to ring on this lovely 10, which could be improved with a bit more volume and a lick of paint in the ringing chamber! The two Whitechapel trebles of 2002 matching well with the original Gillett octave. Grandsire Caters and Grandsire Royal are featured here – no Simon tour would be complete without even-bell Grandsire!

And then, from the sublime to the ridiculous, it was time for the highlight joker tower of the day! Swanmore, with its massive tower on the outskirts of Ryde, contains a steel ring of three, cast by Naylor Vickers of Sheffield in 1868. Originally a chime, they were put into full-circle ringing order a couple of years ago, and are much loved by the Islanders, despite their quirks; the treble has no stay, and the tenors strike the same note! While we were here, in a freak accident, the pulley box dropped off the tenor while Ashley was ringing it; fortunately this was remedied quickly and without too much fuss. The views from atop the tower are magnificent, and we could make out Portsmouth (and the Spinnaker Tower!) from across the water

A quick tea-break later, we finished on the heavy octave at Ryde; the biggest bells on the Island, a powerful old-fashioned Taylor eight dating from 1886. Note the small bells on the wall, the remnants of an early ringing simulator! Apparantly, some people in the group hadn’t had enough time to eat, so Grandsire Chipples was accommodated, before we finished with a very nice touch of Grandsire Major.

The ferry back was fairly uneventful, although Aaron very nearly did drop the handbells into the sea! We arrived back at the Lilliput Hut at 10pm, and still had time for two miniring quarter peals before bed. Great times! :-)

Day 3 will follow soon. Thank you for watching :-)