A sound that’s been ringing through Spalding for exactly a century will be given a very special performance on Saturday.
To mark the exact 100th anniversary of the first ringing after the recasting of the bells of The Parish Church of St Mary and St Nicolas, a group is to carry out a unique ‘double peal’ of the bells.
One peal involves ringing the bells in as many non-repeating sequences as is possible.
For the parish church’s eight bells, that equates to 5,040 rings and takes around three hours.
Members from London-based The Society of Royal Cumberland Youth will be carrying out the double peal.
They travel across the country performing peals. One of the members Ian Butters used to live locally and learned to ring bells at the church.
“When we noticed it was the anniversary we wanted to make some sort of gesture,” said the church’s tower captain Paul Doades. “A double peal is quite unusual.”
Paul and his son Josh are among the volunteers who ring the Spalding bells every week.
“I came along to a Christmas mass about 15 years ago as I wanted my son to realise there’s more to Christmas than just presents,” said the retired postman. “I’d got the time wrong though so we were half an hour early.
“They asked if we’d like to watch the bells being rung, so we did, and after that they asked us if we’d like to have a go.
“It all started from there.
“Bell ringing is something that’s very much peculiar to the UK. It’s not about strength, it’s about learning the technique.
“You are largely counting as you’re doing it. It’s not music, it’s maths, but it’s a good thing to do mentally and it’s a part of me now.”
