A ring of 8 (10-0-12) was installed at St James in 2003, and in response to a request in the pew sheet my wife and (later) I learned to ring, both taught by Gordon Connon at nearby St Philip Church Hill.

Ten years later we found ourselves responsible for teaching at St James.  We were fortunate that Graham Nabb in Kineton and Pip Penney in Shirenewton generously put on special level one and two ITTS courses for us during a visit to the UK in 2013. Full accreditation was somewhat delayed by the scarcity of assessing mentors in Australia, but we are now both full members of ART.

Ringing at St James, Sydney

We have both found the LtR system easier and more effective than our previous teaching methods, especially in the early stages of bell handling. We currently have 6 learners accredited at Level 2, one at level 4 and another (mainly taught before ITTS) at Level 5. As a result we are frequently able to ring all 8 bells for Sunday services.

During a visit to Scotland last year I attended practice at the new ring in Dumfries, where I found the ART Training system in use for a number of ringers learning early handling so that I was able to fit in to their teaching seamlessly.

I attended the ART annual meeting in Chepstow in March 2014 and was impressed with the demonstration of the use of a simulator in teaching. I therefore installed magnetic sensors on two of our bells and connected them to Abel on an old laptop. Modular telephone cord using RJ11 connectors allowed selection of which of the two bells was attached at any one time. The wiring for the serial port connection is shown below. We find the simulator useful in helping learners to ring steadily by ear, typically in 5th or 6th place in rounds on 6, and at a later stage to ring plain hunt from various bells. More advanced ringers use it to practice method ringing.

Reed Switch

I include a couple of photos of our tower. The tenor is an old Rudhall bell provided by arrangement with the Keltek Trust because it would have been heard by Francis Greenaway, the architect of St James, when it formerly hung in St Paul’s Bristol. The remaining seven bells were cast at Taylors in 2002. There is also an 1820 Mears bell which was in use from the earliest days of the church until the installation of the ring of 8. It was recently refurbished at Whitechapel and is now hung for full circle ringing, though its tuning does not fit the ring of 8.  It is chimed for service ringing and is useful as a teaching bell.

St James, Sydney  

Alan Coates. Steeple Keeper, St James Queen’s Square Guild of Ringers