Tulloch Farm is a secular ringing centre in the Highlands of Scotland, about 16 miles from Fort William. There is a ring of 12 bells, which are fairly light and very easy to ring. In another room there are 8 more bells which are much smaller; the largest is only 1cwt, but again they are very easy to ring. In a third room there is a dumbbell and simulator, where the computer makes the bells sounds and the other ‘ringers’ are computerised images seen on a very large TV screen.
Ringing at Tulloch
This can be used for individual training. There are holiday cottages on site and lots of groups
go there to stay and ring as much, and as late, as they like!
There is a local band who are all working through the Learning the Ropes scheme with the owners, Helen McGregor and Peter Bevis, as well as visiting ringers and teachers. Helen explained “We understand the necessity for frequent handling practice to cement good style and the opportunity to ring with better ringers greatly helps one develop a wider repertoire. We created the ringing centre at Tulloch because – having a farm – we had plenty of space. We are delighted to be teaching a local band using Learning the Ropes and making as much use as we can of technology to give our trainees valuable time on the end of a rope. We are also thrilled that The Scottish Association make good use of the facilities here with training weekends, and visiting ringers come along quite frequently too. The mainstay of the current local band is Sue, who learnt to ring for the millennium, and is returning to the fold after 15 years in the wilderness! Her husband Ian is learning now as well, and they have recruited a number of friends. (You can read Ian and Sue’s story in the April Edition of Tower Talk.)
View from Tulloch Ringing Centre
A recent Open Week at Tulloch attracted two other lapsed ringers whose spouses are also now learning. Earlier on in the year, we advertised for accredited teachers to come and stay, enjoy the Highlands and help teach the band! We have had a great response to this – and the Tulloch band is continuing to thrive! We now have four ringers on Level 2 and one at Level 1, and in March we successfully rang two quarter peals.”
The Tulloch QP band
One of the youngest trainees at Tulloch tells her story:
My name is Mosella. I am nine years old and I’ve started bell ringing at Tulloch Farm.
The person that – accidentally – got me bell ringing was my next door neighbour, Sue. One day she asked me if I wanted to have a go at ringing. I didn’t find out what she meant until I got to Tulloch Farm. It was amazing! They were the bells that you find in a church tower … awesome!
There I met a kind lady called Chris, who is one of the visiting teachers who has helped me and taught me a lot. When I first started ringing, which wasn’t that long ago, I tried to ring one of the big bells but it was so-o-o heavy, yet once pulled it was super fast, and I thought it was going to shoot me through the roof! So Chris started me on the smaller bells. I’ve practised my handstroke, by pulling the sally, and backstroke, pulling the rope. I can now also set the bell, pull it off again, do very slow ringing and quite fast ringing too. I’m now ringing rounds on the bigger bells with the other members, and we change ringing positions. Now I just need to control my timing. If I can do that, I get to tell other people where and when to ring. I can’t wait! But until then I just need to keep on practising.
The people who inspired me to keep going were my mum and my great grandfather who was also a bell ringer. Sadly I never met him, but I can imagine him ringing in the bell towers. Back to the story: I recommend anyone to give it a go and try bell ringing. It’s life changing, especially if you work with a person as kind as Chris, and you never know, you might just love it! Chris has taught me so well in a short amount of time, she is the most amazing person to work with. THANK YOU!
Location of Tulloch Ringing Centre
[Update. In February, Mosella gained her Level 1. Well done, Mosella!]
This article was originally featured in Tower Talk – the Free Quarterly Magazine for Ringers, by Ringers. If you’d like to receive copies in future, please subscribe here.