A LOCAL bell ringing teacher from Corsley, who visited Belgium last month to help lead lessons on the first change ringing bells in Belgium, attracted the attention of the national media.
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a controlled manner to produce various sounds.
Tower captain of St Margaret of Antioch, Corsley, Marion Molden, made the trip to St George’s Memorial Church at Ypres last month. The church, that was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, the architect of the Menin Gate, and built after the First World War, recently had new bells hung in the tower, which are the first change ringing bells in Belgium.
Marion explained, “In order to teach a band, eight teachers went over in February. A mixture of teachers and 15 pupils between 20 to 70, few of whom spoke any English, proved a challenge.
“The first session on Thursday started chaotically but soon settled into productive teaching, assisted by Flemish speaking Paul and Harm Jan de Kok from Dordrecht translating. Then a newspaper reporter and photographer arrived, giving the added trauma of being interviewed and ignoring being photographed whilst trying to practise.
“On Friday, a television crew came from Belgian national news. Despite an enormous camera, an already overcrowded compact ringing chamber, cameraman determined to capture everything from ropes disappearing through ceiling holes to feet rocking, amazing headway was made. Amusingly the TV report was shown in the sport news.
“On the last day a children’s television crew arrived. The teachers demonstrated ringin,g during which two pupils rang rounds on eight. Incredible!
“On Sunday there was ringing for church services and sightseeing to railway dugouts (Transport Farm), Zillebeke churchyard (the aristocrat’s churchyard), Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial and Langemark German Military Cemetery.
“At Tyne Cot, Alan Regin, trustee of bells for St George’s Church charity, identified ringer Private George Alfred Busby, whose brothers Frederick and William Albert also died. The Ypres hand bells were rung in remembrance of those ringers who fell. What an honour to be there! The very moving Last Post ceremony at Menin Gate concluded the visits.
“This week was very tiring, but the enthusiasm of these budding bell ringers was a testament to the hard work being worth every minute. With eight teachers and 15 learners, throughout five days they now have the foundations to continue learning in further teaching sessions, create history by being the first ever band of ringers and ringing the beautiful bells at Ypres for many years to come.
“I wouldn’t have missed this experience for the world!”
