A group of North American Church Bell Ringers are due to embark on their debut visit to South Africa. This is the first tour by a band of ringers from North America and will run from 1 August to 15 August.
The team includes ringers from various famous towers including the National Cathedral in Washington DC.
A group of North American Church Bell Ringers are due to embark on their debut visit to South Africa. This is the first tour by a band of ringers from North America and will run from 1 August to 15 August.
The team includes ringers from various famous towers including the National Cathedral in Washington DC.
Bell ringing is an ancient and traditional skill encompassing a range of sounds and rhtyms and it’s a good mental and a physical workout.
Music is created by altering the order in which the bells are rung. Ringers are usually a diverse group of people who hail from diverse walks of life, the age range could be from childlren as young as 10 up to the elderly in their eighties.
The team is led by Bruce Butler from Philadelphia and it is set to visit towns and cities across South Africa. During their visit to the Grahamstown region the band is set to spend two days and a night at Kariega Game Reserve.
The heaviest and oldest bells on which the band will ring are those of the Cathedral of St Michael and St George, which were cast by John Warner and Sons in London in 1878. The tenor is the heaviest of the Cathedral’s bells weighing in at 1303 kg.
On Thursday, 6 August they will join the local ringers at the weekly practice and will then ring a quarter peal between 6pm and 7pm.
The band intends on returning to Grahamstown on 9 August to ring from 11am to 12pm before continuing their tour.
