RING OUT In the Press
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RING OUT was previewed and reported on in local press and in specialist ringing publications nationally.
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Rook Lane Arts Trust and Artmusic present RING OUT. A celebration of bell-founding and bell-ringing. A Frome Festival project. 7-16 July 2023.
Ring Out shines a light on the historical bell-founding activities of the Cockey family in Frome, promotes church bell-ringing as a vibrant cultural tradition and presents new and exciting ways with bells. During Frome Festival 2023 there were talks, walks, tours and music as well as opportunities to have a go at ringing hand-bells and tower-bells.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund (with thanks to National Lottery players), Frome Society for Local Studies and Frome Town Council (The Mayor's Fund). See full credits.
RING OUT media
Explore the media we produced in support of Ring Out
Full Circle composition
Listen to Helen Ottaway's new composition Full Circle on Soundcloud
Full CircleThe Frome Carillon compositions
Listen to all the bell tunes composed for The Frome Carillon on Soundcloud
The Frome CarillonRingtone
Download the Frome Carillon ringtone free from Zedge or purchase from iTunes by searching Frome Carillon
Ringtone on ZedgeFun with Bells
Listen to Helen Ottaway talking about the role of bells in her music on the 'fun with Bells' podcast
Listen to podcastRING OUT in depth
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RING OUT Finale - A Miscellany of Bells
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The idea of RING OUT was to raise the profile of bells and bell-ringing and to encourage collaboration between historians, bell-ringers and musicians.
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A visit to Matthew Higby's bell engineering workshop
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The RING OUT team took 4 groups off in a minibus to visit Matthew Higby's bell engineering works.
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The Charmborough Ring
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The Charmborough Ring is a mobile belfry with 6 bells hung for full circle ringing, as developed, mainly in England, from the seventeenth century onwards.
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The Frome Carillon
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A carillon is defined as a set of bells on which tunes can be played either by physical or mechanical means.
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A new bell-ringing method for RING OUT
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Traditional English church bells are usually quite heavy (typically between 1cwt and 20cwt although the heaviest is over 80cwt). We ring them by swinging them through almost a full circle.
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Bell Tower Open Day
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On Saturday 15th July 2023 bell towers in Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset and Wiltshire opened their doors to visitors to demonstrate the art of bell-ringing, give tours of the ringing and bell chambers and in one case to serve cream teas.
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Bells from the villages
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Throughout the festival you could hear bells ringing in village churches around Frome for services and bell-ringing practices.
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Ring Out Workshops
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The three workshops taking place at The Silk Mill on Sunday 9th July cover different aspects of bells and bell-ringing. None of them require any prior knowledge of music or bell-ringing, but the courses are also beneficial for current ringers.
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Event diary
Frome Festival 7-16 July 2023
Friday 7th July
9.00 am - 6.00 pm Listen out for bell-ringing in village churches and the FROME CARILLON chiming and playing tunes above the market square. Listen out for BELLS FROM THE VILLAGES
Saturday 8th July
1.30 - 5.00 pm
CHARMBOROUGH RING Victoria Park, Frome FREE
Try your hand at ringing a tower bell when this life-sized portable belfry comes to town. Demonstrations and guidance by experienced bell-ringers.
Sunday 9th July
10.00 am - 5.00 pm WORKSHOPS Silk Mill, Frome FREE, BOOKING ESSENTIAL
All workshops last WORKSHOPS
10.00 am & 2.00 pm BELL TUNE WRITING Create you own bell tune to be played on the Frome Carillon during Festival week. Led by composer Helen Ottaway and sound designer Alastair Goolden.
11.00 am & 3.00 pm LISTENING & RHYTHM Learn about bell-ringing through counting, clapping and playing handbells. Led by musician, bell-ringer and teacher Mary Hooper.
12.00 & 4.00 pm BELL-RINGING Learn to ring bells using computer simulation and experience the physical act of ringing using a dumb-bell. Led by bell-ringing teachers Jenny Cornwell and Derek Livsey.
Monday 10th July
1.30 - 4.30 pm
INDUSTRIAL FROME WALK
£3 (incl cream tea) BOOKING ESSENTIAL
An easy 4-mile walk exploring Frome’s industrial heritage, including Cockey’s bell-founders with stops to read poems and extracts
from ‘Working Memories’. Walk guides and readers: John Payne, Martin Bax, Gill Harry and Annabelle Macfadyen.
Tuesday 11th July
4.00 - 5.00 pm
ORANGES & LEMONS - TALES FROM THE BELFRIES
St John’s Church, Frome DONATIONS, REFRESHMENTS
Chris Gilburt recalls his work in London – in words, illustrations and chimes – repairing and maintaining some of the capital’s best
known clocks, carillons and chiming mechanisms.
Wednesday 12th July
1.30, 2.30, 3.30, 4.30 pm CHURCH BELL ENGINEERING WORKS GUIDED TOURS £10, BOOKING ESSENTIAL (trip lasts 2 hrs incl transport) See and hear how bells are cast, tuned, repaired and hung at Matthew Higby’s workshop outside Frome.
Thursday 13th July
2.30 - 3.30 pm
COCKEYS, BELL-FOUNDERS OF FROME
Frome Heritage Museum
DONATIONS, BOOKING ESSENTIAL
An illustrated talk by David Lassman, writer and historian, about bells and bell-founding in Frome with reference to items from the
Museum’s collections. Watch the talk here.
Saturday 15th July
10.00 am - 6.00 pm BELL TOWER OPEN DAY villages in Somerset and Wiltshire FREE Visit local churches to meet the bell-ringers, see the bells and find out about bell-ringing.
Sunday 16th July
4.00 - 5.00 pm IN JOY AND IN SORROW St John’s Church, Frome
DONATIONS, REFRESHMENTS
Revd Colin Alsbury reflects on the variety of occasions through the centuries when the bells of St John’s have been rung by way of
celebration and in solemn mourning.
7.30 pm A MISCELLANY OF BELLS Rook Lane Chapel, Frome £5/£3 BOOKING ESSENTIAL
A resounding finale to the project including bell-ringing, a talk and new music for bells and instruments by Frome-based composer
Helen Ottaway.
“The church clock chimed out lovely hymns at 12 noon and nine o’clock in the evening…”
Miss Doris Wilcox, 1992, Frome Society for Local Study Year Book, Volume 4
RING OUT celebrates Frome and the surrounding area through our local bells. During the 17th to 19th centuries the town was home to the Cockey family of bell-founders. At least 23 church towers in Somerset and 40 in Dorset and Wiltshire still include Cockey bells in their rings. Bell-founding and bell-ringing are an industry and activity currently under threat in Britain. RING OUT aims to contribute to a resurgence of interest in bells and bell- ringing, to encourage curiosity about bells and their history and invite everyone to ring, listen, learn and enjoy.
Our bell-themed events include walks, talks, visits, concerts, and workshops. Throughout the festival you will hear the new Frome Carillon ringing from high above the market place marking the hours with chimes and tunes. Our finale at Rook Lane Chapel includes a miscellany of bell sounds and stories, a performance of newly composed bell music and a few surprises. After it’s all over you can download a RING OUT ring tone to your phone to remind you of Frome’s bells.
RING OUT has been supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players
Useful bell-ringing and
bell-founding resources
Local
BWDACR (Bath and Wells Diocesan Association of Change Ringers) Churches in Somerset near Frome - Local information on towers, practice nights, contact details
SDGR (Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Ringers, Devizes Branch) Churches in Wiltshire near Frome - Local information on towers, practice nights, contact details
Matthew Higby local bell-hanger and bell engineering works
National
The Ringing World is a magazine for bellringers
CCCBR (Central Council of Church Bell-ringers) for all things ringing
ART (Association of Ringing Teachers) to find a bell-ringing teacher
DOVE for information on bell-founders and any church with bells nationally
RING FOR THE KING the national recruitment campaign for the Coronation and more
HRGB (Handbell Ringers of Great Britain)
Interesting article on bell-ringing
More in depth information about the art of bell-ringing
Taylor's of Loughborough Last remaining active bell-foundry in England
The London Bell Foundry campaign to save The Whitechapel Bell Foundry (when it closed it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain)
About Carillons
List of carillons in the British Isles (more details can be found in DOVE)
International
ANZAB Bell-ringing in Australia and New Zealand
An American’s view of a peculiarly English art
A new ring of bells in France
List of carillons worldwide Many have regular concerts and many can be visited and viewed
NAGCR (North American Guild of Change Ringers)
News from @ringoutfrome
Find us on Instagram at @ringoutfrome