'Ringing for England' - to celebrate St George's Day (23rd April)
16/04/2012
The group ‘Ringing for England’ (www.ringingforengland.co.uk), with the support of the Archbishop of York, is encouraging bell ringers across the country to ring out on April 23rd to celebrate St George’s Day. Whilst they are aware that bell ringers may have a busier than usual schedule this year with The Queen’s Jubilee, they feel that celebrating St George’s Day in this way would be a helpful reminder of our Christian heritage.
- St George’s Day, April 23rd, is England’s national day
At 6.00 pm on that day there will be over 20,000 bells rung by people all over the country who have come together to celebrate St. George’s Day by ‘Ringing for England’. Ringing for England reflects our culture and is representative of the spirit of England. Every community in the country has a bell tower near them and anyone can learn to ring no matter what your age so if you want to get involved you can contact us here
There will be bells ringing out from St George’s Tower at Windsor Castle; from Cathedrals including Westminster Abbey; from Priories and Abbeys including Bath; from the one brave bell at St Chrysostom in Manchester to the ten bells in Warnham, Sussex. There will be 10 to 14-year-olds trying their hand for the first time in Newington-next-Sittingbourne; in Rushall near Lichfield they will be trying out their newly restored bells for the first time. Then there are those exceptional ringers who are to try for a full peal such as St Mary’s in Wedmore, St George’s in Easton in Gordano, and St Mary’s in Kidlington (a ‘peal’ is a non-stop change ring for three whole hours).
That was when St George was martyred at the decree of the Emperor Diocletian for refusing to give up his Christian faith. He was a brave young man and very worthy of being hailed a Patron Saint. He shares this date with the birthday of William Shakespeare, so the aim of the Campaign is to get all 44,000 ringers across the Nation to ring out and make the Nation proud of her Patron Saint and to make it a national celebration every year.
Anyone can learn to ring no matter what your age so if you wish to know more about this worthwhile and fun event do get in touch.
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