Newcomers

One of the best things about coming to university is the opportunity to try all kinds of new things that you might never have previously considered.

For most people, bell-ringing's that kind of activity. It's probably not something that you've ever considered trying, but hopefully you'll come along and see what's involved.

Why ringing?

Well, first and foremost, ringing's great fun! There are about 40,000 bellringers in the UK, and 40,000 people can't be wrong! And with that many ringers, it's a great hobby socially too. No matter where you go in the UK, you're never far from a tower with bells and a band of ringers who will welcome you!

All sorts of people are ringers. Many people seem to think that you have to be musical or perhaps mathematically-minded to ring, which isn't true at all. We certainly don't conform to any stereotype - most of us don't even look all that much like Quasimodo! Some people seem to think that you need to be quite strong to ring the bells, and this isn't true either. While the heaviest bell at Llanbadarn Fawr weighs in at just under a ton, the bells aren't that physically demanding to ring strength-wise. Not all ringers are churchgoers or religious either.

What's involved?

Well, the 'CR' in UWASCR stands for 'Change Ringers', which is the proper name for the type of bell-ringing we do. Basically, this means that we don't ring tunes, but start off by rhythmically ringing a descending scale and then change the order in which the bells ring in various different ways. These ways in which we mix up the order of the bells are called "methods", and can range from being quite simple to really complicated. It means that there's always somthing to learn, so ringing never gets dull and is always challenging.

How can I get involved?

We have a stall at the Fresher's Fayre every year, so hopefully we'll see you there! But if you've missed it, don't panic! Come along on a Thursday evening to St Padarn's in Llanbadarn Fawr for 19:30. For the first few weeks of term we'll meet you at the Porters Lodge (the main university entrance) and show you the easier and quicker ways to get to the tower. And for all those geography students who just can't live without a map, check out the Llanbadarn page for all of your map-related needs!