Jubilee and Olympic peals: one team to ring Inveraray’s and St Mary’s Cathedral bells in Glasgow

Bells at All Saints’ Church, Inveraray and St.Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow will be specially rung for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and for the Olympics.

Starting on Tuesday 5th June (tomorrow) Inveraray’s bells and later the Cathedral bells will be rung from 2.00pm-4.00pm and from 6.00pm-8.30pm respectively, by a band of ringers travelling between the two towers.

Ruth Marshall, Ringing Master of Inveraray, said that she has invited ringers living in the area to ring a quarter peal to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee from 2 to 3pm followed by general ringing for another hour.

The bellringers will then drive to Glasgow for more ringing at St.Mary’s Cathedral led by the Joint Tower Captains, Tina Stoecklin and Simon Gay.

Tina Stoecklin says that whilst the bells are normally rung for church services, the clergy are keen for the ringers to mark important national events.

On Friday 8th June the bells will be rung as the Olympic torch passes close by in Glasgow.

Finally, Inveraray bells will be rung again on the opening day of the Olympics, Friday 27th July.  During the early evening a method specially composed for the Olympics called Five Rings Triples will be rung.

Ringing sessions will continue over the weekend as part of the Inveraray Festival which attracts bell-ringers from all over the world.

Background

Both Inveraray and St.Mary’s Cathedral Glasgow have ten bells hung for full circle ringing.  There are fewer than 20 towers in Scotland with similar full circle ringing bells, whereas in England and Wales there are over 5,000 such towers.

Ringers in Scotland belong to the Scottish Association of Change Ringers (SACR).

Inveraray Bell Tower, in the grounds of All Saints’ Church, is a war memorial erected by the 10th Duke of Argyll to commemorate the members of Clan Campbell who were killed in the Great War.  The Tower (and exhibition) is open during July, August and the first two weeks of September as a tourist attraction.  The bells are the second heaviest ring of ten bells in the UK.

Terry Williams