Band of expert bell ringers take on marathon-sized challenge at Louth church
An especially challenging peal of bells will be heard at Louth’s parish church on Saturday (September 19) performed by a visiting group of highly trained ringers.
A band from the Ancient Society of College Youths will be attempting to ring a full peal of a method known as Bristol Surprise Major, starting at 10am at St James’ Church.
Jill Day, from St James’ Church bell ringers explained: “The members come from as far as Norwich, Sheffield and Sussex, with others being from Lincolnshire.
"A peal comprises 5,000 different changes – a change being when all eight bells ring in a particular order. A peal will probably normally take a little over three-and-a-half hours. Most peals take over three hours but this one will take a little longer at Louth as they are a particularly large and grand ring of bells.”
In fact they are the eighth heaviest ring of eight bells, she said.
A peal attempt is a fairly rare occurrence and is a massive challenge, continued Jill: “The physical effect is considerably more than running a marathon, hence why the band have been drawn from experts across the country.”
The ringers will be taking on refreshments in a local pub nearby after the peal.