The One Where I Learn To Wind The Bell

Behind The Scenes

As you will know if you're a regular reader of my Substack, I am taking a break from paid subscriber content over the summer, but I just have to share my latest adventure with you, and so I've made an exception for an exclusive behind the scenes, podcast extra post solving the mystery of the bells that were not ringing!

In the most recent episode of ‘Stories From Lore’, entitled ‘The Bells, The Bells’, for the story trail section, I was all set to record the bell ringing practice which happens in our village, usually without fail, on a Thursday. This Thursday just gone, it did not happen, scuppering my plans and leading to an impromptu ditty from my daughter and me. If you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, you can listen here:

Season 4 Episode 6: The Bells, The Bells - Folklore & Stories Church Bells

I also mentioned that I hadn’t heard the church bells ringing the hour and so was wondering what had happened. This wondering lead to a series of events.

I happened to bump into a group of people who look after the church and the grounds and it transpires that it was a simple coincidence. The bell ringers simply weren’t practising that week and the person who winds the clock had been on holiday and so the clock had not been wound. It turns out there is only one person in the village who does this and as we were chatting, they asked me if I’d like to learn how.

Now, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not Christian and I do not attend church, however the church is still the heart of the village and has been standing here, in one form or another, since the late Saxon’s built it in the 11th Century. It’s an important part of our history and I love hearing the bells chime the hour, so, ‘why not?’ I thought, and this lead to me taking a trip to the top of the Norman bell tower and learning how to wind the clock bell so that I may be able to do this on a regular basis, and share the duty with the Sexton.

So, today I’m sharing with you, a little look at the Hambledon church bells, the mechanism which runs the clock and a little of the history that’s in our beautiful bell tower.