Bells

PRACTICE EVENING:

Tuesday 7.30 pm - 9.00 pm

SUNDAY SERVICE:

Morning 10.00 am - 10.30 am

The Bells

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The tower and bells were dedicated on the sixth anniversary of the laying of the church foundation stone on 19 October 1901, made possible by the generous gift of Dr and Mrs Strickland of Roe Lane in memory of her father.

The bells of Emmanuel have rung out ever since apart from when ringers were reduced from twelve to two during World War I and of course remaining silent in World War II apart from ringing as a warning of invasion.

Our ringers today enjoy learning this ancient English art which involves the “basics” of bell-handling and progress to “change ringing” which involves a series of permutations that can form different methods and compositions, and like many other “bellringing teams” we all progress at our own pace with a friendly atmosphere.

Our present sixteen ringers enjoy membership with the Wigan Branch, which totals 103 members from 18 towers, which involves many events including Branch Meetings, Annual Striking Competitions (Emmanuel achieving 4^th place in the final at Silverdale for the Lancashire Association) and many social functions and training days.

We enjoy a spacious tower with a ring of eight bells, weighing at 630 kg, all cast by Taylors of Loughborough and renovated and re-hung by Taylors in 1979.

Today, Anglican Churches contain most of the rings to be found in Britain, but a few can be found in Roman Catholic, Non-conformists, Church of Scotland and Church of Ireland churches. Although church bellringing, as the English know it, is peculiar to the British Isles, it has spread to parts of the commonwealth in particular Australia, Canada and to other countries such as America and South Africa which have been influenced by English traditions.

At over 400 years old, bellringing has a rich and long history which often reflects many of the major changes the country has also gone through during this time. Recent examples are celebrating the new Millennium and Britain hosting the 2012 Olympics.

If you are interested in learning to ring or just want to see this ‘art in motion’ then contact David Ramsbottom 01704 565773.