The DRC staged an ‘open day’ following service earlier today at St James, Bermondsey. Following extensive local advertising including leafleting and radio appearances, DRC members set up static displays and entertained visitors inside the ringing chamber where demonstrations of ringing were provided.
The event was designed both to engage the local community as a ‘good neighbour’ and to attract potential recruits to ‘taster’ sessions on the following two Tuesday evenings (April 17th and 24th, 18:30 at St James, Bermondsey).
A good mixture of congregation, local residents, passers-by and dog-walkers were enticed into the church. Response from attenders was good and elicited a number of expressions of interest who have since been emailed with details of the upcoming taster sessions.
Visitors to the tower watching the ringers
Showing the visitors the ropes
‘It was very nice to see you at our open day here at St James Church today and we hope you enjoyed the ringing demonstration. If you would like to experience the art of bell ringing for yourself please come along to one of our practice evenings which are held every Tuesday. On Tuesday 17th and 24th April we will be holding some special introductory classes with teachers on hand to help get you started and guide you through the basic bell ringing technique. These classes will start at 6:30pm and finish at 7:30pm when our usual Tuesday practice starts. Please feel free to stay as long as you wish into this practice session also. The entrance to the tower on these evenings will be through the far right hand side door as you face the church. If you come along after the practice has started please ring the top doorbell, which will be lit up, and someone will come down to let you in. Look forward to seeing you. Kind regards Alison Hammond, Tower Secretary’
A demo of bell-handling to tower visitors
Many thanks to all the DRC members who set up the event and helped out on the day. Thanks also to Simon and Ed for the pictures.