What length of ringing to expect

As you will see from these pages, the St Mary Abbots Guild has a regular pattern of ringing.

Ringing on Sunday mornings consists of short pieces of continuous ringing known as "touches". These can go on for as little as three or four minutes, and as long as 20 minutes. Ringing for Church services is the most important part of our mission, and we try to make it as smooth and musical as possible. The brief halts between touches allow the ringers to change places with each other, so that different people can ring in each touch.

Practice nights also consist of short touches. They are an opportunity for the ringers to try new things as well as perfecting their skills. As a result, the ringing is sometimes a little bumpy. Nevertheless, we still try to maintain a reasonable standard, and to stop the ringing promptly if it is not going well.

Quarter Peals consist of around fifty-five minutes to an hour of continuous ringing. You may hear the band ring "rounds" (when you hear the bells sound in scales) for a few minutes beforehand, followed by a pause before the quarter peal starts. This pause is to enable the band to adjust the length of the bell ropes before ringing for a longish period without stopping. If we are ringing for a service, then we may ring a short touch immediately before the service starts, if the quarter peal has finished a few minutes early.

Peals at St Mary Abbots consist of around three and half hours of continuous ringing (the time is generally shorter at other towers with a smaller ring of lighter bells). A peal is not considered to be "true" unless the ringers have rung more than 5000 unique changes correctly, and without breaks or outside assistance. Again, you may hear some rounds beforehand, as the ringers try out the length of the bell ropes and decide whether adjustments are necessary.
 

Quarter Peals

The Band has a programme of quarter peals at the four churches we serve. As a general rule, the Band attempts the following quarters on a regular basis:

St Mary Abbots, Kensington - for Evensong on the first, second and fourth Sundays of each month
St Stephen, Rochester Row - for Evensong on the third Sunday of each month
St Luke, Chelsea - for Evensong on the fifth Sunday, if there is one, of the month

Peals

There are six peal attempts every year at St Mary Abbots. These are:

The anniversary of the Queen's Accession to the Throne in February
Easter
Ascension Day
The Patronal Festival
The Anniversary of the Dedication of the St Mary Abbots in October
Christmas Eve.

The number of peals is limited out of consideration for neighbouring homes and businesses, but we try to allocate two attempts each year to visiting bands of ringers. If you would like to apply to arrange a visitors' peal, please contact a member of the Committee.

Unfortunately, peals at St Luke, Chelsea and St Stephen, Rochester Row are very limited, owing to the state of the bells and, in the case of St Luke, the proximity of a local hospital. It is not possible to arrange for visitors' peals at these towers, but if you would like to take part in a peal attempt by the local band, please contact a member of the Committee for information.