Midhurst bell ringers speak of duty at tolling bell for late Queen
By Sam Pole
Published 14th Sep 2022, 09:51 BST
Bell ringers in Midhurst have spoken of their duty of tolling a bell to mark the Queen’s passing.
Nick Carter, alongside his son Harry, tolled a single bell at St Mary Magdalene & St Denys church for an hour to mark the pass of Her MajestyQueen Elizabeth II on Thursday, September 8.
Harry said: “The process isn’t particularly strenuous, it’s more the physical process and we were fortunate enough to swap halfway through whilst the bell is still ringing, which is a bit of a feat in itself, but it was easily doable when you’ve done enough ringing and such.
The father and son bell ringing duo also spoke of their duty as bell ringers to carry out their job as ringers throughout the mourning period.
"It’s a duty really, to do it. We’re custodians of these bells and these bells will see many more Kings and Queens in the future and it’s our duty to ring them on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the new King and everyone else that has rung them in the past as well.
"We’ve been ringing the bells Monday, today (Tuesday), Wednesday and Thursday which is a quarter peal.
"A quarter peal is a much longer performance, of a set length, to a specific composition, and with the same person ringing each bell throughout. On our bells, a quarter peal takes 45 to 50 minutes, so when we attempt one, we start earlier than for normal service ringing. As well as being longer, the performance is also rung to a specific composition.
"We’ll then be ringing for an hour before the funeral as well.”