Journalists have been knocking on our doors lately….well, phoning our phones anyway.
2 articles were published in The Times on Saturday 18th March following a phone call with me (in a quiet corner at London Bridge Station) and then a sound recording made by Alison Saunders with her pupils from St Lawrence School.
This is an excerpt from thc article “Ring for the King: Bellringer shortage threatens a quieter coronation”:
CCCBR has reported that schools around the country are heeding the call. At St Lawrence church in Seal Chart, Kent Anna, nine, has been learning for six months. “It is scary, but also very exciting. To know so many people listening is cool, because everyone for quite a few miles can hear you.”
These words were included in an article in the Faith section of The Times:
“Young campanologists prepare to “ring for the King” on Coronation day
Eleven-year-old Matthew has to stand on boxes to reach the rope when he takes part in bell-ringing. Four or five, in fact, if he is ringing his favourite bell, “the tenor, which is the same weight about a small car,” he says proudly. Matthew, a pupil at St Lawrence’s CE School in Seal Chart in Kent, adds: “When I heard about bell-ringing, I really wanted to try it. And once I tried it, I really enjoyed it.”
Journalists are renowned for last minute requests, but arranging ringing at Seal Chart for Sky News with only one hour’s notice was quite a feat! We mustered 4 ringers including Flo, aged 9 and Esmé, aged 12…all the others were way up high at Go Ape birthday parties and other activities too far away. Flo was interviewed by Rev Serena Willoughby and featured prominently in the broadcast:
https://news.sky.com/video/bell-ringers-are-needed-for-kings-coronation-but-they-are-in-short-supply-12837659