A FAMILY in Taunton are celebrating similar awards for bell ringing this month.
At the annual general meeting of the Taunton Branch of the Bath & Wells DACR, held at St Andrew’s Church in Taunton, three members of the same family, Angela Henderson, Jackie Henderson and Harry Thorne-Henderson, all received the Association of Ringing Teachers’ (ART) highest level of achievement for students.
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Jackie, Angela and Harry received their Level 5 certificates from the Deputy Master of the Bath & Wells Association, Brenda Arscott.
The Hendersons all started ringing following the installation of the new ring of 12 bells at St Mary’s Church in Taunton, now Taunton Minster, in 2016.
They were part of a group of thirteen people who were taught to ring by the Branch Ringing Master, Jill Hansford, and a team of trainers from the branch. Eleven of them still ring today and make up the vast majority of the bellringing band at the Minster.
In addition to their Level 5 achievements, Jackie, Angela and Harry have all rung their first peals. Jackie and Harry rang together in their first peal at Holy Trinity Church in Taunton and in Angela’s first peal at Stawley in January 2025.
Bell ringing is the graded art of making bells sound, particularly in church towers, using ropes to control swings for ceremonial purposes, celebration, or to create complex musical patterns, where a team rings a set of bells in an assigned, changing sequence, requiring skill, timing, and teamwork to produce harmonious, varied music.
If you are interested in finding out more about bell ringing and would be interested in learning to ring, please contact Jill Hansford (Taunton Ringing Master) at TauntonBranch.RingingMaster@bath-wells.org.
The three family members have all rung more than 40 quarter peals and will look forward to ringing their 50th quarters this year, as well as some more peals. 18 of the quarters were rung to mark Harry’s 18th birthday.
That’s not quite the end of the story, as Debbie, Jackie and Angela’s sister will complete her Level 5 grade this year too.
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