Bell-ringing siblings who hope to encourage others

TWO BROTHERS have reduced the age of a bell-ringing group at a church in Hambleden by about 20 years.

Sam, 14, and Theo Boughton, 10, joined St Mary the Virgin Church to follow in the footsteps of their father, Jon, 45.

The family have been ringing at the church for around three years since moving to Marlow.

Since joining, the average age has reduced from 69 to 48.

Sam said he picked up the hobby quickly and has been welcomed into the group.

He said: “When we moved here, I started bell-ringing and picked it up quite quickly.

“We’ve made a very good friendship and they’ve made us feel right at home, even though there’s at least a 50-year age gap.

“I think there’s quite a big social aspect to this tower but sometimes it varies because other groups are more focused on advancing you.

“This tower is more relaxed. We go to the pub afterwards and I have an orange juice.”

Young bell-ringers, including Sam and Theo, have taken part in national competitions, placing third in the country out of 27 in 2022.

He added: “We have outings and competitions to see who can make the bells sound the nicest, so we get to meet with other young ringers our age.

“It’s great when you go out because I’ve made loads of friends through bell-ringing and I look forward to competitions when I get to see them again.”

Theo started ringing when he was eight. He said: “Sam did it first because he was taller and stronger, because you have to be quite strong to ring, as the bells are very heavy.

“I started off ringing when the bell was down and then I started chiming it. Then we moved on to the rope. Slowly, we got to the stage where I could ring with other people in rounds.”

Theo said that he didn’t expect to like it as much as he did, initially believing that the hobby would be “boring”.

He said: “I thought it would be tiring but actually it’s a really nice experience. I feel like it’s really nice to do it with your family instead of random people. Slowly, you get introduced to everyone else and you find it okay to go by yourself.

“With bell-ringing, you think it’s going to be really boring, but actually you never feel bored, especially with those really nice people there — it doesn’t feel like a chore.”

Since starting, the duo has earned around £1,000 from ringing during wedding ceremonies, which has been spent on a joint Xbox and sweets.

Jon, who works in the Navy, was influenced by his older sister, who learnt to bell-ring at a church in Loughton in Essex. He praised the older bell-ringers for accommodating and welcoming the family to the tower.

“They’re so kind to us here,” he said. “They got the boys some presents on their first Christmas that we were here, which is nice, and then for Sam’s first birthday here they organised a little pizza party for him.

“Those sorts of things really cement bonds and friendships and it’s probably one of the reasons why we’ve continued doing it here.”

Research suggests that the number of ringers will decrease by 45 per cent by 2047 but Jon hopes that by encouraging young people to join a bell-ringing group, the decline can improve.

He said: “Nationwide, there’s a movement to really keep young people enthused. There are a lot of old people and people my age who ring but not a lot of young people. What we try and do is get all the young people who are around the area to get together and meet each other.

“For a number of years, there have been competitions for just young people, so that’s what I got them involved in, and I think they really enjoy it. It gives them a lot of opportunities as well, such as ringing at Exeter Cathedral.

“It’s hard because normally in the olden days, you would recruit from the families that came to church, but we’re not seeing that many families anymore.

“There’s not that rich picking of people and it’s more the older generation here, so that’s why it’s really good to learn as a family.”