Meet the young people keeping village bells chiming

The sound of bells is being heard in a Wiltshire village with help from a group of young people who want to keep the tradition of bell ringing alive.

The bells at Holy Saviour's Church in Erlestoke, near Devizes, had been silent for years until they were dusted off for the King's Coronation in 2023.

Realising how much the sound had been missed throughout the community, Daniel, 11, Sophia, 8, and Ted, 14, all decided to take up the hobby.

It comes as a report by the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR) warned the number of ringers could decrease by 45% by 2047 due to less people attending church.

In response to their report, the CCCBR launched its Ringing 2030 campaign, aiming to attract 10,000 active ringers in the next five years, with half of them being under the age of 30.

Daniel, 11, said: "It feels quite nice that we are doing something which was invented hundreds of years ago."

"It was quite difficult at the start, but then I finally got used to it. You don't get bored of it," he added.

Describing the trio as "amazing" additions to the bell-ringing community, Dusty Millier, from Westbury, who trained up the trio said: "They learned quite fast."

"We are taking this history on and continuing it with our younger folk, who will continue it on to the next generation," he added.

The bells in Holy Saviour's Church date back to 1664 and went out of commission in 2014 due to their poor condition.

Repair work was later carried out but the bells remained unplayed until Margaret Lomas, who lives in the village, heard a call out for bell-ringers for the King's Coronation on BBC Radio 4.

Ted was encouraged to try bell-ringing by his father Jeremy, who had learned when he was a similar age.

"It's something a bit different to do on a Wednesday evening and it takes my mind off other stuff," he said.

Meanwhile Sophia's bell-ringing hobby has quite the impact on her friends at school.

"They think that I ring little bells," she said. "But I say 'I ring big bells' and they get really shocked. It makes me quite proud and it makes most people feel happy," she added.

Mr Millier is convinced Ted, Daniel and Sophia - and their equivalents in other parts of England - will ensure bell-ringing will survive for generations to come.

"Bell-ringing is a peculiar English art, there are not many ringable towers outside of England."

"The bells in Erlestoke were silent for a long time, but they are ringing now and there's an enthusiastic team behind them. I'm sure that will carry on," he added.

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