Exploring the Leeds Minster Bells (and the surprising history of bellringing)

The sound of church bells is a quintessential part of the national soundtrack. But it's also a sound which runs through centuries of history, highlighting the key events in local communities. We take a trip back to Leeds Minster to explore the (often surprising) world of bellringing.
00:00 Intro
00:31 Interview with Leeds Ringing Master
05:38 Exploring the bell tower
07:42 Ringing demonstration
09:03 Why do people ring bells?

[@emilybloom7143]

What an excellent Ringing Master they have at Leeds!

[@RaymondCalloway]

Absolutely fascinating, thank you Catherine.

[@radman8321]

Did this kind of climb at our local church as part of a local history group visit. The churchwarden told us officially we couldn't do the climb, but then left us for 20 minutes while we did. Top bloke. It was quite a scary climb.

[@RingingRichard]

Thanks for a great & engaging description of Bell Ringing.

[@1234j]

Excellent. Thank you yet again.

[@Sim0nTrains]

The editing is great in this video and very interesting as well especially learning that the bells were taken by train from London to Leeds

[@Davlavi]

Informative thanks.

[@ericpicador1960]

Awesome video, awesome creator. These videos deserve more attention.

[@alun7006]

Excellent video on a very specific subject that you've made very engsging. Thank you!

[@melizen2]

Wonderful - thank you!

[@alansmithee8831]

A'reyt Catherine. A very a-peal-ing video for Minster of L.'s bells, but apparently no ding a lings in crinolines. Also no clangers dropped.

[@Pstephen]

There's a detective novel by Dorothy L Sayers called The Nine Tailors that is centred on change ringing. Some people, like me and PD James, reckon it to be the best detective novel ever written, while some can't stand it.

[@TheDungeonMinister]

Great book! I agree with you (and PD James).

[@paultidd9332]

Great video and capturing some of the interesting history of the bells particularly at Leeds Minster.

[@-xirx-]

I've been a campanologist since my teens. It's a great pastime and a fascinating history.

[@mariuszszymczak3644]

Love it!

[@susanbrannigan]

This looks like so much fun! I wonder if there's anywhere where Jewish people ring bells. I seriously don't know - this isn't much of a tradition in the U.S that I'm aware of. We have carillons in our most famous towers, for instance at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. And a lot of churches just have recordings of chimes or bells.

[@cinnamonape3045]

The further northeast you go the more common it gets

[@gaius_enceladus]

Great video! So, Catherine, were you "going like the clappers" in this video? ;)

[@brykaper]

7:50 best moment

[@jwebb3337]

Wonderful video! I had no idea!

[@mariuszszymczak3644]

I have view on that tower from my window

[@Steven_Rowe]

I think it is worth pointing out that change ringing is a hobby and has littlexto do with church services. Its also not music as such but is unique mathmatical sequences To ring a peal is to ring around 5040 unique changes and depending on the bell weights and number of bells can take anywhere between 2hrs 50 minutes to around 4 hrs 30 minutes. On 8 bells the amount of unique sequences possible is 40320 or 8! On 12 bells like Leeds Minstercit is 12! And is 479001600 unique changes. You could never ring them all without stopping as it would take around 31 years Thats longtime without taking a leak.. Why do peoplexlike me do it? Well who knows, im still wondering why people want to knock a ball in a small hole in golf. Its not something i would do but millions do, its amazing we are all so different.

[@AllieThePrettyGator]

so how many bells are there? i count 9

[@OwenSimmons323]

12 with an extra treble