Bell Ringing at Otley Parish Church
Regular Ringing
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Sunday mornings – The bells are rung for half an hour before the 10.30am service
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Monday evening – 6pm to 7pm. A ‘silent’ additional practice using our Simulator – for beginners and extra practice
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Thursday evening practice – 7.30pm to 9pm
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Other Planned Ringing Occasions: as required
Further information
Tower Captain – Julia Thornely
Email: otleybellsfund@gmail.com
Facebook: Otley Bells
There are at present sixteen regular ringers in the band at the Parish Church, and three learners. Many of us supplement our regular Thursday evening practice by joining practice nights in other local towers, and we often assist at Sunday services and weddings in other churches.
There have been bells at All Saints since 1748, when 6 bells were installed for the grand sum of £230. A few years later in 1782 these were replaced by 8 new bells which were cast in London for £395.
In 1921 all 8 bells at Otley were recast by Gillett and Johnson of Croydon – this time for £900, although records recall that donations for the project amounted to nearly twice this sum. History does not record however what happened to the surplus, although one clue may be in an earlier report of the Leeds Intelligencer, Tuesday 11th June 1782, reporting that after ringing the bells the ringers ‘were met in the Churchyard by the Gentlemen in Otley, who had made a Contribution, and plentifully regaled them with Liquor and a good Supper’! The church bells have rung over the years for many occasions apart from Sunday services – weddings, funerals, coronations, special events and to see in the New Year. In 2014 we rang with other towers in the valley as the Grand Départ of the Tour de France passed through Otley. In 2022 we rang the bells in June to celebrate the Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, then not long afterwards they were rung fully muffled to mark her passing. On May 6th this year, all the available Otley ringers were delighted to ring for the Coronation Day of King Charles III, including a 45-minute quarter-peal in the afternoon.
We are fortunate to have here at Otley Parish Church what are generally considered in the ringing world to be a beautiful ring of bells. They were refurbished in 2017 by Taylors of Loughborough after a sustained period of fundraising, with generous support from parishioners and other local friends. Our bell-ropes were made by Avon Ropes of Bristol. Otley is proud to be one of the few towers still using ‘Yorkshire tail-ends’ – an extra stripy bit at the end of each rope rather than the usual plain rope loop. Additionally, the rope on the tenor bell (the largest and heaviest) has two striped pom-poms to assist tired ringers to raise the bell ready for ringing. We believe this feature, inspired by a photograph in our ringing chamber, to be unique. It shows a ringer here in 1937 holding the tenor bell-rope, its pom-poms clearly seen.
We occasionally hold ‘Open Tower’ days when we invite visitors to find out more about the bells and bellringing.