Inverness Cathedral Bellringers

20/09/2026

There were eight of us for service ringing this morning, plus our usual spectator in the ringing room.

We first rang up the back four bells in pairs, then bells 3-6 of the front six. We started with 2 courses of Plain Bob Triples and progressed on to rounds and call changes on 8, which included Kings, Queens, Titums and rollercoaster. Finally, we lowered the front four, then the back four, in peal.

There was some nice ringing again today - hopefully the same next week when we will have competitors and spectators for the Loch Ness Marathon listening outside on Bishops Road. 😃🔔

17/09/2026

It definitely feels like the schools are back and so are the ringers. We had 11 ringers for our advanced practice this evening and we were able to try things we haven't done in ages. We rang up the front 6 and then pulled the back bells up in pairs before ringing a course of Kent Minor for Sam and Michael and then tried treble bob hunting for Barbara.
Next was two courses of Grandsire Triples (following an initial attempt at a touch which showed how much had been forgotten over the summer😅). We rang more Grandsire Triples with a different band before trying Cloister Triples (the idea being to ring that to help us learn the bobs for Stedman, but that didn't seem popular). We rang two courses of Stedman Triples next and followed that with an attempted touch of Grandsire Triples called by Brian. Plain hunt on 9 went well.. fairly good striking. Next was a successful touch of Stedman Triples👏 Having managed plain hunt on 9 we had a go at Grandsire Caters and actually managed two lovely courses which was definitely the highlight of the evening for me 😁 We dropped the two trebles and then rang down 8 in peal.

It was fabulous to see everyone up the tower again and great to blow the cobwebs away. Well done everyone 🥰

13/09/2026

There were nine of us for service ringing this morning, including a visitor, plus one spectator in the ringing room.

We first rang up the back four bells in pairs, with the front six already up after Friday’s wedding. We started with rounds on 8 and progressed on to rounds and call changes on 8 with a slight personnel change.

After another quick swap around, we then rang a couple of plain courses of Plain Bob Doubles on the back eight bells, with the first pair of bells ringing constantly in order at the front. We moved on to rounds on 9. Finally, we lowered the front six, then the back four, in peal.

During the short breaks in our session we could hear the bagpipes from the annual Kirking of the Council parade which was taking place on the other side of the River Ness. Hopefully the parade participants enjoyed hearing our bells, too.

There was some good ringing again today - well done everyone. 😃🔔

11/09/2026

This afternoon we had the pleasure of ringing to celebrate the wedding of Alexandra MacMahon and Ross Martin. We rang rounds and call changes on the front six, and we wish the happy couple a long and happy marriage 🔔🥰

10/09/2026

We had 10 ringers at this evening's improvers practice. We started by ringing up the front 6 in peal (a bit rough around the edges) then pulled up the back 4 in pairs. SamR had some handling practice as he hasn't been for a while, and then Lowenna rang some courses of Grandsire Doubles followed by Derry and Grace ringing some Plain Bob Doubles. SamR rang in some rounds on 6 which turned into his first attempt at call changes 😀 A touch of Grandsire Doubles was next for Lowenna and then a touch of Plain Bob Doubles with Derry on the treble. We rang some call changes on 8 and then plain hunt on 7 for Grace. We finished with just rounds for SamR before ringing down the back 4 in peal, and leaving the front 6 up in readiness for a wedding tomorrow afternoon.

Well done everyone.. a few wobbles at times, but whoever learns anything from perfect ringing? 😅 Hopefully we will get to a point of being perfect sometime.. but then I'll just move the goal posts and make it harder😁

06/09/2026

There were eight of us for service ringing this morning. It was a special service today to honour James Braidwood, known as the "father of the modern fire service."
We rang the back four bells up in pairs and then bells 3 to 6 of the ten up in peal.
Hugh kindly conducted some rounds and call changes to queens, kings and back.
After a quick rest we rang some more rounds and call changes to rollercoaster and back.
We lowered the front four, and then the back four, in peal.
There were a few regulars away this morning, but we rang really well.
Well done everyone 🥰🔔

03/09/2026

This evening was our first advanced practice of autumn. We had 7 ringers so kept to just the front 6 bells. Initially we had only 5 so rang up 2-6 and rang a touch of Plain Bob Doubles for Barbara. Next was a touch of Grandsire Doubles. Nicky arrived so we had another go at Grandsire Doubles, this time with a tenor cover. Next was a touch of Plain Bob Minor with Barbara on the treble and then a course of Kent Minor for Michael. Plain courses of Little Bob Minor were next and then another go at Grandsire Doubles for Rachel. We rang more Little Bob Minor and then some courses splicing Plain and Little Bob Minor. We finished with a touch of Spliced Plain and Little Bob Minor and rang down in peal.
A good evening and great to see everyone🥰

30/08/2026

Eight of us this morning for service ringing, including one of our regular visitors from Lancashire. We were joined in the ringing room by the same two spectators as last week.

We only needed to ring up the back four bells (in pairs), as the front 6 were left up after Friday’s wedding ringing. We rang two different sets of rounds and call changes with a short break in between, including rollercoaster, Queens, Kings and Titums. We then rang the front six down in peal followed by back four in peal. 🔔

27/08/2026

This evening was a little different as we had two visitors who had come for a taster session to see what we do and have a few lessons. We started with a safety briefing and a tour of the bells and then I rang up the 4th and gave each of them a go at backstroke. We then gave each of them a go at chiming the tenor as that is always good fun on a taster session. By this time 6 of our band had arrived so we rang up the bells (back bells in pairs, then 2-6 in peal (having rung the 4 back down first), followed by the treble) and rang some Plain Bob Doubles, after explaining what we were about to do. After another quick go each (including a go at handstroke) Annie May left and we rang plain hunt on 7.. not particularly well if truth be told 😳 We had more Plain Bob Doubles for Derry and then another go for Louise which included her ringing the backstroke to rounds on the front 6 😁 We finished with call changes on 8 (including Whittington's, Kings and Queens) before ringing down the back 4. We left the front 6 up as there is a wedding in the cathedral tomorrow afternoon that we will be ringing for.

Well done everyone 😀

23/08/2026

This evening prior to evensong we rang a quarter peal of Plain Bob Doubles which was Barbara's first quarter peal "inside"😁 Good striking mostly too.. an excellent quarter 😀

1260 Plain Bob Doubles rung at Inverness (Cathedral Church of St Andrew), Highland