The Christchurch Ringers

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This is us at our first get-together after the quake - a barbecue at Swannanoa. Most of the ringers from Christchurch Cathedral were there and some from St.Paul’s, Papanui. The broken tenor clapper came to the party too.

The Christchurch Cathedral Ringers are just like most groups of ringers - a mixed bunch. We have a teenager and an eighty year old and lots in-between and we vary in skill from just learning to experienced surprise maximus ringers. Prior to the quake we practised on Tuesdays and usually had enough people to ring for morning and evening services on Sundays. Once a month we would try a quarter peal on a Sunday evening too. As Christchurch is a major tourist destination we often welcomed visitors from overseas, usually at the beginning or end of their trip to New Zealand.

The Cathedral ringers would also ring for many civic occasions and were an integral part of New Year celebrations in the Square. One of our most unusual duties was to ring to welcome the return of the migratory bar-tailed godwits from Siberia each Spring.

St.Paul’s, Papanui also has a thriving band and hopefully they may be ringing again soon (once the church has been inspected by an engineer, that is).

One of our main aims is to keep our band together while we start the long process of bringing our bells back. We know this is going to be a difficult job, but we have lots of ideas for social events and opportunities for ringing elsewhere.