As the title suggests, are there any bell ringers doing the challenge? The reason I ask is because I finish in Stonehaven on the Wednesday and have all day Thursday waiting for the dinner in the evening, so I wondered if any fellow challengers would like to ring at one or both of the Towers in Aberdeen. Both are rings of eight and if we get enough, we could ring a quarter.

Very sad that you got no responses to this, Paul. I'm not headed for Aberdeen this time, nor am I a bellringer, but I still have a very few contacts in the world of cathedral music up there, if you would like me to make any enquiries?
Otherwise, have you checked whether there is an appropriate church in Montrose itself?
I'd love to hear the peal of bells to celebrate the finish!

Hi Jean

Many thanks for the reply. Sadly there are no bells in Montrose that can be rung to celebrate the challenge, the nearest ones are in Aberdeen. Or rather, they are the closest ones with a peal of bells in as opposed to just a single bell used for Sunday service.

In bell ringing we have a fantastic online resource called Doves Guide for Church Bell Ringers which shows all the bell towers where change ringing can take place. The website address for it is below. Try putting Aberdeen into the search engine and you'll see what it comes up with.

http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/dove.php

I have a fantasy challenge route I'm working on which I might do in a couple of years time linking up the bell towers in the south of the challenge area. The start would be at Oban, then to Inverary to ring on their ten, then up to Tulloch to ring on the 8 and 12 bell towers there (yes, there really are two peals in Tulloch!). Then it would be east to Birnam for the ring of six and then maybe up to Aberdeen for the two rings of eight. Of course I'd have to arrange to ring at all the towers which would take some organising but it wouldn't be impossible!

Why can't the Challenge take place more often?!

To take that last (rhetorical) question first: because it would take over our lives even more than it already has, and assorted spouses and families would take a dim view!!

Back to the bells......I wish I had time to learn, now that I've retired: long ago while living in beautiful Southwell (two choirboy sons) I chanced to read that wonderful Dorothy L.Sayers classic, "The Nine Tailors", and might have tried if job and family hadn't precluded any more learning at that time.

It's a lovely idea to construct a route around. I've had a few "themes" in previous Challenges but this would be a new one. There must be hikers among the bellringers? Perhaps if you advertised early enough among those, you could get together a group to do the Challenge on that basis. Or invent your own Challenge in some suitably-endowed area and persuade your friends to participate!

Good luck with it anyway.

There are numerous ringing societies, including county associations, police guild, fire brigade guild, various ones relating to the armed forces and yes, even a rambling guild of bell ringers. Unfortunately though getting enough people with enough experience and ability to take on the challenge would be a challenge in itself. But that's not to say I couldn't do it myself and arrange to ring with the resident band, that's one possibility.

As for the Dorothy Sayers book - The Nine Tailors - it's a classic and will be on the book shelf of most ringers. It's very clever in that the clue is hidden in a ringing method. Let me know if you ever want to learn how to ring - you're never to old - as I will be able to point you in the right direction.