The work is demanding. Each bell—fashioned from bell metal, an alloy of
copper and tin—weighs between 600 and 3,500 pounds. A pull on one of the
long ropes dangling from the belfry must draw a large wooden wheel—and with
it the bell—through a full 360-degree rotation.
Such efforts forge a bond. The members of the Washington Ringing Society
often socialize after their thrice-weekly rehearsals and their Sunday
performances. Some of them even take their act on the road in domestic and
foreign exchanges organized by the North American Guild of Change Ringers
and individual tower groups.
Harriet Morgan, a Washington ringer who learned the practice 20 years ago
while studying at Oxford University, says that “change ringing is fun. There
aren’t many activities that combine the intellectual challenge of figuring
it out and the physical challenge or doing it right, along with a wonderful
co-operative team effort.”
