Bell ringers battle fatigue to enter record books
THE world record for bell ringing was smashed in Alderney on Wednesday night as 12 people rang the St Anne’s Church bells for 16 hours.
The group, who came from all over the UK, rang for two hours longer than the previous record.
They rang the Bristol Surprise Maximus method with over 25,000 changes – a feat requiring immense concentration and stamina.
The church was packed with supporters as they finished the marathon session – some 16 hours and seven minutes – at around 10.45pm.
All of them rang solidly for the 16 hours without taking their hands from the ropes.
Band leader Michael Wilby, from Birmingham, said: ‘Finishing was a huge relief. We didn’t know whether we would get to 14 hours and after that was uncharted territory. At 15 hours we knew we were capable of getting to 16 hours, even though a lot of us were hungry and thirsty.
‘There was the mental challenge of staying alert for that amount of time and the physical challenge. I could tell that some people were looking tired and dehydrated, and we all had our moments, but we all paced ourselves in different ways so we could get there.’
Full story in today's Guernsey Press
