Coronation: Novices star as church bells Ring for the King

Alongside 24 of the island’s experienced bell ringers were 20 new recruits, enlisted especially for King Charles’s big day.

Town Church tower captain Duncan Loweth had led the search for the new bell-ringers, and after 45 minutes of continuous ringing across Town, Vale, Forest and St Peter’s churches, said he was immensely proud of what they had achieved.

‘For everyone to come out of the churches smiling at the end was fantastic.’

The new recruits had seven weeks to learn the ropes before today’s event.

‘Almost all had never seen a bell rope before,’ said Mr Loweth, ‘but they all did brilliantly today. Some bits were a bit “exciting”, but by the end we had found a rhythm across all four churches.’

Mr Loweth is hoping that many of the new recruits have caught the bell-ringing bug and will keep coming back.

The bells played sequences known as ‘Kings’, ‘Queens’ and ‘Rounds’ from 10 to 10.45 to coincide with King Charles and Queen Camilla’s procession to Westminster Abbey.

‘For the experts this wasn’t a long time to be ringing, but for newcomers it can be quite exhausting,’ he said. ‘We made sure we rotated around so everyone got a break.’

It has been a very busy 12 months for local bell-ringers, as the Coronation followed the late Queen’s Jubilee and funeral last year.

‘We could do with a break from the big events,’ said Mr Loweth. ‘So we are wishing King Charles a long and healthy reign.’