The 98-Year-Old Man Helping Keep an Ancient Bellringing Tradition Alive

Inside a bell tower in Bathurst, Australia, a small group of people is keeping an unusual centuries-old tradition alive — and one of its most dedicated members is 98 years old.

As evening falls over Bathurst in New South Wales, the sound of bells can be heard across Machattie Park from All Saints Cathedral. High inside the tower, bellringers pull numbered ropes in carefully coordinated sequences.

The tradition dates back to England in the 1600s and has survived for generations through communities of people who continue to learn the demanding skill.

A tradition built on teamwork

Unlike simply ringing a bell, traditional change ringing depends on mathematical combinations. Each ringer controls a particular bell, and everyone must follow a carefully planned sequence.

The result is a constantly changing pattern of sound.

For the ringers, the challenge is both physical and mental. A continuous performance known as a “peal” can last for hours, requiring concentration throughout the entire attempt.

Bathurst ringing master Oriana Zanon describes the group as a close community that can seem almost invisible to people outside the tradition.

“You only know about bellringing if you’re a bellringer,” she said.

A 98-year-old still taking part

Among the people helping preserve the tradition is Chris Bacon, who is 98 years old.

Bacon continues to pull the ropes in the Bathurst bell tower with fellow ringers. His participation has become an important part of the local group’s story, and later this year, other bellringers are planning a special peal to honour him.

The planned event will bring together ringers from central-western New South Wales and Sydney.

For Bacon, bellringing is also part of a family tradition. Other families in Bathurst have passed the craft from one generation to another.

Four generations of bellringers

Bathurst steeple keeper Richard Hurford is a fourth-generation bellringer. His great-grandfather, George Hurford, was the city’s first bellringer.

Hurford said there was only one generation in his family that did not participate in the tradition — his father’s generation during the Second World War.

Now his own son has started learning the craft.

“I feel part of a very ancient tradition,” Hurford said.

More than just ringing bells

The Bathurst community sees bellringing as more than a historical activity. The people involved describe it as a way to form friendships that can last for decades.

Jim Woolford, another member of the community, said one of the defining features of bellringing is the culture surrounding it. Ringers can meet people from other towers and maintain friendships with fellow enthusiasts around the world.

That international network has helped the tradition survive even as some bell towers have stopped being used because there are no longer enough people with the knowledge to teach new generations.

Keeping an old tradition alive

For the Bathurst bellringers, the future of the tradition depends on passing the knowledge from experienced ringers to newcomers.

The group’s members range across generations, creating a connection between people who grew up in very different eras.

At a time when many traditional skills are becoming less common, the sound coming from the Bathurst bell tower represents something remarkably persistent: a group of people continuing to practise a centuries-old craft simply because they value it and want it to survive.

And with 98-year-old Chris Bacon still taking his place among the ringers, the tradition continues to connect the present with generations that came before.

Sources: ABC News Australia.