Insights

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR) has published a new video on the art of change ringing. Geared to anyone who’s ever been captivated by the merry sound of pealing bells, the video takes a peek into the world of bell ringing from the perspective of both the ringers and the wider community alike.

Hear from experienced and novice ringers, see the bells in action, and maybe, just maybe, get inspired to try your hand at the ropes in your nearest bell tower!

The last day of the year in Japan brings us the tradition known as joya no kane, the tolling of 108 bells on New Year's Eve. Rooted in both Buddhist philosophy and Shinto ritual, and entrenched in the cultural fabric of the Japanese people, this ancient custom serves as a bridge between the past and the future, resonating with profound symbolism and spiritual significance.

At the foot of Mount Hiei, in the city of Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, a Buddhist temple rises from the verdant hills overlooking Lake Biwa. Founded in 672, the temple is called Mii-dera, or more formally, Onjō-ji. It is one of the four largest temples in Japan. 

An ingot is a mass of metal cast into an easily transportable or storable shape, like a gold bar, aluminum sheet, or copper brick. Ingots are very useful to a metalworker, not only to quickly and conveniently access semi-finished or finished metals, but also to mix metals in exacting proportions. Often, ingots are standardized in size and stamped with their weight and purity.

Five days a week for over four decades, Folger McKinsey contributed his “Good Morning” column to The Baltimore Sun. From 1906 to 1948, he served as a columnist, writer, and poet under his pen name, the Bentztown Bard. Known for his thought-provoking and sentimental style, he was eulogized upon his death in 1950 as “the voice of veritable Maryland. Nobody ever knew the state better, every nook and cranny of it from mountains to sea, understood it more sensitively or loved it more than he.”

In 1907, the pleasing tone of a new bell rippled across the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition, celebrating the 300th anniversary of the English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. To mark the occasion and to pay tribute to one of America’s most endearing historical figures, plans were brought together for casting the Pocahontas Bell. 

The year 1907 marked the 300th anniversary of the English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. To celebrate the occasion, a grand Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition was organized – one of a series of world’s fairs where states and nations gathered to showcase their brilliant arts and technological innovations. Such luminaries as U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt, author Mark Twain, and educator Booker T. Washington graced the eastern Virginia shores over the 7-month exposition.
 

While the bells in the Leaning Tower of Pisa were originally designed to swing and were operated by ropes, due to the precarious, gravity-tempting, equilibrium-defying condition of the tower, it was decided that it was less risk to have the bells sounded by electromagnetic hammers, as they do today. A simple tap and the bell rings – while producing no destabilizing sway in the tower.
 

If you’re merrily sauntering through the park on a lazy weekend afternoon or hustling down a busy city road, you perchance may have heard the jingling, bonging, clanging tintinnabulation of a few precocious bells and wondered: Why are the bells ringing today? 

Bells ring from time to time for any number of reasons. Here are but a few of the impelling civic, societal, or religious forces that may have set the bells ringing today.
 

It was August 1934 and Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg was dead. A national hero, von Hindenburg had led the Imperial German Army through World War I, then became the second elected president of the German Weimar Republic – a post he held from 1925 until his death. To many, he represented the glory of Germany over her enemies. To others, he was an increasingly manipulated old man who paved the way for Adolf Hitler’s rise to power.