The Minster bell ringers took their skills to Devon for their annual outing on Saturday with ringing at six churches. An early start was made at St Nicholas Sidmouth where the ten melodious bells cast by the Taylor bellfoundry in 1972 were rung well. Following ringing the nearby cake shop offered a tasty allure.
The centrepiece of the day was Exeter Cathedral which like the Minster has twelve bells although Exeter’s are heavier providing a deeper tone, the largest bell, the tenor, weighing 72 cwt.
Visits followed to St Mark’s Exeter (10 bells), Ottery St Mary (8) one of its famous sons being Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sidbury (8) and finally Axminster which has ten bells that are untypically loud in the ringing chamber.
Most of the 24 Minster ringers rounded off the day with dinner near Axminster and on Sunday morning were back in action on the Minster ropes for pre Eucharist ringing – and later for Evensong ringing.
Videos of ringing at Sidmouth and Axminster and in the ringing chamber at Exeter Cathedral.
and the Sidbury churchyard entrance.
Sidmouth
Exeter Cathedral
Axminster
Wimborne Minster Bell Ringers 
