An 11-year-old schoolgirl from Locking has become one of the youngest elected members of a bell ringers association in the country. Sophie Taylor, who rings the bells at Locking Church, near Weston-super-Mare, discovered her passion for bell ringing a year ago, inspired by her father, James.
Sophie shared, “I became interested after my dad stared bell ringing. I found it fascinating, and I loved the history. So, I asked him if I could have a go and after I tried it, I fell in love with ringing.”
Earlier this year, Sophie officially became an elected member of the Bath and Wells association, thought to be one of the largest and most active bell ringing associations in the country. Her father, James expressed his pride, saying, “Bell ringing can be quite a challenging skill to learn. She has been ringing for over a year now and is already an elected member.”
At Locking Church Sophie rings alongside Jim, who at 95, is among one of the oldest ringers in the county. With over 60 years of experience, Jim praises bell ringing as a great way to stay fit and healthy. Sophie has been receiving lessons from
Dave Baker and joins the tower team once a month to ring for Sunday services at Locking. Last Christmas, Sophie, as pupil at Worle Village Primary School, was thrilled to ring the bells for her school’s Christmas service, where her fellow pupils had the opportunity to watch the bells being rung up close. They went up into the tower four at a time.
James proudly added, “Sophie is able to raise and lower the bells, ring in rounds and is learning method ringing and call changes, which involves ringing the bells in a specific order. Her dream is to see the bells being rung at Wells Cathedral.”