I HAVE been a member of the St Austell Choral Society for nearly 10 years and really enjoy singing with them. New members are always welcome.

I have been a church bellringer since 1958 which has given me much pleasure in so many ways. Visiting other towers and being part of the wider bellringing community in Cornwall, and throughout the country, is very special.

Throughout all these years, I have made many friends, while the focus of my ringing has always been to call people to worship.

Yet another appeal: many of our local towers need more ringers; if you consider this, you would be made very welcome and surely make new friends.

What brought singing and ringing together for this article was the poem which the choral society sang in their autumn concert: “Ring Out Wild Bells”, a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, with music composed by Percy Fletcher.

This is an extract: ‘Ring out a slowly dying cause and ancient forms of party strife; ring in the nobler modes of life, with sweeter manners, purer laws.

‘Ring out the want, the care, the sin, the faithless coldness of the times; ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes but ring the fuller minstrel in.

‘Ring out false pride in place and blood, the civic slander and the spite; ring in the love of truth and right, ring in the common love of good.

‘Ring out old shapes of foul disease; ring out the narrowing lust of gold; ring out the thousand wars of old, ring in the thousand years of peace.

‘Ring in the valiant man and free, the larger heart, the kindlier hand; ring out the darkness of the land, ring in the Christ and is to be.’

May this be our prayer as we ring or hear our church bells.

Canon Malcolm Bowers