The Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers, known as ANZAB, is the organisation responsible for the promotion of English-style " full circle ringing" – namely change ringing and

method ringing Method ringing (also known as scientific ringing) is a form of change ringing in which the ringers commit to memory the rules for generating each change of sequence, and pairs of bells are affected. This creates a form of bell music which is contin ...

in bell towers with a peal of bells – across Australia and

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History

ANZAB was formed in 1962, through the renaming of the ''New South Wales Association of Change Ringers'' and the inclusion of ringers from other Australian states and New Zealand. Its purpose is, "To encourage and provide for the installation, restoration, augmentation and maintenance of rings of bells and to provide technical, financial and other assistance in respect thereof." The NSW association was formed in 1946 by visiting

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

sailors from the

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who brought their skills to the six existing towers around Sydney. Before the formation of the association, a

quarter peal Method ringing (also known as scientific ringing) is a form of change ringing in which the ringers commit to memory the rules for generating each change of sequence, and pairs of bells are affected. This creates a form of bell music which is contin ...

had not been rung in NSW during the previous 40 years. As of 2014, ANZAB has around 500 members who ring at 64 bell towers.

Functions

Aside from regular religious services, ringing is often conducted for special occasions such as state funerals, anniversaries, memorials and other locally or nationally significant events. For example, there was a national simultaneous ringing of bells in celebration of the centenary of the Federation of Australia on 1 January 2001. ANZAB is affiliated with the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, founded in 1891 and based in the United Kingdom. While most bells are hung in churches, there is no expectation of religious affiliation among the ringers themselves. ANZAB has branches in most Australian states, and these branches foster and encourage ringing at a local level through education and training. The branches organise regional ringing events, such as striking competitions, local advanced ringing sessions, and inter-tower visits and tours. ANZAB itself holds an annual ringing festival in conjunction with its Annual General Meeting. The location of the festival changes from year to year and is usually held in locations where two or more towers are easily accessible. ANZAB publishes a quarterly journal, ''Ringing Towers'', containing articles of general interest to bellringers, reports of social and ringing events in Australia and New Zealand, and all Quarter Peals and

Peal In campanology (bell ringing), a peal is the special name given to a specific type of performance of change ringing which meets certain exacting conditions for duration, complexity and quality. The definition of a peal has changed considerably ...

s rung for ANZAB or in ANZAB territory. The state branches also publish newsletters or websites related to their activities. In recognition of the lifesaving

cardiopulmonary resuscitation Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spon ...

(CPR) provided to Alan Coates who suffered a heart-attack while ringing in 2015, ANZAB now provides for first-aid and CPR training for two members in each tower. ANZAB members also ring changes on handbells, a practice which was popularised in the United Kingdom during the Second World War when church bells were not allowed to be rung. As Carillon bells are not rung in full-circle style they are not affiliated with, and have been criticised by, ANZAB.

List of bellringing towers

Bells are usually tuned to a Diatonic major scale, with the tenor bell being the tonic (or key) note of the scale. Some towers have extra bells, indicated by the + sign, which are used to allow different subsets of the full number to be rung, still to a diatonic scale. By convention, the weights of the tenor bells are shown in the

imperial unit The imperial system of units, imperial system or imperial units (also known as British Imperial or Exchequer Standards of 1826) is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 and continued to be developed thr ...

s: Hundredweights-quarters- pounds. Swan Bells SMC 2006

References

Bibliography

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External links