Campaign seeks to get all of Britain’s 38,000 church bells ringing for King’s coronation [Video]

A right royal ding dong: As a campaign seeks to get all of Britain’s 38,000 church bells ringing for the King’s coronation, JANE FRYER joins in to experience the joy first hand 

19:34 EST 05 Mar 2023 , updated 21:04 EST 05 Mar 2023

The ringing chamber in Southwark Cathedral — 130‑odd steps up a spiral stone staircase, along an impossibly narrow walkway, and through a door barely wide enough for a fully-grown man — is a vaulted, whitewashed, wood-panelled marvel.

Inside, I find electric fans, giant vats of drinking water, bottles of liquid chalk (to improve grip) and at least 15 bell-ringers, of all ages — all raring to pull on their sallies and ring away.

Hang on a minute — 15? Isn’t there a national bell-ringer shortage — a crisis in campanology? Haven’t we been hearing in recent weeks how the wonderful Ring for the King campaign — to have every church bell, all 38,000 of them, ringing across the …