William Lay

Bell ringing, properly called change ringing, is a very English way of making a lot of noise with a lot of maths. A team of ringers each control one bell by pulling a rope, and instead of playing a tune they systematically vary the order the bells sound in, working through sequences known as methods. It takes real physical coordination to handle a bell well, and real concentration to keep track of where you are in the pattern while everyone else's bell is clanging away too.

A quarter peal is around 1,250 changes and takes about 45 minutes to ring without a break. A full peal is at least 5,000 changes, generally takes around three hours, and is the kind of thing that gets recorded properly because completing one is a genuine achievement, both for the band as a whole and for anyone ringing their first.

My peals and quarter peals are logged on BellBoard, the Ringing World's database of performances. My record under my usual name is here.

My first peal was rung before I'd settled on how I wanted my name recorded, so it's logged separately under William J Lay instead.