Thursday 26 July 2012 08:10: People in Northamptonshire will be given a loud wake-up call when hundreds of church bells are rung to mark the start of the Olympic Games.
Anyone with a cow bell, bicycle bell or door bell is also being urged to join in the event which is taking place across the UK at exactly 8.12am tomorrow.
There are more than 1,000 bell-ringers in the county and 245 church towers with bells fit to be rung.
Brenda Dixon, president of the Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bell-ringers, said all available bell-ringers in Northamptonshire would be taking part in the event.
She said: “The request is to ring for three minutes but a lot of the churches will go on for a lot longer.
“We did a simultaneous bell ringing event for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, but it will be really good to be part of a national event like this.”
One of the churches taking part in the event is St Matthew’s Church in Kingsley, Northampton, which is giving people the chance to climb the 58 steps up the church tower to help ring one of the 12 bells.
Gary Drinkwater, verger at the church, said: “The church tower is not normally open to the public, but people will be able to climb up and push wooden panels to help ring the bells. There are no ropes involved.
“It is an opportunity to be part of a once-in-a-lifetime event.”
Chris Lea, who will be ringing the bells at St John the Baptist Parish Church in Blisworth, said it would be a loud wake up call for the whole county.
She said: “Anyone who is still asleep at 8.12am will be awake once the bells start ringing.”
The bell-ringing event has been organised by award-winning artist Martin Creed.
By Callum Jones
Courtesy: http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/
