Ringing endorsement

Well, I guess today belonged to one thing and one thing only - the start of the Greatest Show on Earth. I'd love to be in London, soaking up the atmosphere (and getting stuck in transport gridlock in the sweaty heat? Hmm!), but here I am in Winchester with a sackful of stuff to get through. So on my way to the dentist this morning I stopped by the Guildhall for the 8.12am bell ringing bash.

Anyone could turn up (though only a small number did) with any sort of bell - we had a few very tasteful and decorative cut glass bells, some proper handbells, bicycle bells and an odd assortment dug out of the Guildhall's equivalent of the cupboard under the stairs. They had to be rung for 3 minutes. I just took pictures and played like I was press. This splendid fella is Winchester's mayor, Cllr Frank Pearson, whose smile slipped a little shortly after this shot was taken when he realised just how long 3 minutes of physical exercise could be!

For all of you who will be asking WHY? I've snaffled this explanation:
Friday 27 July 2012 will be no ordinary morning. At 8.12 AM on the first day of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, 'Work No.1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes' by Turner Prize-winning artist and musician Martin Creed, will be performed throughout the UK.

The nation is invited to ring thousands of bells at the same time, whether schools bells, church bells, town hall bells, bicycle bells or door bells. Even Big Ben will be joining in, chiming over forty times in three minutes.

By ringing any kind of bell - hand bell, church bell, bicycle bell, door bell - people become part of the performance and involved in welcoming the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to the UK.

So there you have it!

Also wandered round the corner to the Cathedral Close to take a peep at the giant screen which will be streaming the Olympics every day from 10am-6pm for the duration. I shall certainly blip something from there when things get going, as, I suspect, will plenty of other Winchester blippers.

Weekend - yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip!