We are just about to sign off until after the Christmas and New Year break and would like to wish all of our friends and the wonderful guests who have stayed with us since our opening in May a very merry Christmas.  The tree is up, the Christmas parties have started, the children are excited, but the nicest thing so far has been our very first visit to a bell ringing tower in Croscombe Church.

Towards the end of November we started, as a family, to attend bell ringing classes, a new after school activity at Wells Cathedral School.  The hobby already has us hooked, although it is much more difficult than you can imagine.  We aren’t yet good enough to be let loose on the bells alone, but yesterday we were invited to watch actual bell ringing in practice at a local Church.  The experience of climbing the very steep and narrow medieval staircase and hearing the bells from inside the tower was exhilarating.  The bells are extremely heavy and everyone worked so hard, so, when you hear those wonderful sounds over Christmas, spare a thought, and maybe a mince pie and something warming, for those wonderful bell ringers!