The Inn Ringers

30th Anniversary

1977  -  2007

 

 

Biography

 

The Inn Ringers have enjoyed enormous success during their time together as a handbell team, over the last 30 years they have gained a well deserved reputation for being one of the top handbell orchestras in the country.

 

The team was formed back in February 1977 in a room above the Red Lion pub in Stone, Staffordshire. The first five months were spent putting together a repertoire to perform at their first public appearance, a rally devoted to the art of handbell ringing ‘ The Randwick Festival of Handbell Music’ held in Stroud, Gloucestershire in July ‘77.  A handbell journal reported on the event and commented ‘The Inn Ringers are definitely a team to look out for in the future, they gave a very impressive debut performance’.

 

1978 saw several fairly low key concert appearances leading up to the main event of that year, a concert with the Cardiff Male Voice Choir which proved to be one of the highlights of that years annual Festival Week in Stone. The following year the team staged the very first of their own concerts (Sept ‘79) with their guests The Stonefield Singers. Over the last few years The Inn Ringers  staging their own concerts in Stone have become popular annual events.

 

Since those early days the team have developed and perfected the art of handbell ringing under the musical direction of Steve Ciavucco. Steve provided the team with a repertoire of outstanding musical arrangements which established him as one of the most talented and respected arrangers of handbell music in the country. Steve resigned from the team in December 2005.

 

It is concert that The Inn Ringers display their true versatility. The list of venues the team have performed at over the years is as diverse as the range of music they play. They have performed in local village halls and city Cathedrals as well as some of the most prestigious entertainment venues in the country including Colston Hall Bristol, Free Trade Hall Manchester, Civic Hall Wolverhampton, Festival Theatre Corby, Trentham Gardens Ballroom, Stoke-on-Trent as well as other top local venues the Kings Hall and Victoria Hall also in Stoke-on-Trent. In March 2007 the team performed at Lancaster University.

 

In 1996 the team recorded their first album entitled ‘Ring Those Bells’. The album is a collection of the team’s  most popular concert pieces ranging from the ‘William Tell’ and ‘Carmen’ overtures to marches such as ‘Radetzky March’, ‘Liberty Bell’ and ‘On Parade’ as well as a selection of popular tunes like ‘Big Spender’, ‘American Patrol’ and ‘Lara’s Theme’. To celebrate the team’s 25th Anniversary in 2002 the album as reissued on CD.

 

Over the years the team have made many appearances on BBC Radio Stoke giving both live and pre-recorded performances and numerous live interviews to promote their concerts and other events. The Inn Ringers have also appeared on television being featured on ‘Central News’ and ‘Central News Week’ both for Central Television.

 

For 25 years the team actively supported the national organisation the ‘Handbell Ringers of Great Britain’  (HRGB). The Inn Ringers have had the honour of performing in several concerts organised by the HRGB as well as staging the West Midland Regional Handbell Rally on three occasions. The Inn Ringers have been instrumental in the foundation of a new society devoted to the art of handbell ringing especially for bell ringing groups located in the central England area. The Heart of England Handbell Society was officially launched in October 2006.

 

The Inn Ringers are regular performers in local charity concerts and music festivals and these appearances over the years have helped to raise thousands of pounds for local good causes.

 

For the past 10 years the Inn Ringers have performed a selection Christmas music at the Victorian Christmas Evenings at the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke-on-Trent, demonstrating the ‘four-in-hand’ style of ringing. The team are also regular performers at the Christmas events staged at the Foxfield Railway Working Museum.

 

One of the major highlights for the team was in December 2000 when they appeared as the guests of the Biddulph Male Voice Choir at the Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, then recently refurbished and regarded as one of the top concert venues in the country.

 

The Inn Ringers have 116 handbells made by the Malmark Foundry in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA. The foundry has a visitors centre which regularly shows video footage of the team recorded during a special filming session in 1997.

 

Playing is accomplished with 12 ringers in three sections, five in the lead section, four in the rhythm and three in the bass. The Inn Ringers combine the skill of the ringers and the versatility of the bells to perform a varied repertoire. The Inn Ringers are one of the largest teams still performing on a regular basis as well as being one of the most popular and entertaining handbell teams in the country.

 

For 2006 The Inn Ringers invested in a new ‘look’ and appointed a new conductor, Paul Mellor. Paul was one of the founder members of The Inn Ringers back in 1977. The team are looking forward to 2007, their 30th anniversary year with a range of special concerts being planned. The team is also planning to record their second album which will be a selection of music from their Christmas repertoire.