6 May 2023. This is the day on which Charles III will be proclaimed King of the United Kingdom after many years of waiting for his mother, Elizabeth II, to “step aside”. Although in the end it was life itself that removed his mother from the reign, after 70 years “exercising the profession”, her time has finally come. At 74 years of age.
For such a historic occasion (which his daughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, will not be attending), not one, not two, but three generations of a Northumberland family have prepared for the sole purpose of ringing the bells of St Michael’s Church, Alnwick, which will be rung after the coronation of King Charles III.
According to the BBC, Jean Darby, 79, her daughter Ruth Darby, 50, and granddaughter Izzy, 16, will be in action on 6 May at this well-known church in England, whose bells have an interesting story behind them.
Two years ago, a volunteer bell ringer named Jim Crowther led a project to put 10 new bells in St Michael’s Church. After they were installed, Jim spoke to Jean, who had sponsored the purchase of the bells, about ringing one of them in honour of her late husband, Baz.
“Once they were in place, Jim suggested that since we had sponsored a bell, maybe I should ring it, and the rest is history,” Jean told the BBC. This was the start of what became an important hobby for Jean, who was eventually joined by his daughter and granddaughter.
Ruth, who knew nothing about bells, eventually went ahead with the illusion of ringing her late father’s bell: “It’s a bit scary at first. Everything comes so fast, the bells are quite heavy on top of you, but the bell says ‘ring merrily in memory of Baz Darby’, so we have to ring it well,” she explained.
Similarly, Ruth’s daughter, Izzy, knew nothing about bells either, and was even reluctant at first, but ended up being happy to learn how to ring them: “It’s different from the skills people my age normally have,” she said.
Now, they and a group of up to 30 bell ringers wait with great expectation for the coronation of King Charles III to ring the bells of the church of San Miguel.
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