Australian & New Zealand Association of Bellringers Festival

If you look closely across the Adelaide skyline you'll see a host of towers, some are not as important as they once were, while others are vital in this age of constant hi-tech communication. But the most grand have been spreading the word in a tradition which peels back through the centuries. Here in the bell tower of Saint Andrews Church in Walkerville, time waits for no-one. The old clock counts down the days to another Church service and the chance for this group to do what it does best. It may look easy but it's not. This is a committed team effort with tower captain Philippa Lamphee running a very tight ship. Twenty feet above some of the oldest bells in South Australia send up a chorus which has been heard over much of Adelaide for the past one hundred and fifty years, marking some very notable occasions. One such occasion was to commemorate the burial of King George the Sixth which involved putting all six bells a bell ringers through a gruelling marathon. Each had to pull one of these (known as a sallee in bullringers language) over five thousand times for nearly three hours. Like I said, Bellringers are a committed lot. And according to Philippa there's always plenty to learn. Saint Andrews is just one of the bell towers which will be ringing up a storm over the Anzac Day weekend. Bellringers from around Australia and New Zealand will also give the bells of Saint Francis Xavier's Cathedral a good work out as well.

Oldest of all the bells at St Francis Xavier's is this beast, the Murphy Bell, made in the Murphy Bell Foundry in Dublin in 1844 and named after Bishop Murphy Adelaide's first Catholic Bishop. From Victoria Square to the Town Hall and beyond to Saint Peter's Cathedral, Saint Cuthbert's at Prospect and Saint Andrews at Walkerville, bell ringers will hold sway in a tradition dating back hundreds of years. The Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers Festival is on next weekend. If you hear the bells and you will you're free to pop into anyone of the five venues involved. For more information you can email info@postcards-sa.com.au