'I’m a nine-year-old West Midlands bell ringer - I don’t want the tradition to die out'

A nine-year-old West Midlands boy is believed to be Britain’s youngest bell ringer - despite having to stand on a box in order to reach the ropes. 

George Bull, who helps chime the ten bells at St Mary's Church, in Moseley, Birmingham, wants to show the ancient tradition is far from a dying art.

George became hooked on the sound of bells aged around four after he began watching videos of Big Ben with his mum.

And after joining a bell ringing club he never looked back and has since achieved a Grade One qualification, meaning he can bell ring independently.  

He now stands on a box to reach the ropes in the bell tower at the historic Grade II-listed church to help out up to four times a week.

George Bull says “I love it [bell ringing] so much and I want others to as well”

George, of Moseley, said: "I love bell ringing. It's my favourite thing. When I first started doing it, it felt like I was just being strong. Then I realised it was a load of fun so I carried on ringing. I like ringing because I love to feel the bell go up and down and my favourite is ringing different methods."

George now hopes to keep progressing and improving while encouraging other children and young people to pick up the hobby.

He said: "At my school I made an announcement at assembly that there aren't any bell ringers left. That's a problem, so I asked if people would like to join the bell ringing group. I love it so much and I want others to as well."

Mum Caroline Orlowska says “He [George] met like-minded people and the beauty of it is that you have every generation ringing”

Mum Caroline Orlowska, 42, said: "He always liked sounds when he was small. He liked anything to do with lights, sounds, anything to touch on his sensory profile. So during the pandemic, he was watching videos of Big Ben with me and he knew everything about Big Ben there is to know, it moved to towers in general, and then to bells. He was just absolutely enchanted with what he was hearing.”

George applied to a bell ringing youth club aged seven but was told he was too small and to come back in Year 5. 

But Caroline said he “only managed to survive until Year 4" when the group allowed him to join, making him their youngest member ever. 

She said: “He just couldn’t wait. He’s quite tall but he still needed to stand on two boxes when he first started. He was just so keen he couldn’t wait any longer. He is a natural". 

George has practice at St Mary’s on Mondays, another church St Anne’s on Tuesdays, personal lessons on Thursdays, and Sunday ringing at services.

Caroline, a bookkeeper, says she is "immensely proud" of her son's talents and the hobby has also improved his confidence and self-esteem. 

She said: "He's so enthusiastic about it and if something doesn't work he will practice until he manages it. It gives him a space to express himself and to be human and to achieve something.

“It has definitely helped his confidence and self-esteem to be sure. It has created a lot of social bonds. He met like-minded people and the beauty of it is that you have every generation ringing. There will be him and there will be really elderly people who find companionship and support there and have been doing it for years. So you have got people from all walks of life. It brings the community together which is so important."

His parents have also taken up the ropes themselves, learning to ring so they can support his hobby.

Caroline said: “We started to ring with him and his dad rings, we join in when we can. He wanted to share it with us." 

"He’s quite critical, sometimes he will tell us off if we’re not good enough, he’s very direct."