The church bells of Kilifi that need special training to ring
The bells at the St Thomas ACK Church, Kilifi. [Photo: Courtesy]
You would hardly combine the words extensive training with bell ringing, but that is exactly what a church in Kilifi has to do to keep its ancient bells tolling.
In our school days, bell ringing was simple; schools had either a handheld bell the nominated bell ringer swang, or an old, wheel rim positioned in a vehicle that was rang by being hit. Pretty basic. A few had more advanced versions where all a bell ringer had to do was press switch. Not so the bells of Kilifi’s St Thomas ACK Church, where bell ringers have to be specially trained to ring the six bells, the latest bell ringers having just got back from a two-week training programme in the UK.