When our very own Enid Roberts appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald as the bellringer of choice for King Charles’ Coronation the good folk of Rocky Point sat up.
Enid and her late husband had been coming to Elvina Bay for 40 years. They loved the tranquillity of the Western Shores and were wonderful neighbours.
Of course we knew about Enid’s skills as a bell-ringer and her dedication. Every Thursday they would return to town so that Enid could attend practice that night and ring on Sunday morning. But we didn’t know how very special she was -ringing for both the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953 aged 21 as well as King Charles a month ago, aged 91.
Enid Roberts (left) and Pauline Wilton in England in 1953, before the Queen’s coronation. The bells were rung to celebrate their 21st birthdays. Image Courtesy SMH
In medieval and renaissance times, most town and village churches in England had one or more bells to let parishioners know that a service was about to take place. When Queen Elizabeth 1 entered London for her coronation, the bells rang in all the steeples. Some time in the next 100 years, ringers worked out that if, instead of letting bells swing randomly at their own varying speeds, you rang a bell up to the balance and held it there briefly, it would allow you to ring the bells in a specified order. And that is the basis of change ringing – bellringers are ringing mathematical permutations, and creating mathematical music, not ringing tunes. With one ringer to each bell, as they can be quite heavy, they ring a different permutation every 2 seconds. The heaviest bell in NSW is the one at St Mary’s Cathedral, weighing in at 34 cwt. There are also much lighter peals of bells.
For King Charles’ coronation, ringers in Australia and New Zealand rang 3 peals (about 3 hours;) 15 Quarter peals (about 45 minutes); and 23 shorter amounts of general ringing – all rung to celebrate the coronation.
When asked about the Bay’s contribution to her fame Enid credits the climb from the Elvina Bay waterfront to their house as the training she needed to continue climbing the 126 stairs to reach St Mary’s Tower and ring the bells every week as she ventures through her 90s. We knew we played a part in her success….
Those same knees, however, have bucked at continuing that strenuous training regime so with both joyful memories and sadness Enid has just sold her Elvina Bay house (welcome Ursula and Piet!). She will be sorely missed.
So next time you hear a wondrous peal – spare a thought for Enid and her 70 plus dedicated years of bringing joy to the world.
Feature image courtesy: Sydney Morning Herald