The bells are rung for Sunday morning services from 09:25 until 09:55, and again from 17:30 until 18:25 for evening services.

On some Sunday evenings, and for special services at other times during the week, Quarter Peals of 50 minutes duration may be rung.  Now and then, for very special occasions, a Full Peal lasting around 3 hours may be rung.

Weekly practices take place on Wednesday evenings from 19:30 until 21:00.  Additional practices for learners are often arranged for Monday evenings for an hour or so, starting at 18:30 or 19:00.

The ringers of St Michael's enter 6-bell, 8-bell and 10-bell striking competitions with other towers/branches, often very successfully.  They also enjoy an annual ringing outing to other parts of the country during the year.

New people, young or old, who are interested in ringing are always welcome.  There is a facility whereby the bells can be silenced, so they can't be heard outside the church, but an electronically-generated equivalent of the sound can be heard by the ringers within the bell-ringing chamber.  Learners need not fear that their mistakes will be heard across Tilehurst.

There is a project to replace the current peal of eight heavily-worn bells with a more modern peal of ten bells which will be lighter and easier to ring.  Fundraising within the local community is currently in progress.

Listen to the sound of the bells of St Michael's, Tilehurst, as  rung by the local Tilehurst ringers.  The method being rung is called Stedman Triples, named after the 17th century inventor of English change-ringing, Fabian Stedman.  This recording is taken from a CD of the bells produced in 1997.

If you would like to know more about bell ringing or want to learn to ring, please contact the Tower Captain of the bell ringers, either directly (see the Contact Us web-page) or via the Parish Office (see foot of page).

For more information about the bells, go to the Bells web-page in the Heritage menu.