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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Kerem Doruk

Bell of an effort: Canberra 90yo to honour Royals again after 70 years

Denis Woodham rang bells for Queen Elizabeth's coronation and will repeat the feat for King Charles on Sunday. Picture by Gary Ramage

Denis Woodham was a 20-year-old when he rang the bells in Cambridge for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

While he was still at university, Mr Woodham joined his local church and managed to secure a front-row seat at the celebrations of Queen Elizabeth's coronation as a bellringer.

He travelled across the United Kingdom to ensure village churches had bellringers for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.

"We tried to cover as many little places that didn't have a team of ringers - we wanted the bells ringing in as many of the villages as possible that day," he said.

Denis Woodham, 90, says bellringing helps him stay fit. Picture by Gary Ramage

Seventy years later and 17,000km away, Mr Woodham will ring in the coronation of King Charles.

On Sunday evening Mr Woodham will climb the stairs of the bell tower at St Paul's Anglican Church in Manuka to ring the bells for the coronation of a second monarch in his lifetime.

The 90-year-old remembers the day Queen Elizabeth was coronated as an exciting occasion but said times were frugal for a 20-year-old living in post-World War II Europe.

"There was still rationing in Britain," he recalled.

He learned bellringing at London's Emmanuel Church and he attended the same college as the King Charles, but he was his senior so they didn't have time to become friends.

Bellringing keeps Mr Woodham healthy, he said, adding his grumbling knees would not stop him from ringing the church bells in the traditional English manner.

A commemoration of the bells ringing out after the death of Queen Elizabeth sits inside St Paul's. Picture by Gary Ramage

St Paul's Anglican Church is the only church in the ACT which has bells rung in the traditional English style.

The eight bells that will ring on Sunday were installed and dedicated in June 2003 and the 20th anniversary will be celebrated in June.

Mr Woodham is still fit for his age and will participate in the bellringing ceremony without interruption.

St Paul's will conduct a a general ring which is a short session of ringing.

"Touch is the word used to describe general ringing - and that means a short period of ringing maybe for five minutes," Mr Woodham said.

Mr Woodham will swing the bell in a 360-degree circle, instead of the more common method of striking the bell.

"It's manual exercise, but it's not necessarily hard work. It's more skill - you have to have a fine touch in adjusting the bell," he said.

As they did 70 years ago during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who entered Westminster Abbey with all the church bells of London ringing, churches across the world will ring in King Charles's coronation.

St Paul's will begin a general ringing ceremony at 6pm, to be followed by a coronation service.

Mr Woodham will celebrate his 91st birthday soon and is looking forward to teaching the next generation the art of bellringing.

"I help them, particularly the young ones. I teach them how to ring," he said.

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