ST WOOLOS Cathedral in Newport is ringing the changes - by calling for new recruits to learn the traditional art of bell ringing.

Enthusiasts are offering an introductory session on Sunday, January 19, between 4pm and 5pm.

Newport organiser Hilary Brown, 35, said: "I've been ringing for 20 years and it is a wonderful thing to do. I was inspired when my mother and I went to a funeral and saw the bell ringers in action. We both decided to try it and we are still very keen.

"The current bells at St Woolos date from 1939 and have a brilliant tone. At the moment we have 20 people on our list of ringers but we are always looking for new people.

"The ages of our team range between 16 and 82, so it really is an activity for all ages. To ring a bell on your own takes a few weeks, to ring with a group takes a few months. The tunes and sequences get progressively harder and new ones are always being composed, so there is always a challenge."

To be a ringer you need to be reasonably fit to get up the stairs, have a sense of timing and be able to remember patterns.

Hilary said: "It's a very social activity and we are always getting together for trips and nights out. You are serving the church, although you don't necessarily have to go to the services.

"Bell ringing is the voice of the church calling people to worship, to celebrate joyful events or to register times of grief or disaster."

St Woolos bell ringers travel all over the country to meet other ringers and try different bells.

And she added: "As a ringer you can travel anywhere in the country, walk into a church and tell them who you are, and there's a connection. You always make new friends wherever you are."

St Woolos is one of Wales' 167 towers hung with bells for change-ringing - the second highest number in the world behind England.