In October 2025, the Cathedral Chapter formally appointed David Steel as the new Bell Tower Captain, following the retirement of Ron East. We took this opportunity to ask David a bit more about himself, and the role he has taken on…
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I am 68 years old, married to Sarah who also rings and is incidentally a considerably better ringer than I am, I have a daughter and two granddaughters, all of whom make my life very happy and full.
I worked in the construction industry, starting as an apprentice bricklayer until, in my early twenties I was invited into the office to train as an estimator, which considering we had just gone through a very hard Cumbrian winter I was delighted to instantly accept. Then at the age of 63 I was very pleased to be able to retire. After a few years of child care and blissful idleness I was lured into joining this bellringing life. Until then my hobbies and pastimes were a long distance from Cathedrals and bells, my free time was largely consumed by martial arts, being Karate and Aikido, through which I was awarded various levels of black belts; sadly, repeated injuries have recently forced me to stop doing these activities. Now I am here at this ancient and lovely place doing something I never expected do.
How long have you been a bell-ringer at Carlisle Cathedral?
Only two years, so in terms of bellringing I am still very inexperienced, very much a novice. You do not have to be the best ringer to be Tower Captain but I imagine that it is very unusual for someone as inexperienced as me to become a Tower Captain at a Cathedral. I suspect that the more experienced members of the band knew something I did not when they proposed and approved my nomination, especially as any one of them would have been able to do the job. I forgive them though.
Congratulations on your official welcome into your new role as Tower Captain. Can you tell us more about this role and what it entails?
The position of Tower Captain is a voluntary five-year term Chapter appointment reporting to the Canon Warden. The job is to manage and organise the bell tower on behalf of the Chapter.
In my view the primary role of a Tower Captain is to facilitate and enable the ringing of bells at Carlisle Cathedral. To ensure that happens I act as an interface between the bell ringing band and the Cathedral body and management – that relationship is vital, and we must never forget that our primary role is to ring out our bells in this beautiful place to call people to service.
I am also responsible for ensuring that the Cathedral’s safeguarding policies are fully embraced and enacted, we take the safeguarding and wellbeing of all the ringers and visitors extremely seriously.
The Tower Captain is responsible and accountable for everything that happens in the bell tower, this includes Health and Safety, recruitment and training, bell maintenance, collection of fees etc. Yes, we get paid! There is a peppercorn allowance in the grand sum of 20p per ringer every time we ring on an open bell, the money is paid directly into the tower funds and contributes to the bell maintenance. The Tower Captain is also responsible for promoting and publicising the ringing of the bells in the wider community – indeed this year we have featured in the local press and on BBC television and radio and of course in the Cathedral’s website and other media outlets.
To my relief I am blessed with the support of a team of wonderful ringers who hold a variety of posts and responsibilities and who devote untold hours to the tower and the Cathedral. I particularly like some of the titles that come with bellringing. There are exotic names: we have a Ringing Master; Steeple Keepers; and obviously a Tower Captain. Then there are the more business-like roles such as: a safeguarding officer; a treasurer; a training officer; ART qualified teachers; a vastly experienced ex Tower Captain; and of course, a band of devoted ringers. Everyone contributes to the group and all strive to make the tower a welcoming, friendly, and warm place to be
What have you enjoyed most so far?
The most satisfying thing has been the reaction to my appointment from the ringing band; they have been nothing but supportive and generous, it is genuinely quite humbling and I am very grateful for all the help they continue to give.
I have also very much enjoyed getting to know and work with the staff and clergy, again I have received support from everybody. Canon Benjamin despite being very busy is always there and John and Nicola the vergers are an absolute delight to work with.
Standout events that I have enjoyed have been when the band was awarded the ‘Band of the Year’ by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART) and becoming finalists in the Association of English Cathedrals Volunteers of the year (pictured below). I hasten to add that these had nothing to do with me, I was just lucky enough to be in my new role when it happened, the work was all done by my predecessor and his team, the whole band should be very proud of those achievements.
Other things that have stood out have been when the band rang a peal to thank Ron East for his years of service, this was the first ever peal by a Carlisle Cathedral Sunday ringing band, so all in all quite an achievement.
This may sound odd and doesn’t really come into the realm of having enjoyed, but when we rang for James, the Head Verger, it felt that we had done something very worthwhile – we rang a passing bell to mark his death, we rang him into the Cathedral where he rested overnight and we rang on muffled bells at his funeral service, all as we hope he would have wanted. That felt very special to us all, and we hope we did him proud.
Being filmed by the BBC was a bit out of the ordinary for us as was being interviewed on the Radio, but enjoyable nonetheless, as was the recent emergency evacuation practice with the Fire and Rescue Service, all went well and we all survived apparently.
What I enjoy most though is the Cathedral and the bells and the people, the walk along the clerestory, especially when the organ is playing or the choir is singing is a thing that I never tire of. Then we have the bells, the bells are like a living thing to us. As I am also a Steeple Keeper, I am privileged to have the chance to work on and among the bells, and learning about their idiosyncrasies and moods from Barry, John and Ron is one of my great pleasures.
What are you most looking forward to in future?
In the short term we have the Enthronement of a new Bishop to look forward to and the busy but rewarding Christmas season is almost upon us. Hopefully there will be many more events with which we can help.
In the long term I hope that I can contribute something that maintains and perhaps enhances the pleasure that we as bell ringers get from ringing these wonderful bells at our Cathedral and continue to bring pleasure to all who hear them.
