South West 12-bell striking competition

The South West 12-bell striking competition is a prestigious event held annually attracting teams from as far afield as Newport South Wales and Wiltshire and Dorset.

This is the first time Truro, the only tower with 12 bells in Cornwall, has hosted this event. In fact we believe this is the first time in it's history the cathedral has hosted any kind of striking competition. We are really excited to welcome 9 teams including the home band and want to give them a proper Cornish welcome.

The day will start with a draw to decide the order in which teams will perform. Each team has half an hour in which to do some practice then perform the test piece.

This year the test piece is Grandsire Cinques with changes being rung on 11 bells and the tenor (heaviest) bell ringing last all the time. The judges will be out of sight of the teams and will be assisted by technology which assesses how precisely each team are ringing their bells. The day ends when the results are announced. In recent years Exeter have usually come out top.