Spotlight on … Sharon Wall

St Mary’s Worshipper and Bellringer

Questions by Mark Simons

Where were you born and did you attend church regularly as a child?

I was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire and brought up in the Congregational Church. I went to Sunday school each week up to the age of about 12 or 13. As I grew up I began to attend our local Anglican church. My school music teacher was the organist there and the music attracted me towards it. At the age of 17 I joined a very good Chamber choir that visited Cathedrals in school holidays where we sang all the services. The experience was terrific. I loved the thrill of singing in some of our great Cathedrals.

What bought you to Birmingham and what attracted you to St Mary’s?

I came to Birmingham as a student. As an undergraduate I went to all the C.B.S.O. concerts (my clarinet teacher was in the orchestra) and through him I met my husband Charles. We married and so I carved out my career here and have been here ever since. I didn’t attend church for several years, but when we had our children I felt drawn towards attending church again. We visited several churches in the area, but the very first time we came to a service at St Mary’s we were made very welcome and felt comfortable here and decided it was where we wanted to be. That was 15 years ago.

You ring the bells at St Mary’s. What do you do and can anyone do it?

Wow, that’s a big question! Yes, I took an interest in ringing about 10 years ago. I was aware of a shortage of ringers for the forthcoming Millennium. I contacted Ian Bryan, our tower captain and began attending the Monday evening Practices. I had no idea bell ringing was as difficult or as involved as it is. First of all you have to learn the technique of safely pulling the bell rope. This takes a few weeks to do successfully. You can only practice ringing in the church where the bells are! You then progress on to ringing with other people, learning to swap places in the ringing order. This requires skills of watching, listening and timing. In England we ring ’full circle ringing,’ and after this initial stage one can start to learn the Methods. This means the bells changing places in different patterns, all of which have to be committed to memory. Yes, anybody can learn to ring. It’s fun. It’s a great hobby. Everybody is very friendly and encouraging. It’s ageless, sexless and there’s no money involved. All ringers want more people to ring. It’s so rewarding.

What hobbies and interests do you have?

As a clarinetist I spend a great deal of time both professionally and for pleasure performing and listening to music. I’m a fanatic about keeping fit and attend a gym regularly. I also love cooking, reading and travelling when I get the chance. At the moment St. Mary’s are having discussions about replacing our old worn out bells and I think a lot of my time will be spent on raising the money to do this.

Do you have a favourite Bible passage?

Yes, the opening of St. John’s Gospel. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ It makes my hair stand on end whenever I hear it.

And a favourite hymn?

All Things Bright and Beautiful. Music by William Henry Monk

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