ABOUT KIPHRA AND HANDBELLS

KIPHRA was formed in 1985 when a set of very old handbells was found in Kirdford Church tower and local villagers decided to make music with them. KIPHRA stands for Kirdford, Ifold and Plaistow Handbell Ringers Association, which is a bit of a mouthful, so we shortened it to KIPHRA.

The old and incomplete set of bells we started with dated from the 1800s and had seen better days as they had been used by tower bell ringers for practice in the pub when the weather was inclement. Thanks to several generous donations, we now have a 5-octave set of modern American bells, which are far more versatile and easy to play.

Musical handbells are an English creation, and handbells of various types have been used for hundreds of years as single bells, mainly as a means of communication (for example, by town criers).

There is now a worldwide fraternity of handbell ringers including teams in America, Japan, Canada, Korea, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Great Britain.

Almost any music can be arranged for handbells and nowadays an increasing amount of music is written specially for handbells.

As well as handbells we also play chimes and our set of chimes was recently donated to us most generously by a founder member who was also our former Musical Director in the early days of KIPHRA.

KIPHRA handbell ringers

KIPHRA

Kirdford, Ifold & Plaistow Handbell Ringers Association

WELCOME

Welcome to the KIPHRA home page.

KIPHRA are a team of handbell ringers in West Sussex who play when and where we're asked, usually within a 30 mile radius of our three villages of Kirdfrord, Ifold and Plaistow.

We have performed on TV and radio, in Guildford Cathedral and, in 2013, at an International Festival of Modern Composers in Hastings (see picture below). Our present Musical Director even played handbells in the film 'The Madness of King George'.

We practise every Thursday at Kelsey Hall, Ifold, 7.30-9.45 pm under the expert guidance of our Musical Director Tim Willetts.

If you've never listened to Handbells before, come along to one of our concerts - we are sure you'll find it very entertaining!

We would love to have some new members. Anyone can learn to ring and you would be very welcome to come along and try it.

CONTACT US

Our email address is:   kym1948@gmail.com