Sound of Silence as Bells of Brierley Hill an online hit
Many people will have heard of the film The Bells of St Mary's, a 1940s classic starring Bing Crosby.
Fewer will perhaps be aware of the Bells of Brierley Hill, a video about a group of bell ringers in the town who have become a bit of a YouTube sensation – and attracted the interest of German TV.
It could even have been called The Sound of Silence as it tells the story of how new hi-tech equipment allows the bell ringers to practice quietly and not disturb their neighbours.
It became hugely popular on YouTube and has now amassed more than 83,000 hits.
The group of bell ringers at St Michael's Church were filmed by Wild Rice Films on behalf of Historic England and spent five days in and around the town.
"The YouTube numbers are viral for a subject like bell ringing," said group spokesman Tim Sunter. "It just took off and attracted interest from German TV."
Their fame spread to Germany and as the bells were about to ring out across the UK for the King's coronation, the television company decided to journey to Brierley Hill and make their own film about it.
In the run-up to the coronation, ZDF TV were looking for fascinating bell-ringing stories, and thought the town's ringers would be a perfect starting point.
So they came across from Mainz in Germany to the Black Country and began filming at St Michael's Church in the town.
One of their crew even joined in to learn the basics of bell ringing.
Historic England had given the group £1,500 to buy a bell simulator and software.
While the technology allows members to train in silence without the bells being heard outside the tower, they ring out all over the town during church services.
Mr Sunter took up bell-ringing in 2014 after seeing a tweet which noted the bells of the Grade II listed church did not ring anymore.
After training with the Birmingham School of Bell Ringing, he and his wife Jenny, along with other volunteers, began ringing the bells on Friday evenings and on Sundays.
The German video can be seen - about 16 minutes into the film at zdf.de/gesellschaft/volle-kanne/volle-kanne-vom-14-april-2023-mit-hans-klok-100.html
