Denis Woodham to ring bells for King Charles III at St Paul's Anglican Church, Manuka

While he was still at university, Mr Woodham joined his local church and managed to secure a front-row seat at the celebrations of Queen Elizabeth's coronation as a bellringer.

He travelled across the United Kingdom to ensure village churches had bellringers for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.

"We tried to cover as many little places that didn't have a team of ringers - we wanted the bells ringing in as many of the villages as possible that day," he said.

Seventy years later and 17,000km away, Mr Woodham will ring in the coronation of King Charles.

On Sunday evening Mr Woodham will climb the stairs of the bell tower at St Paul's Anglican Church in Manuka to ring the bells for the coronation of a second monarch in his lifetime.

The 90-year-old remembers the day Queen Elizabeth was coronated as an exciting occasion but said times were frugal for a 20-year-old living in post-World War II Europe.

"There was still rationing in Britain," he recalled.

He learned bellringing at London's Emmanuel Church and he attended the same college as the King Charles, but he was his senior so they didn't have time to become friends.

Bellringing keeps Mr Woodham healthy, he said, adding his grumbling knees would not stop him from ringing the church bells in the traditional English manner.

St Paul's Anglican Church is the only church in the ACT which has bells rung in the traditional English style.

The eight bells that will ring on Sunday were installed and dedicated in June 2003 and the 20^th anniversary will be celebrated in June.

Mr Woodham is still fit for his age and will participate in the bellringing ceremony without interruption.

St Paul's will conduct a a general ring which is a short session of ringing.

"Touch is the word used to describe general ringing - and that means a short period of ringing maybe for five minutes," Mr Woodham said.

Mr Woodham will swing the bell in a 360-degree circle, instead of the more common method of striking the bell.

"It's manual exercise, but it's not necessarily hard work. It's more skill - you have to have a fine touch in adjusting the bell," he said.

As they did 70 years ago during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who entered Westminster Abbey with all the church bells of London ringing, churches across the world will ring in King Charles's coronation.

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St Paul's will begin a general ringing ceremony at 6pm, to be followed by a coronation service.

Mr Woodham will celebrate his 91^st birthday soon and is looking forward to teaching the next generation the art of bellringing.

"I help them, particularly the young ones. I teach them how to ring," he said.

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