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To say Ryan Trout is following in his family's footsteps with his love of bell ringing does not quite do his interest justice.

The 29-year-old's dedication to campanology is part of a family tradition which includes his father, uncles, aunts and a host of other relations.

He has been involved in bell ringing since he was nine and is now the youngest ever chairman of the Devon Association of Ringers.

"My Dad used to take myself and my sister to ringing all over Devon and when I was old enough at the age of nine I started to learn to ring.

"I was fascinated with the sound and how a rope could make a noise."

The society of which he is now chair covers Call-change Ringing in Devon.

Ryan Trout has been bellringing for 20 years

There are two different ways of ringing church bells in Devon, in most other areas there is only one.

With Devon Call-change ringing the captain calls the changes, the alternative method is when each individual has to learn a course of changes in their heads.

The team from St Edward's in Eggbuckland - where Ryan rings - have been Devon Six Bell Champions 17 times in the past three decades so Ryan says he has been taught by "some of the best ringers in the county".

The team competes across the country where their style of ringing has raised an eyebrow or two among the ringing fraternity

"Some people are stunned by the way we ring," said Ryan, from Estover in Plymouth. "And some method ringers don't like it."

His love of bell ringing throughout his teenage years subsisted alongside the more usual adolescent preoccupations of football, rugby and athletics and he does believe there is a kind of stigma attached to bell ringing among younger people - which he hopes to combat.

"You don't have to be religious in any way to ring church bells and you don't really have to be musical, what you do have to have is the commitment it takes to learn the art of ringing."

And in his role at the Devon Association of Ringers he is hoping to attract more young people to his way of bell ringing to ensue the tradition is kept alive.

"It's waning and I want to keep it alive and to push our way of ringing to a wider audience, " he said.

And he hopes a CD scheduled for release in September - Church Bells of Devon and Beyond - will play a part in that too.

Ryan spends up to six hours a week bell ringing - practicing and competing - and his work colleagues at the CSA in Plymouth are intrigued by his pastime.

"People always asked why I do it, I say that I enjoy the sound and I enjoy the team work and most of all I enjoy the pub afterwards.

"There aren't many churches in Devon that don't have a pub near them, so after some thirsty work ringing you have to quench it somehow!"