I’m going to start with the AGM, which was held on Saturday. Thanks you to the Kettering branch for the arrangements, including the weather, where the sun induced people to spill out of the Church House at Barton Seagrave onto the lawns behind. 

Guild AGM

The AGM was held on Saturday. After a service including a pop quiz on bells, a splendid tea was enjoyed in the adjacent Church House. This was followed by the AGM, at which Simon Dixon stepped down as Master & Jim Bence was elected. Jim & Gwynneth White stood down as Report Editors and Nick Watts was elected. Cat Hemmington was elected as Youth Officer. The post of PRO remains vacant. 

Recruitment & Training Officer. 

In my last mail I sent out the role description for the Recruitment & Training Officer, which had been initiated at the GMC meeting in May, with an introduction from Simon Dixon. At the AGM, the President pushed for a deferral of the appointment until September as only very short notice had been given to members. On a vote, this proposal was agreed by the meeting.  Unfortunately, the existing nomination was not acknowledged, which was regrettable. Concern was expressed from the floor about how this hand been handled from the Chair. As a result, an apology will be sent to the person concerned, thanking them for their willingness to stand and with the sincere hope that they will carry over their nomination until September.

Nominations for this post are, therefore, still open and can be sent to me before the Summer Festival. The role description is attached. 

Social Event – date for the diary. 

After the success of the social events for the Centenary, there will be a social event factored into the Guild’s calendar. We’re starting with a Quiz and fish’n’chip supper on 14^th February 2026. Location TBC and details to follow nearer the time, but please put the date in your diary. And let’s see if I can remember to bring the Guild’s quiz trophy with me this time!

Teachers and ringing

Part of the Ringing 2030 project has been to produce a set of lesson plans suitable for Keystages 2 & 3.  The plans contain lessons with different curriculum focus covering multiple different areas through different aspects of ringing. It aims to familiarise children with ringing, it is not trying to teach them to ring, but that could obviously be an offshoot of this. 

There is now a desire to have teachers of these key stages look at the plans and trial them. They need to work for teachers other than the author of the plans. There will be a zoom meeting on the 20^th July. If you are interested, please register. If you interested but can’t attend, please contact Andrea Haynes, who is running the project: andrea.haynes@cccbr.org.uk. She’s in Rugby direction, so our area’s in a good position for testing0. 

Striking analysis

You may have heard of Hawkear, a system that takes a recording of a piece of ringing and can analyse it for striking and present a graphical display of the ringing – helpful for those of us who think visually. It has not been widely applicable, as the system has to be trained to detect the strike for the bells at the specific tower at which it is installed. 

Oliver Rice had a bit of spare time and has generated an app that can take a recording of any tower and present a similar visual analysis of the striking. He’s called it Brenda, which stands for Bell REcording with Novel Data Analysis. He apologises to anyone called Brenda! 

Oliver posted that “After a month or so of reasonably intense beta testing, I think my striking web app is probably ready for public consumption… I still expect there to be plenty of bugs — please let me know if you find any! I also imagine it’ll crash this evening if lots of people use it, but we’ll see. Many thanks to my beta testers for finding problems and suggesting new things.

Since my last post I’ve added several new features, including a plaintext ‘striking report’ aimed at providing useful feedback, and a ‘touch library’ where you can create and share collections of ringing. 

It can be found at https://brenda.oekrice.com/ . If you don’t have any recordings yet but would like to see what it can do, I’ve uploaded some example touches to https://brenda.oekrice.com/Analyse_Striking…

It has been tested successfully at around 50 towers with a wide variety of bell weights and acoustics, and usually works with ringing chamber recordings unless the bells are particularly indistinct or quiet. It also works nicely with most recordings from the 12 bell website if you’d like to try that.”

You obviously need a recording of a piece of ringing that doesn’t contain too much other noise and each bell can be heard. If anyone tries it, we’d be interested to know what you make of it. 

Wicken church roof

I’ve rung at Wicken several times, but never realised that the chancel ceiling is significant. It is of papier mache and is now to be restored. I’ll try and remember to have a look next time I ring there.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgrdxey9gxo

Dates for the Diary

Guild 10 Bell Practice Saturday 12^th July. 10:30 – 12:30 Higham Ferrers. 

Guild 10 Bell Practice Saturday 12^th July. 10:30 – 12:30 TBC

Guild Summer Festival Saturday 13^th September. Ringing at Yarwell & Wansford, Contest and evening ringing at Castor.

And Branch events. 

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 19^th June 2:30 Wadenhoe

Wellingborough Surprise Practice Saturday 21^st June 10:30 Woodford

Daventry Branch Practice Saturday 21^st June 3:30 Church Stowe, 6:30 Pattishall

Culworth Branch Practice Saturday 21^st June 4:00 Lois Weedon, 6:30 Pattishall

Towcester Branch Practice Saturday 28^th June 10:30 Greens Norton

Northampton Branch Practice Saturday 28^th June 2:30 Duston

Thrapston Branch Practice Wednesday 2^nd July 7:00  Titchmarsh

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday 5^th July 3:00 Great Oxendon, 6:00 East Farndon

Peterborough Surprise Minor Social Sunday 6^th July 2:30 Nassington

Peterborough 8 bell practice Friday 11^th July, 7:30 Castor

Kettering Branch Practice Saturday 12^th July, Weldon 2:00, Corby 3:15. 

I’d like to thank members for my repeated election as Secretary and to assure them that I will always work to what I believe to be the best interests of the Guild.

Thanks

Helen

Helen Allton

Secretary: Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PDGCBR

Website: www.pdg.org.uk

e-mail: secretary@pdg.org.uk

At the Guild Management Committee meeting held at the end of May it was decided to create a new post of Recruiment and Training officer in order to build upon the work done in training since the end of lockdown. Attached is a suggested job description.   

Anybody wishing to stand for this post would need to be proposed and seconded in writing (email is fine) prior to the day of the AGM. 

If anybody would like to discuss the job please contact the master. 

Regards, Simon

below is the role description

I’m going to start with a thank you. This week has been Volunteers week. Each and every ringer is a volunteer, offering their time, effort and skill to support their tower, their branch and their Guild. Without each of you, there would be a lot less ringing taking place across the diocese. So thank you for turning up and ringing. 

Guild AGM

Talking of turning up, the Guild AGM is fast approaching, it’s on Saturday. The main part of the day will be at Barton Seagrave, with towers open in the afternoon. Details can be found on the website, here:  https://pdg.org.uk/homepage/agm Harrington have been confirmed, so the towers are as listed. 

Please get your names for tea and any dietary requirements to Caroline Mitchell by 9^th June.

See you there!

We still have some posts without nomination, PRO & Report Editor still looking for a volunteer or two… 

VJ Day

Having just got the list of towers that rang for VE day, next on the horizon is VJ Day. There are more details on the CCCBRs website. 

Banners of bellringing

As a cross stitcher, I have sometimes used bellringing methods as patterns for cross stitch. Instead of a note, each bell becomes a different colour. This link gives you an example: https://www.facebook.com/PDGCBR/videos/1745784608932919

But I’ve never done anything on the scale of this project. Edward Bruce is planning on hanging two banners 33 ft long in the crossing of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, in Edinburgh. The video explains more. I particularly like the way the light catches on the material of the woven banners. https://youtu.be/CdtsPaB8KAM

Other means of communication

If you are on Bluesky or Instagram you can follow the Guild feed on both of those platforms. We admit we’re still getting the hang of it! 

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/pdgcbr/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pdgcbr.bsky.social

Be good to have you along. 

Dates for the Diary

Guild AGM Saturday 14^th June. 1:45 Wilby & Harrington, 2:45 Cranford St John, 3:30 Barton Seagrave for ringing, service, tea & meeting (5:45) and evening ringing. 

And Branch events. 

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 19^th June 2:30 Wadenhoe

Wellingborough Surprise Practice Saturday 21^st June 10:30 Woodford

Daventry Branch Practice Saturday 21^st June 3:30 Church Stowe, 6:30 Pattishall

Culworth Branch Practice Saturday 21^st June 4:00 Lois Weedon, 6:30 Pattishall

Towcester Branch Practice Saturday 28^th June 10:30 Greens Norton

Northampton Branch Practice Saturday 28^th June 2:30 Duston

Thrapston Branch Practice Wednesday 2^nd July 7:00  Titchmarsh

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday 5^th July 3:00 Great Oxendon, 6:00 East Farndon

Peterborough Surprise Minor Social Sunday 6^th July 2:30 Nassington

See you on Saturday

Helen 

Helen Allton

Secretary: Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PDGCBR

Website: www.pdg.org.uk

e-mail: secretary@pdg.org.uk

I hesitate to say this, but hasn’t the weather been nice? Slightly worried that this might be it for summer, but I’m crossing my fingers there’s more to come. Although I can hear the gardeners wanting a drop of rain. OK, but only when I don’t want to be outside; overnight only, alright? 

Guild AGM

The Guild AGM in in June, based at Barton Seagrave. Details can be found on the website, here:  https://pdg.org.uk/latest-news/agm-2025April

We need nominations for Guild officers, if you know of someone who would be good at taking on a post, get onto them and send the proposals & seconds to me in writing or by e-mail. Job descriptions can be found on the website. Posts that are falling vacant are Report Editor & Master, with no PRO having been in post for the last year. The Guild is only as good as its volunteers, we need you! 

VE Day

Well done to all the towers that rang or chimed or otherwise make a noise for the 80^th anniversary of VE day. So far, I think there’s over 100 towers who have rung and put their ringing on BellBoard. There will be a full list in the next newsletter. 

Scouts visit to St Benedict’s West Hunsbury

Somehow, I got inveigled into giving a talk to a Scout group at West Hunsbury this week, on ringing. Thanks to Debbie Sampson’s powers of persuasion, there were a good number of helpers to get the scouts ringing call changes on handbells, tunes on bellplates, walking plain hunt and watching some ringing in the ringing room. It made for an interesting evening and hopefully they learnt something – even if it’s just that not all bells are rung by machines. I was reminded (again) how hard it is working with children – and this lot were quite well behaved. I have renewed my admiration for those who do. 

Dates for the Diary

Guild AGM Saturday 14^th June. 1:45 Wilby & Harrington (tbc), 2:45 Cranford St John, 3:30 Barton Seagrave for ringing, service, tea & meeting (5:45) and evening ringing. 

And Branch events. 

Rutland 8 Bell Practice Tuesday 20^th May 7:30Oakham

Peterborough Surprise Minor Social Sunday 1^stJune 2:30 Cotterstock

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 5^th June 7:30 Islip

Rutland Doubles Practice Saturday 7^th June 10:15North Luffenham

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday 7^th June 3:00 Spratton, 6:00 Cottesbrooke

Peterborough Practice Sunday 8^th June 2:00Peterborough St Mary

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 19^th June 2:30Wadenhoe

Wellingborough Surprise Practice Saturday 21^stJune 10:30 Woodford

Daventry Branch Practice Saturday 21^st June 3:30Church Stowe, 6:30 Pattishall

Culworth Branch Practice Saturday 21^st June 4:00Lois Weedon, 6:30 Pattishall

That’s all for now.

Helen 

Helen Allton

Secretary: Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PDGCBR

Website: www.pdg.org.uk

e-mail: secretary@pdg.org.uk

Hope that the Bank holiday has been nice for you. I’ve lazed around and done very little, which makes for a nice change!

VE Day

I know that a number of towers are planning on ringing for the VE day commemorations – some have already rung to mark the anniversary. If you do ring, please enter it on BellBoard and we’ll be able to pick up who rang as a record of our events. It’s not important what time you ring, it’s more important to fit in with other local commemorations taking place.  

Guild AGM

The Guild AGM in in June, based at Barton Seagrave. Details can be found on the website, here:  https://pdg.org.uk/latest-news/agm-2025April

We need nominations for Guild officers, if you know of someone who would be good at taking on a post, get onto them and send the proposals & seconds to me in writing or by e-mail. Job descriptions can be found on the website. Posts that are falling vacant are Report Editor & Master, with no PRO having been in post for the last year. The Guild is only as good as its volunteers, we need you! 

CCCBR latest

A reminder that May sees Bell Sunday. It is being advertised on the CCCBR website. 

There’s another in a series of open meeting by the CCCBR, this one looking at subscription and affiliation for University societies and others in a similar position with respect to members. 

Radio Northampton

Radio BBC Northamptonshire presenter Annabel Amos has a slot called Desert Island Dishes, where an interviewee selects 2 courses and a drink for their meal. Last week focused on Badby and Geoff Pullin was interviewed Thursday. You can find his interview at 3h:40min in. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002b5fr

World Record attempt

There are world records for all sorts of things, but not for the number of ringers ringing at a tower in 12 hours. Or not yet, that is. Charlton was looking to raise money for the works in the church and celebrate the 25 years since their bells were installed and came up with the idea (in the pub, where else). Ringers can book a slot of 5 minutes within the 12 hours to ring. They can also enjoy the Gloucester & Bristol open day on 10^th May in the same area. Parking will be at Charlton Village Hall during this attempt, to provide facilities, there will also be the Mobile Belfry Trust ‘Touring Tower’ for people to ‘grab’. Refreshments of a Mini Beer & Cider Festival from Midday until 10pm, with hot refreshments from 8am until 8pm. For more details, see their website. 

For the ringing: https://www.charltonbells.co.uk/world-record-attempt/

For the open day: https://www.charltonbells.co.uk/tower-open-day/

It’s certainly a novel idea for an open day!

Dates for the Diary

Guild 10 bell  Saturday 10^th May Moulton 10:30 – 12:30. 

Guild AGM Saturday 14^th June. 1:45 Wilby & Harrington (tbc), 2:45 Cranford St John, 3:30 Barton Seagrave for ringing, service, tea & meeting (5:45) and evening ringing. 

And Branch events. 

Peterborough 8 bell Practice Friday 9^th May 7:30Castor

Peterborough Young Ringers Group Practice Sunday 11^th May 4:00 Barnack

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 15^th May 2:30Brigstock

Wellingborough Surprise Practice Saturday 17^thMay 10:30 Rushden

Wellingborough Branch Practice Saturday 17^th May 2:30 Castle Ashby

Culworth Branch Practice Saturday 17^th May 7:30Culworth

Peterborough Practice Sunday 18^th May 3:30Peterborough St Johns. 

Rutland 8 Bell Practice Tuesday 20^th May 7:30Oakham

Peterborough Surprise Minor Social Sunday 1^stJune 2:30 Cotterstock

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 5^th June 7:30 Islip

Rutland Doubles Practice Saturday 7^th June 10:15North Luffenham

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday 7^th June 3:00 Spratton, 6:00 Cottesbrooke

Hoping your week goes well after the nice start. I’m off to the Dentist for a prolonged appointment, so your week will hopefully be better than mine! 

Helen 

Helen Allton

Secretary: Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PDGCBR

Website: www.pdg.org.uk

e-mail: secretary@pdg.org.uk

Happy Easter all. 

For Easter Day Corby were able to ring for the first time after their work had been completed by O’Shea Engineering and volunteers during Holy week. Seasonally most appropriate. Well done to all concerned. 

Guild News

The Guild’s Annual report for 2024 has been printed and is being distributed. Coming soon to your tower. Copies that had been requested by members will be distributed through your branches. 

Guild News Pt 2

The April edition of the Guild Newsletter is also available. It is being distributed to towers and is also available electronically. https://pdg.org.uk/newsletters/newsletter_202504.pdf

I have sent copies to the church authorities and both Archdeacons have responded thanking ringers for their efforts. Archdeacon Richard enjoyed hearing the bells ringing in the Spring sunshine as he headed to take the service at Courteenhall yesterday. 

Young Ringers Event

On 26^th April in Daventry from 10 to 12 am there’s an event for Young Ringers. That aims to encourage young people to come up the tower and have a go. They could be existing ringers who want to get involved with other ringers their own age. Or they could be young people who might be encouraged to try ringing. Justin Baker is corralling a team of volunteers; he can be contacted on ringing_master@daventry.pdg.org.uk

https://pdg.org.uk/latest-news/youth-ringing-day-in-daventry

Spring Meeting

The Spring meeting all went off well last weekend. Even the weather played ball. Thanks to the Thrapston branch for laying on the tea and to the Dixons for the organising. Congratulations to Peterborough Cathedral on their first win of the Weaver Shield. Pattishall retained the Centenary trophy. 

Report can be found here: https://pdg.org.uk/latest-news/spring-meeting-2025

And the band photos are here: https://pdg.org.uk/latest-news/spring-meeting-2025-method-bands and here: https://pdg.org.uk/latest-news/spring-meeting-2025-call-change-bands

Let me know if you want a copy of your photos. They may be of use in an item in your parish magazine or village newsletter. Tell your community what you’ve been getting up to. 

CCCBR latest

Bell Sunday is being advertised on the CCCBR website. 

ART Training day

Alistair Donaldson is arranging an ART training day on 28^th June at Rothwell. If you are interested in a place, please get in touch with him: president@pdg.org.uk

https://pdg.org.uk/latest-news/art-event-rothwell-june-2025

Dates for the Diary

Guild 10 bell  Saturday 10^th May Moulton 10:30 – 12:30. 

And Branch events. 

Wellingborough Branch Practice Saturday 26^th April 2:30 Great Doddington

Daventry Branch Practice Saturday 26^th April 3:00 Welton 6:30 Long Buckby

Northampton Branch Practice Saturday 26^th April 7:00 Boughton

Culworth Branch Practice Saturday 26^th April 7:30 Evenley

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 1^st May 7:30 Great Addington

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday 3^rd May 3:00  Lilbourne, 6:00 Crick

Peterborough 8 bell Practice Friday 9^th May 7:30 Castor

Peterborough Striking Workshop Sunday 11^th May 2:00 Wadenhoe

Peterborough Young Ringers Group Practice Sunday 11^th May 4:00 Barnack

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 15^th May 2:30 Brigstock

Wellingborough Surprise Practice Saturday 17^th May 10:30 Rushden

Wellingborough Branch Practice Saturday 17^th May 2:30 Castle Ashby

Culworth Branch Practice Saturday 17^th May 7:30 Culworth

Peterborough Practice Sunday 18^th May 3:30 Peterborough St Johns. 

Rutland 8 Bell Practice Tuesday 20^th May 7:30 Oakham

That’s all Folks. 

Helen 

Helen Allton

Secretary: Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PDGCBR

Website: www.pdg.org.uk

e-mail: secretary@pdg.org.uk

Unfortunately, the 8-bell practice scheduled for this Sunday, 13th April, has been cancelled. Apologies for the short notice.

On Saturday I was in London, having a day out in the big city. As I came out of the crypt at St Martin in the Fields, the 12 bells were ringing for a wedding. Lots of wedding hats in evidence; I hope they stayed put, it was a tad blustery. Also some rather irritated buskers, who had no chance of competing with a total of over 6 tons of metal swinging around! 

Spring Meeting

The Spring meeting is on Saturday. As last year, there are 2 trophies up for grabs, one for method ringing bands, the other for call change bands. 

The contest will take place at Great Addington for the method ringing and call change bands at Twywell. Ringing at both towers starts around 3 pm and should be concluded by 5pm. Teams will have had their start times already. 

At Twywell there is a little parking on the road through the village – please don’t go down the lane to the church, there is no parking down there. 

At Great Addington there is the Memorial Hall carpark. At either tower, please park with consideration for the locals. 

Tea will be at Islip village hall from 4 pm, with the results and a brief business meeting at 6 pm. There will be evening ringing at Islip. The village hall is on Old Farm Lane, Islip, NN14 3LY. There is parking at the hall, but you may need to park in the village and walk up. 

There will be a raffle for the BRF, so bring your lucky cash with you. Also Jim & Sarah Bence will have their CCCBR bookshop with them. Well, maybe not all of it! They’ll be able to offer a discount on list prices, but it is card only payment. 

See you all there!

Young Ringers

The trip that the young ringers based around Daventry had to Nottingham recently featured in this month’s edition of CrossKeys, the diocese’s newsletter. https://www.peterborough-diocese.org.uk/aboutus/news/daventryyoungringersrepresentthepdgatregionalyouthevent.php

That makes reference to the event on 26^th April in Daventry from 10 to 12 am . That aims to encourage young people to come up the tower and have a go. They could be existing ringers who want to get involved with other ringers their own age. Or they could be young people who might be encouraged to try ringing. Justin Baker is corralling a team of volunteers; he can be contacted on ringing_master@daventry.pdg.org.uk

The diocese is happy to share items of interest, but they do like them to be accompanied by pictures of happy people! Pass items of interest or notice of events open to the public to me and I can send them on.  

CCCBR latest

The President’s blog makes an appearance. https://cccbr.org.uk/2025/04/06/presidents-blog-99/

Ringing Courses.

If a period of concentrated ringing learning at a ringing school sounds like something you might enjoy or benefit from, then there are 2 that have their application dates soon. 

Applications are now open for the North West Ringing Course 2025 for both Students and Helpers. The Course will be based at Borwick Hall near Carnforth in Lancashire from Thursday 7^th August to Sunday 10^th August. All details can be found on our website at https://nwringingcourse.uk or contact us on enquiries@nwringingcourse.uk

The Southwest Bell Ringing Course is Friday 24th October – Monday 27th October 2025 at Millfield School, Street, Somerset, BA16 0YD. Application for Students and Helpers places will open on 1st May 2025. https://southwest-ringing-course.org.uk/

Dates for the Diary

Spring Meeting Saturday 12^th April Contest at Great Addington/Twywell. Tea 4:00 Islip Village Hall. Results and meeting 6:00. Evening Ringing at Islip. 

Guild 10 bell  Saturday 10^th May Moulton 10:30 – 12:30. 

And Branch events. 

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 10^th April 2:30Wadenhoe

Kettering Branch Practice “on the way” to the Spring Meeting Saturday 12^th April 1:30 Geddington

Peterborough 8 bell practice Sunday 13^th April 2:00Peterborough St Mary. 

Wellingborough Branch Practice Saturday 26^thApril 2:30 Great Doddington

Daventry Branch Practice Saturday 26^th April 3:00Welton 6:30 Long Buckby

Northampton Branch Practice Saturday 26^th April 7:00 Boughton

Culworth Branch Practice Saturday 26^th April 7:30Evenley

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 1^st May 7:00Great Addington

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday 3^rd May 3:00  Lilbourne, 6:00 Crick

Peterborough 8 bell Practice Friday 9^th May 7:30Castor

By the time I send my next update, it will be Easter. Don’t eat all the eggs at once (or is it just me that tries to do that!)

Thanks 

Helen 

Helen Allton

Secretary: Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PDGCBR

Website: www.pdg.org.uk

e-mail: secretary@pdg.org.uk

And suddenly it feels like spring might be around the corner. Several ringing outings in the last few weeks have had an array of snowdrops carpeting the floor. And now the crocus and daffs are sticking their heads above ground. Must be almost Spring Meeting time – see more below!

Last weekend the Cathedral held a service in celebration of Rutland and the Rutland branch had arranged a number of ringers to go to the Cathedral and ring before the service. I headed along to join them. Alan Ellis marshalled his resources well, with support from the Cathedral band, and there was ringing on 8, 10 and 12. For a majority it was a first occasion ringing on 10 and 12. I hope they enjoyed the experience.

I particularly enjoyed the Cathedral staff trying out the Rutland flag upside down and being put right by ringers from Rutland who had were gathering before going upstairs. With the Lord Lieutenant present, that could have been a little embarrassing. See, ringers are useful people to have about. 

Spring Meeting

The Spring Meeting is the 6 bell striking contest. As last year, there are 2 trophies up for grabs, one for method ringing bands, the other for call change bands. 

The contest will take place on Saturday 12^th April at Great Addington, with Twywell if needed due to number of entries. 

Tea will be at Islip village hall from 4 pm, with the results and a brief business meeting at 6 pm. There will be evening ringing at Islip.

The draw will be performed in advance and teams need get their entries to Simon Dixon by 2^nd Aprilmaster@pdg.org.uk. Remember that Simon’s not very psychic, so if your band needs to ring early or late due to needing to ring for a wedding or some other commitment, he needs to know that with your entry please! 

We had 21 teams in a bumper entry last year. I hope that we’ll see many of those teams again, and maybe some new ones. A great day was had by all, see you there! You can see all the fun and games in the website report of last year. https://pdg.org.uk/history/2024-centenary-events/centenary-spring-meeting-april

10 bell practice

This weekend we had the Guild’s 10 bell practice, at Kettering. This time we rang call changes, plain hunt, Grandsire, Little Bob, Yorkshire, London & Bristol. If you’re confident ringing on 8 this is the opportunity to try ringing on higher numbers. It’s also a chance to stretch your repertoire on 10 bells. Having dealt with 10 ropes makes 8 seem easier! The next practice is Saturday 10^th May at Moulton, starting at 10:30. 

100 Club

Due to the increased number of members in the 100 club, at the GMC last weekend we agreed to change the prize structure, increasing the number of winners to 4 each month. That increases the chances of an entry being drawn. You can, of course, increase your chances of winning further by taking an additional number.  For details contact 100_club@pdg.org.uk. 

CCCBR latest

The President’s latest blog is available. https://cccbr.org.uk/2025/02/28/presidents-blog-98/

There is a DAC Bell Advisor’s conference in Leeds on Thursday 3^rd April. You don’t have to be a DAC to attend. There’s some confusion as to the year, as 2024, 2025 and 2026 all get a mention in the paperwork! We have asked for clarification. https://cccbr.org.uk/2025/03/07/dac-bell-advsiors-conference-2025/

Dates for the Diary

Spring Meeting Saturday 12^th April Contest at Great Addington/Twywell. Tea 4:00 Islip Village Hall. Results and meeting 6:00. Evening Ringing at Islip. 

Guild 10 bell  Saturday 10^th May Moulton 10:30 – 12:30. 

And Branch events. 

Peterborough 8 bell practice Friday 14^th March 7:30Castor

Wellingborough Surprise Practice Saturday 15^thMarch 10:30 Orlingbury

Wellingborough Branch Practice Saturday 15^thMarch 7:00 Finedon

Daventry Branch Practice Saturday 15^th March 3:00Kislingbury 6:30 Northampton Holy Sepulchre

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 20^th March 2:30 Thrapston

Rutland 8 bell practice Thursday 20^th March 7:30Uppingham

Towcester Branch Practice Saturday 22^nd March 10:00 Calverton, 11:15 Cosgrove

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday  5^th April 3:00  Scaldwell, 6:00 Brixworth

Peterborough Grandsire/Stedman Practice Sunday 6^th April 2:30 Glinton

Thrapston Branch Practice Thursday 10^th April 2:30Wadenhoe

Kettering Branch Practice “on the way” to the Spring Meeting Saturday 12^th April 1:30 Geddington

Peterborough 8 bell practice Sunday 13^th April 2:00Peterborough St Mary. 

For International Women’s Day yesterday I was happy to share the picture of the peal board in Isham (a not very good photo attached). It’s an unassuming little peal board that says that it is the first peal by a band of ladies in the county, what it does not mention is that this was the first peal by an all female band where the tenor was turned in. While the PDG did not exist until 2 years after this peal, we should be proud that our area played a part in history.

Thanks 

Helen 

Helen Allton

Secretary: Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PDGCBR

Website: www.pdg.org.uk

e-mail: secretary@pdg.org.uk

February has arrived and, along with the snowdrops I saw at Harrington yesterday, it has come equipped with something that my phone has taken to describing as “wintery mix”. Which is a lot less fun than it sounds. March is very nearly upon us and Spring must be around the corner. Also the Guild’s General Management Committee on the 1^st March, when your secretary again gets to see, once more, how unreadable her writing can be. As a very wise man once said, the minutes should reflect what should have been said, not necessarily what was actually said… 

Guild Report
One last reminder that if you want a copy of the Guild’s Annual Report, you need to let me know by the end of the month. For the Centenary we’re ringing the changes and having a full colour printed cover. It will certainly stand out from the usual report. Mail me with your requests, if you haven’t already. Otherwise requests will be charged at £5, as for non-members. 

Fundraising

The Treasurer has written a piece on how to take advantage of your online shopping habit to raise money for the Guild, using EasyFundraising or Give as you Live. In either case, you go through the site to your usually shopping website and the retailer gives either an amount or a percentage of your spend to the Guild. The details are on thew website. https://pdg.org.uk/latest-news/online-shoppers-a-call-to-arms

First Peal

On Saturday Pattishall rang the first peal on the augmented 8. They went to 8 from 6 bells just prior to Christmas 2023 and were helped with a grant from the Guild’s Bell Repair Fund. The band was a mostly local band with a first on 8 and a first of Grandsire as conductor. Congratulations to all concerned. https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/view.php?id=1823627

Books for sale

Charlotte Eley is downsizing her substantial book collection. The list of what is available, and prices can be found on the website. Please contact Charlotte direct to discuss further. https://pdg.org.uk/latest-news/books-available

More books for sale

At the Kettering branch AGM, Jim & Sarah Bence held their first popup shop of the CCCBR books that they are managing. You may have seen a smiley picture of then in a recent Ringing World, advertising the fact that they have taken this on. They have a large range of books for sale and regularly have bundle offers, so keep your eyes on the shop https://shop.cccbr.org.uk/ and their social media profile. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569273783797

Dates for the Diary

Guild 10 bell  Saturday 8^th March Kettering 10:30 – 12:30. 

And Branch events. 

Towcester Branch Practice Saturday 22nd February 10:00 Blakesley, 11:15 Church Stowe 

Northampton Branch Practice Saturday 22^ndFebruary 2:30 Cogenhoe

Rutland Plain Hunt Workshop Saturday 1^st March 10:15 Preston

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday 1^st March 3:00 Cold Ashby

Kettering Branch Practice Saturday 8^th March 2:00Arthingworth 3:15 Kelmarsh

Wellingborough Surprise Practice Saturday 15^thMarch 10:30 Orlingbury

Wellingborough Branch Practice Saturday 15^thMarch 7:00 Finedon

Daventry Branch Practice Saturday 15^th March 3:00Kislingbury 6:30 Northampton Holy Sepulchre

Rutland 8 bell practice Thursday 20^th March 7:30Uppingham

Towcester Branch Practice Saturday 22^nd March 10:00 Calverton, 11:15 Cosgrove

Thanks 

Helen 

Helen Allton

Secretary: Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PDGCBR

Website: www.pdg.org.uk

e-mail: secretary@pdg.org.uk