If you haven’t already seen this and would like to take part please see below the details and link to the guild website.

Saturday 9th March : Nene Valley Challenge 
This will be a fun mini outing/tower grab with space for many ringers of all abilities. Held in the morning, it will culminate in a ringers’ lunch with hot drinks at Thrapston. Please note that this event is also suited to less experienced ringers (who may like to bring along a mentor).

The Challenge: Ringers may have aspirations, they want to challenge themselves a little. Could you ring plain bob or call changes on different rings of bells on the same day? Or would you just like to confidently ring at three different towers without assistance? Come along to the Nene Valley and get a certificate to prove that you can….

Participants should register in advance with their personal challenge so that they can be assigned to a particular route, and to allow assessors in each tower to have a list of who to expect. Bookings for lunch will also be required.

For more information, and to book for the lunch, please contact centenary pdg.org.uk

https://www.pdg.org.uk/pdg-100#3

At the danger of sounding like a scratched record, it’s been very wet of late. Maybe with March starting next week and spring on the horizon it might start to dry out. Hopefully you’ve not, like Dr Foster, stepped into a puddle up to you middle – or even just above your boot tops. Squelch. 

Guild 100^th Anniversary 

As part of the Guild’s centenary, we are going to make a change to the Guild’s 6 bell striking contest, to take place on Saturday April 13^th. In order to encourage band with less experience, we’re going to introduce a new, Centenary Trophy. This will be awarded to the highest placed band ringing call changes. The current Weaver Shield will be presented to the highest placed method ringing band. This aims to encourage bands that might feel they might not produce their best ringing while ringing methods to enter a band. Good striking is important no matter the complexity of what is being rung and well struck call changes are a challenge for all bands. I went to see the maker this afternoon and it is going to be an impressive piece that will look good in any tower. No pictures, that would spoil the surprise. There’s plenty of time to get practising…  

The next event is the Nene Valley Challenge on 9^thMarch. Details have been circulated. If you want to set yourself a challenge, or come to help (or both) get in touch. 

There was a peal rung at Desborough on Friday 9^thFebruary. This was on the 100^th anniversary of the first peal for the Guild and was rung using the same method and composition (but not the same ringers). Well done to all concerned on marking the anniversary this way. Not an easy feat. https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/view.php?id=1697748

The picture of the original peal band with their peal board can be found here. https://pdg.org.uk/history/photos

Dates for the Diary

Guild 100th Anniversary event Sunday 9^th MarchNene Valley Challenge, Thrapston area. Ringing at a variety of towers in the morning followed by a light lunch.  

Guild 10 bell Practice Saturday 9^th March 6:30Location Moulton (note this is an evening practice)

Guild Spring Meeting Saturday 13^th April. 6 bell contest at Cold Ashby from 3 pm. Teams to the Master (master@pdg.org.uk) by the 6^th April. 

And branch events. 

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday 2^nd March 3:00 Cold Ashby

Rutland Branch practice Wednesday 6^th February 7:30 Braunston, focus Surprise 

Wellingborough Surprise Practice, Saturday 16^thMarch,  10:30 Orlingbury

Kettering Branch Practice, Saturday 16^th March, 2:00 Burton Latimer

Wellingborough Branch Practice, Saturday 16^thMarch,  7:00 Higham Ferrers

Rutland Branch 8 bell Practice Tuesday 19^th March 7:30 Oakham

Towcester Branch Practice, Saturday 23^rd March, 10:30 Greens Norton

Daventry Branch Practice, Saturday 23^rd March, 3:00 Bugbrooke for ringing service & tea, 6:30Kislingbury

Northampton, Branch Practice 23^rd March, 7:00Harpole

There’s a chance for those people who want to ring on each date in the year to grab a rare date this year. Score on the 29^th February, or it’s 4 years before you get to do it again – no pressure then! Good luck to anyone trying it. For me it’s an office work day, so not a hope there! 

Thanks

Helen

February seems to have brought a lot of rain so far. It may be worth viewing your tower for water ingress (form above or below looking at the rover levels!). Hopefully, apart from the odd detour to avoid deep puddles, you’ve not been too badly inconvenienced. 

Guild 100^th Anniversary 

February’s event – a barn dance at Moulton Community Centre – went off successfully on Saturday night. There were lots of enthusiastic dancers, some with two left feet. Some took the opportunity to dress differently from their usual ringing garb, with skirts, a fab hat and some brilliant silver boots in evidence. The band kept us all in some sort of order and a good time was had by all. There was a Ploughman’s supper, and the promised birthday cake was cut by the Secretary (again – I might get the hang of it by December). I’m told that the last Guild barn dance was in 1998. Maybe we won’t wait 25 odd years for the next! 

Talking about what comes next, the next event is the Nene Valley Challenge on 9^th March. Look out for more details soon. 

Open Day

The Guild is holding a Tower Open Day on Saturday May 11^th. The tower list and details of timings are now available from the website. https://pdg.org.uk/pdg-100/open-day. There is a charge of £2 per tower or a day ticket for £20. These are available in advance by mailing centenary@pdg.org.uk for details of how to pay. 

CCCBR news

The President’s blog is available https://cccbr.org.uk/2024/02/02/presidents-blog-89/

And there’s a desire to have bells rung for the 80^thanniversary of D Day, on 6^th June. https://cccbr.org.uk/2024/02/03/ringing-out-for-peace/

ART Training

If you want to learn to teach bell handling or already do but want some ideas and support, there’s an ART M1 training course being held at Rothwell on Saturday 30^th March, from 9:15 to 5:00. I believe that there are still places available, and this is now open for general booking.  https://events.bellringing.org/en/events/module-1/teaching-course-module-1-rothwell-northamptonshire  Cost is £25 per person. 

Dates for the Diary

Guild 100th Anniversary event Sunday 9^th MarchNene Valley Challenge, Thrapston area. Ringing at a variety of towers in the morning followed by a light lunch.  

Guild 10 bell Practice Saturday 9^th March 6:30Location Moulton (note this is an evening practice)

Guild Spring Meeting Saturday 13^th April. 6 bell contest at Cold Ashby from 3 pm. Teams to the Master (master@pdg.org.uk) by the 6^th April. 

Not yet got all branches calendars, this is what I know of for now. 

Rutland Branch 8 bell Practice Thursday 15^thFebruary, 7:30 Uppingham

Wellingborough Surprise Practice, Saturday 17^thFebruary,  10:30 Earls Barton

Kettering Branch Practice, Saturday 17^th February, 2:00 Warkton, 3:15 Grafton Underwood (tea & coffee at Grafton Underwood)

Wellingborough Branch Practice, Saturday 17^thFebruary,  2:30 Orlingbury

Daventry/ Culworth Branch Practice, Saturday 17^thFebruary, 3:00 Byfield for ringing service & tea, 6:30Woodford Halse

Towcester Branch Practice, Saturday 24^th February, 10:30 Grafton Regis

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday 2^nd March 3:00 Cold Ashby

Rutland Branch practice Wednesday 6^th February 7:30 Braunston, focus Surprise 

That seems to be enough to keep you busy until next time. 

Thanks

Helen

Golly isn’t January long! Finally, the end seems to be in sight. It’s been busy too, with 10 AGMs successfully completed. Thank you to all those who have taken branch office, good luck for the upcoming year. 

Guild 100^th Anniversary 

The next event is a barn dance in Moulton Community Centre on Saturday 10^th February. The dancing will be from 7 pm and will be to a live band, Kelly’s Eye. The tickets are £15 each and includes a ploughman’s supper, with a choice of meat, cheese or vegan. There will be a bar and a games room for when you need to take a breather. Tickets available from centenary@pdg.org.uk. Open to all, non-ringers can dance too, you know. Bring your friends for what should be an entertaining evening. 

CCCBR news

The President wants for one more ringer https://cccbr.org.uk/2024/01/18/presidents-blog-88/

The news that the government is considering signing the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage has prompted activity to see of bellringing might be eligible. There’s one more change to join a CCCBR meeting to discuss he implications. https://cccbr.org.uk/2024/01/18/what-is-intangible-cultural-heritage-and-why-does-it-matter-to-bellringing/

ART conference

The ART conference is the first weekend in March, at Hanbury. https://bellringing.org/2024/01/13/book-your-place-at-the-art-conference/ No need to be an ART member to attend either day. 

ART Training

If you want to learn to teach bell handling or already do but want some ideas and support, there’s an ART M1 training course being held at Rothwell on Saturday 30^th March, from 9:15 to 5:00. There are 12 places available, and initial booking is limited to PDG members, use code 1682. https://events.bellringing.org/en/events/module-1/teaching-course-module-1-rothwell-northamptonshire  Cost is £25 per person. 

Guild Newsletter

This was circulated in hardcopy and should be arriving in your tower soonest. It is also available to read online.  https://pdg.org.uk/newsletters/newsletter_202401.pdf
Next print deadline late March, so get your snippets of news to the branch or the newsletter editor soonest. 

Dates for the Diary

Guild 100th Anniversary event Saturday 10^th February Moulton Village Hall, Barn dance with live band & ploughman’s supper.  Starts at 7 pm. Tickets are £15 in advance from centenary@pdg.org.uk

Guild 100th Anniversary event Sunday 9^th March Nene Valley Challenge, Thrapston area. Ringing at a variety of towers in the morning followed by a light lunch.  

Guild 10 bell Practice Saturday 9^th March 6:30 Location Moulton (note this is an evening practice)

Not yet got all branches calendars, this is what I know of for February now. 

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday 3^rd February 3:00 East Haddon

Rutland Branch practice Wednesday7^th February 7:00 Cottesmore, focus Minor & Stedman. 

Kettering Branch Practice, Saturday 17^th February, 2:00 Warkton, 3:15 Grafton Underwood (tea & cake at Grafton Underwood)

Wellingborough Branch Practice, Saturday 17^th February,  2:30 Orlingbury

Daventry Branch Practice, Saturday 17^th February, 3:00 Byfield for ringing service & tea, 6:30 Woodford Halse

Rutland Branch 8 bell Practice Tuesday 20^th February, 7:30 Oakham

Towcester Branch Practice, Saturday 24^th February, 10:30 Grafton Regis

With 29 days, we’re in for a longer than usual February as well. Hopefully it doesn’t involve being drenched, frozen or blown away. And maybe the first signs of Spring are just around the corner. 

Thanks

Helen

Please note that the 8-bell practice at Castor, typically scheduled for the first Friday of each month, is temporarily postponed as we seek input from branch members to better align with their preferences and support their training needs.

Best regards

Debs

Train the Trainers Course – Saturday the 30th March @ Rothwell

We need more ringers to ring our bells – and so we need more trainers to teach Bellringing.Would you like to teach someone to ring your bells?  If so we have the ideal course for you! 
The Guild is putting on a course run by the Association of Ringing Teachers to train and support ringers wishing to become competent Trainers.The Course takes place at Holy Trinity Church, Rothwell
On Saturday 30th March, starting at 9:15am, finishing by 5pm.To find out more and to book your place go online to :
http://tinyurl.com/Rothwell-M1or contact Alistair Donaldson on president@pdg.org.uk
Hurry – only 12 places available!
To book your PDG priority place use PIN code 1682

Thanks!
Alistair Donaldson

Happy New Year! 2024 is here. Let’s hope it is a good one. I’m sure that the treasurer would like me to remind you that as it is January, subscriptions are due, to be paid to your branch treasurer. 

Guild 100^th Anniversary 

The Guild’s anniversary is off to a rousing start already. We featured on the front page of the 5^th January edition of The Ringing World. Simon Pearce’s picture of Desborough was suitably wintry and cold. The weather did not need to follow suit. The edition can be bought as a one off if you don’t have a subscription. https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/issues/5880.pdf

The Guild’s first anniversary event was held on Sunday. Evensong at the Cathedral was preceded by a quarter at the Cathedral and open ringing at St Mary’s. The music had been selected to have ringing relevance, I hope the organist enjoyed playing the voluntary; it certainly sounded like they did, it was played with gusto! Bishop John gave the address, then cut our birthday cake with us (before we turned tail and handed the knife to a professional). And after the service we enjoyed tea and cake (lots of lovely cake – thank you Peterborough branch for a job well done). There are too many people to thank, it was a really good way to kick off the year. 

The next event is a barn dance in Moulton Community Centre on Saturday 10^th February. The dancing will be from 7 pm and will be to a live band, Kelly’s Eye. The tickets are £15 each and includes a ploughman’s supper. Tickets available from centenary@pdg.org.uk. Open to all, non-ringers can dance too, you know. Bring your friends for what should be an entertaining evening. 

Centenary touches

We’d like you to dedicate a piece of ringing at each tower for the anniversary. It’s been great to see some bands getting into that nice & early in the year. I’m not going to be able to mention all of them. If you have ringers who might not be able to ring a quarter or longer length, you might like to consider ringing a touch 100 changes long. There are some ideas available on the website. The webmaster would be able to help with any requests. 

https://pdg.org.uk/pdg-100/centenary-touches

We tried the Bastow Royal at the 10-bell practice at the weekend. It’s an interesting method to ring, a good stepping stone in the method learning ladder. 

The St Mary’s band also rang a quarter of Century Little Bob Triples, which has an appropriate name for the year. https://rsw.me.uk/blueline/methods/view/Century_Little_Bob_Triples I’m sure there are other appropriately named methods out there for the slightly adventurous band. 

Centenary News

The band that rang a peal at Wellingborough featured in the BBC news last week as well. The trouble with taking a picture after the peal is that some of the band look shattered! https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-67913208

Martin Heath has had one of our puzzles, seems he’s finished his. More puzzles were delivered this week and were selling well at the Evensong. There are a few calendars left and the anniversary merchandise will be available during the year. Additional clothing orders will be made during the year, so there’s still plenty of time to get your order in. https://pdg.org.uk/pdg-100/centenary-year-merchandise

CCCBR news

The President wishes you a happy Christmas. https://cccbr.org.uk/2023/12/22/merry-christmas-and-other-holiday-bliss/

The dates and general location for the CCCBR annual meeting has been announced. https://cccbr.org.uk/2023/12/31/save-the-date-6-8-september-2024/

There is an opportunity to be involved in the update to the rolls of honour for those ringers who died in WW2. https://cccbr.org.uk/2024/01/05/rolls-of-honour/

ART conference

The ART conference is the first weekend in March, at Hanbury. https://bellringing.org/2024/01/13/book-your-place-at-the-art-conference/ No need to be an ART member to attend either day. 

Dates for the Diary

Guild 100th Anniversary event Saturday 10^th February Moulton Village Hall, Barn dance with live band & ploughman’s supper.  Starts at 7 pm. Tickets are £15 in advance from centenary@pdg.org.uk

Guild 100th Anniversary event Sunday 9^th March Nene Valley Challenge, Thrapston area. Ringing at a variety of towers in the morning followed by a light lunch.  

Guild 10 bell Practice Saturday 9^th March 6:30 Location Moulton (note this is an evening practice)

It’s AGM season:

Rutland Branch Practice Tuesday 16^th January, 7:30 Oakham

Peterborough Branch AGM, Saturday 20^th January, 2:00 Peterborough St Mary

Culworth Branch AGM, Saturday 20^th January, 3:00 Helmdon

Wellingborough Branch AGM, Saturday 20^th January, 3:00 Wellingborough

Kettering Branch AGM, Saturday 20^th January, 3:00 Desborough

Daventry Branch AGM, Saturday 20^th January, 3:00 Daventry Ringing; Service; Tea, AGM & Evening Ringing

Thrapston Branch AGM, Saturday 27^th January, 2:30 Thrapston

Northampton Branch AGM, Saturday 27^th January, 3:00 Abington (note change form original date) Ringing, Service, Tea and Meeting, then ringing

Towcester Branch AGM, Saturday 27^th January, 3:00 Blisworth, Ringing; Service; Tea, AGM & Evening Ringing

Guilsborough Branch Practice Saturday 3^rd February 3:00 East Haddon

Rutland Branch practice Wednesday7^th February 7:00 Cottesmore, focus Minor & Stedman. 

Here’s to a good start to the year and onwards through January. 

Thanks

Helen

Hello Everyone,

This is a gentle reminder to let us know if you are able to attend the AGM this year, and a thank you to those who have already responded.

Please email secretary@peterborough.pdg.org.uk

Many thanks

Deborah

In order to ensure we have enough food, beverages and CAKES, please can you let me know via email below if you are planning to attend the branch AGM at St Marys church, Peterborough.

secretary@peterborough.pdg.org.uk

Many Thanks

Deborah

Please find links in the downloads to the 2024 Agenda and 2023 minutes for the upcoming AGM to be held at St Marys Church, New Road, Peterborough. PE1 1TT.

Confirmed programme

14:00 Ringing