Category: Bridgnorth

Bridgnorth District Autumn Meeting

Our Autumn meeting is due to be held on 28th October at Chelmarsh from 3pm.

Please come along and have a ring with us; all ringing abilities welcome. Some light refreshments will be available for which a donation of £2 to help towards the St Peter’s tower funds is requested. There will be a raffle for the Guild Bell Restoration Fund.

Hope to see you there!

Chetton bells are ringing again

In mid-May, the Guild received an enquiry from a group of new and lapsed ringers who wanted to get Chetton church bells ringing again.

The bells hadn’t been rung for several years, so on 14th June, Darren and Jools from Broseley popped over to check the bells over (picture above). Fortunately no problems were found.

Practices were started up on Tuesday evenings. Ginette then began the task of teaching the new learners and helping the existing ringers regain their confidence.

Despite usually only having one teacher to four learners, the new ringers are progressing well and it is expected the band will be able to ring independently by the end of the year.

Sue Robinson, our Master Elect, kindly drives over from Bromyard to look after things when Ginette is on holiday.

One of the returned lapsed ringers, Vikki, is now helping to teach the learners which should help to move things along even faster.

Vikki being presented with her Guild membership certificate by our Guild Master Nick Cronin at a ringing outing on 12th August.

Anyone interested in supporting the new band is welcome to visit Chetton on a Tuesday evening. Practices start at 7pm and are usually followed by a drink in the church.

Returned lapsed ringer Charles (left) with the four learners Tim, Sarah, Elisabeth and Phil.

Broseley awards

Broseley ringer Darren Swancott won a national award for Contribution to Ringing on 11th March 2023.

The award was given by the Association of Ringing Teachers. There was a prize of £125 which will go towards Broseley’s bell project.

Another Broseley ringer, Yvonne Hadley passed her Level 2 Learning the Ropes certificate. Darren and Yvonne are pictured above with their certificates.

The past and future of ringing at Broseley

Tower Captain Ginette Pardoe has written an article called “The past and future of ringing at Broseley” which was publisted in The Ringing World in September 2022.

You can download a copy of the article here:  Broseley Ringing World article Sept 2022

Pictured above are:
Front row: Ginette Pardoe, Jan Baldwin, Gaynor Evans, Pam Sheldon, Mel Price (aka Ding, hiding) and Suzy Roberts (aka Dong).
Behind: John Maclean, Bruce Watson and Darren Swancroft.
(Photo Patricia Marinic)

David Lees 1938-2022

The ringers at Much Wenlock are very sad to announce the death of David Lees.

David learnt to ring at Kingswinford when nine years old and had many stories of how he cycled to other towers. He rang a total of 28 peals, 25 of them between 1952 and 1956.  His work took him to other parts of the country and abroad so peal ringing took a back seat but he always tried to maintain his service to the church through Sunday ringing.  In the early years he had the company of his brothers Roderick and Christopher both prolific peal ringers.  He joined the band at Much Wenlock in 1980 and has been a truly faithful ringer since, always trying to arrange any commitments on a Sunday around service ringing.

We will miss his jokes which never failed to make us smile however corny.   RIP David and thank you.

Alec Osbaldiston

It is with sadness that we announce that Alec Osbaldiston has passed away.

Alec rang at Cleobury Mortimer and Kinlet towers and was the on Thomas Cooper organising committee for a very long time and became a Freeman of the Guild in 2006.

Alec’s funeral will be at St Mary’s Cleobury Mortimer at 1100 on Friday 12 November. There will be ringing before and afterwards. Alec asked that handbells be rung at the graveside and this is being to arranged. The committal will be at Cleobury Mortimer Cemetery, Ludlow Road, on the western outskirts of the town.

Broseley wins George Cousins Cup

BroseleyDuring the Covid-19 pandemic, Darren and the Broseley team have used some of the time away from ringing to do maintenance in the tower, both to the bells and in the ringing room.

As a result of all the hard work, the team were awarded the George Cousins Cup for the most improved ringing room in the Hereford Diocese.

Improvements include:

  • smaller and less rickety table
  • new corner cabinet
  • larger noticeboard
  • new pulls for clock hammers
  • new secondary glazing
  • refurbished boxes and steps into ringing room
  • new 3D printed model bell.

click on the pictures to expand

Broseley Tower page