Peals

According to the Central Council for Church Bell Ringers, “A peal is the ‘gold standard’ change ringing performance during which the bells are rung continuously in over 5000 different sequences, without visual aids, typically taking 3 hours.” More interesting and historical  information about peals can be found in their document “What is a peal?”

Hereford Diocesan Guild Peals that have been recorded on Bellboard can be seen here

Peal ringers after ringing a peal at Eye to commemorate the 140th anniversary of the Guild

In 2022, Peal ringing in the Guild returned to something approaching normality following two years of disruption. A total of 56 peals were rung, 41 of them being on tower bells and 67 members took part. Full details of the peals can be found in the Guild’s Annual Report. The list of Ringing Members’ Peal Totals was not included in the report this year, but can be downloaded here: HDGB Members’ Peal Totals 2022.

In 2023, 42 peals were rung, details of which can be downloaded here: HDGB Peals 2023.

Peal Fees

The Guild Peal Fee is 50 pence per person. Conductors are reminded that everyone taking part in a Guild peal must be a current member (see Rule 17(b)). If you wish to elect a new member before a peal, please ensure that there are at least three current Guild members in the band (Rule 5e(ii)). I can arrange for such tower election to be ratified at a Guild or District meeting if asked to do so. The Non-Resident Life Member’s subscription is a one-off payment of £2.00; details (Address and either phone number or email address) and subscription as per Rule 5 (e) (ii) should be sent to me. The £2.00 Non-Resident fee can be paid into the account below.

Hereford Diocesan Guild of Bellringers
Sort code 30-80-55
Account number 24377462

If you have any issues, please feel free to contact our Peal Recorder Andrew Watkins at pealrecorder@hdgb.org.

Leading Peal Ringers

Here are the 10 all-time leading peal ringers for the Guild (Names presented in italics indicate individuals who are deceased ringers.)

  Name Total Tower Hand Tower Conducted Handbell Conducted Total Conducted
1 John E Harrold 1139 518 621 296 95 391
2 Frederick Shallcross 1130 577 553 419 325 744
3 Andrew L Mainwaring 1064 1063 1 470 0 470
4 Ashley C Fortey 881 880 1 194 0 194
5 Frederick R Harris 763 762 1 143 0 143
6 C Martin Foster 738 738 0 5 0 5
7 Neil Bennett 727 597 130 104 3 107
8 Norman R Mattingley 671 294 377 122 24 146
9 Richard J Clements 614 286 328 85 7 92
10 Michael V Powell 586 586 0 52 0 52

as of March 2026.

A list of the top 50 peal ringers is here: HDGB Leading peal ringers – March 2026