From:                                         Bedfordshire Association of Church Bell Ringers <president@bacbr.org.uk>

Sent:                                           30 March 2023 16:52

To:                                               Tower Contact

Subject:                                     Update April 2023

 

 

BEDFORDSHIRE ASSOCIATION OF CHURCH BELL RINGERS


Update

Latest news and information for all towers and ringers in Bedfordshire

 

April 2023
Please forward to other ringers in your tower and print off a copy for your tower notice board

 

Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter!

 

 

 

Ring for the King! 

Our aim: To ring the bells at every ringable tower in Bedfordshire between Friday 5 May - Monday 8 May for the Coronation of King Charles III

 Only a month to go ..... 

 

As we have said in previous Updates, Christine Williams has very kindly offered to co-ordinate Ringing for the King across the county, to ensure that (as far as possible) all towers have enough ringers to ring at some point during during the Coronation weekend. Co-ordinating this across Bedfordshire is not a small task and Chris will need to start the organisation very soon!  

Thank you to everyone who has let us know whether or not your tower will be able to Ring for the King, either via the survey or or by email. We know that just over 50% of towers are planning to Ring for the King, either with their own ringers or with assistance. However .... 

We can do better than 50% for such an historic national occasion .... can't we?!

Are you the Tower Captain (or Tower Correspondent) of one of the 39 towers that we haven't heard from yet?
 

We don't need to know your exact plans, which you may not have in place yet, just which of the following is most likely:
1.  You will have enough of your own ringers to ring sometime during the weekend of 5-8 May. OR
2.  You will probably need assistance. OR
3. If you have no ringers, you would welcome a visiting band to ring the bells at your tower for general ringing or a commemorative quarter peal. OR
4. Your bells cannot be rung for the Coronation because ....

If your tower is likely to be self sufficient, that's great and we won't contact you any further. If you have said that you need assistance / would welcome a visiting band, Chris will be in touch nearer the time to sort the details.

Please let us know (ideally) via the Ring for the King Tower Survey below, which will take only a few minutes to complete:
https://forms.gle/sqdc2AwEdpBgYX557 

or send an email to president@bacbr.org.uk

Extended deadline for receiving this information: 10 April
 

After this date, it is unlikely that we will be able to respond to any requests for assistance. Sorry!

If you are willing to assist at towers in addition to your own, and have yet to complete the short Ring for the King Ringers' Survey  below, please do so by Friday 14 April
https://forms.gle/Kk5dGssZ7bvTnxnk7 

  


Ring for the King Bell Handling Sessions

The first sessions were held on 25 March at the RJ Sharp Ringing Centre at St Andrew's Biggleswade, with 12 inexperienced ringers all making excellent progress towards being able to ring rounds at their own tower for the Coronation. Well done everyone and huge thank you to all the tutors, including those who have signed up to help with future sessions. 

These concentrated bell handling sessions are aimed at anyone who is currently learning to ring at a tower in Bedfordshire but not yet able to ring independently to supplement bell handling lessons at the students' home towers. Due to demand, 4 additional sessions have been added to the dates publicised in last month's update.
Each session will be for 90 minutes. Max 2 students per tutor.
We will be asking for a donation of £5 cash per session per student, for tower donation/any refreshments, payable on the day.
Please do encourage any learners at your tower who would benefit from some additional bell handling practice to sign up!

Signing up for these sessions is essential please via the Eventbrite links below
We would ask that students sign up for a maximum of three sessions in total. Details are as follows:

15 April,  
St Mary's Haynes
11:00-12:30 FULLY BOOKED
St Peter's, Sharnbrook 
11:00-12:30 
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ring-for-the-king-bell-handling-sharnbrook-15-april-1100-tickets-565368451257

22 April
RJ Sharp Ringing Centre at St Andrew's, Biggleswade  
10:00-11:30 
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ring-for-the-king-bell-handling-biggleswade-22-apr-1000-tickets-565241250797
11:30-12:30 
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ring-for-the-king-bell-handling-biggleswade-22-apr-1130-tickets-565305994447

29 April
RJ Sharp Ringing Centre at St Andrew's, Biggleswade  
10:00-11:30  
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ring-for-the-king-bell-handling-biggleswade-29-apr-1000-tickets-565320949177
11:30-12:30 
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ring-for-the-king-bell-handling-biggleswade-29-apr-1130-tickets-565326194867

Please use the links to complete the surveys and register for the bell handling sessions if at all possible, as these then automatically produce spreadsheets, saving us a huge amount of work! However, if you have difficulty,  please email president@bacbr.org.uk 

 

 

Forthcoming Training Sessions and Meetings

Saturday Ringing Meetings  


1 April         Sharnbrook (8)    Service, Tea, Bedford District Meeting, evening
                    ringing 15:30-20:30 (NB change of venue to that advertised last month)
15 April       Northill (6)     Afternoon ringing 15:30-17:30
22 April       Flitwick (6)    Luton District Meeting 18:30; Evening Ringing: 19:30

8 May          Stagsden (6)  Morning ringing 10:30 – 12:00
13 May        No Biggleswade District Meeting this month
20 May        Association Annual General Meeting. Flitton. Afternoon ringing,                                             service and meeting followed by supper and a quiz. Details tbc.

Don't forget, everyone is welcome to go along to any of these events, not just those in your own area!  For details of all forthcoming events please see: https://www.bacbr.org.uk

 

Second Saturday Training
 
at the R J Sharp Ringing Centre 
at St Andrews Biggleswade

Next session: 8 April, 10:00-12:00

 

Open to all Bedfordshire ringers.  The sessions are aimed at less experienced ringers who can handle a bell but want to improve technique, confidence and progress.
For more details, please contact Sue Silver, vicepresident@bacbr.org.uk

 

 

Association Surprise Major Practice
 

Sunday 16 April, 15:00-17:00
St Peter's, Dunstable

 

Please let us know in advance that you are coming 
either (preferably) by registering via this link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/surprise-major-practice-tickets-603750302407
or send an email to president@bacbr.org.uk

Please sign up by Friday 14 April.
If the practice isn't viable and we needed to cancel, we can only let you know if you've signed up ... which is why we need to know in advance if you are coming!!

Tower donation of £2 per ringer requested, payable on the day.

This advanced practice is aimed at ringers who:

  • can already ring Surprise Major inside
  • or have rung the treble to Surprise Major and have learned Cambridge S Major
  • or have rung Surprise Minor and would like to extend this to Major,

Dates for future practices: All 3rd Sundays (apart from December) on alternate months, as follows: 18 June, 20 August, 15 October, 3 December. 14:30 - 16:30  Venues tbc.

 

 

Dates for your Diary
 

 

Association AGM
followed by a Quiz Evening & Supper

Saturday 20 May at Flitton

Book the date now. Details to follow.

 

 

Other News and Events

 

This month's Firsts ...

Henry Sandle - First Quarter Peal at first attempt, Cople 

Firsts are not just for February!
Please continue to submit any Firsts to BellBoard 
https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/
so that we can all share in the achievements of Bedfordshire ringers.

 

 

 

Updates from the Central Council of Church Bellringers

 

Do keep an eye on the Central Council website for wider ringing news, including the very readable weekly President's Blog (that's the CC President, not Linda!), resources and helpful information!   https://cccbr.org.uk

 

Look out this month for details of Bell Sunday on 14 May 2023. This is a new event in the Church calendar aimed at raising the profile of bells and bellringers, and endorsed by our very own Bishop of St Albans, himself an accomplished ringer! Do talk to your clergy to see if this is something that could be marked in your church.

 

With everything going on with Ring for the King the week before, it is hoped that this event will help galvanise bellringing, church and community, and be another excellent way of keeping new recruits involved after the coronation. For more details, ideas and resources have a look at:  https://bellsunday.org/

 

 

BOOKING FOR EVENTS
We often ask you to commit to events in advance via Eventbrite so that we know that they are viable and to assist planning. If you have registered, we can then also easily communicate any changes or additional information to you.
We do realise that Eventbrite is not everyone's cup of tea! However, using it to register for events makes admin for the organisers SO much easier ... saving us time and effort which we can then put into organising more and better events!! It also enables us to find out other information from you to assist with organisation.
Eventbrite does not cost us, or you, anything and is quick and easy for you to use. 
We will only ever use your data for the purpose which it was given and will never pass on to third parties. 

 

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Linda Garton
President, BACBR 
president@bacbr.org.uk

www.bacbr.org.uk

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Bedfordshire Association of Church Bell Ringers · 10 Arnhem Place · Arnhem Place · Shefford, Bedfordshire SG175UJ · United Kingdom

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