CDGCBR
East Cheshire Branch
The East Cheshire Branch of the Chester Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers (CDGCBR) comprises 34 towers in the North East of Cheshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester. The branch includes Stockport, Macclesfield, Wilmslow, Buxton and Altrincham, as well as a number of smaller towns and villages in the area. The other branches in the guild are Chester Branch [19 towers with 6 or more bells], Mid Cheshire Branch [18 towers], South Cheshire Branch [22 towers], and Wirral Branch [20 towers]. As you can see by these numbers, we're the largest branch in terms of towers!
April
Sunday 14th - Branch 10 Bell practice - Stockport St. Mary's - 3.00 – 4.30 pm CANCELLED
Monday 22nd - Join the practice at Marple from 7.30
Saturday 27th - Quarterly Branch Meeting
Taxal - 3.00 – 3.45 pm
Whaley Hall - 4.00 – 5.00 pm
May
Saturday 11th - Guild AGM for 2024 - TBC(Mid Branch) - 3.00 – 4.30 pm
Sunday 19th - Branch 10-bell practice - Stockport St Mary's - 3.00 – 4.30pm
June
Sunday 16th - Branch 10 Bell practice - Stockport St. Marys - 3.00 – 4.30 pm
Saturday 29th - Branch 6-Bell competition and walking treasure hunt - Chapel-en-le-Frith - 2.00 – 6.00 pm
July
Saturday 13th - Tower Open-Day for BRF - Various TBC - All day
Sunday 21st - Branch 10 Bell practice - Stockport St. Mary's - 3.00 – 4.30 pm
Saturday 27th - 2024 Branch Outing - TBC - All day
August
No events
September
Saturday 14th - Guild 6-Bell competition - TBC (East Branch) - TBC
Sunday 15th - Branch 10 Bell practice - Stockport St. Mary's - 3.00 – 4.30 pm
Wednesday 18th - Invite to join Prestbury practice - Prestbury - 8.00 – 9.30 pm
Saturday 28th - Quarterly Branch Meeting
New Mills - 2.30 – 3.15 pm
Hayfield - 3.45 – 4.30 pm
October
Tuesday 8th - Invite to join Cheadle practice - Cheadle - 7.30 – 9.00 pm
Saturday 19th - Guild 10-Bell competition - TBC (Wirral Branch) - TBC
Sunday 27th - Branch 10 Bell practice - Stockport St. Mary's - 3.00 – 4.30 pm
November
28th Oct to 9th Nov - Branch Quarter-Peal Fortnight - Various towers - Various
Sunday 10th - Branch 10 Bell practice - Stockport St. Mary's - 3.00 – 4.30 pm
Saturday 23rd - Branch AGM for 2024 - Knutsford - 3.00 – 6.00 pm
December
No events
Note that only three months of the schedule are displayed at a time. If you want to see the rest of the year, click on the down arrow on the right hand side in the above text.
Live from Clive
From: Clive Re: Ringing in April
Here are the events for your diary for April. Please note the change of dates for the first two from the original programme sent earlier this year.
Sunday 14th - 10-bell practice at St Mary's, Stockport. 3.00 till 4.30 pm. If you're coming please let me know by Friday 12th.
Monday 22nd - join the practice at Marple from 7.30
Saturday 27th - ringing at Taxal from 3.00 till 3.45pm, then at Whaley Hall from 4.00 till 5.00. (Whaley Hall is at Whaley Bridge, Reservoir Road, SK23 7BL)
I'm afraid that yet again we do not have enough people for the 10-bell practice at St Mary's, Stockport this month. My thanks to those who consistently set aside the dates for this event in their calendars. Next scheduled session should be on 19th May, numbers permitting.
From: Clive Re: Guild AGM
Please find below the documents in advance of the Guild AGM at Grappenhall on Saturday 11th May. Various towers are open in the afternoon and there will be a barn dance in the evening at Stockton Heath. Profits to go to the Guild Bell Restoration Fund.
PS: I'm told that in the minutes of the 2023 meeting David Farrow should be David Farrer.
From: Andrew Darling Re: Cheshire Ringing School - Places available on ART 3 course
Hello there,
We have places available on the ART Level 3 course that we are just about to begin.
This course focuses on building the foundations for Change Ringing. It's suitable for those ringers who are just dipping their toes into the wonders of Plain Hunting, whether that be in Plain Hunt. Bob Doubles or whatever.
The course provides an opportunity for ringers to gain additional rope time and to accelerate their progress.
If you are at about this level, or have a learner at your tower who is at about this level and who might be interested, please do get in touch on cheshirebells@gmail.com
Thanks,
Andrew
From: Andrew Darling Re: Cheshire School of Bell Ringing - Call for Helpers
We are in desperate need of additional people to help with the ringing school on Saturday mornings. At present, this is at Dunham, Bowdon and Poynton.
We don't need you to commit to every Saturday! Just one or two a month is fine. And, you don't have to be a surprise major ringer. If you can ring steadily and ring basic methods like Plain Bob we would love to have you coming along.
You will get to learn new ringing activities and games that you can take back to your own tower. It is fun and social. AND you will get a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit. Who can argue with that?!
If you think you could help, please please email us at cheshirebells@gmail.org or fill in the monthly survey here.
Many many thanks!
Andrew
From: Clive Re: Branch AGM - Documentation
Here are all the documents from our branch AGM on Saturday, 18th November 2023
You can download the minutes from our Branch AGM here.
Hello there,
In the recent surveys of ringers, many people said that they would like to see more specialized practices rather than just general branch practices. As part of this, I've been running twice monthly Surprise Major Practices. These are based on a model that I trialled with a lot of success in the Durham and Newcastle Association, some years ago. It is aimed at both experienced Surprise ringers but also at those who are wanting to start dipping their toes in the Surprise paddling pool.
There are the key ideas behind this:
Initially, practices will take place on the second Tuesday at Dunham and the fourth Tuesday at Bowdon, Prestbury or Cheadle.
We will work on Surprise Major
We'll have learning aims for each practice so that we build up capability steadily. Specifically, we'll work through the Core 7 methods https://wiki.changeringing.co.uk/Project_Pickled_Egg_-_Part_12.
There will be a quarter peal or more each month to allow us to consolidate what we've learnt.
Everyone will need to do their homework before each practice!
The dates of the practices are the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month. The practices for April are
Tuesday, 9th April @ 7.30 - Dunham Massey
Tuesday, 23rd April @ 7.30 - (TBC)
The focus is Major.
If you are interested in taking part, please can you drop me a quick email on andrew.darling@me.com or a text on 07786 511 788.
Re: Belfry Upkeep
This is worth looking at, even if you don't currently look after the bells at your tower.
From: Ernie de Legh-Runciman, Secretary, Central Council of Church Bell Ringers
Belfry Upkeep News Item
The Stewardship & Management Workgroup are pleased to announce Belfry Upkeep, an online document aimed at the Steeple Keeper – the person responsible for keeping the bells in order. The aims of the document are:
To help you understand the installation in your tower
To describe the checks you should carry out to identify any problems
To advise you on the maintenance tasks that you should be able to carry out, possibly with expert advice or assistance
Most importantly, to help you recognize the tasks that require specialist knowledge from a Bell Hanger or other expert
The document can be found at https://belfryupkeep.cccbr.org.uk
Learning the Ropes
The Association of Ringing Teachers (ART) regularly issues a newsletter called "Tower Talk". You don't have to be a member of ART to read the newsletters. Click here to see issue 26 (which is the latest issue). You can also click here for previous issues and other news.
Contact the Secretary
Members of the branch should have already received the above messages directly from Clive. If you haven't, click here to email Clive [clive.calton@btinternet.com] and get on his mailing list. If you need to get hold of Clive urgently, his mobile number is 07779 488359.
Site Map [Click on the link below to go to the relevant page]
Nearby Towers Towers within 100km radius
Interactive Branch Map . This map allows you to look up the details for any of the towers in the branch by clicking it [uses Google Maps]. There is also a tower directory underneath. This just reformats all the data to make it easier to read [this bit is identical to the form on the Contacts page].
Interactive Tower Map. Use this to compare towers - weights, practice night, number of bells. Just click on the column header in the table to sort the data. Clicking on a tower in the map will give you contact details. The information shown on this page is also available as a PDF by clicking here.
Reasons to Contact Us
Here are four good reasons to send us a message
Stay Informed. Are you getting regular emails from Clive? Maybe your tower captain is getting them, but not passing the information on to you. If you're not on Clive's email list, then click here and we'll make sure that you're added. If you no longer want to receive any of those emails, then just click here.
Get Help. Is your band struggling to learn a method? Does your tower need a bit of help with numbers? This is your opportunity to reach out for help. Just click here and tell us what you need and we'll do our best to help.
Help Us. We can only get better if people tell us what they like and/or don't like. It's up to you to tell us if you like what we're doing on this website, at the branch events, or at tower visits. Every opinion is important, so take a few minutes and let us know what you think. Click here and tell us what you think of us.