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!
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: Branch events in October
Tuesday 8 - you are invited to join the practice at Cheadle St Mary's. 7.30 till 9.00.
If you arrive after 7.30 and the south door is locked go to the west door - there's a bell- push up on right hand side.
Sunday 27th - 10-bell practice at St Mary's Stockport 3.00 till 4.30pm.
I keep advertising this each month and each month have to disappoint those who would welcome the chance to ring there because we don't have enough. It's such a pity that these bells stand idle.
Please make these events known in your tower. I don't have every ringer's email address so some members at your tower may not be aware of branch events. And remember, all events cater for all abilities.
From: Clive Re: Changes to Guild Constitution
Please see attached proposed changes to the Guild rules and let me have any observations to pass on to the Guild Secretary.
Please note:
All items in red are changes to the Rules. All have been approved by the Guild committee for a consultation with all branch members prior to the Guild AGM on 10th May 2025
Any item in red that is scored through is a removal of those words from the relevant rule.
Any item in red that is not scored through is an addition or change to the wording.
The numbers in square brackets [ ] are for footnotes.
From: Stephen Aldridge Re: WhatsApp group
We (‘we’ loosely being the officers of the Manchester Branch of LACR) have set up a WhatsApp group for ringing in the Manchester Area. It is not intended, however, to be connected officially to LACR or any other guild/association etc. The hope is that any ringers in the rough area of Manchester will join and events can be advertised, wedding ringers requested, socials organised etc.
WhatsApp users can follow this link on their phones and it should take them directly to the group where they can join.
10 Bell Striking Competition
Location: OXTON (St Saviour) CH43 2JZ
Tenor: 20-1-16 in E
Draw 3.00pm
Each Branch may enter one team according to the rules https://chesterdg.org.uk/striking-competition-rules/
Refreshments will be served during the afternoon and there will be open ringing if time permits.
Do come along and support your Branch!
The method is 216 Little Bob Royal https://complib.org/composition/127010
Thanks to all of our fabulous helpers and tutors, the students at the Cheshire School of Bell Ringing have been going from strength to strength.
I just wanted to update you on our plans for the Cheshire Ringing School from 9th November.
On this date we're launching 4 new courses:
We are starting a new BellStart course at Poynton for 6 brand new ringers. We still have a couple of places left so please get in touch if you know someone who would be interested.
We are also starting a BellStart course at Dunham for 8 new ringers. Again - if you know anyone who would be interested, please shout!
We are opening a brand new teaching tower at Disley. This 16 week course will be focused on ART Level 3 - Introduction to Change Ringing. This is all about ringing Plain Hunt and ringing the treble to methods like Bob Doubles. We have at least one place spare for this.
At Bowdon we are running an ART 4/5 course for people ringing inside bells to methods like Plain Bob. By the end we're aiming to get you ringing touches and a quarter peal inside! We still have a couple of places available for this so please shout up if you'd like to ring.
Again, a huge well done to all the students for all their amazing progress over the last year and a massive thanks to all our tutors and helpers who make it all possible. You are beyond wonderful.
Cheers for now,
Andrew Darling
School Coordinator
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 October are
Tuesday, 8th October @ 7.30 - Dunham
Tuesday, 22nd October @ 7.30 - Bowdon
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.
From: Clive 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 29 (which is the latest issue). You can also click here for previous issues and other news.
Central Council News
Please find attached the following documents and updates from the CCCBR:
The draft minutes of the Council meeting, held in Exeter on Saturday 7th September 2024. Please note. These are draft, and have not been approved by The Council.
The notes of the Council Executive, held on Thursday 26th September 2024
The updated organisational chart for the Council.
These papers will be available soon on the Council website.
As usual, please can you make members of your society aware of this information.
Regards
Ernie de Legh-Runciman
Secretary, Central Council of Church Bell Ringers
07624 329556
In village of Onchan, Isle of Man (In Manx- Kione Droghad, Ellan Vannin)
Contact the Secretary
Members of the branch should already have 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]
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.