Sunday 14th September 2025

Richy's Blog

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Saturday 13th September 2025

I'm so used to asking where the next tower is that on this afternoon's 'Ride and Stride' I really had to fight my natural instinct when enquiring as to our next church, even when they didn't even have a tower! Indeed, even though we went to seven churches including some with towers, St Mary the Virgin church in Woodbridge was the only one with bells hung for change-ringing. In a way that made it even more interesting, venturing into churches rarely visited by us, although it was pretty much the same places we went to last year, as we also took in Melton 'New' Church, the Methodist church, the Catholic church of St Thomas, St John's church, the Quay Church and the chapel at Seckford Almhouses. We eventually finished having seen Hollesley ringer Anne Buswell and Pettistree ringers Pippa Moss & Mike Whitby along the way, retiring on the Market Hill for ice cream at the celebrations for the Shire Hall's 450th anniversary and only just getting under cover before a thunderstorm and torrential downpour!

It was a really fun way to spend a couple of hours as I accompanied Josh as he continues to grow in confidence with his cycling as his more experienced brother Alfie went on ahead (but also kindly waited at various points) with their Mum and Granny, but it was exhausting and followed on from an away trip for Alfred and his footballing teammates where I had to concentrate as the assistant referee (even disallowing a goal for offside!) in the morning and preceded a less exhausting but still typically upbeat Last Night of the Proms on the TV.

Meanwhile whilst there were plenty of notable peals going on around the country such as former Reydon learner Philip Moyse ringing the 50cwt tenor at St Mary the Virgin Redcliffe in Bristol to a 5021 of Stedman Cinques, David Pipe's classic twelve-part composition of six Maximus methods rung on the 59cwt twelve at York Minster and the 10,080 of Glasgow Surprise Major rung at Whilton in Northamptonshire, there were no peals or quarter-peals from Suffolk noted on BellBoard today.

Perhaps the Guild's ringers were all too busy riding and striding between towers. I mean churches...

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Friday 12th September 2025

As watching Ipswich Town goes, it was just about perfect. A Friday night, time spent with family and friends and a 5-0 win for the boys in blue doesn't get much better.

It was a fantastic way to end a day that began with sadness as we learnt that former St Mary-le-Tower ringer Graham Ridgway died earlier this week. He was only with us in Ipswich for a couple of years after coming from Bedfordshire and before moving to Lincolnshire just last year, but he became part of the ringing family in the county town, not just progressing himself but helping others too. And aptly for today he enjoyed talking football as a Luton Town fan, which I often did with him.

I expect he could empathise with former South-East District member Iain Mitchell who supports tonight's visitors Sheffield United, but there were happy ringing supporters of the Tractor Boys present at Portman Road.

As usual we ate beforehand with mother-in-law and Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle at The Mermaid as my brother and Norman Tower regular Chris met us afterwards, before we went on to the Fanzone next to the stadium where we were greeted by Suffolk Guild Peal Secretary Caroline Goodchild as she busied herself with her duties at the club and had a drink with Norwich ringer Simon Rudd.

Earlier Simon had lost a peal attempt at Rothwell in Northamptonshire, but as a fellow fan of ITFC his day definitely got better!

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Thursday 11th September 2025

Josh had a school trip. Alfie had football training. Ruthie had choral practice. Nothing for me other than the pleasure of seeing the rest of the household enjoying their activities, but I get to indulge in ringing regularly, with a peal attempt at Stowmarket, practice night at Ipswich Minster and quarter-peal at Pettistree just in this week.

And I was able to enjoy the video released to announce the plan to rebuild and reopen Christchurch Cathedral in New Zealand in the next five years. As most will be aware the building was hugely damaged in the earthquake of February 2011 there, including the collapse of the tower with its 25cwt twelve. Pleasingly the bells - which were recovered from the rubble and are in storage - are a part of the rebuild and indeed the sound of them can be heard at the end of an uplifting video.

Meanwhile back here in Suffolk, there was more handbell action in Bury St Edmunds with Alan Mayle joining Tuesday's band to ring a quarter-peal of Yorkshire Surprise Major.

I hope they also enjoyed their activity.

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Wednesday 10th September 2025

In a repeat of last Wednesday I rang in the pre-practice quarter-peal at Pettistree before returning home to allow Ruthie to attend the session that followed. For me that was participating in a well-rung 1296 of Ipswich Surprise Minor where there were only two or three quickly rectified mistakes across the whole performance, which was good experience for Rhonda Murkin who did very well. For my wife it was joining in a practice that featured Wickham Market ringer John Horsnell making a welcome return to the exercise but also Mrs Munnings ringing in some London Surprise Minor and spliced (and avoiding ringing in the Stedman Doubles!) before retiring to the Greyhound Inn for post-ringing refreshment on a wet night that felt more early autumnal than late summer despite still being daylight when I arrived for ringing.

Even in my brief time there it was interesting to hear about the Central Council AGM weekend in Sheffield from Mark Ogden who had been up there and from Gavin Edwards on an outing from Essex to the area including Grundisburgh over a busy weekend, whilst plans were being put together for the October South-East District event lined up to be held on this ground-floor six on Saturday 4th. Please do keep the afternoon free if you can!

Meanwhile I missed a quarter-peal which was rung at Bungay on Friday, whilst today a Guild peal of Fordham Surprise Major was rung at the eponymous tower in Cambridgeshire where it was nice to hear they were greeted by Roger Palmer. And further afield well done to former Bardwell learner Louis Suggett who very impressively not only rang his first peal of Stedman Cinques in hand in the 5007 in Bosham in West Sussex, but conducted it too!

I can't say on whether he plans on repeating his Wednesday next week though.

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Tuesday 9th September 2025

A couple of quarter-peals were rung in Suffolk today. One of six Surprise Minor methods on handbells in Bury St Edmunds, the other of Plain Bob Triples at Offton before the weekly practice on the 8cwt ground-floor eight.

Meanwhile beyond our borders the thirtieth anniversary of an extraordinary eight peals being rung at eight different towers in one day was marked with a peal at Wanlip in Leicestershire by five of the six who rang them, including fellow Rambling Ringer Andrew Mills, Frank Rivett who now rings in Norfolk and whose previous peal was the Suffolk Guild one at Higham Ferrers on Friday and Sally Brown who along with Laura Parker judged the SGR Striking Competitions at Falkenham & Felixstowe last year.

There is still no ringing at Ufford so our focus this evening was mainly on Josh practicing some more on his bike in the park after work, watching England's male footballers winning handsomely on the TV and more Great British Bake Off as our lack of ringing was in complete contrast to 9th September 1995. Or indeed today at Offton or in Bury St Edmunds.

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Monday 8th September 2025

Staggering as it is that it is already that long, it is five years ago today that mine and Chris's father Alan died. Dad was a quiet, unassuming chap as many of you will recall, not one to bring attention to himself or make a fuss and so there was no family gathering around his grave or time off work to reflect or anything like that. However, I still think about him of course and as someone who avidly followed the news and current affairs I often wonder what he would make of what's going on around us and I did lots of that today as he was foremost in my thoughts.

What would he make of world affairs? What would he make of Ipswich Town in recent years, who he didn't watch but often commented on? What would he make of ringing currently? What would he make of Josh, Alfie and Mason as they begin new chapters in their education and work? What would he make of where my brother and I are up to in life?

If he was still here and healthy, I imagine I would have got his thoughts at the weekly practice at Ipswich Minster (what would he have made of that?!) and then in the Halberd Inn afterwards, put over quietly and gently. Although we were short on numbers this evening and didn't ring Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus or indeed any Surprise Maximus for the first time for several weeks, I imagine he would've been pleased to see the progress of ringers who have come through here since his time. George Heath-Collins was assured ringing inside to Grandsire Caters. I stood behind Ivan Culham for Stedman Caters, but I wasn't really needed. Despite her reservations, Michelle Bird rang Cambridge & Yorkshire Surprise Royal spliced in accomplished fashion. And it was nice to see Paul Bray back after his and his wife Anne's trip to Australia that took in a fair amount of ringing including a couple of quarter-peals. Lovely also to be able to share the evening with Mum on this particular day.

Earlier on in the day, a 1272 of Primrose Surprise Minor was rung at Rumburgh, whilst I took the opportunity after work to read the latest edition of The Ringing World, which arrived with us this morning and reports that Theberton are due to appear on BBC Radio 4's 'Bells on Sunday' on 21st September.

Meanwhile many may well have seen former North-East District Ringing Master Maggie Ross 1 hour, 3 minutes and 55 seconds into today's 'Morning Live' on BBC 1 where she is undertaking a reading experiment.

I'm pretty sure Dad would've been interested to see that!

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Sunday 7th September 2025

There were any number of ways that this afternoon's peal attempt at Stowmarket that I was in could be lost. For a start we were ringing a new unnamed Royal method and not 'just' a Cambridge or Yorkshire above the treble construction at that, although those can be dangerous too! Thrown into this extremely unfamiliar line we had different calls, with half-lead bobs, big bobs, big singles and 'normal' bobs. And then we had the extra distraction of whether people's phones would start going off at 3pm for the government's planned emergency alert test.

As it happened though, an extremely good band settled into a method that saw lots of lovely roll-ups off the front that I enjoyed being involved in on the ninth and the calls were presenting no issues. 3pm came and went without any noises from our phones too. I'd turned mine off completely, others had put theirs on airplane mode and one had even left theirs in their car. Between us, it had done the trick! Frustratingly what ultimately did for us was a simple misheard call which quickly ballooned into a melee and conductor and organiser Stephen Pettman had to set it up. Very disappointing as there had been no sign of this collapsing during about an hour and a half of very decent ringing.

Nonetheless, if one is to lose a peal then this was a reasonable point to lose it. It felt worthwhile to have travelled out for a good amount of ringing and reassuring that this method could be rung this well by a band that was entirely resident bar Brian Meads from Essex and Simon Rudd from Norfolk, but it left enough time to enjoy a leisurely drink in the beer garden of The Royal William, a proper drinking pub with a wide selection of ales in the side streets in a town that seems to do proper pubs with a wide selection of ales in the side streets really well!

Having been unable to enjoy a trip out to Rendlesham Forest with Ruthie, Alfie, Josh, their Granny Kate, Grandad Ron and my wife's sister Clare and her household (where Joshua managed to get the hang of riding his bike, so well done him!), our early finish allowed me time to join them in Chestnut Tree Farm on the edge of Ipswich for tea, so there were was a definite silver lining!

Earlier in the day, as Mrs Munnings returned to her Sunday morning choral duties after their summer break, the boys and I went to Ipswich Minster where ringing was being held at the later 9.45-10.30am timeslot for the last time for now, with ringing due to return to the usual 8.45-9.30am period next week. Although the later time has done us no harm over the last few weeks, on this occasion we were very short with our ringing peaking at call-changes on ten after Grandsire Triples and Little Bob Major on the front eight before we retired to Costa Coffee for post-ringing refreshment.

Meanwhile, it was nice to see former Guild Chairman Winston Girling following our lost peal attempt on the 19cwt ten his hard work has made possible and beforehand Josephine Beever who let us in prior to going on to ring a quarter-peal at Buxhall which was Clare Gebel's first of Grandsire Triples. Well done Clare and Happy Birthday to her and tenor ringer Chris Graham, with the band looking like they were enjoying the occasion afterwards!

Beyond our borders there was also a rare peal on sixteen (the first of the year and the first in the UK since 2023) with a 5024 of Bristol & Littleport Little Surprise rung at St Martin's in the Bullring in Birmingham which was a first on that number for Cambridge ringer Jadd Virji who does a fair bit of ringing in our county. Well done Jadd!

I'm glad that none of the ways that that peal could be lost came to be!

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Saturday 6th September 2025

September's South-East District event was held at Stutton with a practice entitled 'Anything But Doubles' this morning. I enjoy travelling down the Shotley Peninsula, not least because it is an area filled with Munnings family history, but also because it is a beautiful part of our beautiful county that we don't visit often enough. A ringing event on a sunny late summer Saturday morning was the ideal time to rectify that.

Except we couldn't on this occasion as it was on at the same time as Alfie and his footy teammates were kicking-off their league season. There's nothing that can be done about it of course. We can't ask for football to be organised around ringing events and vice versa, especially as the SE are already very good at holding events at different times to allow as many members as possible to participate. For some mornings are perfect, for others afternoons and others evenings or a combination thereof and indeed October's event is due to be a traditional ringers tea and mini-meeting with ringing at Pettistree from 2pm onwards and November's is intended to be held at Bramford from 7-9pm.

And we really enjoy supporting Alfred and his peers, especially with a challenging situation numbers-wise and were pitchside to watch them only lose to a real freak of a goal against what 'on paper' (to borrow an oft-used term from footballing parlance) were a stronger side with our goalkeeping son again performing well and importantly enjoying himself.

The ringing with the SE on the 11cwt six had finished by full-time and so we were free to help Ruthie's mother Kate with her caravan before we settled down to a relaxed afternoon of watching lots of football on TV with Ipswich Town's women and England's men.

I didn't think that the boys would've particularly appreciated watching the Central Council and the Ringing World AGMs on YouTube, but if so inclined or there is something in the meetings one would like to particularly watch both are available to view.

Others in Suffolk were ringing though and with an encouragingly youthful vibe about it all as Sixty on Thirds were rung for a wedding at Bardwell and the same band rang a 1260 of Plain Bob Doubles at Troston which was Max Thomson's twentieth quarter-peal. Congratulations Max!

I'm pleased they were able to use ringing to enjoy Suffolk's countryside and whilst sorry to miss going down the Shotley Peninsula to ring, I'm pleased we were able to watch Alfie's football match.

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Friday 5th September 2025

When asked by Samuel Austin to help out with the recent Friends of Derick Obergene Society Tour of Suffolk and a little of Norfolk, it was a pity that it clashed with whilst we were away on the highly enjoyable Society of Rambling Ringers Tour of Herefordshire. There were lots of friends and acquaintances taking part and potential new friendships to be made and I imagined lots of good ringing in an upbeat atmosphere.

However, the next best thing to going was watching the superb video Samuel had put together and shared on YouTube today. Many of the sights and sounds of our county's churches and bells were imparted, highlighting the glorious variety within our borders from the well known attributes of places like The Norman Tower and Hollesley to the charmingly different sounds of places like Ampton and Weybread which make up the truly rich tapestry of bells that we are blessed to have on our doorstep. As expected the ringing was superb, even at Grundisburgh where the twelve are notoriously challenging for those unfamiliar with them (and sometimes for those of us who are!). Especially when ringing the lesser rung Double Norwich Court Bob Maximus as they did and which is one of only three performances of it noted on BellBoard, the last being a peal of it at St Mary-le-Tower in 1904! I imagine there are others not marked on BB, but you get the idea - it is a rare choice to ring to a quarter or peal.

Above all else though, despite broken steps, injuries and even a car crash in Offton, they seemed to have a genuinely good time. It is well worth watching the 22 minutes and 44 seconds of the video which features a mix of ringing, often hilarious choices of songs that accompany photo montages and a number of local ringers past, present and occasional, such as Laura Davies, Alban Forster, Maggie Ross, Clare Veal and Molly Waterson.

We found the time to enjoy it at the end of a day that not unusually for a Friday didn't include any ringing for us, but rather work, a dentist appointment each, a visit from our friend Matt and bumping into son of Mike Whitby and former ringer himself (indeed he has rung six QPs and two peals in his time) James during a shopping trip.

There was ringing in Suffolk today from others though, with the thirtieth birthday of Jess Scase celebrated by a band of Scases plus honorary family member for the occasion Malcolm Westrup ringing a 1260 of Doubles at Earl Stonham. At Tostock a 1320 of Cambridge & King Edward (which is Cambridge with thirds made at the half-lead rather than fifths) Surprise Minor was rung. And beyond our borders a Guild peal of Cambridge Surprise Royal was rung at Higham Ferrers in Northamptonshire.

Hopefully they all had as good a time as Samuel Austin and the Friends of Derick Obergene Society seem to have had in Suffolk and Norfolk!

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Thursday 4th September 2025

For all that the switch of days for Alfie's football training has freed up Wednesday evenings, it has now made Thursday evenings logistically challenging, what with Ruthie's practicing with her choral colleagues returning tonight after its summer break. Nonetheless, we managed it, even succeeding in picking up and dropping off Alfred's teammate and a quick trip to Tesco. However, it left no opportunity for ringing at any of the nearby Thursday night practices at Falkenham, Grundisburgh, Ipswich St Matthew's or Orford.

Others in the county were able to squeeze ringing into their day though, most notably at Horringer where a 1280 of Double Dublin Surprise Major saw Katharine Salter and Joshua Watkins ring their first blows in the method and David Steed, Lesley Steed, Katie Abraham and conductor Stephen Dawson ring their first quarter-peal of it. Well done Katharine, Joshua, David, Lesley, Katie and Stephen! And further afield there were various eye-catching performances. Such as the handbell peals of Stedman Cinques and Bristol Surprise Maximus in London and Reading respectively, the 5040 of forty-one Surprise Minor methods spliced in Bristol that former Reydon learner Philip Moyse trebled to and a 7200 of fifty-two Treble Dodging Minor methods spliced rung on the 24cwt back six at Great St Mary in Cambridge.

Hopefully it wasn't too logistically challenging for them to fit it all in!

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Wednesday 3rd September 2025

It was a day of change in our household.

Some of it was big as Alfie and Josh began in a new school year and in the case of the former a new school as he had his first day at secondary school. Both were excited as they set off and when they returned, which I imagine may well wear off but for now is a good sign I guess. And with much anxiety from their parents on whether we had suitably prepared them it was reassuring.

Another change is not as significant but opens up new opportunities for us on Wednesday evenings. Or rather old ones. For Alfred's football training has now switched nights, thus freeing up Wednesdays to join the pre-practice quarter-peal attempt at Pettistree as when needed. On this occasion I took advantage of that opportunity by ringing in the 1296 of Beverley Surprise Minor which was hopefully useful for Elaine Townsend and Gavin Edwards in particular. Once that had finished I then went back home to enable Ruthie to go out to the session that followed, which included some apparently well-rung Ipswich Surprise Minor and some first spliced for Gavin, before my wife retired to the Greyhound Inn next door for refreshment.

Elsewhere in Suffolk meanwhile, the men's Tour of Britain cycling race continued through the county, starting and ending in Stowmarket and marked by a 1344 of Lincolnshire Surprise Major rung on The Barn Owl Ring in Norton just before the peloton passed nearby on an exciting day for local cycling fans and day of change for us.

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Tuesday 2nd September 2025

A week ago I encouraged ringers to ring along the route of the men's cycling Tour of Britain as it goes past various towers on their intended journeys through Suffolk today and tomorrow, but I also suggested it was unlikely to appear on the TV coverage. Congratulations therefore to the ringers at Woodbridge getting a mention in the commentary as the first stage of the race launched from the town. The bells themselves couldn't be heard on the television, but the commentator gives them a shout out a few minutes after the peloton moves off, about 19 minutes and 50 seconds into the programme. From what I watched back I couldn't hear any other bells or mention of them, although the tower at Beccles was brought up as they entered the town on the Norfolk border. And I spotted the tower at Aldeburgh where the Guild 8-Bell Striking Competition was held so successfully in May.

Apart from the famous ringing from the start of the cycling there wasn't anything on BellBoard from the county today though. However, having spotted that the peal book of Asa Hayward had been shared on this very website I enjoyed having a read of that this evening. Asa is from a time so long ago that he doesn't even feature on BB or Pealbase, which makes these records even more fascinating. Learning to ring at Clopton and Grundisburgh, he apparently joined the Cumberland Youths in 1828, although confusingly his first peal seems to have been rung for what looks like the Junior Society of the College Youths, which seemed to have been some sort of faction of the ASCY. Impressively that was rung strapping the tenor at what is now known as Southwark Cathedral.

Of today's ringing I expect the performance that will stand out to future studies of ringing history will be the 8080 of Double Norwich Court Bob Major rung on handbells in Islington and was the most changes rung to a peal for two of the band and as conductor, but we weren't adding anything to the history of the exercise on this occasion as Ruthie watched the return of the Great British Bake Off and I caught up on the TV coverage of the Tour of Britain and the famous ringers of Woodbridge!

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Monday 1st September 2025

A question raised on the Bellringers Facebook page today started a discussion on which is the oldest bell hung for change-ringing in the world and Richard Smith shared an image of a list from Dove which suggests that the fourth at Parham holds that distinction, at least in a ringable ring and/or of four bells and more. However, there is the caveat that dating bells cast over seven hundred years ago is far from a precise science. The 1299 date it is given is a rough one that only indicates that they think it was cast in the thirteenth century. Other bells may be older, but it's possible - likely indeed - that we have the oldest bell hung for change-ringing right here within our borders!

It is a subject that I imagine the late Ranald Clouston MBE would've enjoyed contributing to, which is apt as an article on this Suffolk ringer and bell historian and his archive of papers by Chris Pickford and report on the recent peal rung in Hartest where Ranald lived until his death in 2002 features in the latest edition of The Ringing World which arrived with us today. There is also an entertaining piece by Samuel Austin on the busy Friends of Derick Obergene Society Tour of our county from a month ago, including an account of the trail of destruction to steps at Coddenham and Helmingham!

I found time to read that before we headed to the weekly practice at Ipswich Minster where we again rang Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus and pretty well too, despite me going wrong in the final few changes when I made the cardinal sin of getting distracted by a non-ringing visitor coming up the stairs through the open door on another warm evening. During a productive session we also rang Yorkshire Surprise Maximus and Stedman Cinques and although an attempt at spliced Surprise Max was a step too far on this occasion, it is encouraging that we could even consider it. Hopefully we can continue in this vein in the coming weeks, so please do support us if you can and look up Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus beforehand!

With the boys with us there was no pub for Ruthie and me, but I did get the chance to help with the work of the South-East District as I was able to pass some bits and pieces that the SE Treasurer Mary Garner had dropped at ours earlier in the day to the Ringing Master Hal Meakin, even if the brown paper bag it came in looked like I was delivering a takeaway to him!

Meanwhile, a quarter-peal of Little Bob Royal was rung on handbells in Moats Tye and it was highlighted today that the heaviest double peal ever is due to be attempted on Saturday 27th September at Exeter Cathedral, at 72cwt the second heaviest ring of bells hung for change-ringing in the world. In the process they are looking to raise funds for the Cathedral's sound system and if you wish to donate there is a JustGiving page.

Unusually though the ringing headline act today was a 1320 of Plain Bob Doubles. For that was what was rung at Singapore Cathedral and was not only a first quarter-peal for two of the band, but with the help of conductor Harm Jan de Kok who works in that part of the world it was also a first local band quarter-peal there. Well done to all concerned! A tremendous achievement, even if none of the bells there are as old as Parham's fourth!

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Sunday 31st August 2025

South-West District Quarter-Peal Month was rounded off by a pair of quarters, with 1260s of Triples rung at Boxford and Lavenham - Grandsire at the former and Plain Bob at the latter. Congratulations to all involved with what seems to have been a productive eleven QPs over thirty-one days, especially those who achieved something new, such as Jill Apter, Tony Baker, Gary Edwards, Tim Forsey, Robyn Slater and Sue Tye, Three first quarter-pealers is particularly pleasing!

Congratulations also to Andrew Stone on astonishingly becoming a Great Grandad and well done to all the band that along with him rang the first quarter of Stowmarket Bob Royal at the eponymous 19cwt ten in the centre of Suffolk.

Meanwhile, whilst with the continued later Sunday morning ringing times at Ipswich Minster we could've helped out at Pettistree, a struggle to get the boys out of bed (our intended task in the coming days is to get them back into a termtime sleep routine!) meant that our only ringing of the day came on the county's heaviest twelve where we rang in some Stedman Caters as well as some Grandsire Cinques.

That was followed by refreshment in Costa Coffee, but then an afternoon of helping mother-in-law Kate with her caravan (well, I made the tea!) and a spot of DIY for Ruthie at work, all whilst the South-West District Quarter-Peal Month came to a very satisfactory conclusion.

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Saturday 30th August 2025

It's been a controversial week in the world of East Anglian men's football with Ipswich Town unexpectedly snapping up one of Norwich City's best players Marcelino Núñez, much to the consternation of our friends from Norfolk. However, rivalries seems to have been put aside for the performance of the day at Inveraray in Scotland where Norwich supporter David Brown was ringing with Ipswich fan David Pipe for the phenomenal peal of sixteen Royal methods named along the theme of the TV sitcom Blackadder. Although I did message Mr Pipe asking if he wore an ITFC shirt with Núñez on the back...

We weren't exhibiting anywhere near the same endeavours in the exercise, but we did see other ringing supporters of the Tractor Boys as we went along to Portman Road to watch their dramatic draw with Derby County which also saw our new signings from up the A140 introduced on the pitch beforehand. Having watched Alfred playing in an even more exciting match this morning where - like with the match involving the Superblues this afternoon - there were lots of goals and two penalties, we joined his Granny and Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle for food at our usual pre-match venue of The Mermaid, chatted with new Guild Peal Secretary Caroline Goodchild as she went about her business working for the club and although we didn't meet with former St Mary-le-Tower RM Simon Rudd in the Fanzone before kick-off as he came straight from conducting a 5040 all the way up at Upper Sheringham, we did catch up with him at halftime.

Meanwhile elsewhere within our borders other ringers were being much more active than us, with a 1295 of Grandsire Caters at The Norman Tower, whilst Gavin Edwards, Sylvie Fawcett, Mary Garner, Pippa Moss, Ruth Suggett and Mike Whitby rang a brace of quarter-peals. One of Cambridge Surprise Minor at Brandeston and one at Kettleburgh of Norwich Surprise Minor.

Which seems apt for this week.

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Friday 29th August 2025

Wissett is a lovely rural community with a charming pub and a quintessentially Suffolk church with a traditional East Anglian round tower, from where the 7cwt six were ringing out over the village and surrounding countryside as a 1272 of Munden Surprise Minor was rung. Well done to Josephine Beever, Chrissie Pickup, Julie & Peter Richardson, conductor Philip Gorrod and Adrian Edwards on ringing their first in the method.

Although on the busier A1120, Stonham Aspal is also a lovely rural Suffolk village and here too the bells were ringing out, this time in memory of a good old boy whose ringing was part of the soundtrack of this idyllic part of the world for decades, Bernard Pipe.

Meanwhile the funeral of our oldest member, former Ipswich St Matthew's ringer Freda Smith is due to be held at the church where she once rang the bells regularly, at 10am on Saturday 27th September. Hopefully there can be a big turnout for her.

Neither Ruthie or I were participating in the exercise she and Bernard did, but we were having a very enjoyable evening hosting our friends Charlotte, Gregory and their daughters - and our Goddaughters - Ava & Bea with takeaway curry and a gin or two.

God willing we'll soon also be enjoying those wonderful rural surroundings of places like Stonham Aspal and Wissett.

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Thursday 28th August 2025

On BBC Radio Suffolk they spoke about the shortage of people able to make and refurbish pianos in this country, with apparently just one piano-maker left in the UK up in Yorkshire. A craft in danger of disappearing?

Closer to home some concerns have been raised about numbers for Alfie's football team for the season ahead. An activity struggling to get youngsters involved?

I suspect both situations ought to be salvageable. Quite what the popularity of the piano is at the moment I don't know, but it is still much used in popular music (I'm down with da kids!), before we even get into its use in more classical pieces, not least for the Proms currently still packing out the Royal Albert Hall. And it is hard to believe there aren't enough under-12 footballers keen to play regularly in a team. More likely it is a badly timed couple of departures.

However, it did give me thought for what it all says about ringing, an activity that involves much craft which many perceive is in danger of disappearing and struggling to get youngsters involved. In truth I don't think we do too badly. Depending on where you are there are many youngsters completely enthused with the exercise. The Ringing World National Youth Contest attracts hundreds of young ringers every year. Youngsters flock to the National 12-bell Striking Contest. Over the last few days the Advanced Ringing Academy has seen oodles of endeavour from youngsters. Even within our borders where for several years things were very quiet on the young ringers front, things are improving, with a sizeable number of youngsters seemingly enjoying the art in our county with a smile on their face. Whitechapel may have been lost and like lots of businesses conditions are tough, but Taylor's are still going and there are places like Matthew Higby & Company who are being kept busy. In these times of tight budgets the relatively low cost of ringing shouldn't be underestimated.

Still, it is a challenge for any craft or activity to compete with everything else that is on offer for people these days and especially in the case of children. Ringing - like everything else - just has to keep putting itself out there and finding ways to attract new recruits and lapsed ringers and hopefully Ringing 2030 can help us to do that.

After all, it is something that can offer something new throughout one's life, as demonstrated by Alan Mayle - who has achieved so much in the exercise already - who today rang his first quarter-peal of Surprise Major on handbells with the 1280 of Yorkshire in Sudbury which was conducted by Simon Rudd on his way to Hertfordshire to ring a peal of forty-one Surprise Minor methods spliced in hand. Well done Alan!

No ringing contributions from us on this occasion though, with Alfred's footy training starting up again on a new night. God willing we'll be going along to a lot more football practices on Thursdays in the coming months, as well as enjoying a thriving ringing scene. I'm not sure I can help with the pianos though.

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Wednesday 27th August 2025

Darkness is falling noticeably earlier from those heady midsummer days of enjoying our post-practice drinks in broad daylight, with the sun well and truly gone before the end of Pettistree's weekly session and the heatwaves seemed to have passed for this summer (although there was dubious talk earlier in the week of temperatures nearing thirty degrees centigrade around Halloween!), but this was still a lovely evening and with the school holidays continuing another nice family trip out. And it was yet again a useful practice.

Jovial too. A course of Beverley Surprise Minor had to be set up after one change when it became apparent that the ringer of the fifth thought they had grabbed hold for Stedman Doubles. Said ringer swapped out we rang it well and we did ring some good Stedman for them afterwards, but we also rang further Surprise Minor in the form of London, Norwich and spliced, whilst we rang Grandsire Doubles too.

It was all followed by refreshment in the Greyhound Inn and preceded with a 1296 of Cambridge Surprise Minor which was John Constable's first of Surprise. Well done John, whose name got us trying to encourage Alfie to learn to ring so Alfred Munnings could join him in a painters' quarter. If anyone knows any ringing Pablo Picassos or Claude Monets then please get in touch!

Although that was the only performance from within our borders recorded on BellBoard today, there was a Suffolk Guild peal rung in Essex with a 5055 of Stedman Caters at Tollesbury.

I'm glad they managed to finish before it got dark!

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Tuesday 26th August 2025

If all goes to plan next Tuesday and Wednesday will see the roads, streets and lanes right alongside a lot of Suffolk's rings of bells being extremely busy as the Men's Tour of Britain sets off from within our borders. Indeed from the off at 11am in Woodbridge in precisely a week, the peloton is due to travel past the 25cwt eight and then later past Grundisburgh's twelve at about 11.20am, the sixes of Burgh, Clopton and Campsea Ashe before getting to the coast via Aldeburgh's 11cwt eight at around 12.40pm and back inland past the 20cwt eight of Leiston about a quarter of an hour later, Saxmundham's six at 1.05pm, round the bend where Rendham's octave is rung from, Dennington's heavy ground-floor six, the 9cwt five of Heveningham and six at Wrentham before arriving in Southwold for the finish, although it doesn't go past the eight there.

Then the following day it is intended to begin and end in Stowmarket either side of a circuit of the west of the county. Although it doesn't go particularly near the 19cwt ten, it is hoped to go right past the six of Earl Stonham, eight of Debenham at about 11.30am, ten at Stradbroke around 12.15pm, eights of Horham and Eye before continuing on past Thornham Magna's ground-floor six, Gislingham's eight, the six at Walsham le Willows about 1pm, five of Badwell Ash, four at Stowlangtoft, Felsham's unringable six and Lavenham's famous eight at about ten to two.

Previous experience suggests that despite the sound of church bells being a quintessential sound of the British countryside that the organisers and TV coverage is hoping to promote, they seem to do everything to avoid any ringing that we've done in the past getting on the airwaves, but even if it doesn't make it on air bells can add to the sense of occasion that follows these sorts of events around and is unlikely to be bad PR too! If you're not fussed about seeing the cyclists flash by then it is worth considering arranging ringing at any of the towers named along the route if possible.

Even if no ringing happens for this there is other ringing in the Guild penciled in for September. Such as the South-East District Practice lined up at Stutton for the morning of Saturday 6th, with the intention being 'Anything But Doubles' accompanied by refreshment. A week later the North-West District plan to hold their Striking Competition at Horringer, which despite being an eight is intended to be a six-bell contest. On the Friday after the hope is to hold an ART Kaleidoscope Session at Barham between 7 and 9pm and the Thursday after that a Surprise Major Practice at Offton focusing on the 'Core Seven' and 'Standard Eight'. Meanwhile if you are puzzled by the lack of a SW District event, circumstances have forced that back into October on the 4th, when they plan on holding their outing. A mixture of fun and focus but all of which will need supporting by ringers of all abilities to be at their most useful. Please do note the dates and go along if you possibly can.

Not everything about today was looking to the future though, as a collection of old photos kindly supplied by the late Brian Beecroft's daughter appeared on the SGR Facebook page. Muriel Page features prominently on them, Guild Ringing Master from 1957-64 Lester Brett is on one, whilst I thought Diana Pipe was in another and immediate Past RM Katharine Salter recognised Pat Bailey in amongst them. I imagine lots of others on FB and reading this could spot other familiar faces in the black and white shots!

I had plenty of time to look at them this evening with still no ringing at Ufford, but other ringers in Suffolk were busier, not least James Croft who rang in three quarter-peals including a brace of handbell successes in Sudbury rung with Simon Rudd and SGR Treasurer Tim Hart, as well as a 1260 of Plain Bob Minor at Great Thurlow rung as part of the South-West District Quarter-Peal Month. However, the headline act was Elizabeth Goodchild's first of Major in the 1344 of Little Bob at Offton. Well done Elizabeth!

It was pretty busy today, let alone next week and next month!

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Monday 25th August 2025

Impressively it has become the norm to ring Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus at Ipswich Minster at the weekly practice, even on this Bank Holiday Monday. Again we were helped by the presence of June Mackay and Ruthie, but otherwise it was an entirely regular band, even with a handful missing. There was some Cambridge Surprise Maximus which didn't go quite so well but was hopefully useful practical experience for those learning it on the only weekly occasion they can normally ring it, whilst we also rang a couple of touches of Stedman Cinques and some London No.3 Surprise Royal during another productive session.

With it still being the summer holidays and no school in the morning the boys were able to come out, thus allowing for my wife to join me and I shall miss not having them with me when all being well we restart the normal termtime routine, but of course on this occasion it meant not being able to go to the pub as the Halberd Inn as a town centre pub understandably doesn't allow children in that late in the night.

Still, it came at the end of a pleasant day off for what is due to be the last public holiday for precisely four months, with a lay-in and leisurely morning topped by Mrs Munnings making pancakes before an afternoon of sorting out uniforms and stationary for the forthcoming academic year in time for its intended start in the next fortnight or so.

Being a Bank Holiday Monday though, there was plenty of ringing going on including the typical array of notable peals and venues such as St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol, Exeter Cathedral and Winchester Cathedral and at Tamworth Henry Pipe - great nephew of our very own Diana - demonstrated extraordinary mental endurance by calling the late, great Chris Kippin's one-part composition of 10,000 changes of eight Surprise Royal methods spliced. It is a phenomenal example of the limitless nature of the exercise. There is always something new to achieve for all of us, even if for most it probably won't be this!

There was peal-ringing going on for the Suffolk Guild too as a 5040 of Southwell Surprise Maximus was rung at The Norman Tower. Nice to see something a little different being rung and to see twelve-bell ringing flourishing in the county.

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Sunday 24th August 2025

Ringing in Suffolk marked departures and arrivals today.

The quarter-peal of Grandsire Triples at Bardwell was dedicated to Neal Dodge leaving the county for London. Neal will be sorely missed here as even at a young age he has done a tremendous amount for the Guild, highlighted by him currently being the SGR Public Relations Officer, CCCBR Rep AND the North-West District Chairman. I was particularly pleased that he took the former role off me back in 2016 when life was getting especially hectic at home, but also that having approached him about the job that he has since become one of our very best PROs. He's certainly done better than his predecessor, if that's not setting the bar too low!

Meanwhile, the 1260 of Stedman Triples at The Norman Tower celebrated the birth of a first grandchild for Guild Ringing Master Julian Colman and his wife and SGR Central Council Representative Cath. It is lovely news to hear, congratulations to Julian & Cath and of course to the new parents Esther & Greg!

And although it wasn't marking any lifechanging moments, it is of course also worth noting the QP of Plain Bob Minor rung on the lovely 7cwt ground-floor six rung from the round tower of St Andrew's church in Wissett, which was rung for Evensong there on a busier day of ringing in the county than yesterday.

As it was for us too! With Ruthie and her choral colleagues on holiday from their duties, my wife and I were able to answer a call for help from Pettistree to ring the bells for morning service where despite a faulty speaker making a lot of noise we managed a couple of 120s of Grandsire Doubles and a really well-rung course of Cambridge Surprise Minor and admired the 3D printed model bell from David Hallett, before we continued onto Ipswich Minster for ringing there.

We were greeted by another busy ringing chamber that included Laura Davies. Sadly we don't get to see her much nowadays due to her excelling in cycling, but we are fortunate to have such a good ringer on our doorstep and that we at least see her occasionally when circumstances allow. On this occasion she helped to us ring Stedman Cinques as well as some extensive call-changes from Hal Meakin that saw us taken to Queens (Odd numbers first and then even numbers both in ascending order - 13579E24680T) to Kings (odd bells in descending order then even bells in ascending order - E9753124680T) and then back to Queens before calling "rounds"! Although Ian Culham on the eleventh seemed relieved that he didn't call that during the Kings when he was leading!

Admiring Ivan Culham's tremendous haircut (I could only dream of such a style, which you'll understand if you see him!) most of us retired to Costa Coffee for refreshment ahead of a busy afternoon that didn't involve ringing but did involve ringers as first we met up with Ufford ringers Pete & Susanne, their son - and my Godson - Jonathan and fellow Godfather Mark and his family in Kingston Fields for a picnic and a fun few hours and then went to the home of former South-East District RM Kate Eagle for a barbecue.

Eventually we did arrive home several hours after we had departed it, although we aren't expecting any ringing for that from Suffolk's ringers!

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Saturday 23rd August 2025

With Alfie and his football teammates playing out that way this morning and unusually plenty of time spare, I took the opportunity to take in a venue which was once a regular haunt when I was Guild Ringing Master. Although many GMC meetings were - and still are - held in the hall attached to the east end of Holy Trinity church Stowupland, my main aim was to get a photo for this website for the tower that holds a 2cwt bell. I can't say I have fond memories of the meetings here in the way that I will remember other ringing events, but I always found them a pleasant opportunity to meet up with friends looking to help the SGR in the same way I was, usually accompanied by a cuppa and biscuit!

Unfortunately that was the closest I got to ringing today, with a peal attempt at Campsea Ashe this afternoon becoming the second this week I'd been asked in to be cancelled due to a lack of numbers. Concerning to an extent but also it is still peak holiday season, so maybe not surprising.

Still it left me with extra time with the family and to read the latest edition of The Ringing World with a photo taken by South-East District Secretary Liz Christian of a board of VJ Day ringing challenges starring as the 'Image of the Week ' on the back page and Rowan Wilson had sent in an obituary for Norman Tebbit that included ringing connections I never realised existed!

However, it was a quiet day for ringing in Suffolk, despite the nearly peal attempt and ringing nostalgia.

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Friday 22nd August 2025

Comedian, actor and local resident Griff Rhys Jones gives bells a brief mention 1 hour, 45 minutes and 30 seconds into Sarah Lilley's BBC Radio Suffolk show this morning. Primarily he was being interviewed about his annual 'Happy Christmas Ipswich' show which raises money for East Anglia's Children's Hospices, but he mentions he is also planning a solo performance in October at the Royal Hospital School in aid of the East Bergholt bellcage. Although what they are doing there that needs the funds I'm not sure.

Meanwhile I was sorry to hear of the death of Stonham Aspal ringer Bernard Pipe, whose funeral is due to take place in the church of his home tower at 2.30pm on Thursday 28th August with ringing on the 23cwt ten from 1.45pm. I liked Bernard a lot, but didn't ring with him a huge amount (although I did ring a peal with him at Framsden in 1994) and hadn't seen him for several years, but this is sad news.

On a happier note though, congratulations to Sam Clanford and Helen Corris who appeared on the Guild Facebook page receiving their ART Level 1 Certificates from Fornham St Martin Tower Captain Deborah Blumfield and there were two quarter-peals rung in the county. One was a joint Norfolk-Suffolk band at Wingfield with a 1320 of Oxford Treble Bob Minor, whilst the 1296 of Burton Treble Bob Minor at Tostock was the first in the method for all of the band. Well done to Juliet Griffiths, Andrea Alderton, David Steed, Lesley Steed, Joshua Watkins and conductor Stephen Dawson!

No ringing for us though, with our most significant activity being trying out potential routes to secondary school for Alfie and having a cup of tea round Ruthie's Gran's, as well as work of course. And listening to Griff Rhys Jones talking about East Bergholt bellcage on the radio.

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Thursday 21st August 2025

Sad as their passing was, the longevity of Mavis Mares at over 100 and Freda Smith at 107 were largely being celebrated by ringers this week. Although she isn't a ringer or ever has been as far as I know, it seems appropriate that the 116th birthday today of the oldest living person in the world Ethel Caterham was celebrated, including by ringers as a quarter-peal was rung at Bagshot in Surrey near where she lives and by Ollie Watson on the simulator at Horsted Keynes.

Nothing in Suffolk on BellBoard though, either for her or anyone else and we weren't helping that as we had a quiet evening in during what has at times been a very busy week! Hopefully Ethel was having a relaxing evening too.

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Wednesday 20th August 2025

Wednesday 20th August 2025 has long been earmarked on the Melton Munnings household calendar as a busy day. There was work for Ruthie and myself, a dentist appointment for me, a match for Alfie and his football peers and a peal attempt at The Wolery. In the end it didn't work out that way, but it remained a busy day.

The first spoke in our wheel came on Monday evening with our washing machine breaking down. That necessitated a visit from a repair engineer and with the next available appointments after today not until after the Bank Holiday weekend and an almost daily need to wash clothes with four and sometimes five in the house we made sure we got the repair in ASAP. However, that presented a problem with my dentist check-up, with our appointment expected in the vague slot of between 7.35am and 8pm and so I had to postpone that inspection of my teeth. Although that timescale had narrowed by this morning and the visit from a helpful chap to get the offending blockage removed from our machine came very early meaning I could've made that trip to the dentist after all, at least the washing machine is fixed!

Meanwhile Alfred's away fixture and the peal attempt in Old Stoke had presented logistical challenges that actually eased with other developments on Monday as a glut of late dropouts meant that the latter was cancelled, thus clearing the way for AJM's parents and younger brother to watch the goalkeeper in action at the end of a day when he'd also thrown in a trip to Felixstowe for some swimming with his schoolfriend to add to the day's arrangements.

The lack of a peal also enabled us to head straight for Pettistree's weekly practice after full-time, albeit quite late into proceedings. Although we still got to speak to Mary & Roger Whittell who were there with their grandson Will before they left and contributed to some Stedman Doubles (which my wife avoided by hiding behind a curtain despite Gavin Edwards dobbing her in!), Beverley and Cambridge Surprise Minor and some spliced before retiring to a pleasingly packed Greyhound Inn for refreshment.

Preceding the session was a 1296 of Surfleet Surprise Minor, but that wasn't the only QP rung in Suffolk today as former Edwardstone and Boxford ringer Mavis Mares was remembered with a 1260 of two Minor methods at the former as part of the South-West District Quarter-Peal Month. Well done to Jill Apter on ringing her first extent (the full 720 different changes possible on six) of St Clement's College Bob Minor.

All part of a busy Wednesday 20th August 2025!

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Tuesday 19th August 2025

Hearing about the death of former Ipswich St Matthew's ringer and oldest member of the Suffolk Guild Freda Smith was sad news, but of course she should also be celebrated, which I imagine she would probably prefer. At 107 years old she reached an age that most of us would be delighted with and from what I heard has been of good health in her final years, greeting the band that rang a peal for her 105th birthday at her home tower a couple of years ago looking resplendent in brightly coloured clothes and apparently full of stories of ringing and ringers in decades gone by. One can only marvel at all she has seen and experienced in her long life, from her childhood of the 1920s, wartime as a young woman, man landing on the moon when she was middle-aged to the internet, social media and AI.

She began her life in the last months of the First World War and ended it in an age where anyone in the world can listen to the crystal clear sound of Earl Stonham bells at will by listening back to their appearance on BBC Radio 4's 'Bells on Sunday' over the weekend, as I did this evening. Or take in the archive of 'Fun with Bells' podcast. Although I have listened to one or two in the past, for some reason I've never really picked up on these and unfortunately Cathy Booth has stopped making new ones. Tonight though I took the opportunity to listen back to a couple featuring SGR Public Relations Officer Neal Dodge and Bardwell Ringing Master and Tower Talk editor Ruth Suggett.

All of this was made possible with the extra time afforded us with no ringing at Ufford, but that wasn't the case at Offton where the weekly practice was preceded by a quarter-peal of Yorkshire Surprise Major. And just beyond our borders Suffolk's ringers were being even more active as SGR Treasurer Tim Hart was ringing a handbell peal in Norfolk with former St Mary-le-Tower RM Simon Rudd and in Cambridgeshire Blaxhall ringer Mike Cowling was ringing in the 5080 of Stedman Triples spliced with four Surprise Major methods at Meldreth with Isaac, June and Katie who were ringing with us at Ipswich Minster last night.

I imagine in the near future the county's ringers will also hope to ring to celebrate Freda Smith's long life.

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Monday 18th August 2025

Granny Kate very kindly took Alfie and Josh up to Aldeburgh today for the final day of the carnival there. And not just for the day, but also the evening and into the night as they watched the fireworks that climaxed the event.

We missed them of course, but it allowed for us to eat and ready ourselves for the weekly practice at Ipswich Minster in a leisurely fashion. Maybe even get there for the start. Or so we thought...

Thai green curry indulged in and enjoyed, apple crumble made by my wife's grandmother in the oven and washing machine going, it seemed we were on course for getting into the county town in a relaxed mood. Until the washing machine clicked and bleeped alarmingly. Something was stuck in the drainage system and so instead our evening turned into one of emptying the machine of water and laying on the floor trying to extract the offending article. There was no way of doing that without taking parts of the machine apart which we didn't feel comfortable in doing and so having decided there was nothing we could do about it tonight we had our crumble (although a leaky bowl that saw cream escaping out of its bottom added to the sense of everything going against us this evening!) and did eventually make it to Suffolk's heaviest ring of bells, feeling flustered and slightly grumpy rather than relaxed, with the scaffolded tower of St Lawrence offering only a brief distraction.

We were greeted with another busy ringing chamber, boosted by the return of Katie Abraham and June Mackay who also brought along Isaac Johnson and having been advised to brush up on the 'standard' eight Surprise Major methods and our Surprise Royal we actually rang Stedman Cinques, Yorkshire Surprise Maximus and even Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus. Despite understandable anxiety from some (my wife included!) that they had planned for Lincolnshire Surprise Major rather than Maximus and a false start, we actually rang this pretty well showing how concerted practice this month at this has ingrained it into our minds.

It is thirsty work though and with Mrs Eagle and the boys still up the coast we took advantage by going to the Halberd Inn after ringing before returning home to be reunited with our stricken washing machine and more importantly our children buzzing with tales and excitement from their day, evening and night in Aldeburgh.

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Sunday 17th August 2025

Midday on a Sunday is a frankly ludicrous time to play a professional game of football where tens of thousands of people are travelling from across a wide area, the country indeed.

Still, that was what we were faced with when attending Ipswich Town's men's first fixture of the 2025/26 season at Portman Road today. With getting into the stadium in time to file in with nearly 30,000 others into a small corner of Suffolk's county town just down the hill from the six at St Matthew's and feed our family at our usual pre-match venue of The Mermaid and the later ringing time at Ipswich Minster, there was no time to fit in going to the 34cwt twelve and having met Simon Rudd in the Fanzone as we usually do before kick-off we discovered that he too had to miss ringing in Norwich, although that was mainly due to getting stuck behind an accident on the way in.

By that point we were participating in a beer but with such an early start our normal routine had been largely devoid of alcohol and mainly consisted of breakfast and cups of tea.

Nonetheless, another fun day out was had as we drew 1-1 with Southampton (we didn't lose!), thus maintaining diplomatic relations with supporters of our visitors with ringing connections to our county like James Croft and Maggie Ross! That despite such a fast start that Joshua was still eating his ice cream when we scored!

Meanwhile back at the tower we'd earlier abandoned there was later a quarter-peal of Stedman Caters rung, whilst a 1260 of Plain Bob Minor was rung at Mendham and at Troston Sylvie Fawcett rang her first QP of Cambridge Surprise Minor. Well done Sylvie!

It seems to have been a good day of ringing for those not attending ludicrously timed football matches.

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Saturday 16th August 2025

We're a very charitable membership! Of course I knew that already and we all know that ringers are a good source of fundraising, especially for bell projects but also for other worthy causes.

Hot on the heels of Fornham St Martin Tower Captain Deborah Blumfield's fundraiser announcement yesterday, today saw Stowmarket ringer Margaret Lambeth abseil down the central tower at Bury St Edmunds Cathedral in aid of East Anglia's Children's Hospices. Very well done Margaret and again if you feel able then please do donate via her fundraising page.

We were nowhere near as active as we took Alfie for and watched his football team's friendly and then popped into Ipswich to collect some uniform for the secondary school adventure he is due to begin next month.

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After that it was a fairly laid back afternoon of helping Alfred and Josh make their own pizzas and so there was opportunity to read the latest edition of The Ringing World which arrived with us this morning. Apart from peal and quarter reports there wasn't anything Suffolk-related in this issue, but several pages were dedicated to remembering Paul Mounsey who did do ringing in the county and judged the 2020 George W Pipe 12 Bell Competition at St Mary-le-Tower with Alban Forster and was of course known to and friends with several within our borders.

Others in the county were busier ringing though and marking yesterday's eightieth anniversary of VJ Day, with the 5040 of twenty-four Treble Dodging Minor methods on handbells in Bacton and 1296 of Cambridge Surprise Minor at Drinkstone both dedicated to the end of the Second World War eighty years and a day ago.

Nothing else was reported on BellBoard though. Maybe our ringers are busy being wonderful and charitable.

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Friday 15th August 2025

Those who were still out in the Far East fighting in the Second World War after VE Day in 1945 have long been referred to as 'the forgotten army' by many. Imagine family members of those still involved in warfare whilst the rest of the nation celebrated the end of the conflict in Europe and even held a general election during those three long months. To a certain extent Ruthie's family don't have to, as her grandfather Frederick on her paternal side was a Prisoner of War at the time, whilst his brother Charles died in captivity there. Therefore today on the eightieth anniversary of VJ Day, when the fighting finally ceased, it felt important for my wife, her mother Kate and myself to mark the occasion.

We were delighted then to be invited into a quarter-peal attempt at Pettistree this evening, joining so much other ringing being done in Suffolk. As has become the norm on such days there is too much to list on here, but there is just space to mention the other four quarter-peals rung in the county beyond our 1250 of Norwich Surprise Minor. Much like ours was for us, the 1260 of Plain Bob Minor was presumably an important one for Paul Stannard as it remembered Sidney Stannard who was a POW in Burma and congratulations to Pat Lees on ringing her 800th QP in the 1295 of Grandsire Caters at The Norman Tower, whilst there were also quarters of four Doubles methods at Barrow and six Doubles methods at Whepstead.

Meanwhile on the Guild Facebook page, Fornham St Martin Tower Captain Deborah Blumfield announced that she plans to cycle from Land's End to John o' Groats from 2nd September to raise funds for Breast Cancer Now. If you can, do consider donating via JustGiving for a wonderful cause.

Hopefully the weather will cool down a bit for her by then, but although it doesn't compare to the conditions suffered by those in the Far East eight decades ago today's hot temperatures made ringing hard work and indeed did for the band at Stisted in Essex which finished prematurely, so we were impressed with our efforts which were followed by 80 changes of Grandsire Doubles to allow Chris Garner to ring in memory of his Uncle Rupert, band photos and a refreshing drink outside the Greyhound Inn.

We made sure the 'forgotten army' weren't forgotten.

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Thursday 14th August 2025

This evening I witnessed a family feud, revenge plots, deaths and madness. No, not a GMC meeting (only joking!), but rather we were watching Red Rose Chain's superb 'Theatre in the Forest' performance of Hamlet at Sutton Hoo with a big crowd including former Pettistree ringers Maggie & Mary Hallett. Beneath a chestnut tree on a site famously full of history watching a centuries old tale on a warm summer evening, it all felt rather dreamy. Thank you to mother-in-law Kate for taking us and to Ruthie on preparing such a great picnic!

Of course it left no time for ringing for us, but others in Suffolk were more active, most notably at Polstead where the South-West District Quarter-Peal Month continued with SW District Chairman Pauline Brown's one hundredth QP. Congratulations Pauline! It is also dedicated to the departure of David & Lynda Lee, who have served the South-West with such dedication for so many years, Lynda as the Deanery Representative for the District Committee and David as a District Rep on the Recruitment & Training Committee, Treasurer and Ringing Master. They will be most missed in their home district but also across the Guild. Best of luck on your new life in Kent David & Lynda!

Meanwhile a 1344 of Superlative Surprise Major was rung on the lovely 8cwt ground-floor eight at Horringer.

And further afield there was much fun being had by the younger generation of ringers with a 5040 of 324 Treble Dodging Minor methods spliced on handbells in Matlock Bath in Derbyshire in an incredible feat of mental agility displayed by Birmingham ringer Oliver Bates, Rambling Ringers RM Alex Riley and particularly conductor Henry Pipe who of course has strong family connections to our county.

Hopefully none of the ringing today involved family feuds, revenge plots, death or madness!

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Wednesday 13th August 2025

At the elite level football doesn't seem to have stopped over the summer, but Alfie and his teammates have had a healthy break since they rounded their season off in May. This evening though was his team's first pre-season friendly match and the reintroduction of a familiar Wednesday routine of finishing work, feeding a family, getting Alfred off to football and then eventually making it to Pettistree's weekly practice, where a quarter-peal of St Clement's College Bob Minor had already been attempted.

The match was lost (perhaps not helped by me being a lino!) but still a useful warmup and so we did make it to the ground-floor six where with the church now reopen our 'waiting room' container was gone, leaving behind a square patch of yellow grass.

By this point the light outside was dimming already but we still squeezed a fair bit of ringing in after our late arrival, as I called a 120 of Stedman Doubles from the treble and pulled in the tenor to a course of Norwich Surprise Minor.

Most interesting of the session was when Ringing Master Mike Whitby asked for method requests. I suggested Morpeth and promptly got a "stupid boy" from my mother-in-law Kate, but when Guild Chairman Mark Ogden suggested Caithness it was received more positively. This is Bourne with the slightest of tweaks on the front which sees a dodge either end of the five-pull replaced with a place, thus giving you a frontwork from seconds place bell of dodge-lead-seconds-lead before three dodges and then seconds-lead before disappearing off up to fifths place bell. Or "chunk chunk chunk, did-dee did-dee did-dee, chunk chunk" as described by Ruthie in a way that perhaps only an early years educator can! We then followed this up with a course of the sixth-place version (where at the leadend a bell makes sixths when the treble leads and everyone in between plain hunts, as opposed to the second-place version where a bell makes seconds at the leadend and everyone else dodges) which is called Cranford.

It may all seem frivolous, but such methods can induce increased concentration with still familiar lines and often therefore better ringing. Although you can also get a spot of fudging when you reach the bits that are different. We got a bit of that tonight, but in the main I think it did indeed raise concentration levels and brought about good striking.

All of which was jolly fun but on another warm evening in the middle of our fourth heatwave of the summer it also worked up a thirst and so we retired to a couple of tables out the front of the Greyhound Inn next door where we joined the boys' Granny Kate and Grandad Ron and their dogs, Hollesley ringer Sam Shannon and the Garners as we all imparted reports of our recent respective holidays over a drink.

Elsewhere in Suffolk meanwhile, an impressive 1280 of Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow and London Surprise Major was rung at Elveden to a composition from former St Mary-le-Tower ringer Mark Liebenrood, whilst Mike Cowling and Joan Garrett from that band also rang a 5088 of Uxbridge Surprise Major for the Guild over the Cambridgeshire border at Swaffham Bulbeck, the twenty-first in our name since meteorological summer began on 1st June.

Much like elite level football, ringing has continued over the summer, I'm pleased to report.

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Tuesday 12th August 2025

There was some incredible footage of a meteor hitting the moon doing the rounds today. It was an astonishing, otherworldly watch. Certainly more captivating than our other viewing this evening as we watched Ipswich Town's defeat to Bromley on penalties in the League Cup on the TV following a last-minute invite from Ruthie's sister Clare to theirs to witness it before I collected Mason from work.

That invite came about in part due to Ufford bells still being out of action and therefore no practice there, but other ringers in Suffolk were being more active. Happy Birthday to former Guild Treasurer Gordon Slack, whose big day was marked at Offton where the weekly session there was preceded with a 1277 of Double Norwich Court Bob Major, whilst a 1344 of London Surprise Major was rung at Fornham St Martin and 1280 of Grandsire Doubles at Pakenham.

I'm sure the ringing was out of this world.

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Monday 11th August 2025

Twelve years compared to thirteen years shouldn't feel much different, but in marking the thirteenth anniversary of our wedding today it felt like we had moved into the next phase our marriage. It seems much longer as a number of years and not in a bad way, although I have suggested that Ruthie has displayed incredible endurance! However, it feels like we are doing well, that there is real longevity and long may that continue. I feel very blessed!

After all that though, we didn't do an awful lot to mark it as we didn't really have much opportunity to, with a return to work for both of us after our fortnight off, the weekly practice at Ipswich Minster, dropping my mother Sally off at home afterwards and then picking Mason up from work.

It was nice to be able to help mater as she was without a car and obviously I'm keen to help the eldest son in his working endeavours where I can, whilst the ringing was really good. With another big crowd boosted by June MacKay and Katie Abraham who would usually be at Great St Mary in Cambridge on a Monday night (but which are apparently temporarily out of action for work on the pulleys) and of course my wife of thirteen years as we brought the boys along with no school in the morning, we managed a decent repertoire with Stedman Cinques and Surprise Maximus of the Cambridge and Lincolnshire varieties.

Meanwhile earlier in the day I was pleased to see ringing was done at Woodbridge for the funeral of Terry Whale, appropriate for this dedicated former ringer on this 25cwt eight.

Sadly what with returning to work we couldn't attend as we would've liked to, but I did find time to have a read of the latest edition of The Ringing World. That included a list of ringing done for David McLean who rang at the NDA towers that fall in Suffolk and also did much ringing within our borders, whilst the passing of Felixstowe ringer Gwen Bloomfield is included in notices. On a happier theme there is a report on the Barnes band's trip to the Fenlands last month which snuck into our county with a 1320 of Cambridge Surprise Minor at Brandon, 1260 of Plain Bob Triples at Elveden and 1344 of Rutland Surprise Major at Fornham St Martin and on the back page Graham Downing has written about the Samson siblings - which include his wife Veronica - quarter-peal weekend which saw quarters rung in July at Chediston on the 18th, Iken on the 19th and over the border in Norfolk at Mulbarton on the 20th. And Deborah Thorley a daughter of former Guild Ringing Master Martin is interviewed on her role as a Diocesan Bell Advisor.

There is mention of ringing for the eightieth anniversary of VJ Day on Friday where towers are being encouraged to ring at 6.30pm as they were for VE Day back in May. Like then, it would be great to have a good turnout from our towers for this significant landmark. Connected to that, Paul Sharples has announced on the SGR Facebook page that due to a planned QP attempt for the occasion there will be no weekly practice on the evening of the 15th.

By the end of the 11th though, Ruthie and I were able to finally sit back and enjoy a glass or two of fizzy to celebrate those wonderful thirteen years of marriage.

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Sunday 10th August 2025

When Brian & Peta Whiting used to host the annual Offton Ringers BBQ at their delightful home they always seemed to get wonderful weather for it. Indeed of all those I was blessed to go to since my return to Suffolk and during my youth in the 1990s, I can only recall there being rain on a couple of occasions.

In hosting the annual Ipswich Minster Ringers BBQ at her lovely abode, Diana Pipe seems to have been blessed with a similar relationship with favourable weather conditions. This afternoon was the third she has very kindly held on our behalf and as with the previous two it was accompanied by bright, hot sunshine with her beautiful garden also offering plenty of shade. Games were provided for the children present including ours and the food - including delicious chocolate brownies made by Ruthie - and company was fabulous. Thank you to Di, her son Stephen and their friend David for their generous hosting.

It was but just the first of two barbecues that we went to today though, as we then travelled on to my wife's mother Kate's for another one and an opportunity for the boys to play in her swimming pool. All extremely enjoyable, but we were wholly stuffed by the end of the day!

Earlier our household had been along to the twelve that was the reason for our gathering at Mrs Pipe's later, where we rang some Stedman Cinques before retiring to Costa Coffee for post-ringing refreshment and then did some more of the St Elizabeth Hospice Hare Trail around the town centre ahead of joining our first barbecue.

Meanwhile elsewhere in the county, a peal was rung at Barham, a quarter-peal was rung on handbells in Bacton and at The Norman Tower a 1295 of Grandsire Caters was rung to mark the retirement as Cathedral Visitor Experience Manager of Sarah Friswell who I did jury service with many years ago. All the best in your retirement Sarah!

Hopefully it'll be one filled with lots of lovely weather!

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Saturday 9th August 2025

Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey is a programme that covers lots of things that I enjoy. For a start the eponymous presenter who - as the title suggests - takes a different celebrity each programme on a ramble through an area which also takes in a visit to some taverns, is a comedian who we have always enjoyed watching on TV and on one occasion in person when he performed at the Regent Theatre in Ipswich a few years ago. Walking too, which I've been trying to do more of this year. And I've been known to frequent the occasional inn.

When I came across an episode where he was traversing with Sir Trevor MacDonald - a soothing, reassuring presence and voice when I first started watching the news in my youth - and that they were going either side of and even rowing on the River Stour along the Essex/Suffolk border, my attention was grabbed. With it opening with them chiming the hung-dead 19cwt eight of Dedham and then going to the village's Sun Inn where my wife and I had been post-ringing a few years ago, I was hooked! With justification as they finished with a drink at the Butt & Oyster in Pin Mill, one of our favourite places for a pint when we get the chance.

This pleasurable televisual escape was shared in part by Mrs Munnings after she'd returned from a night out with her work colleagues that took them into the county town to Boom Battle Bar - an activity centre combined with a bar similar to Matrix in Hereford where we visited on holiday recently - where she again showed her mini-golf prowess and unsurprisingly came out on top in karaoke before they then went on to The Forge Kitchen for food.

Earlier in the evening the boys and I played board games in the garden at the end of a laid-back day complete with a healthy lay-in but others in Suffolk were being more active, particularly with the North-East District Quarter-Peal Day. Well done to most and possibly all of the band who rang the 1280 of Oxford Treble Bob Major at Rendham for their first in the method, to definitely all the band at Wenhaston on ringing their first of Kennington Doubles and to Marie Owen on her first away from cover in the 1260 of Plain Bob Doubles at Worlingham, whilst the same number of changes in the same method were rung at Metfield.

Meanwhile it looks like the North-West District Outing to the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft area went well and as an aside apparently a peal attempt in New York being rung to a Brian Whiting composition was unfortunately lost, but shows how internationally renowned his compositions are!

I'm glad to see people active in one of the things I enjoy!

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Friday 8th August 2025

Sarah Lilley's weekly Friday 'Connection Quiz' on her BBC Radio Suffolk show asks nine general knowledge questions and one word from each of the correct answers is connected somehow, with the listeners challenged to find the connection. Today's answers were:
Blue Door
School of Rock
Charlotte Church
Bicycle Race
March Hare
Cow
Hand of God
Sleigh Ride

It took Ruthie and me a moment, but the answer came to us rather readily, as you might expect!

We were participating in this as we busied ourselves with some of those holiday jobs that aren't as easy to get done with school, work and everyday life thrown in too, like gardening and a trip to the recycling centre before we went round to the home of my wife's sister Clare to watch Ipswich Town's return to the Championship on the TV, with amongst others former South-East District Ringing Master Kate Eagle, as the Tractor Boys drew at Birmingham City with a last minute penalty in a lively encounter!

Other ringers in Suffolk were hopefully having a more genteel time of it as the South-West District Quarter-Peal Month continued with a brace of 1320s of two Surprise Minor methods, one at Drinkstone and another at Rattlesden, whilst there were three Surprise Minor methods rung in the North-West District at Tostock. And it was lovely to see the peal rung at Bacton in memory of Carol Girling with a band featuring her son-in-law and Guild RM Julian Colman, whilst her daughter Cath Colman and husband and SGR Chairman from 2003-2008 Winston listened throughout the 2 hours and 50 minutes of the 'Suffolk Seven' Minor methods - Cambridge Surprise, Double Court Bob, Double Oxford Bob, Kent Treble Bob, Oxford Treble Bob, Plain Bob and St Clement's College Bob.

Meanwhile, the answer to the 'Connection Quiz' today?
Types of bells of course!

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Thursday 7th August 2025

A week ago today we were on top of a hill in the Brecon Beacons in a large area devoid of buildings and in the main, human life. This morning we had breakfast in the Travelodge with probably as many people as were in a space of several square miles in that beautiful Welsh landscape seven days ago. We still had a spectacular view but instead of rugged windswept hills and a patchwork of fields, we had apartments, building sites, roads and railways as far as the eye could see, folk and vehicles hurriedly going about the business of the nation's main city.

That's not to say we haven't enjoyed our time in London. You can definitely see the appeal and I find the busy evening streets with almost all types of humanity bustling around exhilarating, with so many places to choose from to eat, drink and be entertained at. However, as I've mentioned before, I always enjoy leaving the capital and heading back to the open skies and rural landscape of Suffolk and so this nice Thursday was not unpleasant as we reflected on a fabulous time yesterday.

Whether it was the excitement, the travelling, the keeping tabs on young children in one of the busiest cities in the world or a combination of all three, it was exhausting though and so even with Ruthie's choral practicing on a summer hiatus we didn't manage any ringing tonight.

Others in the county managed some though, with a 1273 of Cambridge Surprise Minor rung at Ipswich Minster for the funeral of John Caudle and a 1380 of Doubles at Barking in memory of Peter Wright. Meanwhile, congratulations to Joshua Watkins on ringing his 300th quarter-peal in the success at Horringer which was also his first as conductor away from an inside bell and well done to Andrea Alderton, Juliet Griffiths and Sally Crouch on ringing their first blows of High Halden Surprise Minor in the same performance. And well done to most and if not all of the band who rang their first QP of Chester Surprise Minor in the 1272 at Metfield.

Lots of ringing going on in surroundings very different to those we found ourselves in last week and today!

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Wednesday 6th August 2025

Quarter-peals of Cambridge & Yorkshire Surprise Major spliced on the Barn Owl Ring in Norton and Cambridge Surprise Minor at Pettistree were rung in Suffolk today.

We were nearer to the brace of quarters at St James Garlickhythe, 1282 of Cambridge Surprise Royal at St Magnus the Martyr and the handbell peal of Stedman Cinques in the vestry of St Michael Cornhill though as Josh, Alfie, Ruthie and myself travelled down to London.

Our primary purpose was to use the Christmas present that mother-in-law Kate had very generously gifted us, which was to watch performances part one and two of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the capital. That worked out at around five hours of sitting in the auditorium which I have to admit we did wonder if the boys would struggle with, for all their love of the famous wizard's world. However, helped by intervals and a break of a couple of hours between the two performances that allowed us some food in McDonald's across the busy Charring Cross Road and a drink outside The Cambridge next door to the theatre, they were captivated and enthralled by it all.

As were we. Not surprisingly in the case of my wife who has followed 'the boy who lived' since the very first book came out, but I wasn't sure how much I would get into it. I've watched the films and enjoyed them, but I can't say I have the same encyclopaedic knowledge of the characters, places and events that she has and wondered if I'd struggle to keep up with it all. It was superb though with extremely clever effects and a storyline that much like the original novels and movies was full of twists and turns to keep even me hooked! Thank you Mrs Eagle for a fantastic present!

And the travelling either side was an adventure as we first made our way to our accommodation for the night at Docklands Central Travelodge, where our sixth floor room affords us brilliant views of the River Thames and O2 Arena. Then more exciting tube travel to the theatre district and back.

We'll also be excited to rejoin our fellow ringers back in Suffolk when God willing we get the chance to again.

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Tuesday 5th August 2025

There is some minor work that needs doing up in the bells at Ufford. Nothing that would ordinarily be an issue to carry out, but at some point pigeons have got in up there and made a dreadful mess. Indeed a mess that could be hazardous to the health of anyone going up there to work on the bells and so sensibly the Ringing Master Kate Eagle has put a halt to ringing for the moment.

God willing it should be sorted soon, but it meant that there was no practice there this evening and so we had a break that probably wasn't the worst thing in the world for us after our busy week of ringing in Herefordshire.

Earlier we welcomed Ruthie's best friend Fergie and her husband Dan to our house as they visit her hometown from Brighton, but that was as exciting as it got bar the return of Alfie from his sleepover.

Not even anything on BellBoard from Suffolk to note. Especially at Ufford.

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Monday 4th August 2025

After multiple quarter-peals per day in Suffolk for the Friends of Derick Obergene Society, the start of the South-West District Quarter-Peal Month and a leisurely though still busy Rambling Ringers Tour, today's blog feels like it has practically nothing to report on!

That isn't the case though as even with no ringing from the county reported on BellBoard for the first time since 25th July, there was ringing for me to report on as I went to Ipswich Minster's weekly practice. And as we're both still off work and the boys on school holidays and therefore no one from our household needs to get up early tomorrow morning, Ruthie and Josh accompanied me, although Alfie went to a friend's house for a sleepover.

He missed witnessing a packed ringing chamber and although initially a kerfuffle on the front in the first lead of Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus that saw 11-12 doing the five-pull dodge together (which personally I think sounded better, but definitely wasn't correct!) scuppered an initial attempt, also some really good ringing. Subsequent attempts at the Lincolnshire went much better and there was some well-rung attempts at Cambridge & Yorkshire Surprise Maximus, as well as Stedman Cinques.

As the Halberd Inn understandably doesn't allow children in after 8pm, we returned straight home post-ringing and watched an old episode of All Creatures Great and Small which included the theme of bells being silenced at the start of the Second World War.

An impressive amount of ringing to report therefore, even if it doesn't seem very much compared to recently!

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Sunday 3rd August 2025

After a week of ringing at new towers on the other side of England, it was back on familiar ground for our ringing today.

Not everything was normal, with Ruthie joining us as the church choir are off this month. And we don't usually find ourselves at Pettistree on a Sunday morning, but we needed to swap some bits and pieces with mother-in-law Kate Eagle and we were glad that we did, joining a big crowd in the ringing chamber and a big crowd in the church, which was open for the first time for worship after being closed for the last few months for redecoration. It also means that ringing from now on is due to be entered through the south door of the church as was previously the norm and the container that has housed ringers sitting out of ringing, trophies and other possessions of the band will shortly be taken away.

Following some faultless Stedman Doubles we then continued on our way to Ipswich Minster where my wife rang the eleventh to some Stedman Cinques and I called Yorkshire Surprise Maximus from the tenor on a morning of really good ringing before we retired to Costa Coffee for refreshment.

Also present was York ringer James Sanderson, son of Peter and former St Mary-le-Tower ringer Tina who was in the area in part to participate in the Friends of Derick Obergene Society tour and rang in the quarter-peal of Erin Cinques rung at The Norman Tower this afternoon, whilst there was also success with Minimus at Ampton, Plain Bob Doubles at Great Livermere, a 1260 of All Saints Place Doubles at Haughley and ten Treble Dodging Major methods were rung spliced at Horringer before the day and a mammoth week was finished with Pudsey Surprise Major at Elveden, the sixty-fourth of the tour in total.

Once again there was local ringing going on too though and once again that featured the South-West District Quarter-Peal Month as a Clare with Poslingford Sunday service band rang a QP of Doubles at the latter and Gary Edwards rang his first in the medium at Kersey and became the third quarter-peal debutant in three days of the SWDQPM thus far. Congratulations Gary!

Meanwhile, well done to Judith Raven on ringing her first quarter of Major in the 1256 of Little Bob at Halesworth and to William Herbert on ringing his first of Cambridge in the 1320 of the Surprise Minor version on the training bells of the Ipswich Minster Bell School.

There was no further ringing for us however, as instead we set about the huge amount of unpacking and washing to be done after a week-long family camping trip.

Ringing was brought back to the forefront of our minds with our televisual viewing this evening though when we watched the second and third episodes of 'The Pilgrim's Way to Britain's Great Cathedrals' series, the first episode of which we watched just before we went on holiday. Episode two goes north starting at Ely Cathedral then Peterborough Cathedral where I rang a peal in 2000 and finishing at York Minster where I rang a peal in 2001. However, it was whilst at Lincoln Cathedral that the programme cut to a shot of a ringing chamber that became very familiar to me following regular visits to my Aunty Janet and Uncle Mick in the area.

No actual mention of the bells on that occasion, but in the next episode they are brought up on a visit to Tewkesbury Abbey as the series heads west, with the bells included in the valuation of the building when it was sold during the Reformation. Meanwhile there was a slightly galling(!) feature on Hereford Cathedral after we missed out on going there a week ago but also a trip to Brecon Cathedral where we rang on this very day fifteen years ago during the 2010 Rambling Ringers Tour, before the programme finished at St David's Cathedral where I rang on one of the St Neots weekend ringing tours that gave me a lot of my early tower grabs that I so enjoyed.

Today though, I was pleased to be back on familiar ground!

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Saturday 2nd August 2025

Another fabulous Rambling Ringers Tour done. Herefordshire has been beautiful and Pembridge in particular wonderful. Two pubs, a cafe, a quaint shop, a pizzeria, art gallery and a unique setup to ring bells from! Brilliant to spend so much quality time with Ruthie and all three boys.

As much as we enjoyed our days off it, the ringing has been great too, mainly well-struck and typically eclectic from rounds for some of our very youngest and smallest ringers to Glasgow Surprise Major, Bristol Surprise Royal and all the various methods of the day. All done at a delightful range of towers from small rural churches to the imposing towers of Leominster and Ludlow.

It ended up for us in a strange way at Woolhope though, a 13cwt ground-floor six. Getting there for noon seemed eminently doable, even with having to take our tent down and pack everything up and indeed we left Townsend Touring and Camping Park in plenty of time. Until the satnav tried to take us over a closed bridge and thus ensued a lengthy journey to the next available river crossing.

We arrived bang on time though and once we'd ascertained they were our first anticlockwise ring of the Tour asked for a band to raise. Having missed the entire morning's ringing thus far though, I - and it appeared a number of others - had missed the memo that the clapper had been taken out of the tenor, something I didn't discover until I was trying to get the bell to strike on the way up!

Therefore what followed was whatever Doubles we could muster on the front five, a task not helped by a lot having already departed the Tour for home, other holidays or in the case of the Ringing Master Alex Riley a peal of six Maximus methods spliced at Great St Mary in Cambridge with former Exning learner Jimmy Yeoman.

And then we were off, leaving the remaining Ramblers having a picnic whilst they watched a game of cricket taking place next to the church. A stop at Rugby services, a stop-off at Thrapston in Northamptonshire to visit the resting place of my Aunty Janet, grandparents & great grandparents, a cuppa or two at the abode of my brother Chris & his wife Becky and a drop-off of Mason to his mother's and we were finally home to what constitutes a pile of mail these days.

That included copies of The Ringing World from last week and this, featuring mention of Blythburgh and Drinkstone in an overview of recent updates on Dove and a list of planned upcoming episodes of Bells on Sunday on BBC Radio 4 with Earl Stonham due to appear on Sunday 17th August at 5.43am and of course anytime online after that.

Meanwhile we have returned to a county that continues to see lots of ringing done by the Friends of Derick Obergene Society. Today with the help of Norman Tower ringer Clare Veal and Ipswich Minster ringers Laura Davies they rang seven quarter-peals. A 1296 of Westminster Surprise Minor was rung at Ashbocking, Grandsire Doubles was rung at Barham, Annable's London Surprise Minor was rung on the ground-floor six at Barking, a 1312 of Sheffield Surprise Major was rung at Debenham, a 1320 of Dover Delight Minor was rung at Great Finborough, four Surprise Minor methods were rung spliced at Rattlesden and four Surprise Royal methods were rung spliced at Stowmarket.

Also continuing is the South-West District Quarter-Peal Month, which today saw Sue Tye become the second person already to ring their first in the medium as part of this event with the Doubles rung at Polstead. Congratulations Sue!

It's great to return to such an active ringing scene in Suffolk after another fabulous Rambling Ringers Tour has been done.

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Friday 1st August 2025

Next year The Society of Rambling Ringers' 74th Tour is due to go to Hertfordshire and West Essex. Very close to home, but it could've been closer as at this year's tour meeting where we vote for where members wish to take the tour in twelve months time, Suffolk was also on the list of options, although it could have been further too as along the Hampshire & Surrey border and Wiltshire were areas to choose from too.

That meeting took place in the church of St James the Apostle at Wigmore after ringing on the 8cwt six upstairs in the middle of the beautiful Herefordshire countryside that we are currently enjoying.

Earlier in that same picturesque landscape we had been to Kingsland where I called a course of Glasgow Surprise Major and stood behind Liz Hutchinson (unnecessarily so as it happened) for the Method of the Day Kingsland St Michael Surprise Major as I clutched the line in my hand, but after another dry lunch with no open pub in sight we were taken into Shropshire by Society Secretary Geoff Pick's superb organising. Firstly to Clungunford where the ringing chamber is reached by a ladder and stairs arrangement that unnerved many but which even Josh braved, then to Ludlow. This 16cwt ten is high up an extremely tall tower that dominates this lovely little town, a stunning location to ring at but again quite unnerving for many as the centre of the ringing chamber features a window in the floor that looks straight down into the church far below.

Nonetheless we still managed some good ringing from Grandsire and Stedman Caters to Yorkshire and Bristol Surprise Royal here as the more nervous shifted mats over the view down!

For our last ringing of the day we were back in Herefordshire at Leintwardine before we returned to Pembridge for one final hurrah on tour.

That took in pizza from the village's very own pizzeria, which it is then allowed and even encouraged to eat at the oft visited Red Lion across the road, where we also waited for the pizza and then enjoyed a few drinks (or in Luke Riley's case spilt them on the floor!) in the beer garden on another pleasant - though cool - evening. An evening that continued back on the campsite to the accompaniment of a combine harvester working in the field behind our tent. Also an evening that was sociable but finished earlier than normal with minds on (some very) long journeys tomorrow.

Ramblers may be coming to an end then, but the Friends of Derick Obergene Society Tour back home still has a couple of days left by my understanding and today they were busy again. There were another couple of touches on handbells at Darsham Country Centre, but also a 1344 of Cat's-Eye Surprise Major at Aldeburgh, a 1260 of St Thomas's Bob Triples at Hollesley, Stedman Bob Doubles was rung at Iken, the first ever QP of Fennec Delight Major was rung at Leiston, a 1250 of Turramurra Surprise Major was rung at Orford and a 1250 of The Bailey Brothers Surprise Minor was rung at Yoxford in a nice nod to local ringing history.

Meanwhile adding to the delightfully crammed scene within our borders, the South-West District Quarter-Peal Month got underway today with plenty of firsts already! Well done to Robyn Slater on his first quarter covering and to Tim Forsey on his first conducting Grandsire in the Doubles at Little Cornard, but most of all congratulations to Tony Baker on ringing his first in the medium at the first attempt in the success at Edwardstone!

God willing he'll have rung even more by the time that the 74th Tour of The Society of Rambling Ringers hopefully gets going in Hertfordshire and West Essex!

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Thursday 31st July 2025

When on a ringing holiday with young children, one has to find something other than ringing to do. This morning on the campsite I bumped into Stephen Croxall pondering on the same issue, whilst I also had a chat with Chris & Ellen Crabtree as they prepared to take their children ringing. It isn't as simple as just getting up and deciding which tower to get to!

We had already decided what we were doing today, with a day off ringing planned and even booked in the case of an indoor mini-golf session at Matrix in Hereford, which was won by my wife and propped up by me in last place, but it was mainly a success as it occupied the boys in the dry as it rained outside.

Indeed we had timed it perfectly with the sun shining brightly and warmly as we returned to Townsend Camping and Touring Park for lunch. It was still lovely weather this afternoon, for Mason as he stayed back onsite and then took a walk into Pembridge and for Josh, Alfie, Ruthie and me as we took a trip over the nearby border to Wales and into the Brecon Beacons. With no specific plans other than finding some typically Welsh scenery, we found ourselves on some quite hairy narrow roads that took us alongside steep drops and into tight dips lined with thick trees and hedges and barely a building in site, but it was entirely worth it as we climbed a manageable hill for a nine-year-old and eleven-year-old and two parents not exactly well-known for their hill-walking. Not even my lunchtime walks back at home this year could be classed as appropriate preparation! Still, we made it in windy but bright conditions, sticking to the paths and well away from edges to enjoy some truly stunning views!

Of course it all meant there was no ringing for us, but as has become the norm this week that was certainly not the case back in Suffolk! Again that was mainly down to the Friends of Derick Obergene Society as they rang a further six quarter-peals on our soil. One of those was on handbells at Darsham Country Centre which seems to explain the naming of Coddenham Step and Helmingham Ladder Doubles and the 120 changes in hand of a Doubles variation that they wish to name Shin Splinters! However, the rest were all rung on towerbells within our borders, with North-East District Ringing Master Philip Gorrod conducting Plain Bob Minor at Dennington and ringing in the Double Norwich Court Bob Major with former local ringer Maggie Ross at Eye (not to be confused with the 8cwt six in Herefordshire rung at yesterday of course!), Stedman Triples was rung at Horham, the Caters version was rung at Stradbroke and Cambridge Surprise Major was rung at Wilby.

There was local ringing too though. Lord Norman Tebbit's funeral at Bury St Edmunds Cathedral was marked by ringing at The Norman Tower and I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Gwen Bloomfield who was remembered along with her husband Frank who died in 2017 in the 1272 of Stanhope Delight Minor at Horringer. She was a really nice lady and along with Frank did a huge amount for ringing on the Felixstowe Peninsula. Along with the death of Brian Aldous it has been a very sad time for ringing in that part of the county, but we owe a lot to Brian, Frank and Gwen for all they did to get ringing at Falkenham and Felixstowe up and running.

Well done to Joshua Watkins, Juliet Griffiths, David Steed, Sally Crouch, Lesley Steed and conductor Stephen Dawson on ringing their first blows in the method for the QP dedicated to the Bloomfields and to Mark Steggles on ringing his most methods to a QP in the 1260 of four Doubles methods at Great Ashfield.

They were all more successful than the Rambling Ringers band that lost a peal attempt of Norman Smith's composition of twenty-three Surprise Major methods spliced on handbells. That did at least allow them to join a number of us at the campsite for a BBQ that began another sociable night that took in an interesting insight into ringing on the continent from the man responsible for the rings of bells in Dordrecht, Paul de Kok, including a potential additional ring of bells.

Perhaps on a future holiday in Europe with young children we may need to fit in a day of ringing too!

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Wednesday 30th July 2025

Having made the first tower of the day on The Society of Rambling Ringers Tour of Herefordshire yesterday, we were back to form today as we missed the ringing at the first tower of the morning at Staunton-On-Wye following a relaxing start-up on the campsite.

Nonetheless we got to the second tower Dilwyn where I called a touch of Plain Bob Minor and then the ten of Leominster where a near faultless course of Bristol Surprise Royal and ten-bell method of the week Heywood Cyclic Bob Royal (9th & 10th place bell go down to do a triple dodge on the front with odd place bells ringing St Clement's College Bob Royal and even place bells ringing Plain Bob Royal in a simple but effective construction) were the headline acts.

Again we struggled to find any open pubs nearby for some lunchtime refreshment, even at The Stockton Cross in Kimbolton which was advertised as being open but was closed until 5pm "due to unforeseen circumstances" when we got there! And again we had to settle for tea and hot chocolate, albeit in the pleasant surroundings of the Tithe Barn Cafe at Stockton Gardens across the village.

Then it was time to ring at a couple of places where I had previously rung at their namesakes. First up Eye, a 8cwt six next door to Berrington Hall that we visited on Monday and not to be confused with the 19cwt eight back in Suffolk. Then Stoke Prior, a 6cwt six where Ruthie called some Annable's London Surprise Minor and not to be confused with the 8cwt eight in the neighbouring county of Worcestershire where I rang a peal of Stoke Surprise Major in 1999.

Bodenham rounded the day's ringing off, once we'd worked out that the fourth wasn't the treble when ringing the bells up and managed an entrance and exit strategy with the elaborate and awkward step and door arrangement into the ringing chamber!

As with the rest of the week thus far though, that wasn't the end of our day and on this occasion we were returning to Leominster for the tour curry. This has become a tradition in recent years, organised fabulously by Catherine Riley as it was this week as we went to Jalalabad. A great time was had by all including the boys as we sat with the Kemps and Phil Maude after he'd been climbing in the Brecon Beacons.

Back at camp the socialising continued as we welcomed Estella Haynes, one of the talented young ringers ringing all sorts of incredible stuff and whose parents Andrea & Bill I used to ring with predominantly during my time in the West Midlands. She is only here for the day and joining her boyfriend and the Society's Ringing Master Alex Riley, but it's great to see Ramblers still attracting young ringing talent to complement the wide age range that makes the tour so interesting and enjoyable.

Hopefully the Friends of Derick Obergene Society's tour of Norfolk and Suffolk is still interesting and enjoyable as they powered through a further nine quarter-peals within our borders, with some local involvement. 'The Cambridge Twelve' Surprise Minor methods were rung spliced at Chediston, Stedman Triples at Fressingfield, North-East District RM Philip Gorrod trebled to Penning's Bob Triples at his home tower Halesworth, Doubles was rung at Huntingfield, a 1296 of Netherseale Surprise Minor was rung at Reydon, Mareham Delight Major was rung at Southwold with Maggie Ross in the band back on her old stomping ground, five Surprise Minor methods spliced were rung at Wenhaston, Ipswich Surprise Minor at Weybread and Beverley Surprise Minor at Wissett. Plus they managed a couple of handbell touches back at Darsham in methods they named after the entrances to Coddenham and Helmingham, which suggests there are stories behind them!

Meanwhile the weekly practice at Pettistree was preceded by a quarter-peal, which is the usual form.

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Tuesday 29th July 2025

If I thought that the Friends of Derick Obergene Society were busy in Suffolk yesterday then they were incredibly busy there today with nine rung in the county today. 1260 changes of St Osmund Bob Doubles were rung at Badingham, Single Court Bob Minor was conducted by Molly Waterson in her old neck of the woods Bredfield, Double Court Bob Minor was rung in forty-five minutes at Clopton, a 1344 of Dunwich Surprise Major was successful at Coddenham, a 1320 of Double Norwich Court Bob Maximus was rung at Grundisburgh, a 1280 of Cambridge, Lessness, Superlative & Yorkshire Surprise Major spliced was rung at Helmingham, forty-one minutes worth of Painswick College Bob Major was rung at Rendham and Lytham Bob Minor was rung at Tannington, whilst Natasha Williams and Andrew Rawlinson notched up what is believed to be the first quarter in the Darsham Country Centre with a 1272 of Plain Bob Minimus on handbells. On top of that an attempt at Offton was abandoned due to a road traffic accident, so hopefully everyone involved is OK.

We were busier too on The Rambling Ringers Tour in Herefordshire, even making the first tower of the day! Admittedly that was because that first tower was just down the road from Townsend Touring and Camping Park at Pembridge, with the start of the ringing audible as we departed our tent in the drizzle on a wet morning. Others who had been here had described it to us as like East Bergholt on stilts, but still I don't think we were prepared for what we found when we did make it there. For these are indeed a meaty five completely on show from the ringing chamber on a wooden structure within a detached tower that looks like something from the Lord of the Rings! You know its something different when the boys are captivated! They were hard work, but it made it all the more impressive that we managed some Grandsire Doubles here and as I've said before, ringing would be incredibly dull if all we had were easy-going nice eights to ring on.

Nonetheless, it was good to then ring on an easy-going nice eight as we headed to Eardisland where the highlight was ringing a course of Glasgow Surprise Major before we moved on to the 12cwt six of Lyonshall where I rang the Method of the Day Castleton Delight Minor. Part of the fun of Ramblers are these set by the Society's Ringing Master, usually straightforward but challenging enough to require proper learning and concentration and if it goes well then it typically produces some very decent ringing, as was the case here. And it wasn't as difficult as the ringing going on in the chancel where Liz & Stuart Hutchinson, RM Alex Riley and former RM Andrew Mills were ringing a part of Norman Smith's famous composition of twenty-three Surprise Major spliced on handbells as a practice for a planned attempt later in the week.

Following lunch and a trip around a vast swathe of countryside searching in vain for an open pub that ultimately took us to the still delightful Green Bean Cafe in Weobly we started our afternoon's ringing on the 11cwt six of Almeley where I chatted with Donald Bateman about his extraordinary tower grabbing which is on par with our very own Paul Stannard's and exchanged pleasantries with the extremely welcoming local at the gate as a convoy of farming equipment roared past during a busy time for our farmers.

From there it was on to our fifth ground-floor ring of the day Eardisley where the boys played football in the neighbouring park and Janet Dew, Stephen Croxall and myself discussed the merits of ringing Minor on the front and back six of twelves simultaneously. A course of Ipswich Surprise Minor was rung here which at 120 changes came in 14,880 changes short of the 15,000 changes rung here in 1974 which appears to still be the longest length of Doubles ever rung. And umpired by Norman Tower ringer Ian Holland to boot.

Kington saw us ring once we'd helped ourselves to the refreshments generously laid on by the locals and where every single peal rung there is recorded on a board before we rounded our day of ringing off at Staunton-on-Arrow via the inevitable road closure and with some more Method of the Day after extras had been rounded up for young Finley Kemp who was running the ringing at this upstairs six.

As is the norm on Ramblers though, the end of the ringing wasn't the end of our day though, as we joined fellow ringing families in enjoying the Red Lion's fish 'n' chip night in our second visit to this wonderful pub this week, but hopefully not our last!

Also again, we finished back at the campsite to welcome the return of those who had rung in a peal for the Society at our earlier venue of Eardisland in Cooktown Orchid Delight Major, the method devised by Ipswich ringer James Smith. I wouldn't have minded accepting my invite to ring this, but as with last year when I did end up ringing in the RR peal I was conscious that I am on our family holiday, so I wasn't upset that they had more than enough to do this without me!

We were busy enough with our ringing today anyway!

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Monday 28th July 2025

After they'd rung entirely in Norfolk yesterday, the Friends of Derick Obergene Society were busy again in Suffolk today, with five quarter-peals rung by them within our borders. Two of them were rung at NDA towers in our county, with a 1264 of Double Sandringham Bob Major rung at Lowestoft and Bourne Surprise Minor at Oulton, but there was also Plain Bob Doubles rung at Barsham, Bristol Surprise Royal at Beccles and spliced Minimus at Ringsfield. Nice to see former Grundisburgh ringer and now National 12-bell Striking Contest champion Molly Waterson ringing in these parts again too.

They were certainly busier than we were on our ringing tour in Herefordshire as we took a day off Ramblers today. We like to do this at least a couple of times each year for the boys so that they have something to enjoy too and whilst a desire had been expressed to go to a castle or stately home and we had both English Heritage and National Trust memberships to use, we didn't actually know where we were going to go. Therefore we decided to have a leisurely late morning drink outside Bloom & Grind cafe in Pembridge to decide and having decided on Witley Court in Worcestershire we set off. However, it wasn't long along the projected hour-long journey that we came across Berrington Hall which looked like just the type of place we were looking to explore and had somehow missed on our research and so instead we stopped there.

We were glad that we did too as we explored the lovely house, played the games on the lawn, had an ice cream in the teashop, let the boys loose in the play area, relaxed in the hammocks in the walled gardens and went on a walk around the lake. It was a wonderful way to wile away a summer's day on holiday, although the closest we got to bells was the one on the clock over the old stables.

Back at the campsite later it was also quite a quiet evening with a few going to the weekly practice at Worcester Cathedral, although we were visited by the Kemps and had a couple of drinks with Daniel Calvert and Catherine & Roger Riley before an early night.

Meanwhile in the homeland, well done to North-West District Secretary Mary Oliver-Barratt on ringing her first QP of Grandsire inside in the 1260 of the Doubles version rung at Great Barton, whilst there was a 1344 of Kent Treble Bob Major rung on handbells in Bury St Edmunds. No peals, but the headline news at home involved the announcement of a new Peal Secretary for the Guild, which is Offton ringer Caroline Goodchild. Great to see someone new taking on an SGR role!

And great to see it wasn't just the Friends of Derick Obergene Society making the ringing news in Suffolk today!

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Sunday 27th July 2025

There was disappointment on our first day of ringing on the 2025 Rambling Ringers Tour of Herefordshire as before we left the campsite we were informed that the ringing planned for Hereford Cathedral this afternoon was cancelled due to the BBC filming there. There's no reason for this being any more disappointing than ringing at any other tower being cancelled other than what I guess is pure snobbishness, on my part at least. The 33cwt ten are much maligned by others who have rung there, but going to the cathedrals to ring is always more memorable, with often exciting ascents to a vast grand ringing chamber and a sense of going 'behind the scenes' as the general public content themselves with the better known sights downstairs, so even the boys were disappointed not to be going.

Instead we were taken to the replacement 10cwt six of Canon Pyon. Once we had found it that is. Unlike all the organised towers on our tour sheets we had no postcode to go by and so finding this was like finding towers on ringing outings of my youth, going by sight, sound and instinct. And following other ringers, which actually proved our near downfall on this occasion. For having found ourselves in a convoy with the cars of the de Koks and Rileys we traversed various country lanes and ended up in an isolated rural cul-de-sac before we followed them to a park where we released the boys and got our sandwiches out. Except when the bells started ringing they either had incredible sound control or they were still quite far away. Turning around to see that our fellow Ramblers had left, we ascertained it was the latter and so urgently gathered the children up and eventually found the church!

Earlier in the day we had enjoyed a leisurely start to our day. In common with most other ringers Sunday mornings are typically a rush, especially with oft reluctant kids in tow and so being on holiday we tend to avoid racing to get up for an early tower for the Sabbath morn. Therefore we missed ringing at Holmer and began our ringing on the 73rd Tour at the ground-floor six of the quaintly named Pipe and Lyde, encouragingly with a faultless course of Cambridge Surprise Minor on mildly challenging bells which bodes well for the week ahead. Or at least bodes better than the numerous emergency vehicles flying past with lights and sirens on whilst we rang.

We then rounded our day off with a quick ring of three leads of Bristol Surprise Major at Burghill as we wanted to get back to Pembridge and more specifically The Red Lion pub where they were showing England's women footballers playing Spain in the final of the Euros in Switzerland on TV. Joined by other Rambling Ringers the Kemps from Yorkshire and Luke Riley we watched the Lionesses come out victorious in a penalty shootout accompanied by much beer and even free food generously laid on at half-time and complementary shots and a fantastic atmosphere afterwards!

Young Luke even consumed a curry prepared by his brother Alex when he got back to the campsite, but we merely joined them for a few more drinks and welcomed the Hutchinsons from Staffordshire who are now onsite and the visit of Andrew & Emily Mills from Hertfordshire before retiring after another very social evening.

Meanwhile back in Suffolk a quarter-peal was rung in Exning by an extremely accomplished youthful band and a 1346 of Cambridge Surprise Maximus at The Norman Tower was dedicated to former Conservative Party Chairman and Bury St Edmunds resident Lord Norman Tebbit, whilst service ringing at Clopton, Hawkedon and Woodbridge was also recorded on BellBoard.

None of which I imagine was disappointing, at least compared to not going to Hereford Cathedral today!

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Saturday 26th July 2025

Invariably at some point in the week or two leading up to our holiday, I happen to mention in conversation with someone I'm contacting through work where I'm going. When I mentioned to someone recently that I was going to Herefordshire this year they said that they didn't know much about the area and it occurred to me that unusually I didn't either. I've dipped into it ringing at one or two towers, but despite living relatively nearby in the West Midlands for a few years at one point, I've never really explored it.

Until today, as we set off through the beautiful countryside of Suffolk and arrived in the beautiful countryside of Hereford's county for the 73rd Rambling Ringers Tour. They aren't the same of course, with the landscape hillier and architecture different there, but it is all very rural, with fields and forests as far as the eye can see and dotted about with ancient buildings in high density.

In between the two locations either side of the country we'd seen much of the more depressing aspects of the UK, with Rugby services unreachable as we came off the M6 due to roadworks and an absolute deluge of rain making driving conditions difficult as we reached the edge of Birmingham, but we arrived at our planned home for the next week of Townsend Touring and Camping Park in Pembridge.

Bumping into fellow Rambler Ellen Crabtree and her children Alfred & Felix, we booked in and discovered our spot. Lovely it is too! An unfortunate fire a few weeks ago mean that the men's facilities are currently a temporary setup, but the surroundings are wonderful with a fishing lake a few yards away and our tent backing onto a field, the sound of the church clock delightfully clear across the summer air, whilst we are next door to other ringers in the form of the Rileys and de Koks. Indeed it is a site that is busy with bellringers from the various branches of the Crabtree family nearby alongside Staffordshire ringer Helen Jarvis, to Warwickshire ringers Janet & Mike Dew opposite and new tourer Daniel Calvert from Nottinghamshire also not far away.

And once we'd got food from Morrisons in nearby Leominster and a new airbed and more gas from further afield in Hereford we settled down on a pleasant evening to socialise with several of them in what will hopefully be a familiar routine this week.

With all the travelling, tent pitching and shopping we didn't have time to do any ringing though. That certainly wasn't the case for others back in the homeland though! A large part of that was due to a visiting quarter-peal tour under the banner of the Friends of Derick Obergene Society who rang QPs at Elmsett with a 1260 of St Remigius Bob Doubles, Plain & St Clement's College Bob Minor at Higham, Burnopfield Delight Major at Lavenham with a band featuring local ringer Clare Veal and nearly local ringer Alban Forster, Cambridge Surprise Major at Long Melford and at Stoke by Nayland with a 1280 of Nobelium Surprise Major, as well as lost attempts at Bures, Hadleigh and Ipswich Minster. A visiting band was ringing a peal of Cambridge Surprise Maximus rung at The Norman Tower and one-time Exning learner Jimmy Yeoman rang the first peal in his bedroom in Newmarket, but there was local activity with Guild peals of Yorkshire Surprise Major at Helmingham and Surprise Minor on the back six at Horringer. The latter was the first of Minor on the new bells, but also a first peal as conductor for North-West District Ringing Master Joshua Watkins and a first in the medium altogether for Juliet Griffiths. Congratulations Juliet and Joshua!

Congratulations also to Hadleigh and St Gregory's, Sudbury on respectively winning the method and call-change aspects of the South-West District Striking Competitions held apparently - but unsurprisingly - superbly by Little Cornard with a bumper eleven teams competing. Thank you to Gerald Bird for some photos from the event which shows lots of people enjoying their ringing in dreamy sunshine.

As we hope to do over the next week as we explore Herefordshire for the first time.

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Friday 25th July 2025

I had an appointment at hospital today to check my eyes, with one of them having given me cause for concern this week. As it turns out it is apparently nothing to worry about and so it was a reassuring visit, but one that took three hours out of my day and meant there was no time for any ringing, albeit we rarely go anywhere on a Friday anyway!

And it was quiet on BellBoard from Suffolk's bells, although county residents Liz & Phil Orme were in the College Youths peal at Watford in Hertfordshire and one-time Debenham ringer Robert Beavis was in the 5120 at Barrow Gurney in Somerset.

Meanwhile there are busier days of ringing here hoped for in August, which is due to be the South-West District Quarter-Peal Month, whilst the South-East District Outing is lined up for Saturday 2nd going to Kettleburgh, Parham, Marlesford and then the Vestey Ring which is intended to be at Thong Hall. A week later the North-West District plan to hold their outing along the coast from Great Yarmouth to Lowestoft, Oulton, Pakefield and Kessingland on the same day as the North-East District are slated to hold their Quarter-Peal Day. Beccles 10 Bell Practice is pencilled in for the evening of the 20th and finally another Kaleidoscope Session is planned for 7-9pm on Friday 29th at Barham.

In the middle of all that falls the eightieth anniversary of VJ Day on the 15th. As with VE Day in May the ambition is for bells to mark the occasion with ringing at 6.30pm. Do try to ensure ringing can happen if you can.

Indeed, please do support any of the above events if you are able.
Hopefully I'll be more useful to the exercise than I was today.

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Thursday 24th July 2025

No ringing for us this evening, which is the norm for a Thursday with the main focus after a week of ringing Ruthie's choral practicing. However, our televisual viewing did prompt thoughts of ringing.

Currently iPlayer are showing old episodes of Miss Marple from the mid-1980s, the ones with Joan Hickson in the starring role. They are the ones I recall watching when I was a boy and probably introduced me to a genre I still enjoy now, but I haven't seen them for years, so we have been watching some of them when we have the opportunity. On this occasion we watched 'The Moving Finger' which it transpires was filmed in Hoxne, including at the church of St Peter and Paul. That got me wondering how the project to get a new ring of eight in here is going. Currently they have an unringable 10cwt five but have been allocated a 13cwt eight from the now closed St David's church in Bangor in Gwynedd by the Keltek Trust and encouragingly the draft minutes of the latest BAC meeting at the beginning of last month state that the village is "strongly behind the project and actively fundraising."

Following that we happened across a YouTube documentary fronted by Sir David Suchet (most famous for playing Poirot, to continue the Agatha Christie theme) called 'The Pilgrim's Way to Britain's Great Cathedrals'. Naturally enough it focuses on that which can be seen by the general public as that is usually the most beautiful, but of course us ringers get to see the often fascinating unseen parts of these magnificent buildings when we ring the bells, going along walkways that allow you to view the interiors and exteriors from unusual angles, climbing through roofs and taking in wonderful views across the towns and cities that surround them. The closest the programme gets to that is the extraordinary interior of Salisbury Cathedral's spire, but the only mention of bells is the detached bell tower at Chichester Cathedral which holds an 18cwt eight. However, it does go to the cathedrals of Southwark and Rochester where Ruthie and I have climbed up to the central towers to ring, Winchester where the Suffolk Guild's only peal on fourteen was rung and mention is made of St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey where I have been blessed to ring, whilst they also travel to venues with bells that we haven't rung at like Canterbury Cathedral, Bath Abbey and Wells Cathedral. Very interesting and there is another episode that apparently goes up north from Ely Cathedral.

Others within our borders were busier actually ringing though. Congratulations to Cherril Spiller on ringing a peal on every date of the year with the 5040 on handbells in Bacton and to Annual Report Editor and North-West District Ringing Master Joshua Watkins on being awarded full registration with the GMC, which he celebrated with the quarter-peal of Cambridge, Lessness, Superlative & Yorkshire Surprise Major spliced at Horringer.

Well done to all who were doing more than just thinking about ringing!

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Wednesday 23rd July 2025

On the Bellringers Facebook page, Andrew Ellis - who along with National 12-bell Striking Contest record breaker Fran Dodds very kindly judged the Suffolk Guild Striking Competitions at Sweffling and Rendham in 2008 - raised the issue of using ringing societies as a '"flag of convenience" for peals, usually with bands that come together from different areas, rather than simply ringing it Non Association. This is something the SGR has sort of been a little guilty of in the past, with peals rung in our name sometimes with just one or two resident members ringing, including some twelve-bell peals. For example, the first peal of Orion Surprise Maximus for the Guild was rung at St Mary-le-Tower in 1989 with Nigel Newton and George Pipe as the only locals in the band. Superb to have that associated with us and of course every peal for the SGR contributes to the Bell Restoration Fund and many - myself included - prefer to ring a peal for an organisation, but of course it isn't entirely representative of ringing in the county, although there was a superb band in Ipswich capable of ringing that sort of thing at the time. And there have been peals that could've been rung for the Guild that weren't, so I guess it all evens out in the end!

Most of the time though, the SGR is the obvious and largely uncontroversial organisation to ring a peal for and that was certainly the case with the two peals rung in our name today as a 5056 of Gainsborough Surprise Major was rung at Orford and a 5120 of Superlative Surprise Major was rung at The Wolery that I rang in. Congratulations in the latter to George Thoday on ringing his 1850th peal and Ian Culham on circling the tower, whilst with her grandmother and uncle in the band we were of course delighted to ring it for the birth of Sabrina on the bells that her father George did a lot of his early ringing, including his first quarter-peal and first peal.

Even following some cake, biscuits and cup of tea generously laid on by our host Katharine there was time to join Ruthie and the boys at the Greyhound Inn in Pettistree where they'd been to the weekly practice which was preceded with a 1296 of Cambridge Surprise Minor. I arrived to find quite the crowd which included Guild Ringing Master Julian Colman who was in area and had participated in that pre-practice quarter-peal.

That wasn't the only QP rung within our borders today though. Well done to Juliet Griffiths on ringing her first of Beverley & Surfleet Surprise Minor in the 1272 at Tostock. Which seems to have very willingly and sensibly been rung for the Suffolk Guild!

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Tuesday 22nd July 2025

Today was a big day in the life of a not-so-little boy as Alfie completed seven years of primary school. He and his classmates were seen off by the school in style with a leavers assembly where they recounted their own memories, sang songs and thanked their teachers before a 'graduation' where they were presented with gifts and then had a disco at Woodbridge Town Football Club organised by parents. All very emotional with many tears, but as with a lot of things Alfie seemed to take it in his stride.

It all finished too late for either or both of us to join the weekly practice at Ufford and indeed with us not being the only ones unable to make it the session was called off altogether. Hopefully others were busier in the exercise elsewhere in Suffolk, although there was nothing on BellBoard from within our borders.

We did get back home in time to watch the latest nerve-jangling match involving the England Lionesses at the Euros as they (only just!) qualified for the final due to take place on Sunday.

A big day all round then!

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Monday 21st July 2025

As I left for the weekly practice at Ipswich Minster with a thunderstorm only just subsiding (or rather moving on), I feared it may be a bad omen for the session ahead. However, by the time I reached the county town it was quite a nice sunny evening, the sunshine now bouncing off the wet roads making driving challenging, but still nice nonetheless.

And the ringing went quite well. Not everything worked and as I've mentioned before that isn't necessarily a bad thing as it indicates we're pushing ourselves, that people are trying to improve. But there was a lot packed in from call-changes on twelve and Grandsire Cinques to Stedman Cinques and Surprise Maximus of the Cambridge, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire varieties.

I think a lot of places would be pleased with that and I think in the main that we were as we retired to the beer garden of the Halberd Inn where an impressive twenty ringers put five tables together to enjoy post-ringing refreshment and socialising.

Meanwhile it was lovely that South-East District Secretary Liz Christian was able to remember her mother Sybil in her birthday month in the 1320 of Kent & Oxford Treble Bob Minor rung at Ashbocking yesterday.

That also takes Sunday's quarter-peal total to eight, but there was ringing in Suffolk today too as a peal of Plain Bob Major was rung on handbells in Bury St Edmunds this afternoon.

That 5056 was part of a good day of ringing within our borders, even with that foreboding thunderstorm.

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Sunday 20th July 2025

For all the glorious weather of recent weeks, this afternoon felt like the quintessential British summer afternoon. As we were deluged by a much needed downpour, we were under a tent at a BBQ for a friend's birthday. It didn't stop us enjoying ourselves immensely though, especially when the sunshine did eventually return. Children entertained (a tractor got much use by kids of all ages!), drink was consumed and lighthearted banter exchanged. A lovely few hours spent in the company of friends and meeting new people.

Meanwhile other ringers were busier in the exercise in Suffolk whilst we were getting wet. In fact, quite a lot busier with an impressive seven quarter-peals rung within our borders. One of those was at Exning where the Barnes Summer Tour was continuing with a 1260 of All Saints Place Doubles which was Yolande Hasselo's first blows in the method - well done Yolande! Well done also to Juliet Griffiths on ringing her first of Surprise Minor spliced and her first blows of Durham in the 1320 at Rattlesden, to Clare Gebel on ringing her first of Major inside in the 1344 of Plain Bob, to North-West District Ringing Master Joshua Watkins on ringing his first blows of all six methods in the spliced Surprise Minor at Tostock and to David Steed, his wife Lesley and Stephen Dawson on ringing their first blows of Broomfield and Ripley in the same performance. Most of all though, well done to young Max Thomson on ringing his first of Triples inside in the Plain Bob at Bardwell and to his dad Wayne on ringing his first on eight!

Most of that band also rang in a QP of Plain Bob Doubles at Troston, whilst a representative band from Ipswich Minster and The Norman Tower rang a 1311 of Stedman Cinques at the latter venue for the installation of The Revd Canon Samantha Brazier-Gibb as the new Archdeacon of Ipswich.

The only ringing either of us managed today though was - once I'd picked the boys up from Granny Kate who had very kindly put them up overnight so we could go out last night - my ringing on the aforementioned heaviest ring of bells in the county which was at the later time of 9.45-10.30am that Sunday morning ringing is due to be held at here until September, thus meaning I couldn't make ringing at Grundisburgh as well. There was much chuckling with call-changes on twelve that saw the seventh ringer go in the wrong direction when "six to seven" was called and then the conductor unintentionally began introducing jump-changes, but actually it was decent morning of ringing that also saw us ring Stedman Cinques before most of us retired to Costa Coffee for refreshment.

And set me up nicely for that quintessentially British summer afternoon.

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Saturday 19th July 2025

Days like today remind me how fortunate we are to live in the part of the world that we do. That we can pop to Aldeburgh for a couple of hours, return home and then wander alongside the River Deben opposite the banks of history where King Rædwald is considered to have been buried 1400 years ago at Sutton Hoo and then eat overlooking the river in evening sunshine.

Our dreamy evening's activities were the result of a meal out with our friends and neighbours Verity & Jade and their dog Rossa at The Woodyard at Whisstocks Place in the shadow of Woodbridge's Tide Mill, which was preceded by a drink in our local the Coach & Horses, that walk along the river and followed by a drink on the way home at The Red Lion.

Meanwhile following a leisurely cuppa with mother-in-law Kate when she popped round, our trip to the coast was for the latest monthly Surprise Major Practice organised and run by South-East District Ringing Master Hal Meakin. I think even Hal was surprised by just how many came along for the two hour session, with ringers from the North-West District and our hosts the North-East District, highlighting that this isn't a SE District event as such. It allowed much to be attempted, from Cambridge to Stedman Triples & Bristol spliced and the 'Standard Eight' spliced with plenty of opportunities to sit out and/or get some air on what was still a warm afternoon despite the cooler temperatures, grey skies and occasional showers. Well done Hal on more useful practice in the medium.

Well done also to Suffolk Guild PR Officer and NW District Chairman Neal Dodge on being part of the Garlickhythe call-change band winning the 'Novice Cup' and method band coming second in the 'Jersey Cup' in striking competitions in Middlesex, whilst in his county of residence it was a busy day of ringing beyond just our ringing on the 11cwt eight at the seaside. Mainly that was because of the Barnes Summer Tour which is seeing quarter-peals rung in Norfolk, as they dropped down here to ring QPs of Cambridge Surprise Minor at Brandon, Plain Bob Triples at Elveden and Rutland Surprise Major at Fornham St Martin. Well done to Wendy Archibald on ringing her first in the method in the latter 1344. There was one local quarter though as a 1260 of Grandsire & Plain Bob Doubles was rung at Rushmere St Andrew which showed great determination and perseverance having been lost on the recent South-East District Quarter-Peal Day.

We also got to have a read of the latest edition of The Ringing World with that wonderful front cover featuring a young Suffolk ringer which is just the precursor to several fantastic articles about the Ringing World National Youth Contest. The exercise is fortunate to have these enthusiastic young ringers.

And we are lucky to ring and live in this part of the world.

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Friday 18th July 2025

We haven't received our physical copy in the post yet, but this week's issue of The Ringing World features one of Suffolk's young ringers on the front cover taken at the recent Ringing World National Youth Contest and seems to have prompted a renewed determination to get young ringers in the county together. Caroline Goodchild and Ruth Suggett are both keen to hear from other ringing youngsters within our borders, so if you know of one or have one under your care then please do let them know!

Meanwhile we spoke to the photographer of that superb picture, Neil Thomas, as Simon Rudd held one of his virtual pubs. From the comfort of our sunbaked garden it was nice to catch up with them and their respective partners Nikki and Ros, as well Guild Chairman Mark Ogden and Ros's aunt, but there was no actual ringing for us and nothing from Suffolk noted on BellBoard. Elsewhere there seems to be lots going on though.

In Yorkshire for example, where the College Youths are holding their Country Meeting which has seen seven peals rung today and yesterday. Some from the other side of the Pennines are in Dordrecht and rang a 5056 of Turramurra Surprise Major on the 1cwt eight in t' Klockhuys. Impressively a band entirely resident in North Somerset rang Norman Smith's composition of twenty-three Surprise Major methods spliced at Winford. And I had the privilege of ringing and socialising with Bill Haynes a few times during my time ringing in the Midlands, so I was delighted to see him celebrate his 65th birthday by calling a peal of Stedman Triples for the fiftieth time in the 5040 at Brinklow in Warwickshire rung by a band including one-time Exning learner Jimmy Yeoman. Happy Birthday Bill!

I imagine it'll all feature in future editions of The Ringing World.

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Thursday 17th July 2025

Back in the autumn of 2006 when I was still a young enthusiastic chap, early into my five years as Suffolk Guild Ringing Master, Falkenham had been installed about a decade, but only one peal had been rung there in 1998 during the SGR's seventy-fifth anniversary year. I had been given the impression by many that they weren't available for peals apart from possibly very special occasions, perhaps understandably with them being a new ring of bells in close proximity to a number of houses.

However, being that young enthusiastic chap early into my five years as Suffolk Guild Ringing Master, I decided to try and get them for an attempt as part of a sort of mini peal week in the lead-up to Christmas that year, not really expecting a positive response. Instead I got a resounding yes from Brian Aldous, who was very approachable about the whole thing. And so much to the surprise of a lot of people we were able to ring a 5040 on the lovely light ground-floor six, which seemed to open them up for others with a further five peals rung there in the following three years. Brian was always very welcoming here and at Felixstowe where he was instrumental in getting the eight there put in and thus for giving us two sets of nice bells on the peninsula which was completely barren of change-ringing in my early years of ringing.

Therefore I was very sorry to hear of Brian's passing yesterday but pleased to see a quarter-peal rung today where he was once tower captain, in a style that I imagine he would've been delighted with as Jackie Savage rang her first of Doubles, Bob Barrell rang his first as a conductor and Angie Collins rang her first in the medium altogether. Well done Jackie, Bob and Angie!

Well done also to Dee Smith on ringing her first quarter of Ely Surprise Major in the 1344 at Horringer and congratulations to Jeremy Spiller on ringing his 500th peal at the venue with the peal on handbells in Bacton, whilst 60 on 3rds was rung at Clopton by a local band. Maybe an entry for the National Call Change Competition from within our borders is in the offing?

No ringing for us today though as Ruthie went choral practicing and us boys watched England's women footballers reach the semi-finals of the Euros in extraordinary fashion on TV.

It was all very exhausting even to watch though as whilst I may still be enthusiastic, I'm not as young a chap as I once was!

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Wednesday 16th July 2025

Ruthie is not one to sing her praises, even when it comes to singing. Her voice is one that many marvel at and when she meets people she knows when she is performing with the Illuminati or Jubilate choirs the comment she receives most is "I didn't know you could sing like that," such is her modesty when it comes to proclaiming her singing abilities. Likewise in employment where she is often unconfident about how useful she is, despite the fact that her work colleagues from Boots to John Ives to the early years education she now works in constantly saying how invaluable she is, indispensable even. And in ringing when George Pipe ran a handling course a few years ago he used the then Miss Eagle as an example of good handling. She has rung peals of forty-one Surprise Minor methods, pealed towers such as St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol and Shoreditch in London and her one and only peal as conductor is impressively a 5044 of Yorkshire Surprise Maximus at St Mary-le-Tower when she was just fifteen. She's rung quarter-peals of half-lead spliced Surprise Major, been a member of numerous winning striking competitions at South-East District and Guild level and in The Ridgman Trophy, as well as ringing in the biggest ringing event in the world, the National 12-bell Striking Contest Final. Yet still she underestimates her abilities when asked. At home she is similarly modest about how wonderful a mother and wife she is, despite our protestations!

Therefore it has been lovely today on her birthday to see her celebrated. At playgroup by her work colleagues, but also children who are leaving to go up to primary school as she returned home laden with cards, gifts and flowers. At home with more presents and cards and my attempt at a personalised cake. Cake-making - another of her many skills - is certainly not something that is one of my strengths! Also ringing as she received cards from the bands at Ipswich Minster and Pettistree, the latter of which dedicated the pre-practice footnote to the anniversary of her birth and that of Pippa Moss yesterday, whilst once we had gone along to the session we all sang "Happy Birthday" to them both before Mary Garner handed cards over.

The celebratory atmosphere was complemented by the arrival of Alfie following the final night of his and classmate's farewell school production along with his Grandad Ron and Granny Kate who had been to watch him on this occasion, whilst it was nice to ring in some spliced Doubles and Minor with my wife. Nice also to catch up with Martin Yardley who was once of these parts but now lives and rings in Northern Ireland.

Of course we continued the celebrations afterwards to the Greyhound Inn, where with things pleasingly busy inside we sat outside on a pleasant light evening with refreshment.
Meanwhile earlier in the day a handbell quarter of Norwich Surprise Minor was rung in Sudbury.

Well done to them and Happy Birthday to the ever modest Ruthie!

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Tuesday 15th July 2025

Congratulations to former Ipswich ringer George Salter and his wife Rachel on the birth of their daughter Sabrina announced today and therefore also congratulations to his mother and immediate past Ringing Master of the Suffolk Guild Katharine on becoming a grandmother. And it has already been celebrated with a handbell peal at Yatton in Somerset.

In some ways it only feels like yesterday that we were in the same position, but that news and our activity this evening reminded me that we are at quite a different stage in life now as we watched Alfie and his year six peers performing their farewell production of 'Cinderella & Rockerfella'. We once were in George & Rachel's position, faced with the daunting task of looking after a fragile and entirely reliant little being, but of course you learn with lots of help and now here we were watching that once fragile and entirely reliant little being preparing for secondary school and confidently playing one of the ugly sisters and leading songs with much wit!

Another of those once fragile and entirely reliant little beings Josh was also there with us, as was their nan, my mother and Sproughton ringer Sally and we all enjoyed it immensely, but once we'd collected the actor and got back home it was too late for any of us to make it to our usual weekly practices at Debenham, Offton or Ufford, but at the middle venue they preceded their session with a quarter-peal of Superlative Surprise Major.

Meanwhile it was announced that this year's men's Tour of Britain cycle race is due to start in the county on Tuesday 2nd September, kicking-off in Woodbridge and finishing in Southwold, whilst stage two is intended to begin and end in Stowmarket the following day. The plan is to reveal precise details of the routes at a later date, but it sounds likely that they'll pass by towers with bells, complete with their entourage and TV crews capturing it live for the world to watch and of course with spectators crammed in on the sidelines, so some bands may like to use it as a PR opportunity as others have done in the past and ring as they go by. If so, watch this space!

I'm not sure if it is due to go anywhere near George & Rachel in the Midlands, but I imagine they may be too busy to notice anyway!

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Monday 14th July 2025

Ipswich Minster this evening was still decorated and the spire lit up in pink in celebration of the weekend's concerts in town by Ed Sheeran, who a few months ago opened the church's choir school, whilst the Reverend Tom Mumford was among the vox pops featured on BBC Radio Suffolk's coverage of the gigs. Indeed, the practice that I attended tonight could almost have been written about by the global megastar from Framlingham.

My ringing with Beautiful People wasn't Perfect, but I wouldn't expect it to be and as I've said before, if it was then it probably wouldn't be doing its job of getting rid of those Bad Habits. I Don't Care if there are mistakes, so long as everyone is trying their best and they certainly were during another warm session. There seemed to be a lot of Thinking Out Loud during some Grandsire Cinques that struggled a little and there was some reasonable Yorkshire Surprise Maximus that a lot of the band could probably ring with their Eyes Closed, such is the ability of many here but was rung very well by those learning it too. Stedman Cinques was rung so well it almost gave me Shivers, whilst we got some well-struck tittums on the call-changes on twelve that I called. No opportunity for any Sapphire Differential Little Bob Maximus, but having also sung Happy Birthday to Ian Culham on his significant birthday we left for refreshment in the beer garden of the Halberd Inn with a warm Afterglow.

I'm sure Ed would've enjoyed it.

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Sunday 13th July 2025

Some have been staggered to learn of complaints from local residents to the trio of Ed Sheeran concerts at Portman Road that came to an end tonight, but of course bellringers used to people moving in next door to churches and complaining about the bells will probably be less surprised. Without going into the merits of living next to a venue that regularly hosts crowds of 30,000 and has a history of hosting similar gigs going back decades and then complaining about a series of concerts that have been well advertised for weeks and brought in over 90,000 people including thousands of visitors from around the world and pumped millions of pounds into the local economy, it is a reminder of the society of which we ring in and that we ought to always be aware of our neighbours. That doesn't necessarily mean ringing less, but perhaps considering the use of simulators and sound control and communicating with them when extra ringing like outings, quarters or peals are occurring. Keep the bells ringing so that everyone knows that that is what they do, but try to do it in cooperation with and considerate of those who can hear them.

Woodbridge is somewhere that could perhaps benefit from sound control and simulators, not just to enable peals and quarters to be rung more freely following previous complaints but more importantly to allow them greater flexibility in teaching the healthy stream of recruits they get from a very proactive and efficient recruitment strategy, but to my mind service ringing ought to see the bells rung open in their full glory and so I was delighted to join them in ringing out across the market town this morning as we rang some call-changes on six and Grandsire Doubles. I was also pleased to witness a discussion on the structure of Grandsire afterwards between learners Robin and Meg as they look to progress.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that from now until September ringing on the Sabbath morn at Ipswich Minster is due to run an hour later from 9.45-10.30am, which whilst possibly depriving us of some due to their ringing commitments elsewhere may hopefully allow others to join us who might not usually be able.

For today though, my ringing on the front six of our nearest tower was my only involvement in the exercise as the afternoon saw Alfie and his teammates taking part in a football tournament and Ruthie singing for Evensong at the aforementioned St Mary the Virgin church, before we all settled down to watch England's women footballers qualify for the next stage of the Euros.

Others in Suffolk were busier though. There was a lovely footnote to the ringing at Little Cornard, as there was to the peal at Cretingham which celebrated the renewal of wedding vows of several couples including Monewden ringers Brian & Kathleen Martin. However, whilst there was also a 1257 of Stedman Caters at The Norman Tower in memory of Norman Tebbitt, the main ringing headline within our borders was young Max Thomson's first QP of Minor inside, rung at Redgrave. Well done Max!

Hopefully none of today's ringing disturbed local residents as much as Ed Sheeran seems to have done.

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Saturday 12th July 2025

This week's edition of The Ringing World arrived with us this morning packed with Suffolk content. There is a lovely joint obituary for Burgh ringers and husband & wife Adam & Gillian Gurdon written by David Stanford and featuring a wonderful poem from Annie Brechin who also learnt to ring on the 8cwt ground-floor six. Jackie Shipley sent in a nice account of the Woodbridge ringers 'Spring Ring' Outing to the north of the county. Former Guild Ringing Master Amanda Richmond appears in a bio of the ringing hillwalkers and mountaineers that rang together in a peal at Mobberley in Cheshire last year to mark the centenary of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine's fateful attempt to climb Mount Everest. A selected article from the RW of a hundred years ago talks of the then impending visit of the Central Council to Ipswich in which the writer remarks how uninteresting St Mary-le-Tower was but also how "historical" the twelve were then, as they are now of course. They speak in 1925 when the band there had already achieved much and was still to achieve more and that they had a "reputation for good striking" and that "all peals at Ipswich had to be good ones." God willing we can live up that in the coming years. Elsewhere in this issue meanwhile there was superb and widespread coverage of the recent National 12-bell Striking Contest at St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol which also included links to within our borders. As a member of the winning band one-time Grundisburgh learner Molly Waterson features prominently, whilst on the back page former Bures ringer John Loveless is one of those present who had also competed in the very first final fifty years earlier at the same venue captured on camera for a group photo.

Jake was busy ringing today as well with a peal and a touch on handbells in Appledore in Devon dedicated to Alison Regan who died tragically young thirteen years ago today, whilst many of his fellow Cumberland Youths were at the society's Country Meeting in Wales where the peals rung included West Stow ringer Mary Dunbavin's one hundredth  for the SRCY when she trebled to the 5088 of Yorkshire Surprise Major at Bassaleg. Congratulations Mary on a landmark that not everyone will achieve for one of the aspirational societies, myself included in all likelihood! Indeed congratulations to all who rang a peal on another scorching hot day, with attempts at Guildford and Portsmouth apparently finishing early due to the heat.

Further congratulations here in Suffolk to the band at Rushmere St Andrew who rang a quarter-peal of Plain Bob Doubles in one of the smallest, most stifling ringing chambers in the county, whilst there was also ringing at Oakley for the North-West District Practice. I know this because Martin Kirk very kindly shared a video on the Guild Facebook page whilst walking his dog nearby in an absolutely dreamy looking rural scene in the beautiful weather.

Meanwhile, well done to Offton ringers Caroline Goodchild & her daughter Elizabeth and South-East District Ringing Master Hal Meakin on representing the Guild by judging the Essex Association Striking Competitions (which are held in a similar format to the SGR's) at Terling and Sandon and awarded the eight-bell trophy to Essex's SE District and the six-bell to Chelmsford Cathedral.

No ringing for us though. With no football training for Alfie this morning we had a leisurely start to our day before Ruthie then had a busy afternoon with a work event whilst the boys and I wandered along the River Deben to Woodbridge to allow the boys to tick off some of the hares on the 'Hop to it! Suffolk 2025' trail in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice, which is a follow on to the Pigs Gone Wild, Elmer's Big Parade and Big Hoot in Ipswich and on this occasion has been spread out to other towns such as Woodbridge. A handful of hares around the Tide Mill (no sign of Mike Whitby though!) sighted and an ice cream at The Tea Hut enjoyed, we met up with my wife again and returned home for a quiet evening and a read of The Ringing World.

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Friday 11th July 2025

Excitement was at fever pitch for the three Ed Sheeran concerts planned to take place over the weekend at Portman Road, starting with this evening's. Thousands were queueing throughout the day under the blazing sun as BBC Radio Suffolk frantically interviewed people from across the world to watch our local superstar on home soil.

That wasn't the main excitement of our day though, not by a long distance. For today was the ninth birthday of our youngest son Josh, one of the sweetest, kindhearted young boys we know. Like his brothers and I imagine pretty much all children he has his moments, but his default setting is to be eager to please others. Therefore we were eager to please him on his big day, a rare occasion where he comes to the fore and takes the limelight.

Celebrations started in theory with the peal we rang for him at Clopton on Sunday but today was of course the main focus, especially with it being a Friday. The day began with frantic present opening, sweets were taken to school, 'Happy Birthday' was sung to him by his classmates and this evening his Granny Kate hosted a barbecue for us whilst he played in her pool with Alfie and his cousins and at the request of young JB his Mum had made an astonishing cake shaped like a dog with a firework designed to create a very odd effect. It's probably best not to ask. We enjoyed it and most importantly the birthday boy enjoyed it.

Conversely there was also some sad news right at the end of the night as I received an email announcing that Woodbridge ringer Terry Whale has passed away at the age of 93. You won't find him on Pealbase or even BellBoard and we hadn't seen him for a number of years as he cared for his wife Joyce, but when he was able he was a loyal supporter of ringing on the 25cwt eight, even when the many steps up to the ringing chamber became a struggle and he was also such a nice man.

On a happier note, well done to North-West District Ringing Master Joshua Watkins on ringing his first blows of Waterford Treble Bob Minor in the 1272 on the lovely 5cwt gallery-ring six at Tostock and to Chrissie Pickup, Julie Richardson and Peter Richardson on ringing their first in the method with the quarter-peal of Carlisle Surprise Minor on the also lovely 7cwt ground-floor six of Wissett.

Meanwhile over in Wales, West Stow ringer Mary Dunbavin was ringing in a peal of Yorkshire Surprise Major at Glasbury on Wye as part of the Cumberland Youths Country Meeting weekend on an exciting day for many, but especially Josh and us.

Happy Birthday Josh!

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Thursday 10th July 2025

The two main aspirational societies of the Cumberland and College Youths came to my attention today.

In and around Abergavenny the former have started their annual Country Meeting weekend with three peals.

Meanwhile the latter were ringing a quarter-peal of Stedman Cinques at St Mary le Bow in London, but also sharing the minutes of their latest meeting on Tuesday, where it was announced that the interview held ahead of the Anniversary Dinner in November named after the late Ipswich ringer and former Ringing Master of the Suffolk Guild George Pipe is this year due to be with Rick Shallcross, who recently judged the National 12-bell Striking Contest Final and who I rang and socialised with regularly in my days ringing in Birmingham.

No ringing noted on BellBoard within our borders today though, nor was there any by us. Not for the usual reason on a Thursday of Ruthie choral practicing though, but rather because we had an event at the secondary school that Alfie is due to start at in September. This occasion was specifically for us parents, an opportunity to meet with his intended form tutor, to listen to the headmaster and head of year and find out more about the uniform and even to get some, but as with previous visits we found ourselves bumping into friends and family from almost all walks of our life and so it turned into a bit of a social occasion on another lovely warm evening, whilst Cumberland and College Youths members were also bumping into friends and family.

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Wednesday 9th July 2025

When I first started working at John Catt Educational over seventeen years ago, we were based in the old school in Great Glemham, an old draughty building in a beautiful setting just round the corner from the church where the village's 13cwt five are hung. Today for the first time I visited the head office in London of Hachette - the company that bought JCEL nearly four years ago - in a large sleek building of many floors in its own right but dwarfed by even bigger offices. The contrast could hardly be greater.

I was already struck by how much my work surroundings had changed since I began there in May 2008 as having left home where I now work from all the time - and indeed had already been working at for a couple of hours before I had even set off - on my way to the train into Ipswich on my way to the capital I passed the office in Melton I last worked in until September and then once on the go I travelled by the setting we moved to near Woodbridge town centre a few months into my employment with them.

Carmelite House where my colleague Gerry and I were meeting our new boss Tom in person for the first time is set right in the centre of the 'big smoke' alongside the Thames. Lunch was had in the cafe on the top floor with St Paul's Cathedral looming over the many neighbouring buildings crammed into the locality. From the rooftop gardens Tower Bridge and the Shard could be seen in one direction, in the other the London Eye and the towers of Westminster Abbey. No sound of bells though.

It was all rather impressive, we were made very welcome and thankfully this is just one-off (for now), but as with every time I go to London, I was pleased to be leaving and heading back to the open skies, fields, woodlands and pretty country cottages of East Anglia.

On that journey back, I did take the time to read the information shared on the Central Council website about the review into the membership of the CCCBR. Do take the time to read it and if you want to voice an opinion on the issue or to take in more info then there are online meetings planned for 8pm on Monday 14th July and Thursday 17th July. You will need to register to join though.

Thanks to a lift from Ruthie I was back in time to watch most of the England women footballers winning in their latest match in Euro 2025, before my wife headed out to Pettistree's weekly practice. That session was preceded by a 1368 of Norwich Surprise Minor and amongst much else Mrs Munnings rang Grandsire Doubles and Bourne Surprise Minor before retiring to the Greyhound Inn, the hostelry that we went to for post-ringing refreshment after ringing on the ground-floor six back during the period I started working for John Catt Educational in the old school house.

Not everything has changed in that time!

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Tuesday 8th July 2025

There were a couple of regulars missing at Ufford's weekly practice tonight. That was mitigated by Mary Garner's help and the presence of Julie from Wickham Market who came along here a few weeks ago and did very well then and she did very well here this evening too, doing some more call-changes on eight but then also covering behind to some Plain Hunt on Five for the first time.

It was a productive evening at the end of a day punctuated with the pleasant surprise of bumping into Sweffling ringer Jonathan Stevens in the local shop during our respective lunch breaks. Jonathan has always been a busy chap but he has been even busier over the last few years leading to him doing less ringing, but even though he has been coming to Pettistree and even ringing some quarter-peals on the ground-floor six recently, he has always had to leave early and thus usually before we manage to get there! Therefore it was a real pleasure to catch up with him today.

Meanwhile, it isn't often that I hear of the death of a well-known person and my mind is then drawn straight back to a ringing event, but that was the case this morning when it was announced that former Tory minister and lord of the realm Norman Tebbit had passed away. Instantly I recalled how this one-time Bury St Edmunds resident had been in the congregation at the cathedral when we dedicated the Vestey Ring in 2010.

He was a divisive figure so it wasn't surprising that there was nothing dedicated to him apart from a solo performance from Ollie Watson on his simulator in West Sussex, but there was other ringing on Suffolk's bells. At Glemsford a very special QP was rung to mark the 175th anniversary of the birth of one time local ringer Samuel Slater with his second cousin once removed Robyn Slater trebling, whilst at Offton the weekly practice was preceded with a 1260 of Plain Bob Minor.

And we were very pleased with our weekly practice at Ufford, especially with a couple of regulars missing.

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Monday 7th July 2025

After the mess I made of the tenor rope at Clopton yesterday, fair play to David Stanford on getting it cleaned to such an extent that it is now apparently almost "as good as new"!

It has recovered better than my hands and I have to admit to being a bit sore today, but I was ready and able (or at least as able as I ever am!) to fully participate in the weekly practice at Ipswich Minster this evening. A very successful one it was too, as we had so many there that we rang Stedman Cinques and Surprise Maximus of the Cambridge, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire varieties with a handful of others capable of ringing them sat out. Encouragingly, apart from the visit of Sarah who was very useful it was all done with regular attendees, showing what can be achieved if we can get more of us together in the same place at the same time! All rounded off with refreshment in the beer garden of the Halberd Inn.

Meanwhile, former Great Barton ringer Alex Tatlow was ringing at St Paul's Cathedral prior to the service of commemoration to mark the twentieth anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings. The 533 changes of Stedman Cinques he rang in was one of a number of ringing performances dedicated to the dreadful events of 7th July 2005, which included the quarter-peal rung on handbells in Moats Tye.

That 1296 of Little Bob Royal wasn't the only entry on BellBoard today from Suffolk though, with a 1260 of Doubles rung at Rattlesden with local ringer Dave Ward on the tenor.

Hopefully the rope and his hands came out in a much better condition than Clopton's and mine did!

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Sunday 6th July 2025

As much as I enjoy the hot temperatures and bright sunny weather, even I was relieved by the thunderstorm that broke out just before I undertook a peal attempt in possibly the most enclosed ringing chamber in Suffolk.

The peal attempt was of nine Surprise Minor that I had arranged for the ninth anniversary of Josh's birth on Friday, the venue was Clopton where there are no windows and once the trapdoor is down there is no natural light apart from a metal grid in the centre of the floor that can be uncovered and which local ringer David Stanford who was trebling for us very kindly opened up to maximise the ventilation, whilst we also had a couple of fans whirring away between the treble & tenor ringers and second & third ringers, but I'm still glad we didn't have to attempt this at the peak of the recent heatwaves!

As it was it was a challenging 5040. These are a lovely ring and ever since they were rehung over a decade ago they have been one of my favourites and are generally easy-going, but at 13cwt they are actually fairly meaty for a six and at 2 hours and 36 minutes it was not only the fastest peal on the bells but probably slightly quicker than was sensible in the conditions, especially for myself and Colin on the tenors. We took a while to settle down until the ringing got better and better before we finished surprisingly well with a 720 of the dodge-heavy Norwich, but it came at a cost for my hands and even worse for the rope, which as we rang down I realised I had made an absolute mess of. I spent quite a while after we'd finished wiping the blood off the rope and sally and David was extremely gracious, but I felt very guilty about it. Thank you to him in particular for allowing us the use of the bells and for ringing too and to all the band for taking the time to come out to ring in such challenging circumstances, whilst it was lovely to ring my one hundredth peal with Mary Garner almost exactly thirty years since our first together.

Most of the band retired to the beer garden of The Turk's Head in nearby Hasketon for much-needed refreshment ahead of another thunderstorm, whilst there was another Guild peal rung in the county at Hartest, rung for the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Ranald Clouston MBE. He died in 2002 when I lived out of the county and so I only knew him when I was a young oik and therefore I can't say I knew him well, but I did know he was a much respected character not just within our borders but beyond for his expertise on bell history and archaeology and this is a hugely appropriate way for him to be remembered in the village where he retired to and at the church where he was laid to rest. Really nice as well that his family were able to listen and then join the band afterwards.

Meanwhile at Halesworth, well done to Jason Harris on ringing his first quarter-peal on eight in the 1260 of Plain Bob Triples on another busy day in the exercise within our borders that of course began with service ringing across the county, including at Ipswich Minster where I called some call-changes on twelve before the boys and I joined others in post-ringing refreshment at Costa Coffee and then headed on to Grundisburgh. There we were bolstered by a big turnout of visiting ringers from Leicestershire and Lincolnshire which allowed us to ring call-changes on twelve, Grandsire Caters and half-a-course of Cambridge Surprise Major.

Hopefully those thunderstorms didn't spoil the rest of their visit to Suffolk.

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Saturday 5th July 2025

On some Saturdays we have nothing to do. They can be useful of course for getting stuff done that needs getting done, but generally I'm not fond on having too many of them. They can be even more frustrating when you get Saturdays like today when there were so many options of things to do that we simply couldn't do all of it.

There was an invite to join my uni friends for a BBQ in Hitchin, home to a 19cwt twelve, although obviously ringing wasn't on the menu alongside sausage and burgers. However, logistics meant that was a non-starter.

Those same logistics also meant that we couldn't commit to the South-East District Quarter-Peal Day, although we were pleased to hear that three of the four quarters attempted were successful with the only loss coming in an attempt of Grandsire Doubles when a spectator put the conductor off! Well done on the successes at Ashbocking, Barham and Otley though.

I suppose in theory we could've also gone to Birmingham to soak up the atmosphere at the Ringing World National Youth Contest and maybe even encourage the boys to take ringing up with the sight of hundreds of contemporaries competing and having fun with the exercise. That wasn't to be, but congratulations to Coventry Spires on winning the basic call changes competition on six, Three Spires on triumphing in the advanced call changes on six and gaining the RW Editor's Trophy for Excellence, Worcester Cathedral on coming out on top in the advanced call changes on eight, the Brumdingers on victory in the method competition on six and to Yorkshire Tykes on being the best of an encouragingly large field in the method competition on eight and collecting the Whitechapel Trophy for the second year running. Well done too to the Suffolk youngsters who participated with our friends from Norfolk!

However, although I did grab a read of the latest edition of the journal whose name adorns today's contest and lightheartedly pointed out to Jason Hughes that the assertion in his article that the peal rung recently to celebrate Liverpool's Premier League title was the first for a football team's victory, by highlighting ours at Ipswich St Matthew's to mark ITFC's promotion from League 1 a couple of years ago, there was no time for any ringing.

For Ruthie was busy helping with her playgroup's football fun day in Wickham Market, with the distinctive tower that holds the 12cwt six watching over the scene. And with that theme the boys wanted to go along of course. We all had fun, with Alfie in particular becoming so adept at winning bottles on the tombola that people were getting him to pull out tickets for them!

Even then we couldn't stay for all of that as my wife needed to get to Great Finborough to sing with the Illuminati Choir and so she dashed off there and the boys and I watched the England women footballers get their Euros tournament underway on the TV with defeat to France on a Saturday where there was lots to cram in.

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Friday 4th July 2025

It was a busy day of ringing in Suffolk with a brace apiece of peals and quarters.

The quarter-peals were rung concurrently to bid farewell to Maureen Gardiner as she moves on to pastures new in Dorset, with 1260s of Grandsire as Triples was rung at Buxhall and Doubles at Tostock. Former North-West District Ringing Master Maureen will be much missed especially in the NW but also across the Guild. Best of luck on the south coast Maureen!

Meanwhile there was a 5040 of seven Treble Dodging Minor methods rung on handbells in Bacton for the NDA and I was pleased to see Carol Girling remembered with a peal of Cambridge Surprise Royal at Stowmarket by a band including her grandson Nathan Colman and son-in-law and SGR Ringing Master Julian Colman.

There was no ringing for us though as instead we had an evening at home, leaving others to get busy ringing in Suffolk.

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Thursday 3rd July 2025

The sad death of Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota at just 28 years old in a car crash overnight made for a subdued feeling day. Like almost everyone reacting to this news I didn't know him, but of course as with any well-known person you feel a bit like you know them and he was one of the many superstars we were privileged to watch firsthand at Ipswich Town last season a few hundred yards down Portman Road from the 10cwt six of St Matthew's. Indeed, he was the very first of the many to score against us. With the death of him and his fellow footballer brother dominating the headlines it was hard to escape that subdued feeling, with no ringing to help distract me as Ruthie was out at choir practice and even on BellBoard in the wider world of ringing there was nothing particularly notable or different to catch the attention.

There was work to focus on of course and with the saddest element of the whole tragic affair being the young children and new wife left behind I appreciated my evening in with Alfie and Josh even more than usual. Although we ended up watching football with the women's Euros on and of course to the backdrop of the news that had shocked the footballing world that also felt quite subdued.

Like the day as a whole really.

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Wednesday 2nd July 2025

I have heard Wednesday referred to as the week's "hump day" as it is the middle of the working week where we reach the hump of the metaphorical hill of Monday to Friday. From midday it is downhill to the weekend.

Well on this occasion it is also the year's hump day, as noon today marked the exact halfway point of 2025 and of sorts it has also been suggested as the hump day of the first half of the twenty-first century, with someone online rather soberly pointing out that once we'd reached midday we are closer to the start of 2050 than the end of 2000!

That may sound depressing, but actually that's still an awful long time. Just from a Suffolk ringing perspective and even with a pandemic and lockdowns that has seen 2,333 peals rung for the Guild according to PealBase. BellBoard suggests there have been nearly 10,000 quarter-peals rung within our borders since the start of 2001 and there are probably many more that haven't been added to the site. Thousands of practice nights across the county, hundreds of District and SGR events.

If course, much like the change from one year to the next it is all very arbitrary and merely a quirk of the calendar. Come 12 o'clock all I was doing was working and noting that the much-needed rain of the morning had stopped. For such a seemingly significant moment it was all very ordinary.

At that same moment the final quarter in Suffolk of the first quarter of the century was either just being or had been completed with a 1282 of Rutland Surprise Major on The Barn Owl Ring in Norton, but the first QPs within our borders of the rest of the week, year and century were soon scored with a 1280 of the 'standard' eight Surprise Major methods rung at Elveden and a 1296 of York Surprise Minor at Pettistree.

That last performance was rung for Guild Webmaster Chris Garner's birthday and his and Mary's wedding anniversary, with the 2nd July a significant day for them for more than being just the halfway point of the year!

It was also rung before a practice that Ruthie joined, a session that ended with the Garners very generously buying a drink for each of the sizeable number of ringers who retired to the Greyhound Inn and was a lovely way to finish this hump day.

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Tuesday 1st July 2025

I had the opportunity to read the superb brochure that has been put together for the 2025 Ringing World National Youth Contest due to be held in Birmingham on Saturday. It outlines what a huge event this has become, involving 37 teams from Cornwall to Cumbria competing at three towers with another eight open for general ringing, mini-rings dotted around the city and a handbell workshop. As much as I would dearly love this competition to be held in Ipswich, with just The Minster, St Margaret's, St Matthew's and The Wolery in or around the town centre currently ringable (although God willing St Lawrence will be back in action next year once work to repair the tower is completed) and buses and trains out to places like Bramford, Campsea Ashe, Sproughton, Tuddenham St Martin, Woodbridge and even Rushmere St Andrew probably not quite reliable enough for getting hundreds of youngsters on a tight schedule around in a way that they can in the UK's second city, it seems unlikely at the moment. Although places like Exeter and Worcester have hosted it, so maybe not impossible.

A more realistic aim is to get a team entered for the first time since 2016 in London. Although after a lean few years there are an encouraging number of youngsters coming through, but there is more work to undertake if we are to join our neighbours from Cambridgeshire, Essex and Norfolk in competing in this again. Easier said than done as we can testify, with Mason, Alfie and Josh in the main having only shown the most fleeting moments of interest (although if it weren't for lockdowns the eldest son may have got into it as he was starting to back in 2020), but striking competitions seem to be a huge draw to young ringers, judging not just by the large turnout to this but also the strong presence of young people at the National 12-bell Striking Contest, whilst experience usually shows that the best way of encouraging youngsters in the exercise is getting them together as often as possible. Therefore building towards an eventual entry to the RWNYC seems the ideal motivation!

Of course there are challenges in rural counties such as ours. Coordinated efforts amongst young people across this vast county with skeletal public transport available when one actually needs it for leisure and with the entirely necessary safeguarding framework all concerned have to work within means we can't just get dozens of youngsters in a ringing chamber as easily as they can in places like Birmingham and London. However, it is inspiring to read the bios in the RWNYC brochure of the judges who are all mere youngsters themselves. There are a variety of ways in which they have come to the art. One started when they were five. Another came from a ringing family. Still another was introduced to it by friends. William Read learnt to ring on Jersey where the opportunities are geographically limited. Some didn't begin until there were at university. And one learnt to ring in Dordrecht when they were living in the Netherlands. Also the interview of young ringers 5 hours 53 minutes and 25 seconds into Matthew Tosh's live broadcast from Bristol on Saturday gives a great insight into what attracts them and their contemporaries ringing and enthuses them about it. Hopefully this can all prove an inspiration to Suffolk's youngsters and teachers!

Not that we were doing anything to inspire young ringers or indeed ringers of any age this evening, as with a lack of numbers and it being another hot one Ufford's weekly practice was cancelled, allowing Ruthie and me a rare midweek night in together and to read that superb brochure.

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Monday 30th June 2025

Apparently it was one of the hottest June days on record in the UK, with the temperatures all the more staggering for the fact that today was also the start of Wimbledon Fortnight which usually sees the end of any nice weather! Again everything seemed to glow, people were upbeat and it was nice and warm wherever one went. I absolutely love it.

That said, I am not oblivious that many consider it too hot and that for some the sky-high temperatures are dangerous, whilst of course the reasons behind these extreme conditions are worrying. And still it makes ringing challenging.

All the more impressive therefore that we had such a successful weekly practice at Ipswich Minster on another humid evening with bottles of water to hand. Gavin Edwards progressed from trebling to Grandsire Caters to Grandsire Cinques, whilst Michelle Bird came back after visiting last week and rang Stedman Cinques for the first time since her return to the art, but we also rang Yorkshire Surprise Maximus before we retired to the beer garden of the Halberd Inn for much needed refreshment on a joyous night.

There was other impressive ringing endeavour elsewhere in Suffolk too, with a quarter-peal of Little Bob Royal rung on handbells in Bury St Edmunds as this heatwave continues.

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Sunday 29th June 2025

Yesterday was a busy day with football training, ordinations and concerts, but in true bellringers style this hot Sunday was even busier! And yet there was no ringing involved at all! Although it did involve ringers.

Following his ordination on Saturday, Gregory was leading his first Eucharist as a priest this morning and we had been invited along to St Felix in Rendlesham for this big occasion. No bells here sadly, but an absolute privilege to be present for what was a very special moment for Gregory and his family, as well as to have witnessed his ordination at the Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds. Thank you to mother-in-law and former South-East District Ringing Master Kate Eagle on bringing the boys and me along, allowing Ruthie to sing at St Mary the Virgin's in Woodbridge and then join us in Rendlesham.

The celebrations continued after the service with pink fizz and cake and then later in the day with a meal at The Coach & Horses in Melton, by which time we had also been to the home of Ufford ringers Pete & Susanne to celebrate the second birthday of their son and my Godson Jonathan with more food and fizz and a paddling pool for the birthday boy's contemporaries! It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon and hopefully Jonathan enjoyed it!

Eventually we did make it home, whilst elsewhere in Suffolk ringers had been much busier than us, especially at Lavenham where the band did incredibly well in this heat to ring the peal of Double Norwich Court Bob Major on the 21cwt eight to mark the 400th anniversary of the casting of the tenor and 500th anniversary of the completion of the famous tower. Well done also to those who rang in the quarter-peal of Plain Bob Triples on the front eight at Ipswich Minster to celebrate the ordination of Gregor Purdie.

An ordination that we witnessed on a busy day yesterday, along with the ordination that we celebrated today.

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Saturday 28th June 2025

Big occasions can be overhyped only to turn out to be a massive disappointment. Football is the master of this, with the matches between the really big teams set up to be blockbuster events but more often than not are dull fixtures as they cancel each other out.

I do have a habit of perhaps going overboard on the anticipation of the National 12-bell Striking Contest Final, but it is something that I have always been excited by. It is such a superb advert for ringing, featuring huge numbers of all ages that attracts more youngsters than any other ringing event apart from the Ringing World National Youth Contest, the standard of ringing is superb, the atmosphere is fantastic and it is as close as one gets to professional sport in the exercise, but the way I rave about it there is always a danger that it is a bit of a damp squib.

Not this year's at St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol though. Gorgeous weather, lots of ringers drinking beer, eating food and chatting in a buzzing atmosphere, brilliant ringing and a new winner. Congratulations to the hosts on winning the competition for the first time ever, fifty years after the first ever final was held at the same location. And especially to one-time Grundisburgh ringer and daughter of the much-missed Pettistree ringer Gill, Molly Waterson on becoming the latest former Suffolk learner to win the biggest ringing competition in the world. That list includes Jimmy Yeoman who was ringing for the runners-up Birmingham today, John Loveless and of course Rod Pipe, but also me. I am still delighted to have that under my belt, but the standard today is far beyond from even just twenty years or so and as far as I can make out Bristol's score of 96% is the best in the contest's fifty year history.

We couldn't be there today, but as is usually the case when that happens we tuned into Matthew Tosh's magnificent live broadcast after we'd got back from Alfie's football training, catching the draw, the first three teams and then later the results that saw the church - where it ended up being standing room only and there was also a feed in the marquee for those who couldn't get in the church - erupting in celebrations.

We couldn't watch proceedings live in between though as we had an engagement elsewhere, coincidentally at the venue due to hold the National 12-bell Striking Contest Final in two years time. For we were at the Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds for the ordination of our friend Gregory as a priest along with an encouraging number of others, an occasion rung for earlier in the day at The Norman Tower with a 1259 of Grandsire Caters that also celebrated the announcement of the new bishop.

That came on a very busy day of ringing in Suffolk and for Suffolk's ringers, with a peal of Kinver Surprise Major rung for the Guild at Hethersett in Norfolk and another of Fanybedwell Surprise Major on home soil at Debenham. Well done to all on ringing their first of the method in the latter. Meanwhile there were further quarters of Doubles on the 18cwt six at Dennington, Burnaby Delight Minor on the gallery-ring six at Sweffling and Ipswich Surprise Minor on the ground-floor ring at Tannington and well done to Pat Lees on ringing her first of the method in that last performance.

No ringing for us though and nor did we hear the bells of the county's youngest twelve whilst we were there, but we did see other ringers. Diana Pipe was there (and even grabbing the final space in the car park ahead of us!) supporting Gregor from Ipswich Minster, whilst Max Drinkwater was present in his role as Rector at Haverhill.

Not that we had the chance to chat with them as once we had extended our congratulations to Gregory, his wife Charlotte and their daughters and our Goddaughters Ava & Bea we had to dash off so Ruthie could get to sing with the Illuminati Choir at Falkenham where she bumped into Lesley Barrell of the 5cwt ground-floor six and where they were raising funds for repairs to the church tower.

That left the boys and me at home to sit in the sunbaked garden to watch the end of the National 12-bell Striking Contest Final, an occasion that definitely lived up to the hype!

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Friday 27th June 2025

There is obviously lots of sadness, tragedy and horror going on around the world, but closer to home there seemed a general theme of happiness and joy running through the day.

Who could help but smile at James B Partridge bringing the crowds in at Glastonbury with his 'Primary School Bangers' and whilst not everyone enjoys the roasting temperatures and understandably so, they still seem to be raising people's spirits, mine included. With neither Ruthie or me in work this afternoon, it also gave us a good excuse to sit in the beer garden of The Cherry Tree in Woodbridge with some refreshment once we'd run some errands around town and before we did the school run.

Those errands included dropping some toys and books off at St Mary the Virgin church ahead of the fair planned there for tomorrow and which local ringer Alison Wintgens received with much joy and happiness!

However, the greatest happiness and joy seemed to be reserved for the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich as the Rt Revd Dr Joanne Grenfell was announced as the next Bishop for Suffolk and therefore I assume the next President of the Guild, an announcement that seems to have been generally well received as she did her rounds about the county, including an interview 1 hour and 43 minutes and 26 seconds into Sarah Lilley's BBC Radio Suffolk show as I worked.

Meanwhile Facebook featured a number of ringing friends and acquaintances announcing their arrival at the accommodation and pubs of Bristol on the eve of the National 12-bell Striking Contest due to take place at St Mary Redcliffe in the morning.

There seems to be much happiness and joy down there too!

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Thursday 26th June 2025

There are still ringing events in Suffolk lined up before June finishes, such as the Kaleidoscope Session at Barham on Friday and the South-West District Practice at Nayland, but there is also much planned for July that is due to arrive with us on Tuesday.

Such as the South-East District Quarter-Peal Day in the Ashbocking area penciled in for Saturday 5th. And a week later it is intended that the North-West District hold their Practice at Oakley between 10am and noon on the same day that the North-East District plan to have their outing to Fornham St Martin, Troston, Bardwell and Ixworth, whilst seven days on from that a Surprise Major Practice at Aldeburgh is slated for 2-4pm. Meanwhile next month's Kaleidoscope Session is circled on the calendar for the evening of Friday 25th at Barham the day before the South-West District are planning to hold their annual striking competition at Little Cornard where hopefully there will be a bumper turnout! Perhaps the biggest highlight of the month though is the Veterans Afternoon at Debenham on Wednesday 9th, which is a lovely event that celebrates those who have helped build the exercise we now enjoy.

However, on the day when there was further ringing in memory of Paul Mounsey for his funeral at St Magnus the Martyr in London, there was no ringing of any kind noted on BellBoard from within our borders.

That included in our household with Ruthie out practicing with her choral colleagues at the end of the day when Ipswich Town's men's fixtures for the 2025/26 football season came out, allowing me to get back to a couple of peal requests, whilst the big ringing events planned over the season like the George W Pipe 12 Bell Competition at Great Yarmouth on Saturday 21st February, the National 12-bell Striking Contest Qualifiers on Saturday 28th March and the Guild AGM on Saturday 11th April in the South-West District have avoided clashing with home matches.

God willing July is just the first of many busy months of ringing!

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Wednesday 25th June 2025

It isn't as dramatic as previous years, but the release of the trailer for Matthew Tosh's live broadcast of the National 12-bell Striking Contest Final at St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol has as usual whetted the appetite for what is planned for Saturday. Being there is a phenomenal experience, whether you are taking part or - as will likely be the case with the majority - not. Typically the atmosphere is buzzing with friends familiar and new chatting over food and drink, a mix of young and experienced. As has become the norm at these there is even stuff laid on for children with a play area in the church and the intention being to have games like Jenga and Connect 4 out in the churchyard. All of which should be set to the backdrop of some of the very best twelve-bell ringing.

However, if you can't get down there, Matthew's broadcast is definitely the next best thing. Due to start at 10.45am, the plan is to follow everything through until the results, with interviews and coverage of everything going on. Whilst watching it all would be a feat of dedication, we have often had it on in the background when we're at home, soaking it all up as if we were there. We have even been known to crack open a beer to fully immerse ourselves with the spirit of the occasion!

Whether you are there or tuning in from afar, most will probably expect Birmingham to regain the title that they lost last year to the Cumberland Youths at Chilcompton. After all, they haven't been denied for two years running since the end of the last century and have dominated it for the last twenty-five years. Unusually for me though I'm not convinced that they will. Not because I don't want them to, as I once rang for them and still have a lot of friends who will likely be in the band in three days time. And not because I don't think they are capable of it any less than normal. Clearly there is still a lot of incredible ringing going on in the UK's second city. Rather, I have a sneaky feeling that the SRCY will regain the brand new Taylor Trophy they were the first winners of in Somerset twelve months ago. I don't why, just a feeling!

Who finishes just behind them is hard to call as there are a clutch of good teams. The hosts with home advantage for example will hope for a high placing and may well get one, whilst I imagine the College Youths and Cambridge will be strong. And York will be one of the bands used to ringing on this sought of weight and come in on the back of a great bit of ringing (having had a listen to it tonight via the contest's website) in coming first in the qualifier at Beverley in March with a good balance of youth and experience. Meanwhile, Exeter have struggled to match the heights of their fantastic victory on home bells in 2019, whilst St Paul's Cathedral have been mixed in recent years and Guildford have typically finished lower in the table so may end up there again, even if just due to the sheer strength in depth of quality at this, we at Ipswich found out three years ago.

Wherever teams finish though, all taking part have achieved a tremendous amount - this is the biggest striking competition on the planet and you don't luck your way to that point. Of course this is all just a bit of fun guesstimating and most important of all everyone there and following will hopefully enjoy it!

I can be more certain about the success of today's ringing which included Pettistree's weekly practice where Ruthie went along and rang much including Surprise Minor of the Bourne, Durham and York varieties, as well as spliced before retiring to the Greyhound Inn.

Sadly the quarter-peal beforehand was lost, but they were having more luck at Gressenhall in Norfolk where a Suffolk Guild band rang a peal of Pudsey Surprise Royal, while Mike Cowling from that band also rang in a 5040 of twenty-nine Treble Bob Minor methods at Rampton in Cambridgeshire.

For me though I was at home, watching some football with the boys, reading and taking in that trailer for the National 12-bell Striking Contest Final broadcast.

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Tuesday 24th June 2025

This morning it absolutely poured down with rain, a soggy though necessary break from the heatwave of the last few days.

By this evening though, it was hot and humid again. I think I've mentioned before how much I enjoy these high temperatures and the sunshine, despite the fact that with my complexion I need to be careful. Everyone seems happier, there's no need to carry huge amounts of clothing around with you and I much prefer trying to get cool than trying to warm up. Compared to the weather we get for the vast majority of the year, these days seem almost dreamy!

It can make ringing uncomfortable and tiring though, and so it was for tonight's Surprise Major practice at Ufford. We still had a very productive session with Cambridge, Lincolnshire, Superlative and Yorkshire rung and which was particularly useful for Gavin Edwards and Elaine Townsend, but as with Ipswich Minster's weekly practices yesterday and the previous Monday we finished a few minutes early, with limbs and minds visibly faltering and fatigue creeping in. Entirely understandable, especially when most present have to ring every time.

Perhaps the conditions also account for the lack of any quarter-peals or peals noted on BellBoard in the county today, although there was Suffolk representation in the 5024 of the 'standard' eight Surprise Major methods spliced at Meldreth in Cambridgeshire, both in the band and with the composition.

Great to see ringing continuing, come rain or shine!

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Monday 23rd June 2025

It was a pretty full-on Monday. Getting the boys up and ready for school, work, a party, ringing and a trip to a pub. There was no gentle introduction to the new working week for me!

Alfie & Josh were successfully started up, whilst my day of employment with Hachette Learning - which John Catt Educational is now fully a part of - was productive. Meanwhile our partying was at Ruthie's sister's abode for the thirteenth birthday of our niece Katelynn on another pleasant sunny summer's evening. Full of BBQ food, cake and Coca Cola, I made my way to Ipswich Minster for the weekly practice afterwards, where despite lower numbers again returning Ringing Master David Potts fashioned a useful session that included Stedman Cinques. However, on such a humid night it was all a bit of an uncharacteristic struggle, so proceedings were finished a few minutes early for the second week running and we retired to the beer garden of the Halberd Inn. It was nice to be joined by Michelle Bird though as she continues her welcome return to ringing and a drink outdoors was a lovely way to round off a busy day where just forty-eight hours after the longest day of the year I still got home in daylight!

Others in Suffolk were ringing too. Congratulations to Jeremy Spiller on conducting a peal of Minor on handbells for the 500th time in the 5040 in Bacton, whilst there was more ringing in hand down the road from there in Bury St Edmunds as a quarter-peal of Kent Treble Bob Major was rung.

It sounds like it was a pretty full-on Monday for others too.

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Sunday 22nd June 2025

Woodbridge's ringing chamber was absolutely buzzing this morning over yesterday's open tower afternoon, with tales of much tea, ringing and potential new recruits. Well done to all concerned, but especially Meg Cooke on organising it.

One of the other benefits of Saturday's proceedings was that all bar the tenor were still up, so once Bruce Wakefield and myself had rung that up we were able to ring all eight and I got to enjoy that superb view as the hot summer sun beat down on the landscape before me and a boat meandered along the River Deben through the middle of it all. I feel very blessed to be able to see this view regularly.

There was no further ringing for me or for Ruthie today though as once we'd been to the service and then enjoyed brunch with my wife's mother Kate, sister Clare & her fiancé Chris and the boys' Grandad Ron at Maeve's Tea Room in the town, the rest of our day was one of mundane tasks that included a clear-out of cupboards in the hope of finding something for St Mary's Church Fair next Saturday and preparing for a planned week of work and education ahead.

Others were busier elsewhere in Suffolk though, with a quarter-peal of Grandsire Caters rung at The Norman Tower, whilst Loretta Smith, Jean Deathridge and Susan Smith Weston ringing their first Sixty on Thirds at Bardwell. However, even if its just because we rarely see it mentioned on there, the most notable entry on BellBoard from the county was the ringing at East Bergholt. As most reading this will be aware, these are a unique set of bells which are not only the world's heaviest ring of five but also hung on the ground in a cage in the churchyard as the tower for them was never finished. That five century setback has been turned into a positive as these bells attract their fair bit of tourism from ringers and non-ringers and they are quite a sight when in full-flow so well worth a visit, although for safety reasons only rung by trained locals. Therefore the five hundredth anniversary of the start of construction on the unfinished tower has been celebrated this weekend with a Tudor flower festival and today's ringing was a part of those celebrations. A fantastic - and very different - spot of PR for ringing.

I imagine the bell cage was buzzing too!

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Saturday 21st June 2025

The latest edition of The Ringing World arrived with us this morning, featuring Suffolk content such as the celebrations for Diana Pipe's 90th birthday including our peal at Ipswich Minster, whilst a composition from local ringer and composer Richard Weeks was acknowledged in an article written by Andrew Tyler about a composition of spliced Treble Bob Major with no calls he had composed for a peal at Raleigh in the USA last month and an announcement appears on p569 about the intention to hold the Annual Veterans Afternoon at Debenham on Wednesday 9th July.

Otherwise though, there was a strong theme of striking competitions throughout the issue. There is a report on the recent W W Worthington Contest, which is a Midlands based ten-bell competition. Simon Ridley writes about an interesting experiment of using a member of the public to help judge the Monmouth Branch competition that reminded me of the one-off fundraising four-bell contest at Campsea Ashe that used non-ringing judges a few years ago. And there was a huge amount on the National 12-bell Striking Contest Final due to take place in a week's time at St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol fifty years after the very first one was held, also on the 50cwt twelve.

Appropriately enough therefore, there was another striking competition being held today and a big one at that as ten-bell bands from across the East of England gathered at the famous Boston Stump in Lincolnshire for The Ridgman Trophy. This is quite the venue, best-known perhaps for the sheer height of the tower and therefore the huge numbers of steps up there and the unique ringing chamber that includes a large hump in the middle - as can be seen in the video I highlighted in yesterday's blog - and if you so wish and they allow you, a view of the vast void beneath it. One of the teams experiencing this today was one representing the Guild and ultimately coming sixth out of the seven competing in what appears to have mainly been a close contest. Congratulations to our friends from the Essex Association on winning on this occasion and they will be hoping to defend their title at the 2026 competition which is penciled in for Saturday 13th June at Stowmarket. Note the date and do come along if you can!

Neither Ruthie or I were part of the band however, sadly so to an extent as we really enjoy taking part in this and seeing friends from across the region. Mainly it was because Alfie and his teammates had been booked in for a football tournament, which frustratingly got cancelled recently due to there only being one other team having entered, but that did allow for us to enjoy our day in a different way whilst awaiting news of results from over eighty miles away. For Kate Eagle had been asked to arrange a quarter-peal today at Ufford ahead of a blessing in the church and celebrations in the church hall afterwards for the Diamond Wedding Anniversary of the Rev'd Dr John & Mary Hare. My wife and I know John & Mary quite well from when they both regularly went to St Mary the Virgin's in Woodbridge with us, with the former often officiating and they are a lovely couple, so now being completely free we were delighted to ring and even to organise a band when mother-in-law Kate was waylaid with a busy and stressful time in recent weeks. We were even more delighted to get a really good band together and then ring a superb 1250 of Cambridge Surprise Major conducted by Mrs Munnings. A really good team effort in extremely hot conditions on what was apparently the hottest day of 2025 thus far with the temperatures reaching thirty degrees centigrade.

The service afterwards was lovely, as was the shindig in the church hall that followed, but once we'd returned to Mrs Eagle's abode where her other daughter Clare and Grandad Ron were very kindly looking after the boys who were making the most of their Granny's pool in the scorching conditions, we didn't have time to join the Woodbridge ringers for their Open Tower Afternoon. They seemed to have coped without us mind, at least according to the very positive reports coming out of it!

Meanwhile, our QP wasn't the only one in the county today. Not by a long chalk! At the UK's most easterly ring of bells, Lowestoft, the summer solstice was marked with a quarter of Yorkshire Surprise Major with representation from within our borders, whilst Suffolk Day was celebrated with three quarter-peals. Well done to (in a nod to a theme of today's blog) competition judge Juliet Griffiths on ringing her first of Major inside in the 1344 of Cambridge Surprise at Horringer, whilst the same number of changes were rung of three Surprise Major methods spliced to a Louis Suggett composition at The Norman Tower and a 1260 of Plain Bob Doubles at Rushmere St Andrew.

No more ringing for us this evening though as instead we relaxed in this glorious weather, reading the latest edition of The Ringing World.

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Friday 20th June 2025

It was quite a rushed afternoon.

With both Ruthie and me off work this afternoon I thought it would be a good idea to visit Dad's sister and therefore my Aunty Marian. There seemed plenty of time to see this former ringer and get back to pick the boys up from school, until we got caught up in traffic and so a leisurely drive became quite a frantic journey.

Once the boys had been collected, we then made a dash to my wife's Gran's for the briefest of felicitations as it is her birthday today, before we eventually settled down to another gorgeous sunny evening in the back garden. This time accompanied by a gin!

No ringing for us though and none noted anywhere in Suffolk on BellBoard, but God willing tomorrow will be busier for the county's ringers, including up at Boston in Lincolnshire where the Guild is due to ring in the Ridgman Trophy. This is the ten-bell striking competition for territorial organisations and the Cambridge University Guild who border onto the Ely Diocesan Association - essentially a contest for the East of England. This is a big competition that I believe more should be made of and so I was delighted to see the video released ahead of tomorrow's proceedings that is the kind of thing the National 12-bell Striking Contest would usually do! Well worth a watch as it builds the anticipation.

And it was a relaxing video to watch after such a rushed afternoon!

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Thursday 19th June 2025

It was an absolutely lovely evening to just sit in the back garden with a cup of tea whilst Ruthie was practicing with her choral colleagues, but apart from the usual joyous daily family life we are blessed with that was pretty much the highlight of a quiet day for ringing in Suffolk.

Indeed the only thing of note from the exercise within our borders that came to my attention was the announcement on the Guild Facebook page that the practice at Falkenham tonight had been cancelled. No quarters or peals recorded on BellBoard from the county and even further afield there was nothing especially notable, with the most tenuous link to the art here being the peal of Otley Surprise Major at Walworth in Greater London, a method pealed at Grundisburgh earlier this year but presumably named after the Yorkshire town with 16cwt eight rather than the local village with a 9cwt six.

There may well have been lots of other ringers simply sitting in their back garden with a cup of tea.

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Wednesday 18th June 2025

Ruthie was out ringing tonight, this time with her mother Kate and the boys' Grandad Ron. Many will know he's been a bit in the wars in recent weeks, so this was a nice opportunity for him to get out and sit in Pettistree churchyard on another wonderfully hot evening, whilst the weekly practice on the ground-floor six proceeded, before he joined them in the Greyhound Inn after the ringing to use up what remained of the tab very generously left for the ringers a few weeks ago.

Unusually there was no quarter-peal even attempted ahead of the session, but there were QPs rung elsewhere in Suffolk. Well done to Paul Cammiade and Guild Treasurer Tim Hart on ringing their first of Double Norwich Court Bob Major on handbells in the 1280 rung in Bury St Edmunds and to Norfolk ringer Ros Burrough on her first on eight as conductor in the 1250 of Cambridge Surprise Major at Fornham St Martin.

My wife wasn't the only one out ringing in the county today!

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Tuesday 17th June 2025

Success for Alfie & Josh at their school sports day as their team got on the metaphorical podium in third place, with the eldest of the two also winning an individual bronze medal.

Success also at Ufford's weekly practice where we had enough again to ring call-changes on eight, but also for Mary Leaming to progress onto trebling to Plain Bob Doubles and Margaret Weeks to ring the treble to a couple of pieces of Cambridge Surprise Minor and get involved with a greater amount of work inside to a 120 of Grandsire Doubles.

Success at Ixworth as well, where a 1280 of London Surprise Major was rung and at one of Suffolk's Norwich Diocesan Association towers Oulton where Tiger Krykant rang his first quarter-peal in the 1260 of Plain Bob Minor. Congratulations Tiger!

And congratulations Alfie & Josh!

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Monday 16th June 2025

The seven wonders of the ringing world. What could they be? East Bergholt was one suggestion for it's unique set-up of being rung from the ground with no ropes. Further afield, Merton College in Oxford, Pershore Abbey in Worcestershire and John's Lane in Dublin were all mentioned for their hairy entry and exit points and/or fear-inducing ringing chambers. Crowland Abbey and Wheathampstead were nominated for their long unguided drafts. For their sheer daunting ringing chambers and reputations Liverpool and St Paul's Cathedrals were brought up.

It all made for an interesting chat in the beer garden at the Halberd Inn following a weekly practice at Ipswich Minster which was extremely low on numbers. In fact, so low that it was finished a few minutes early, with Ringing Master for the evening Hal Meakin perhaps sensing there was flagging enthusiasm for anymore Grandsire Caters! To be fair to Hal, the Grandsire was useful for those nearer the start of their ringing progression on these numbers such as young Will and not that much older George Heath-Collins and he did really well in the circumstances to stave off the fatigue with touches of Stedman Triples on the back and front eight and a course of Superlative Surprise Major on the light octave in between, but it was a hot night with most present ringing every time and so quite a tiring session in the end.

Possibly it was the same situation at another Monday evening practice where a quarter-peal of Doubles was rung at Woolpit during their weekly session, but that wasn't the only performance on bells in Suffolk noted on BellBoard today with a peal of Plain Bob Major rung on handbells in Bury St Edmunds.

Meanwhile the latest edition of The Ringing World arrived with us this morning and features the last of the articles by John Eisel on ringing at Dedham just over the Essex border and again includes references to our county, such as a party of ringers from Ipswich and Witnesham visiting there in 1886. Thank you to John for another fascinating series with Suffolk links.

Perhaps we could get him writing on the seven wonders of the ringing world?

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Sunday 15th June 2025

It was a day to count my blessings.

That on a Sunday morning I get the opportunity to ring Stedman Cinques as I did at Ipswich Minster with a band where eight of the band live within the town itself.

That on a beautiful hot sunny day like today that once Alfie, Josh and myself had had refreshment in Costa Coffee I could travel through the Suffolk countryside to Grundisburgh and ring here looking out over the pretty village green.

And that once Ruthie had dropped me off an hour early for a quarter-peal back on the county's heaviest ring of bells on the way to her singing with the Jubilate Singers at the delightful rural idyll of Shelley, I was able to pass the time wandering around Christchurch Park past the eight of St Margaret's and into the peaceful woods there, in the process taking in the Armillary Sphere Sundial which was restored in memory of Dr John Blatchly who was instrumental in the restoration and rehanging of the ancient five at St Lawrence.

Most of all though on this Father's Day that I am the father of three kind, thoughtful sons who showered me with cards and gifts with a little help in places from my wife. They have all had their moments of course, as any parent will testify about their children, but God willing we are guiding them towards being kindhearted young men who will make the lives of those they meet better and I hope that in my role as their father I have helped a bit.

Elsewhere within our borders and beyond meanwhile, others were taking advantage of the blessing that is ringing. Congratulations to David Steed and Joshua Watkins on ringing their one hundredth quarter-peal together in the 1260 of Doubles at Great Finborough, whilst the same band also rang another of Minor at Barking. Further afield, former Guild Ringing Master Amanda Richmond, current South-West District RM Richard Knight and one-time Bures learner John Loveless rang in a peal of Bristol Surprise Major at Eaton Socon in Cambridgeshire as part of a band who were all born in 1955.

Additionally, the QP attempt at the Minster that I was in was successful as we rang a 1280 of Cambridge Surprise Royal before I wandered across the town centre (getting a photo of St Peter's with its 9cwt chimed five alongside the giant mural that has appeared alongside it since I last snapped it in January!) to the railway station and caught the train back to Woodbridge for a barbecue at the home of mother-in-law Kate where I was reunited with my sons and eventually Mrs Munnings on her return from a charming church where sadly the 11cwt five are unringable and a beer or two were enjoyed with some meat as the boys jumped in and out of the swimming pool and I counted those many blessings.

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Saturday 14th June 2025

At Ipswich Minster this afternoon, we spent three hours ringing. There was much Surprise Minor. A couple of pieces each of Cambridge and Norwich. There were also touches and plain courses of Plain Bob Doubles and Minor. Rounds, call-changes, one-on-one handling lessons on single bells. Yet we didn't disturb a single person of the thousands on the town centre streets shopping or enjoying the Brighten the Corners Festival on the Corn Hill or the music exams taking place in Tower House.

For this was the launch event for the training bells here and opportunity for ringers from across the county to be introduced to them, the equipment and the benefits, one of which of course is training unlimited by the sensitivities of those outside.

I wasn't sure what kind of turnout to expect, as I imagine was the case for all of us. This is new territory for Suffolk, but what we got was a steady stream of interested folk and even the occasional non-ringer. Personally it was nice to see John Taylor from Debenham and - for the first time for a while - Jos Slade from Parham (and incidentally is looking for help with a open tower day at Hacheston in a fortnight's time), as well as other visitors from the Bellsashen hub and Tattingstone.

Downstairs in the church meanwhile, refreshments were being served including cakes and biscuits made and supplied by Minster ringers and a raffle was held, with seemingly most of the prizes won by us in a remarkable reversal of form in such things for the Munnings family. Churlish as it may feel to pick people out, well done in particular to Amanda Richmond on leading proceedings, Lucy Heath-Collins on running the raffle and Sonia Doherty on doing the drinks, but of course there were so many who contributed towards making this such a successful afternoon.

Ours wasn't the only successful ringing within our borders today though. At the North-East District Striking Competitions at Rumburgh, congratulations to Aldeburgh on winning the Trevor Hughes Trophy, Reydon the Call Change Trophy and the hosts the Harry Archer Trophy. And we were joined in our endeavours in the county town by Hal Meakin following his participation in the peal of Erin Cinques at The Norman Tower. On top of that, congratulations to Sally Crouch and Maureen Gardiner on ringing their twenty-fifth quarter-peal together in the 1260 of Armitage-Is-The-Name Bob Minor at Barrow and well done to Sally on ringing her first in the method and to Paul Stannard on ringing his first blows of it! Well done also to Emily Vallow on ringing her first quarter-peal of Surprise Minor in the 1320 of Ipswich at Tostock.

Meanwhile, Alfie's football training and a visit to Ruthie's Gran bookended our afternoon at Ipswich Minster where we enjoyed our afternoon without disturbing a single person outside.

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Friday 13th June 2025

It was hot today, the type of day to take it easy. Of course there was work and the boys went to school, whilst Ruthie also picked her mother and gran up from Ipswich railway station after they'd been watching tennis at Queen's Club, but we had a gentle evening that was climaxed with what is the biggest, most prolonged thunderstorm I can ever recall witnessing.

That extended to our involvement with ringing too, with the closest I got to the exercise having a glance at PealBase's 'Crystal Ball' which attempts to guesstimate those who will next reach 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 peals right up to Colin Turner who is the only one anywhere near ringing 9,000 peals. Based only on a ringer's current total and taking the number of peals they've rung in the last twelve months, it tries to anticipate when they 'might' meet that next landmark.

In Suffolk, past Guild Ringing Master Tom Scase is the next due to reach a thousand. He is on 868 at the moment and if he continues ringing thirty-five peals a year as he has over the last year PB calculated he'll reach his 1000th on 22nd March 2029. James Croft is the next resident member in line to get to 2,000 with current rates meaning he'd get there on 4th April 2045. At the moment former SGR Peal Secretary Alan Mayle is on for reaching 3,000 on 28th January 2035. After that resident members are understandably thin on the ground with the number of ringers in touching distance of 4,000+ unsurprisingly limited generally. One-time resident Barrie Hendry is due to hit that total on 10th March 2041. John Loveless who learnt to ring at Bures is calculated to make 5,000 peals on 2nd January 2032. After that there are no close Suffolk links to those involved. Ian Campbell is the next due to make 6,000 on 2nd May next year, Alan Regin is anticipated to ring his 7,000th a week before this Christmas and the aforementioned Mr Turner could have his 9,000th under his belt on 24th February 2039 if he carried on with his current trajectory.

All a bit of fun of course, but God willing it'll be interesting to see how close some of these figures are!

The only one on that list adding to their numbers today was Mr Regin who rang a further brace on Lundy Island to notch up his 6875th peal, but not everyone in Suffolk was having a quiet day on the ringing front as a 1320 of Cambridge Surprise Minor was rung at Clopton celebrating Claire Free's birthday (Happy Birthday Claire!) and a 1260 of Doubles was rung at Tostock.

Not everyone was taking it easy on this hot day.

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Thursday 12th June 2025

Three quarter-peals were rung in Suffolk today. The 1272 of Ipswich Surprise Minor at Earl Stonham was the most landmark-laden and congratulations to David Steed and Sally Crouch on ringing their one hundredth QP together and conductor Joshua Watkins on ringing at his six hundredth tower, but there was also a 1280 of Cambridge, Lessness, Superlative and Yorkshire Surprise Major spliced at Horringer and a 1260 of Eynesbury, Plain, St Martin's, St Osmund, St Simon's Bob and Grandsire Doubles at Winston.

Further afield a clip of some superb ringing from the 5040 of Stedman Triples at East Dereham in Norfolk was shared on the Bellringers Facebook page.

And even further afield Jack Page has achieved so much in ringing that he is now circling colours of chairs as well as pairs of bells to peals of Maximus.

Much going on in ringing on this hot sunny day then, but not for our household, with a visit from Mason to bring me a Father's Day card and an evening in with his younger brothers Alfie & Josh whilst Ruthie was out singing and then a cuppa on her return the highlights for me on this occasion.

For the purposes of this ringing blog therefore, thank goodness for those three quarter-peals in the county.

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Wednesday 11th June 2025

During his life, it was generally only really my brother Chris and my father Alan's birthday - and Father's Day which came at the same time of year - when he was the centre of attention and celebrated. Otherwise he was generally in the background, almost unnoticed, rarely kicking up a fuss. However, whilst he was in the background he was helping other ringers, guiding them, quietly offering advice. Along with our mother Sally he went to so many towers every week as well as pretty much all Guild and South-East District events and quite a number of other district occasions, their presence enabling others to progress. Which is why it was so upsetting that his funeral had to be so low-key. His death came in 2020 in the depths of the pandemic and the lockdowns and so what should've been a final hurrah and big celebration of his life was severely reduced by the necessary restrictions of the time, especially as we'd already missed suitably marking his significant 75th birthday earlier in the year because of those restrictions. Extremely kind messages came from across the world of ringing and the wider world, which was hugely comforting, but his funeral saw a limit of thirty attend rather than the packed church there would've been. There was no wake and although ringers did what they could at the time, there were no quarter-peals or peals, bar a QP of Singles by the Woodcock family bubble and a 1260 on Ringing Room that were kindly rung.

A year on from his death we were still coming out of the lockdowns and it was challenging to arrange anything with much confidence, although we did mention him in the Guild's first peal after restrictions had been lifted, which was actually arranged for Josh's fifth birthday and was understandably and willingly shared with remembering George Pipe, Dick Pegg and former President of the SGR the Right Reverend John Waine, as well as welcoming Katrina Dykes as the Rector at Grundisburgh two months after she'd started. Two years seemed a bit far on and anyway would've seen him again overshadowed as Queen Elizabeth II died on the anniversary of him dying.

Therefore I long had in mind this year - five years on - as a suitable time to remember him, either on the anniversary of his death on 8th September or on what would've been his 80th birthday, which was today. Today felt appropriate and so Chris and I this morning found ourselves at Sproughton where Dad was laid to rest and was once a Guild member and regular churchgoer with four others who generously gave up their time to ring in a 5080 of Minor that was enjoyable to participate in, all within earshot of his final resting place. As I said to the band afterwards, I imagine he would've enjoyed it, even if just that he wasn't ringing in it! Thank you to the band for ringing and to Ralph Earey for letting us into a building that is currently closed while they arrange for loose masonry at the other end of the church to be repaired.

We were met afterwards by Mum who very kindly bought those of us who retired to The Beagle a drink, where we enjoyed chatting to conductor Stephen Pettman about his Italy ringing trips, with his first one since 2019 due to run in October.

Elsewhere in Suffolk I was sorry to hear of the loss of a peal attempt at Hitcham, but happily a quarter-peal of Norwich Surprise Minor was successfully rung at Pettistree ahead of a weekly practice that I joined, ringing much from Plain Bob Doubles to York Surprise Minor and spliced, before some of us rounded the evening off in the Greyhound Inn where we received compliments from some local residents about our ringing.

It was a positive way to finish a positive day, with the reaction when I mentioned on Facebook what we had done at Sproughton showing Dad is still fondly remembered and highly thought of. He was definitely celebrated today!

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Tuesday 10th June 2025

Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle wasn't able to make this evening's weekly practice on the 13cwt eight and I have to admit to a slight pang of anxiety when asked to run the ringing in her place. She does it so well and of course when she is absent it also means that we are an experienced ringer down. I needn't have worried though as nine turned up, including the equally experienced Mary Garner and also a new face, that of Julie. Her home tower is Wickham Market, but she is doing what I encourage all ringers - especially those near the start of their ringing progression - to do and getting out and about to where she can, when she can. She has good bell control which should hold her in good stead and allowed her to comfortably ring rounds on six and eight and then call-changes on eight.

Meanwhile it was also another good night for Vince Buckman who trebled to a couple of courses of Cambridge Surprise Minor, Mary Leaming got more and more confident at ringing Plain Hunt on five to the point that I openly asked if she was ready to ring the treble to Doubles methods and Margaret Weeks rang inside to a 120 of Plain Bob Doubles and a plain course of Plain Bob Minor. All very productive.

It came at the end of a day when more details of the National 12-bell Striking Contest Final due to be held at St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol on Saturday 28th June were advertised, with preordering possible on almost everything from wristbands to alcohol tokens to clothing and much more. There are plenty of ways to get further details, including a website for the final itself, whilst you can also subscribe to email updates. This is such an enjoyable event whether you're ringing or not, regardless of any team allegiances or if you know many people. You'll soon make friends!

Of course friendships were being made and renewed today across Suffolk, including at Offton where the session there was preceded with a quarter-peal of Lincolnshire Surprise Major. And at Ufford, even without Kate.

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Monday 9th June 2025

Saturday afternoon is when it is planned to have an open day for Ipswich Minster's training bells. They have already been well used, but this is an opportunity to rock up and take a look and get an idea of how they could perhaps help you and your band. There is much being done to prepare a welcome for visitors, with cake and refreshments due to be laid on and after this evening's weekly practice the equipment was being set up. Please do come along if you can, we'd be delighted to see you!

I did my usual thing of helping by getting out of the way and headed down to the Halberd Inn for an interesting chat with visiting Norman Tower ringer Ben Keating about the challenges facing us in Suffolk with ten and twelve-bell ringing following on from what was another really positive session on the county's heaviest ring of bells. We had more of our Surprise Maximus regulars back which meant we rang Stedman Cinques and Cambridge & Yorkshire Max, whilst Sonia rang the treble to Grandsire Cinques as young Will watched me ring the third to it and Nigel Newton's schoolfriend and former ringer Robert made a very respectable job of ringing the eighth to rounds on twelve in what was - bar a short burst on Amanda Richmond and Simon Rudd's private ring in France - his first ringing for decades!

Earlier in the day meanwhile, a quarter-peal of Kent Treble Bob Major was rung on handbells in Moats Tye, a medium of ringing that has proved very useful to ringers within our borders.

Hopefully Saturday afternoon will show how Ipswich Minster's training bells can be too.

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Sunday 8th June 2025

Another busy day for Suffolk ringing and ringers, as four quarter-peals were rung in the county today.

Well done to Andrea Alderton on ringing her first on ten in the 1296 of Grandsire Caters at Stowmarket which was accompanied by best wishes to Maureen Gardiner on her forthcoming move to Dorset. As a former Ringing Master of the North-West District and a driving force in the augmentation here she is a big part of the local ringing scene and will be missed there and more widely in the Guild. Best of luck Maureen!

Meanwhile there were also quarters of Stedman Triples at The Norman Tower, Plain Bob Minor at Rougham and Plain Bob Major at Southwold, whilst Bury St Edmunds ringer Andrew Stone was ringing in a College Youths peal at St Olave Hart Street in London.

Even further afield and not involving Suffolk ringing bar the presence of former Exning learner Jimmy Yeoman in one of the bands, I was impressed by the efforts of Stephen Hall and Lucy Warren who rang in the 5023 of Stedman Cinques at Liverpool Cathedral just a day after they both rang in the 5007 of the same principle at Exeter Cathedral. As far as I can make out, there hasn't been anyone who has rung peals on the world's two heaviest rings of bells hung for change-ringing in the same weekend and it's understandable. Quite apart from the distances covered, they are both huge undertakings in their own right whichever of the bells you ring, requiring almost nine hours of ringing on big bells on top of the travelling.

Our household didn't get anywhere near that level of ringing today though, with my only contribution to the exercise being the nonetheless important service ringing at Woodbridge that included some Grandsire Doubles, before the boys and I joined the morning worship downstairs. That transpired to include two confirmations led by the former Bishop of Dunwich and one-time Vice-President the Right Reverend Tim Stevens, but the rest of our day was another productive, pleasant but mundane one.

I did get the opportunity to see that Simon Rudd's question to the Bellringers Facebook page last Sunday of whether anyone could beat Stephen Pettman conducting every single one of the 234 peals he has rung with Tom Scase appears to have been answered thanks to an enquiry made by Jadd Virji to Drew Craddock who runs the fantastic Pealbase. Apparently there are a pair of ringers who can top this, with John Pladdys having called all 446 peals he has rung with Lloyd Cartwright.

All of those should've appeared in previous editions of The Ringing World and having not got the chance to do so yesterday, I got the chance to fully read the latest one which includes part 3 of John Eisel's series on Dedham in Essex that features references to our county.

If today is anything to go by then future editions should feature many more references to our county.

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Saturday 7th June 2025

Between us Ruthie and I had about as successful a day of ringing as we could've hoped for, with a peal rung and a striking competition won.

The peal was a special one, arranged for the fiftieth anniversary of Mike Whitby's first peal. Mike has done so much for ringing in Suffolk, at Pettistree and for us personally, a ringer who has achieved much at every level. Someone who has rung in the National 12-bell Striking Contest, been the South-East District Ringing Master, conducted over 150 peals and more than a thousand quarter-peals and taught a band to ring at the aforementioned ground-floor six and guided them through the subsequent forty years at what is one of the best six-bell practices in the county. Therefore, those of us who were in the band this morning were delighted to ring in the 5040 which was also Mary Garner's 500th for the Guild - congratulations Mary who is an inspiration to all who didn't start ringing in their childhood. She too has achieved much with many SGR roles including Secretary when she helped me tremendously as I started out as Ringing Master, winning striking competitions and being a regular member of the Aldeburgh second-Sunday pealband, not to mention notching up a couple of peals of the 'standard' forty-one Surprise Minor methods.

It all quite rightly put my minor footnote of circling the tower by ringing the treble to today's 2 hours and 35 minutes into the shade, but I was still chuffed with finally achieving that with my seventeenth success here, all of which we celebrated with a drink in the beer garden of the Greyhound Inn with some more of the tab very kindly left to us by Matt on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Alfie returned to football training this morning, so his mother and Josh left him to it and decided to take a wander around the village listening to - and recording - some of our ringing.

There was just time for me to grab some lunch at home before our household was then out the door again to Easton where this year's SE District Striking Competitions were being held. We made it in time for the draw in the church for the ringing order, with my wife ringing for the Ipswich Minster 'Blue' team, me for their 'White' team and both of us in the Pettistree team amongst a tremendous turnout of eleven teams.

The blues were the second band up and so the boys and I joined others in listening from the churchyard and with Pettistree and the whites not ringing until near the end of the order we wandered down to the nearby village hall for refreshment, cake and more socialising. It was then back up to the church for the rest of our ringing before we retired to the hall to await the results from the judges Juliet Griffiths and North-West District Ringing Master Joshua Watkins. Those results saw Wickham Market awarded the David Barnard Memorial Trophy for the first time for winning the call-change competition and Ipswich Minster Blues - Mrs Munnings et al - claim the Cecil Pipe Memorial Bell for being victorious in the method ringing competition.

Truth be told and excusing the well-worn cliche, but again ringing was the winner here. It has to be said this 10cwt ground-floor six is challenging and caught a couple of teams out who sadly didn't finish their pieces, but I have always believed that if you're good enough to ring in a striking competition then that is already an achievement before whatever happens on the day itself and it was great to see so many new participants. Wonderful as it was to see the faces of the Wickham Market ringers (and it really was!), there were so many other positives, such as the youngsters taking part. Sonia Docherty trebled superbly for the Ipswich Minster Whites and was but one of a number of examples of how striking competitions can help boost a ringer's progress. Bramford and Hollesley's team shirts. Falkenham (not Fakenham!) pushing themselves by going for a method. And indeed everyone taking part, wherever they came.

Thank you to the Bellsashen ringers for putting on the refreshment, to the South-East District officers Liz & Podge Christian and Hal Meakin for organising it and Joshua and Juliet on judging it with such humour and encouragement, as judging should be done.

That wasn't even all of the ringing going on within our borders either, as at Bardwell former local ringer Louis Suggett's marriage to Lucy on Thursday was celebrated with a quarter-peal of Plain Bob Doubles on a successful day of ringing in Suffolk, not least for Ruthie and me!

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Friday 6th June 2025

Whilst there was a quarter-peal of Cambridge Surprise Minor rung at Wissett, there wasn't anything else to report from Suffolk ringing today, although there must have been some more such as the usual weekly practices.

There certainly wasn't any done by anyone in our household on a quiet day for us mainly marked by picking up our children and those of others from various commitments.

Well done and thank you to the band at Wissett therefore on giving me something ringing-related to mention today!

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Thursday 5th June 2025

Congratulations to former Bardwell ringer Louis Suggett, who today got married to Lucy in Bournemouth where he now lives.

Unsurprisingly, although not today, there has been ringing for this happy occasion for one of the country's best young ringers and finest exports in the exercise from Suffolk. Well done to his mother Ruth who rang her first quarter-peal of Stedman Cinques at Wimborne Minster on Sunday whilst she was down on the south coast and Louis himself conducted a 1259 of Grandsire Caters at Wareham on Monday, whilst in Norfolk a band featuring a number of ringers from his homeland rang a 1260 of Stedman Triples at Pulham Market on Tuesday. Nothing from within our borders after we sadly lost a peal attempt at his one-time home tower last month, but I'm sure Ruthie and I aren't alone in the Guild in offering congratulations to Louis & Lucy.

There was no ringing on BellBoard from the county today generally either, nor was there any involving our household as my wife went singing, but I felt a pang of nostalgia when a photo was shared by Mike Chester on the Bellringers Facebook page from when Durham bells were being removed for restoration in 1980 and slap bang in the middle is the late Trevor Bailey. Trevor was a larger than life character in my ringing youth and long before that too. He was a bellhanger for Whitechapel - hence his presence in the north-east of England rather than his native North-East District in this photo - but also a tremendous ringer who was a member of the College Youths and rang over a thousand peals, coming in the top 150 of ringers who have rung the tenor to a peal the most.

Nice to see that blast from the past as well as toast to the future happiness of Lous & Lucy.

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Wednesday 4th June 2025

I always hope that our ringing is appreciated, whether that is by walkers out in the countryside as it wafts across the fields along a summer breeze or by shoppers in bustling town centre streets or as a distant warm sound through windows as residents or pubgoers hunker down indoors from cold weather. Sometimes we hear about that appreciation. When bells were used to support the White Ribbon Campaign, the organisers said that they liked the idea that church bells could reach isolated victims and even offer comfort, making them aware that there is a world out there they could reach out to. Just last week during the Surprise Major Practice at Ufford one of the neighbours texted Ringing Master Kate Eagle to say how nice the bells sounded. Many years ago after ringing a peal at Beccles the band was greeted with a bunch of flowers each by grateful locals. This evening though appreciation of what we were doing was shown in an equally generous and new fashion in my experience.

 It occurred at Pettistree, where before the session I had stepped in for the aforementioned mother-in-law for the pre-practice quarter-peal when she was called away unexpectedly. Although it made for a slightly more rushed early evening than planned once I had collected Alfie from a classmate's house where he'd had tea, I was pleased to have the opportunity to ring in one of these as usually Alfred's football training makes it impractical for one of us to ring, with the 1320 of Durham Surprise Minor incredibly my first here since the start of last year. Indeed it is my first anywhere of 2025 at all! I couldn't have asked for much better ways to break my duck either, with a generally well-rung forty-plus minutes of ringing with few - usually self-corrected - mistakes.

Having a Surprise Minor band already present also helped on an evening when we were a little short on numbers, meaning that despite the low attendance we were still able to ring other Surprise Minor such as London as well as enjoy listening from the churchyard in pleasant conditions. And just before the final piece and lowering of the bells, we were greeted by our appreciative audience, as a couple from Georgia in the USA who were holidaying in the area and had been eating in the Greyhound Inn next door came over to applaud our efforts. They were delighted they could see us in action as we produced a well-struck touch of Grandsire Doubles and rang down and then chatted for a bit and although they seemed anxious to be assured we were going to the pub afterwards, we didn't really think anything more of it, pleased as we were to have made someone so happy with something we enjoy doing.

Of course some of us did retire to the ancient tavern where we walked in just as the man from the couple - Matt as it transpires - was leaving with a smile and saying he'd put a tab for us behind the bar. I thanked him, but have to admit that I thought he was joking until we went to order and discovered that he had indeed left a tab for us ringers. Thank you Matt!

Meanwhile, my rare QP wasn't the only performance from the county noted on BellBoard today as for the second time this week there were two peals rung within our borders on the same day, albeit neither were rung for the Suffolk Guild.

One was on handbells in Bacton for the NDA of three Surprise Minor methods, the other was for the Cumberland Youths in Felixstowe of Felixstowe Surprise Major to a composition by former Felixstowe resident Dennis Knox. Congratulations to Paul Cammiade and Alan Regin on ringing their 700th peal together, which represents just over 10% of the latter's huge peal totals!

Hopefully their efforts were also appreciated.

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Tuesday 3rd June 2025

The well meaning but unexpected visit of the church treasurer asking if there was anything we needed doing in the tower delayed the start of this evening's weekly practice at Ufford. Once we had got underway though, we enjoyed a session which was especially productive for Mary Leaming and Vince Buckman, with the former getting better and better at Plain Hunt on five and counting her places and the latter getting better and better at ringing the fifth to a 120 of Plain Bob Doubles.

Before another of Suffolk's Tuesday evening practices meanwhile, a quarter-peal of Cambridge Surprise Major was rung at Offton, where hopefully they weren't delayed in starting their ringing!

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Monday 2nd June 2025

There was a sense of a twelve-bell pathway being forged at Ipswich Minster's weekly practice this evening, a link between the different levels practiced during the session and I was delighted to play a part. Young Ella and her mother Jenny from the Bellsashen hub rang in some call-changes on twelve that I called and then watched some Plain Hunt on eleven with a view to moving onto that. Gavin Edwards rang in the Plain Hunt and then watched me ringing inside to some Grandsire Cinques which Sonia Docherty trebled to, before I stood behind another youngster Will as he rang the treble to some more Grandsire Cinques. He then watched the tenor ringing behind to a well-rung touch of Stedman Cinques whilst David Lugg watched me ring the treble, before Ivan had a go at the principle on eleven. As Abby Antrobus revised Yorkshire Surprise Maximus, David Lugg joined the three other present Davids Potts, Sparling and Stanford in a potentially confusing few leads of Cambridge Max, before Abby then rang that Yorkshire, which I conducted.

Lots covered for so many before we left Hal to record the sounds of the individual bells and then joined us in the Halberd Inn where in a typically large crowd practically no one seemed to be drinking alcohol!

Whether that was the case earlier in the day for the band ringing at Elveden I can't be sure, but I do know that they rang a 5078 of Bristol Surprise Major in memory of Adrian Knights the day after what would've been his 78th birthday. For years peals were rung on or near his birthday with an appropriate length of this method, mostly with Arnie ringing and so it is wonderful to see this tradition continuing even after his death eighteen months ago.

That was one of two peals rung in Suffolk today with the other being of seven Surprise Minor methods on handbells in Bacton for the NDA, with Jeremy Spiller ringing his 300th at the venue as conductor.

Perhaps the twelve-bell pathway forged at Ipswich Minster this evening may lead to some more peals within our borders in the future.

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Sunday 1st June 2025

Simon Rudd started a thread on the Bellringers Facebook page today when he commented (with no names initially, but I think people quickly worked them out through the wonders of Pealbase and BellBoard who he was referring to!) that all 234 peals that Tom Scase has rung with Stephen Pettman have been conducted by the latter and wondered if anyone else had rung more with someone in which one of them had called them all. I don't think anyone came up with an answer to that specific question, but there were some very high numbers involving people who have conducted a very large percentage of another's peals!

Neither of the former Guild Ringing Masters Tom or Stephen were adding to their or each other's peal totals today, although the former was in the quarter-peal of Cambridge Surprise Maximus at The Norman Tower, whilst there was a 1260 of Plain Bob Triples rung at Halesworth and Claire Haynes rang her first QP of Cambridge Surprise Minor in the 1320 on the middle-six at Ipswich Minster. Well done Claire!

Earlier in the day I had been ringing with Stephen at Grundisburgh for the service ringing where Clopton ringer Sarah had a go at Plain Hunt on five and we had enough to ring call-changes on the back eight, whilst before that and refreshment at Costa Coffee I had been to the county town to ring on the aforementioned heaviest twelve in Suffolk. We were a little short of numbers here due to four being away together on holiday and another having to make an emergency visit to the vet (for their dog who is now thankfully alright, not them!), but David Potts led some good ringing nonetheless, including some Grandsire Cinques and call-changes on ten and twelve.

Those call-changes on ten were called by James Smith and led to a request from Chris Birkby beforehand not to call the tenor in, as James is unusually prone to doing. There was therefore much smirking when the first call was "nine to ten"! Chris forgave him (I think!) and as I was ringing the tenor I was relieved he resisted the temptation to call me down to the front and then shout "rounds" as some may have done!

The rest of our day was another lowkey one though with no ringing but time to follow threads on the Bellringers Facebook page.

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Saturday 31st May 2025

Our previous two Saturdays have been dominated by ringing or ringing-related activity, but on this fifth Saturday of the month there was no ringing for us. No football either, bar watching the record-breaking Champions League Final on the TV this evening.

Therefore it was a leisurely - albeit fairly mundane - day, certainly compared to recently. In fact, with Josh already up and having got himself breakfast, Ruthie and I didn't even get out of bed until late morning in a rare, rare opportunity to have a lay-in. And once we were up there was nothing more exciting than picking Alfie up from his friend's house following his sleepover there and then having a BBQ at home, with the rest of the afternoon made up with boring but necessary chores like washing and sorting clothes, loading the dishwasher and doing some shopping.

It did allow for some time to read the latest edition of The Ringing World which arrived with us this morning. Recent editions have featured quite a bit of content related to Suffolk, with last week's special VE Day 80 issue including the Bredfield ringers on the front cover right in the middle under the 80 and 'Thought For The Week' written by Haverhill's ringing vicar Max Drinkwater, whilst the one before that had the first of a series of articles by John Eisel about ringing at Dedham just over the Essex border featuring numerous mentions of ringing, ringers and journals of the day from within our borders. That series continued in this week's with more, talking about the Dedham ringers ringing at the opening of the bells at St Mary-le-Tower in 1845, mentioning the Suffolk Journal and highlighting a peal rung at Stowmarket in 1849. Another fascinating read, as is the excellent coverage given to the project to restore the six at Drinkstone and the recent dedication, written by Nigel Gale and Neal Dodge which covers three pages, whilst the similar project at Hacheston of twenty-five years ago is shared too. Although having been to the dedication mentioned I'm not sure how I feel about something I recall so clearly being long enough ago to appear in the RW's archive section!

Meanwhile, whilst we were going about our more mundane Saturday, other ringers were busier in the exercise within our borders, with an impressive five quarter-peals rung upon Suffolk's today. Congratulations to Erika Clarke on ringing her seventy-fifth quarter in the 1260 of Plain Bob Minor at Rumburgh, whilst Grandsire Triples was rung at Kersey to celebrate the centenary of the clock being installed, Single Oxford Bob Minor was rung at Troston and York Surprise Minor at Wickham Skeith. However, the headline act was definitely young Max Thomson ringing his first QP on ten with the 1295 of Grandsire Caters rung at Stowmarket. Well done Max!

Guild activity wasn't confined just to Suffolk though, as a peal of Cambridge Surprise Royal was rung for the SGR at Gressenhall in Norfolk which was Rowan Wilson's 200th for the organisation she was the Chairman of between 2018 and 2023. Congratulations Rowan!

I'm glad at least someone was having a busier Saturday of ringing.

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Friday 30th May 2025

Good handling is considered essential if one is to progress in method-ringing. Indeed only in yesterday's blog I highlighted Tower Talk's focus on handling and it's importance in progressing to well-struck change-ringing.

There are exceptions to the rule though and arguably the most famous of those was Paul Mounsey, whose death last night was announced this morning. It is a running joke amongst those of us privileged to have rung with him that his handling style was unorthodox, some may even have said alarming and there are fondly recalled tales of him chasing his sally around in peals. And yet he was an absolutely superb ringer, one of the very best. Ringing Master of the College Youths in 1981, as well as numerous other roles he held within one of the main aspirational societies, including as Trustee up to his death. He rang in 37 finals of the National 12-bell Striking Contest. Despite having rung in the majority of finals ever held, he has also been called upon to judge two of them. Some will recall that along with Alban Forster he also judged the 2020 The George W Pipe 12 Bell Competition when it was held in Ipswich. And he rang a staggering 5152 peals, 3 of which were with me and 24 of which were for the Suffolk Guild, whilst he also rang many within our borders, most recently last September when he rang in peals at Hitcham and St Gregory in Sudbury for the Saint James's Guild. He was also in numerous record attempts, including the daddy of them all in Alderney in 2017.

Yet for all his achievements in the exercise, all his undoubted ability and the advanced ringing he regularly participated in, he was a down-to-earth guy, someone I always enjoyed talking with. One of the countless tributes I saw paid to him online said he was such a cool guy without even trying. Unsurprisingly there were already a number of ringing performances dedicated to him today from across the country and even on the continent. Our thoughts are with Paul's family and David at the moment.

It came on a day that was already a sombre one as Ruthie rang for the funeral of one-time Burgh ringer Gillian Gurdon on the bells that Gillian learnt to ring on for the Millennium, beforehand and then afterwards with a quarter-peal, before later attending her memorial service at Woodbridge. Lovely that the family - including Gillian's son-in-law Andrew Lloyd Webber - came to thank the ringers at the 8cwt six. She will be sorely missed.

There was another QP rung at Tostock with seven Plain Minor methods spliced impressively silent and unconducted change of methods, whilst my wife nearly rang in two quarters in a day for the first time for over five years as she went for one of Glasgow Surprise Major at Grundisburgh this evening. Sadly that was less successful than her earlier 1260 of Plain Bob Minor, but did at least mean there was a good band already there for the Surprise Major Practice that followed immediately and which Josh and I (Alfie was at a friend's for a sleepover so missed all the fun!) joined, enabling Mrs Munnings and myself to (hopefully!) help with a session which saw Bristol, Cambridge, Superlative and Yorkshire rung. Some stuff went better than others, but that is the nature of a practice like this where several ringers are feeling their way in at this level, hopefully on the way to becoming accomplished at it. Ultimately the best piece was a pretty decent touch of five methods spliced, but hopefully everyone took something useful from a hot night in a tight stuffy ringing chamber. Lovely too that we were joined by Mitch again as his visit to his homeland continued, as well as Michelle after she only returned to the art at the South-East District Practice at Easton at the start of this month.

They both joined us in The Dog across the picturesque village green where the atmosphere was jovial and relaxed, friends joking about with each other in a nice pub at the end of a wonderful evening out. Thank you and well done to Hal Meakin on arranging and leading what was an upbeat end to a sombre, sad day.

RIP Paul.

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Thursday 29th May 2025

May has traditionally been a busy month for striking competitions, locally at least and indeed we had the Guild competitions at Yoxford and Aldeburgh twelve days ago.

However, this year June appears to be the month of the striking competition if all goes to plan. The South-East District intend to hold theirs first at Easton on the afternoon of Saturday 7th, with refreshments available in the village hall opposite and the White Horse next door advertised as being open until 3pm and then again from 5.30pm.

Precisely one week later the North-East District intend to hold theirs at another of the county's ground-floor sixes, Rumburgh where the village hall and The Buck are nearby and both due to be open. If you are planning on bringing something for the bring 'n' share tea then you are requested to let NE Secretary Marie Owen know so that she can ensure they don't end up with twenty chocolate cakes or a table load of egg sandwiches!

For both of these occasions I hope that as many teams as possible can enter. The SGR ones were a lot of fun featuring lots of people and lots of bands and not (what are perceived to be) the same teams winning again.

That's not the end of the competitions planned for next month though, as the Suffolk Guild are slated to enter a band in the Ridgman Trophy at Boston in Lincolnshire on the 21st. This is the ten-bell competition for territorial ringing organisations and the Cambridge University Guild that border onto the Ely Diocesan Association and support is always appreciated and indeed it should be a nice day out, although I appreciate it's quite a distance this year! If you do make the journey you will be met by one of the most recognisable ringing towers in the country with light refreshments planned in the nearby Blenkin Memorial Hall and soup, toasties and sandwiches in the church refectory between 10am and 1.30pm. More info is available on the competition's website, so do take a look.

Even further away is the National 12-bell Striking Contest Final penciled in for seven days later at St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol. As with the Ridgman Trophy and indeed the district competitions, this is a fantastic event to just go along to as a spectator if you aren't ringing. Again (there is a theme building here!) there will be food and drink available, whilst of course the city will have plenty to occupy ringers and non-ringers alike if they want or need to get away from the ringing at any point. There is also a website for this contest and one specifically for this year's final with further information.

I imagine Matthew Tosh will also be doing his magnificent live broadcast on the day for those unable to make it and if Bristol is too far to be able to go this time (a reminder that this is due to be held at The Norman Tower in two years) then there is another ringing event in the South-West that isn't quite as far on the same day, as the SW District plan to hold their monthly practice from 7-8.30pm at Nayland.

That is one of a number of ringing events in Suffolk lined up in June, along with the ART Foundation Skills and Kaleidoscope Session at Barham from 7-9pm on Friday 27th, an Open Tower Afternoon at Woodbridge on the 21st, the Beccles 10-Bell Practice on the evening of Wednesday 18th, the North-West District Practice at Barrow from 10am-noon on the 14th and an Open Day for Ipswich Minster's new Training Bells from 1-4pm later the same day.

A busy June then if all goes well, but there was still plenty going on here today, with ringing at Sudbury Arts Centre for Ascension Day and the Common Lands Trust Charity Awards and at Bildeston a peal was rung marking fifty years since the collapse of the tower there and to celebrate its subsequent restoration and the return of the 14cwt six.

That said, no ringing for us as I stayed at home with the boys whilst Ruthie was singing at the Ascension Day service at St Mary the Virgin church in Woodbridge, but that did at least allow me the time to read the latest edition of Tower Talk, the superb newsletter for ART whose editor is Bardwell Ringing Master Ruth Suggett. It's a deliberately shorter edition, but still an uplifting read that includes Norfolk ringer Tilda Dowden mentioning that her grandfather was a Suffolk ringer and - as you might expect from a magazine with it's target audience - much useful content on handling, including on taking in rope which so many understandably struggle with but is so important when trying to adjust speed and therefore ring accurately in change-ringing. Do take a look at page 12 for that.

Indeed, read it all. It could help with all those striking competitions planned for June!

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Wednesday 28th May 2025

Across its two days, there are typically in the region of 90,000 visitors to the Suffolk Show. It is an absolutely superb place to promote and/or showcase your business, charity or organisation, as we saw firsthand over ten hours of wandering Trinity Park today on the first day of the 2025 show. Money was being exchanged hand over fist left right and centre, wares tested, food tasted, funds raised, names and contact details taken all over the site at stalls and tents big and small, including at the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich tent. We visited there twice and met up with our friend Charlotte, once to pick up a trail for the boys to follow around the entire showground and then towards the end of the day to hand our answers in for the potential to win a trip up the central tower at St Edmundsbury Cathedral that overlooks The Norman Tower. What we found was a bustling space full of families and clergy and it struck me - as it usually does every year at this time - what a pity it is not to have some kind of Guild presence here.

The reasons there isn't are understandable. Costs for an individual spot are apparently prohibitive to us stepping out on our own and so we have to tag along with someone and the CofE are the obvious ones to join. However, last time we were here with the Vestey Ring in 2011 I think the sound of the bells going all day for two days was probably quite annoying for some in the tent we were adjoined to and we haven't been since. Yet as with when Sproughton Ringing Master Ralph Earey used to bring his demo bell to the show there was a huge amount of attention garnered from the public and media that it would be great to have again. Hopefully something can be arranged somehow at future shows.

Lack of bells didn't stop us enjoying our day out though as along with the trail the boys tried all sorts of activities from 'trying out' weapons with the army and doing virtual welding to testing their strength on a high striker game and having a go at football commentating, whilst we also consumed a lot of produce from the food tent as well as that which Ruthie's mother Kate and Granny Janet had kindly brought along and we loved watching motorcycle stunts, horse showjumping, meeting Ipswich Town women's players Natasha Thomas and Natalia Negri and their manager Joe Sheehan and having a look around the VE Day 80 exhibition amongst much, much else. Thank you to Mrs Eagle for the day out.

We did see some ringers briefly, as we exchanged upbeat greetings with Jenny Fairburn from Henley, Fiona Smith from St Matthew's in Ipswich and for the second year running Graham & Veronica Downing from Chediston, but we saw even more ringers this evening as we went along to Pettistree's practice. Happily that included Iain Mitchell again and he joined us (and the Cecil Pipe Memorial Bell ahead of the South-East District Striking Competitions due to take place at Easton on 7th June, which got the odd puzzled enquiry!) in the Greyhound Inn afterwards having also rung in the quarter-peal ahead of a session that saw Alnwick, Durham, London and Norwich Surprise Minor rung as well as Stedman Doubles and spliced, whilst there was a convivial atmosphere outside on a pleasant light evening.

That 1296 of Cambridge Surprise Minor on the ground-floor six wasn't the only performance noted on BellBoard rung in the county today though, with former Offton ringer Kevin Hohl remembered two years on with a peal of Lessness Surprise Major on The Barn Owl Ring in Norton.

Such activity is just a small part of what ringing within our borders offers and I hope we can share that with 90,000 people across two days in the future.

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Tuesday 27th May 2025

Ufford's monthly Surprise Major practice this evening was another productive one. Whilst there wasn't a wide range of methods rung with 'just' Cambridge, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire on the menu tonight, every piece was useful for at least one person and often two or three, with Michael Brown, Gavin Edwards, Hilary Stearn and Elaine Townsend in particular benefitting. And with it being half-term and both Ruthie, the boys and myself in attendance we ended up topping it off with refreshment in The Coach & Horses afterwards.

It was a positive end to a day where the news headlines were dominated by the sad events in Liverpool last night that occurred just around the corner from the twelve at St Nicholas Pier Head where only on Saturday the celebrations had been marked by the peal of Cambridge Surprise Maximus that has been at or near the top of the BellBoard likes chart ever since. Mercifully it seems there were no deaths and those injured will recover, but it was sombre news.

Thank God for more positivity therefore in the form of two quarter-peals rung in Suffolk today, with 1260s of five Doubles methods at Thurston and St Clement's College Bob Minor at Tostock both celebrating the birthday of Juliet Griffiths tomorrow. Happy Birthday for tomorrow Juliet and congratulations to Sally Crouch and North-West District Ringing Master and Annual Report Editor Joshua Watkins on ringing their 125th together in the latter performance.

It all sounds very productive!

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Monday 26th May 2025

It felt a very bank holiday type of bank holiday today. A treat with breakfast at Toby Carvery, a trip to B&Q's garden centre and then an afternoon pottering around in the garden in between rain showers.

Also in ringing it felt a very bank holiday type of bank holiday, with the usual variety of twelve-bell peals that you wouldn't typically get on a Monday, whilst here in Suffolk there was a moving 720 of Cambridge Surprise Minor at Barking as Sue Chandler was remembered by her son Phil and grandson Clem on the eve of her funeral.

There was also a significant ten-bell peal in Essex as Operation-Make-The-First-Peal-On-Ardleigh's-New-Ten-Ian's-500th was successfully completed with a 5039 of Grandsire Caters at a venue which may be as useful to Suffolk's ringers as it is to Essex's. Congratulations to Ian and indeed to all involved in this project and well done to Frances Hill for ringing her first on ten having been to the last couple of Monday night practices at Ipswich Minster to ensure she was as prepared as she could be for this morning's attempt.

Talking of Ipswich Minster, we had the usual potential outcomes for a bank holiday session. Would we be short of regulars or benefit from visitors? Well in the end it was both. There were quite a lot of Surprise Maximus ringers absent and unfortunately the plan for Ruthie to bolster numbers during this half-term week were scuppered by her not feeling 100% this evening, but the boys and I arrived to the scene of the training bells being silently rung down with much amusement and a ringing chamber packed out with a huge number of visitors and guests. Primarily that consisted of many near the start of their ringing progression from places like Bramford, Copdock and the Bellsashen group of towers, but also Iain 'Mitch' Mitchell now resident in Derbyshire but once of these parts and our fellow Rambling Ringer and also once of these parts Sue McCouaig and her grandson Hamish. Hamish was the youngest of an encouraging amount of young ringers along with local youngsters Edith, Ella and Will and who were amongst those being given opportunities by the typically enthusiastic Amanda Richmond who had encouraged many of them along. There wasn't any Surprise of any sort and indeed the most advanced the night got was Grandsire, including a bob course of Triples on the back eight that I called, but it was a hugely productive, satisfying and fun night that included Josh joining others in going up to see the bells. I really hope our visitors feel able to come back whenever they can.

Meanwhile the youngsters present tonight may already be aware but others may not that there is a young ringers outing planned for this Wednesday in Norfolk, which was advertised today via the Guild Facebook page by the Mancroft Ringing Discovery Centre. If you would like further details then please do go to the FB page or contact the MRDC on info@mrdc.org.uk.

It may be something to occupy your children during this half-term week that has begun with this very bank holiday type of bank holiday.

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Sunday 25th May 2025

For one final time this season our day was one predominantly of football as Ipswich Town's men played their last match in the Premier League for now (hopefully not another twenty-two years!) as they lost at Portman Road again, this time to West Ham United. However, as usual it was spent with some ringers as we joined mother-in-law and Ufford Ringing Master Kate in going to The Mermaid for food first and then met Norwich ringer and conductor of yesterday's peal at Ipswich Minster Simon Rudd in the Fanzone for a drink before kick-off and then at half-time.

He had already been ringing at St Peter Mancroft for service ringing, whilst I had been ringing at Woodbridge ahead of the morning worship there that the boys and I joined downstairs. With all five of our household having walked in ahead of getting a lift into the county town for the footy, I was actually early again (two days running now, I'll be getting a reputation!) and so the bells were up and ringing ready to go well before the normal 10.30am start, allowing for much to be rung, including some Plain Hunt on five that I called from the treble. All the more impressive (the ringing generally, not me calling Plain Hunt!) as the Ringing Master Bruce Wakefield was stuck at home awaiting a visit from a well known provider of vehicle breakdown services!

Meanwhile a 1295 of Grandsire Caters was rung at The Norman Tower and well done to Max Thomson on yet another ringing achievement as he rang his first quarter-peal of treble dodging in the 1320 of Cambridge Surprise Minor at Great Barton.

Mercifully it wasn't all football today!

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Saturday 24th May 2025

Diana Pipe's 90th birthday was on Tuesday, but it was today that it was truly celebrated by ringing, primarily in the form of a peal at Ipswich Minster and a party.

I have to admit to not being entirely confident of scoring the peal. Not through any doubt in the band's ability. It was a really good band. Rather that it was Stedman and of course no matter how well it goes, every change, every hesitation presents the risk of it quickly blowing up in seconds. Mainly that is because of the speed at which the calls come, the lack of a treble to help keep you anchored to a point, the different front works and especially knowing which one you are going into. This has scuppered even the best bands at times.

Having arrived early on the train that would get me into the county town well in time for the meeting time rather than after it and seemingly causing much disorientation amongst the band expecting me to be the last to arrive, we started quite a bit sooner than expected. However the mild sense of futility wasn't helped by having to restart after ten minutes when the rope adjustment beforehand came untucked on one of the ropes.

What followed though was a (brisk!) 3 hours and 17 minutes of the Caters version of the principle rung excellently. There were mistakes of course, but on the rare occasion they happened they were generally quickly dealt with and were amongst some good ringing. Great conducting from Simon, solid tenor ringing from Ivan and an all-round great effort by all who took part.

Wonderful also to ring with Mark Liebenrood, some thirty years or so since I last rang with him. Despite a substantial break from the exercise he is still as talented a ringer as I recall him being in my youth.

Our 5090 was followed by refreshment in the beer garden of the Halberd Inn before some of the band continued on to Stowmarket for a quarter-peal of Cambridge Surprise Royal before eventually we met again at the Marlborough Bowls Club for a party put on for Di's landmark anniversary. With ringers from across Suffolk and beyond present, food and a bar available and her grandson DJing superbly, there was a fantastic atmosphere. Brilliant to see Linda Garton and John Loveless looking so chipper after a tough few weeks, but also my brother Chris and his wife Becky and Diana's son Steve who welcomed us so warmly at The Mulberry Tree following Monday night practices at St Mary-le-Tower when Alfie was very tiny. It was a fitting occasion for an inspiring woman at the end of a day of celebration for her.

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Friday 23rd May 2025

It was an exciting day for Alfie as he went to Felixstowe with his friends after school and we had a rare visit from Mason, with his work shifts now making his stopovers less frequent. Otherwise though it was an ordinary Friday with no ringing involved.

Not so at Horringer where a 5090 of Cambridge Surprise Major was rung to celebrate Diana Pipe's recent ninetieth birthday, as well as the eighty-seventh birthday of Chris Nunn who is indeed a stalwart of Suffolk ringing.

Hopefully it was an exciting day for them too.

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Thursday 22nd May 2025

Operation-Make-The-First-Peal-On-Ardleigh's-New-Ten-Ian's-500th (I'm sure there must be a snappier, catchier name for that) is still on track as Mr Culham returned to The Wolery less than twelve hours after our 5040 came round last night to notch up number 498 by the time that most folk had only just got their working day underway!

It wasn't the only performance in Suffolk recorded on BellBoard today though, with a quarter-peal of Cambridge, Lessness, Superlative & Yorkshire Surprise Major spliced rung at Horringer and celebrated the birthday of the brother of Deborah Blumfield.

Deborah also features prominently in the lovely article on the St Edmundsbury & Ipswich website shared today on Sunday's dedication at Fornham St Martin, as she is the Tower Captain of the new 11cwt eight! There are a couple of great photos too with lots of familiar faces which convey that this was a successful occasion. Congratulations to all involved in the project on reaching this landmark and I'm glad it appeared to go well!

More generally, today is also the seventy-fifth anniversary of the first ever peal of Bristol Surprise Maximus being rung, although I was slightly surprised there was only one peal rung today to mark it. There was one rung last Saturday and I imagine more may be planned for this weekend as this was a significant development in ringing that in part was inspired by the achievements of the St Mary-le-Tower band in the early decades of the twentieth century. For all that Bristol Max might seem a million miles away from everyday ringing in the county, I am convinced that given the opportunity there are more than enough ringers within our borders to ring this and I hope that it is something for members to aspire to and in the progress further raise the standards of ringing here generally.

Not that we were doing any ringing today aspirational or otherwise, as Ruthie went singing and I looked after the boys and followed the progress of Operation-Make-The-First-Peal-On-Ardleigh's-New-Ten-Ian's-500th.

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Wednesday 21st May 2025

With the post-season break from Alfie's football training, I was able to do something I haven't done for over five years as I rang in a peal at The Wolery. To be fair most of that break has been down to lockdowns and the personal circumstances of the Salters who own this eight at the top of their garden, but when the first peals here since early 2020 were rung recently on Wednesdays neither Ruthie or I could participate without calling in various favours and missing Alfred's sessions, which are actually something I enjoy watching. Meanwhile, Ian Culham is a man on a mission. On the bank holiday Monday next week it is intended to ring the first peal on the newly augmented ten at his home tower of Ardleigh in Essex and he would like it to coincide with his 500th peal, which would be fitting considering his and his family's history there and the work he - amongst others of course - has put into the recent augmentation. Coming into the weekend just gone by though, he was seven short of that target, a daunting gap to bridge for someone in work and a dad to a young child.

Nonetheless, he has decided to go for it and more power to him! I remember doing something similar in trying to reach my 500th before the end of 2012 and December that year being almost as hectic due to some unexpected losses. Coincidentally that involved a last minute invite for an attempt in Old Stoke before I reached my half-thousand with two days to spare in the anniversary peal at Pettistree and even squeezed in my 501st in the then regular New Year's Eve peal of Grandsire at Grundisburgh. Additionally, finding myself on 491 peals for the SGR it is also beneficial to me as I contemplate trying to get in my 500th for the Guild before the end of 2025 and as generally I try to boost my peal-ringing a bit.

Therefore as I could, I was more than happy to help him this evening with what was his 497th following a 5088 of Pudsey Surprise Major at Terling on Sunday, a handbell peal in Ardleigh and a 5040 of seven Surprise Minor methods at Mistley yesterday which was also former Suffolk Guild Peal Secretary Alan Mayle's 900th as conductor, so congratulations to Alan too!

Safety was the name of the game, with Cambridge Surprise Minor with wrong home wrong and in in and make it called alternate extents by Colin and whilst that may seem pointless and frivolous to some it is this sort of thing that helps maintain people's interest in the exercise. For all that the main purpose of the exercise is ring for church services, if it was just for that we would soon haemorrhage ringers, so it is important that it offers something for everyone whether that is ringing increasingly complex methods, grabbing towers, winning striking competitions or chasing peal numbers. And on this occasion it led to some superb ringing at times in a relaxed atmosphere, with probably no one in the band more relaxed than me as I had managed to nab the treble! Lovely as well that we could dedicate it to Maurice Edwards who was known by many in the band.

Afterwards we enjoyed the typically super hospitality with tea and cake that is synonymous with this venue, but of course it did mean both Ruthie and me missing out on going to Pettistree's weekly practice, but they rang the usual pre-practice quarter-peal which on this occasion was of Cambridge Surprise Minor, so hopefully that set up a typically productive session afterwards.

That wasn't the only quarter-peal rung in the county today, with the 1260 of Buxton Bob Minor rung on the 13cwt six at Lakenheath being the first blows in the method for Juliet Griffiths. Well done Juliet!

Great to see so many within our borders making the most of their Wednesday evening and that I had the time to join in with it!

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Tuesday 20th May 2025

Happy 90th Birthday to Diana Pipe. I'm pretty sure that most reading this don't need any introduction to her nor what she has achieved in life and ringing, not just as the wife of George but in her own right. An impressive 112 of her 360 peals have been on twelve and she has rung in the National 12-bell Striking Contest for Ipswich including three finals, but her biggest impact has been her decades of committed support at St Mary-le-Tower and now the Minster, week in, week out and still ringing Surprise Maximus. She is inspirational.

There are celebrations planned for her landmark birthday, but today on the actual anniversary of her birth a quarter-peal of Double Norwich Court Bob Major was rung ahead of the weekly practice at Offton with an appropriate length of 1290, composed of course by her good friend Brian Whiting.

Meanwhile, I was at another of Suffolk's Tuesday night ringing sessions, Ufford. It was a typically useful one too, with Bredfield ringer Vince Buckman in particular coming away feeling really pleased with his trebling to Cambridge Surprise Minor.

Therefore well done Vince and Happy Birthday Di!

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Monday 19th May 2025

There was some really sad news in the wider ringing world when it was announced today that Maurice Edwards passed away yesterday. He has spent the last few years living in Guildford with his wife Margaret nearer their family, but when I rang in Birmingham he was a stalwart of the best ringing scene in the world, a reassuring presence and very unassuming, despite being an absolutely super ringer. He rang in every final of the National 12-bell Striking Contest up until 1997 apart from 1996 when the Brummies controversially failed to qualify due to a member of the public apparently walking in on their test piece in the eliminator that year! His thirty-three appearances in the final of the biggest striking competition on the planet is still beaten by only four people, whilst he was a winner in fifteen of those. Only eight ringers have won more. In addition to that he rang an incredible 3237 peals, a third of which were Cinques or higher, whilst I was privileged to ring nineteen with him with my last one actually being at Grundisburgh in 2009. Above all else though, he was an extremely likeable chap and our thoughts are with Margaret, their daughters Anthea and Fiona and their husbands Philip and Stephen and granddaughter Heidi in what is a talented ringing family that he was at the head of.

Already there have been two peals and a quarter-peal rung in memory of him elsewhere in the country, but although there was nothing rung for him here in Suffolk it was an impressively busy day of ringing within our borders with seven quarters and a peal rung.

The bulk of those were rung by a visiting band featuring former ringers of the county Helen Carter and Jonathan Slack with a little help from a couple of locals. In total they rang five QPs with Cambridge Surprise Minor rung at Bildeston, the Major version at Buxhall, Grandsire Triples at Hadleigh, the Caters variety at Stowmarket and Lincolnshire Surprise Major at Hitcham.

Meanwhile, a handbell peal was rung in Bacton for the NDA, whilst Guild members were ringing a 1296 of Plain & Little Bob Royal in hand in Moats Tye and most notably the first ever quarter-peal on the new training bells at Ipswich Minster which was also William Herbert's first of Plain Bob Doubles inside. Well done Will!

That was done just before the main weekly practice on the 34cwt twelve which I joined to surprising fanfare only to be instantly handed the tenor behind to a touch of Grandsire Caters. We were a little short on Surprise Maximus ringers for many of the same reasons that we couldn't muster an entry for the SGR 8-Bell Striking Competition on Saturday, so we were a little restricted on what we could do, but as is often the case in such circumstances that gave more opportunities for those nearer their ringing progression on higher numbers and we rang some treble dodging on twelve where Hal's instruction beforehand to "dodge off" at the start was naturally answered by three or four voices replying "same to you!" There was also some more advanced stuff like Stedman Caters and Yorkshire Surprise Royal though, before most of us retired to the beer garden of the Halberd Inn for refreshment.

It sounds like quite a hectic day, what with work as well, but I did actually find the time that I didn't over a packed weekend to read the latest edition of The Ringing World which includes plenty of Suffolk references. Such as the multiple mentions of Ipswich and Suffolk and its bellhangers and newspapers in a typically fascinating article by John Eisel (who did last year's series of articles about Lavenham's 'Grand Day Out') about the history of ringing at Dedham barely over the Essex border from us. A letter from Chediston ringer Graham Downing highlights a plaque at Halesworth that celebrates the ringing done on the 18cwt eight there on the first VE Day in 1945. And Garry Mason's article on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the first peal of Bristol Surprise Maximus rung at Leicester Cathedral refers to the St Mary-le-Tower band of the 1930s.

There was much generally in there though that celebrates the exercise that Maurice Edwards was one of the leading lights in.

RIP Maurice.

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Sunday 18th May 2025

Ringing takes us to some lovely places that we probably wouldn't ever think to go to if it wasn't for ringing. Yoxford yesterday is a good example. An active community that without the 11cwt ground-floor six would just be somewhere we passed through on the busy A12 that pollutes residents there with dual-carriageway amounts of traffic on their way to Great Yarmouth or Southwold or Latitude. And today I found myself in Bardwell. Somewhere that I can't imagine I would have any reason to travel from Melton to visit but is such a pretty place and another extremely active community, with a cricket club, shops, three pubs, a nice green and of course a church where the reason I was here was unfolding this afternoon.

For next month a former resident of the village and another of our fine young ringing exports Louis Suggett is getting married and to mark the occasion his mother Ruth had gathered a band of just some of the ringers who she feels have helped him in his ringing, to attempt a peal of Cornwall Surprise Major, something I felt privileged to be a part of. Unfortunately though, a confused glance around by the conductor Simon Smith was swiftly followed by "stand." It transpired that two bells had swapped. With no major flare ups it was hard to pinpoint how, but occasionally it can happen if the two bells both unwittingly slot into the others position, especially in a method like Cornwall with the 5-6 places where you end up dodging the opposite way round to the direction you are heading. With no new big crash to alert others to the potential of a swap everyone continues unaware of any problem until the conductor checks the coursing order.

Thankfully we were only about forty-five minutes in, but it was too late to start again which was a pity. Partly because this was a rare attempt to contain some firsts for me. My first on this 11cwt eight, my first with Martin Kirk and Jimmy Yeoman and my first on the 18th May, although it would've also been nice to ring another one with Louise Whitehead who rang in my first peal and Tom Scase who is my leading peal-ringer. Most of all though, it was a pity for Ruth and to not get a peal for Louis.

In the circumstances therefore it was unanimously agreed to go for a quarter-peal of Stedman Triples, even by me despite my usual reservations with going for quarters after lost peal attempts. And indeed those reservations seemed prescient as two attempts were lost very quickly before we then got going with a superb third attempt. Sadly though, this was also lost as Stedman did what Stedman does and it collapsed in a heap quite near to the end of what would've been a fantastic QP.

On the face it then, a disappointing afternoon. However, quite apart from finding myself in such a nice location I enjoyed some really good ringing in both the peal and quarter attempts with friends, all rounded off with a very pleasant drink in The Grumpy Goat overlooking the cricket pitch. Thank you very much to Ruth for asking me in it and to James Smith for taking me and bringing me back with Ruthie out with our car to go singing with the Jubilate Choir in Halesworth for an Evensong livestreamed and still available to watch on YouTube and where she bumped into local ringers Graham & Veronica Downing and Jason Busby. Thank you also to mother-in-law Kate who not only looked after the boys while their parents were out but also fed us all!

Earlier in the day, with BBC Radio 4 broadcasting the morning service live from Ipswich Minster leading to a change of the usual Sunday morning service times, we were ringing an hour later than usual on the heaviest ring of bells in Suffolk, which in turn led to the unusual sight of Josh, Alfie and myself being the first up the tower after Peter Davies had opened up, with Peter still lowering the ropes as we walked in! It also led to the unexpected request from my two youngest sons for me to show them how to tie a bellrope! Maybe there's hope there yet...

That later ringing time meant there wasn't the opportunity to get to Grundisburgh to ring as I usually like to afterwards, so after post-ringing refreshment in Costa Coffee it was straight back to Woodbridge to collect my wife from somewhere in town following her choral duties at her usual venue of St Mary the Virgin church, with many roads closed for the annual 10k run, before grabbing lunch ahead of our busy afternoons.

It was busy for other ringers within our borders on this Bell Sunday too, which the service ringing at St Gregory in Sudbury was dedicated to, whilst there were 1260s of Doubles rung at Rougham and Plain Bob Minor at Mendham, lovely places that ringing has taken us.

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Saturday 17th May 2025

I'm not sure you can ever get the perfect Suffolk Guild Striking Competition Day. You'd always want more teams to enter, more members involved, for more representation from all the districts. However, 2025's version was pretty close to the perfect day. Lots of teams, lots of participants and all the districts represented, but also absolutely glorious weather and all in pretty locations that offered much for all, whether you were taking part or not and even if you weren't a ringer.

With the sun blazing brightly and the skies bright blue and only the odd fluff of cloud in sight, first up was Yoxford. This was a venue we were supposed to go to in 2020 but of course couldn't due to lockdown and my entry of five years ago when we should have been here lamented what we might have been enjoying in this active village, so it was even more joyful to finally be here this morning. From the moment that we parked up in the village hall car park and walked to the church with Anita & Maurice Rose it was a lovely morning of catching up with ringers from across the county and of course ringing.

We got there just in time for the draw in the church, carried out by new SGR Ringing Master Julian Colman in his first competition day in the role, which rather handily placed the two teams I was ringing for early on in the ten-team order, with Ipswich Minster first and Pettistree fourth. These are a very manageable six to ring, but like anywhere that isn't one's regular tower it has unfamiliar foibles to mitigate and so the pressure was on for those of us going first and we were grateful for the practice beforehand that every team gets.

Relieved to have produced a respectable bit of Cambridge Surprise Minor which I called from the tenor, the 240 changes per method-ringing test piece and eight minutes for call-changes gave me plenty of time to grab a quick chat with Lesley Steed as the Buxhall band entered the ringing chamber after us, pose for a band photo and then wander back to the village hall where the boys were playing with their cousins under the watchful eye of my wife and her mother Kate, have a chat with Guild Chairman Mark Ogden and then return to the nearby church of St Peter to ring for Pettistree where this time I rang the fifth for some more decent Cambridge Surprise Minor.

With these being a ground-floor ring open to the church we couldn't have everyone inside, but that wasn't an issue in the wonderful conditions outside and so we happily joined those milling around in the churchyard listening to some super ringing, whilst others took advantage of the local amenities like the shop, pub and cafes. Although as far as I'm aware not the garage opposite, mercifully!

At this point with four non-ringing children and a (also non-ringing!) dog itching to get out and about, our carload and that of Kate's made the short journey to Sizewell beach, where despite the proximity of the huge unsightly power station is a beautiful spot to have a picnic and for Merlin to have a run around in space (on a lead of course) on one of the few beaches locally to allow dogs at this time of year. Tempting as the ploughman's lunch back in Yoxford was, it felt ambitious to fork out £13 for the boys who are still at that picky eating age, whilst we also thought they would appreciate being taken away from the ringing, especially with more to come in the afternoon. That ringing was the eight-bell striking competition down the North Sea coast at Aldeburgh, but not until 4.30pm. Therefore we took the opportunity to take some refreshment in my favourite pub within our borders, The Cross Keys, before then making our way up the hill to St Peter and St Paul.

Unusually, I wasn't actually ringing in this. South-East District Ringing Master Hal Meakin was understandably trying to minimise the crossover between his band and that from Ipswich Minster, especially as there is considerable talent across the district with the largest proportion of the Guild's membership. In the end though, there wasn't an entry from the Minster, with just too many people away or with other commitments. One was flying to New York, a couple more were at Vernet-les-Bains in France where former St Mary-le-Tower RM Simon Rudd was conducting a peal of Cambridge Surprise Royal and so we simply couldn't get the numbers. Instead, I rang in a touch of Grandsire Triples with the judges, Ryan Faulkner-Hatt from Essex and one-time Ipswich ringer George Salter before they were taken to their judging positions, the draw was made in the Church Hall next door and I stood outside in the sunshine as afternoon turned to evening listening to some excellent ringing. Periodically I nipped into the hall for a cup of tea and caught up with ringers that I don't often see like Ben Keating and Jonathan Stevens and I even did a spot of recording for Nigel Gale whilst he rang, until the five teams had all rung and we gathered for the results.

Well done to our fabulous hosts the North-East District on winning the Rose Trophy, whilst earlier in the day congratulations are due to Debenham on being victorious in the Mitson Shield and to Bellsashen on earning the Lester Brett Call-Change Trophy and indeed to all taking part. As I've said before and it's worth reiterating, to be at a standard to take part in a striking competition is a big achievement already. It was fantastic to see entries from Yoxford and Tuddenham St Martin, as well as one from an Under 30s band who produced ringing that bodes well for the future of Suffolk ringing, whilst it was also great to see Buxhall not only in the six-bell but also the eight-bell and with it being on the coast for the second year running that there was such a big turnout from the west of the Guild, where the 2026 competitions are due to take place on Saturday 16th May. Put it in your diaries now and please do consider putting a team in, especially in the call-change competition. And such close results! A brilliant day altogether that left us on a high as we made our way home for an evening of Eurovision. Thank you to immediate past Master Katharine Salter and new Master Julian on leading things (at the striking competitions, not Eurovision, although that is surely to come one day), our hosts at Yoxford and Aldeburgh and the NE generally and to the judges for whom it is a long day! It was great to catch up with George who has become one of our finest exports and to meet Ryan who seems a nice young chap and a ringer with much promise.

Talking of young ringers with much promise, well done also to Max Thomson on ringing his first quarter-peal inside in the 1260 of Plain Bob Doubles at Euston, jointly conducting it to boot. Hopefully it was a near-perfect day for Max too!

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Friday 16th May 2025

On the eve of the 2025 Guild Striking Competitions, newly elected SGR Life Honorary Member and South-West District Secretary Christine Knight announced that this year's SW District Striking Competitions are due to be held on Saturday 26th July at Little Cornard. I still haven't rung on this ground-floor 8cwt six since their restoration and augmentation in 2018, but I have heard that they are lovely and very easy-going bells, which sounds perfect for a striking competition!

Hopefully there will be SW representation at Yoxford and Aldeburgh tomorrow as well, whilst Ruthie was out preparing for the South-East District's intended entry in the eight-bell contest with a quarter-peal of Cambridge Surprise Major at Ufford, which was deservedly followed up with a drink in The White Lion across the village. That wasn't the only quarter-peal rung in the county though. Well done to Clare Gebel on ringing her first of Norwich Surprise Minor in the 1320 on the lovely 5cwt gallery-ring six at Tostock.

It all came at the end of a busy day of work for me, singing at a memorial service for my wife and takeaway for us all as we marked the end of a week of SATs for Alfie, who along with his classmates had also been treated by school to watching a film.

An exciting day for him today then, but also hopefully an exciting day for us tomorrow and on 26th July for the South-West District.

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Thursday 15th May 2025

Opportunities to just read a book in our household aren't frequent. If we're not working, we're ringing, singing, cooking, catching up on what's going on in the world or even talking. Plus the peaceful conditions that are ideal for taking in an improving book aren't often forthcoming in a house with a lively eight-year old and eleven-year old under the same roof. As always, I wouldn't change it for the world, aware of how blessed I am, but I do cherish that occasional opportunity to read which also has the pleasant side effect of giving me longer to enjoy that feeling of looking forward to reading a book.

As I think I've mentioned before, one of those books is Notes from The Green Man by Chuck Dalldorf centred around his time in the area in and around the pub in Tunstall that I was a regular at when I lived in the village, which I am enjoying very much, even in the short bursts I get to read it. On this occasion I was delighted to see him describe the sound of "distant church bells" when walking around the Suffolk countryside as his favourite - bar that of birdsong - and how they "lifted my spirits, as they had been designed to do." When I ring bells - especially in the beautiful rural locations we are so fortunate to have on our doorstep - I often hope that it is enhancing someone's walk or activity nearby or afar, so although I was only a small child at the time Chuck is writing about and so therefore it can't have been me he heard, it does give me a warm glow to think that at least some of the public out there do like listening to our efforts.

Hopefully that was the case in the grounds of the Ickworth Estate and the footpaths and country lanes around Horringer whilst the quarter-peal on the lovely 8cwt ground-floor eight was rung. Well done to North-West District Ringing Master Joshua Watkins on conducting a QP of Major spliced for the first time.

And congratulations to Guild PR Officer Neal Dodge on being baptised at St Magnus the Martyr in London, which he celebrated by ringing in a 120 of Plain Bob Doubles at nearby St James Garlickhythe.

No ringing for us though, as Ruthie went practicing with her choral colleagues and I stayed at home reading. For a short while at least.

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Wednesday 14th May 2025

An email sent out from new SGR Ringing Master Julian Colman to members today is appealing for more entries for Saturday's Guild Striking Competitions due to be held at Yoxford and Aldeburgh, or at least those planning on entering to let him know as soon as possible. I know from conversations around the towers that we ring at that due to circumstances getting full bands together is proving logistically challenging, but that is why ringers are allowed to ring in more than one band to allow as many ringers as possible to take part. If you can possibly enter a team or you could help your tower to enter one then please do and as soon as possible! Don't forget that there is the Lester Brett Call-Change Trophy to compete for, so if you don't feel able to enter a method-ringing band then you still have silverware to go for! It is also worth reiterating that these are friendly competitions for six and eight-bell bands, not just six and eight-bell towers. If you have eight bells but only feel able to enter a six-bell band then please do. Even if you have plenty to enter both the six-bell and eight-bell contests then please still enter both. These events are always better the more teams are entered and ringers participating and in this case especially when all the districts are represented.

One team planning on being there - at least in the six-bell although there is also nothing to prevent them entering in the eight-bell as they have done before - is Pettistree, which is where Ruthie went this evening for the weekly practice on this ground-floor six. She ended up in the Greyhound Inn for post-ringing refreshment at the end of a session that saw her ring much from Doubles in the form of Grandsire & Stedman to Surprise Minor of the London, Annable's London and Durham varieties, the latter of which she called a touch of. And before she got there a quarter-peal of Ipswich was rung.

That wasn't the only ringing being done by Suffolk's ringers today either, as a peal of Johnstone Castle Surprise Major was rung for the SGR in Norfolk at Ashill, a first in the method for all the band and the Guild - well done to all!

Well done also to North-West District Ringing Master and Annual Report Editor Joshua Watkins on ringing his first peal of Cambridge in the 5120 of the Surprise Major version at The Wolery.

Hopefully there will be plenty of Suffolk's ringers ringing in Yoxford and Aldeburgh on Saturday too.

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Tuesday 13th May 2025

An extension to the deadline for booking food at Saturday's planned Guild Striking Competitions at Yoxford and Aldeburgh passed at 5pm today, but even if you haven't put your name down that on its own doesn't preclude you from attending. The weather is forecast to be dry and pleasantly warm, so perfect picnic weather, whilst the seaside resort due to host the eight-bell contest for the Rose Trophy has plenty of places to get fed of course. Hopefully it should be a fun day out with lots of people there listening to good ringing from the churchyards, local cafes, pubs or walks before gathering to find out the results. It'll be interesting to see who comes out on top - there have been four different winners from the last ten Mitson Shields, five from the last ten eight-bell contests and six from the last ten competitions for the Lester Brett Call-change Trophy, so it's wide open! But ultimately not the be all and end all. Even if you're not participating, please just come along and enjoy the occasion.

The ringing activity of the weekend just gone by also grabbed my attention as Astrid & Nigel Gale sent a lovely email thanking members following the dedication at Drinkstone on Sunday as well as sharing the wonderful sermon by the Dean of St Edmundsbury the Reverend Joe Hawes from the service. A wonderful read, thank you to Astrid & Nigel for sharing it.

I imagine anyone standing in the beautiful, peaceful, rural village of Rumburgh could hear the essence of his words as the quarter-peal on the lovely ground-floor six rung from the corner of the unique tower at the quaint church of St Michael and All Angels and St Felix. Bells ringing out from one of the main centres of the community, across a scene that has probably barely changed over the last few centuries.

Further afield some of Suffolk's ringers were peal-ringing, with Phil & Liz Orme in the College Youths success at Roehampton in Greater London, whilst Mike Cowling was in the 5040 of Stedman Triples at Benington in Hertfordshire that marked the thirtieth anniversary of  Colin Wyld's bobs-only one-part composition being rung.

Meanwhile I returned to my first lunchtime walk of 2025 today. Obviously there are trees and the like in big towns and cities, but we are blessed to be within walking distance of some stunning countryside where buildings are dotted in amongst nature rather than vice versa and hence the changing seasons are even more noticeable, something I've grown to appreciate even more on my walks. Not least on another hot sunny day, the natural world now very awake, as is visible from the changes in my photos of the same views of Bromeswell and Melton Old Church towers from January and today!

No ringing for us this evening though as unfortunately Ufford's weekly practice was called off an hour or two before it was due to go ahead with a couple of late dropouts.

God willing Saturday in Yoxford and Aldeburgh will be a busier day of ringing for us!

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Monday 12th May 2025

Summer hasn't started yet. In fact, if you follow the seasons astronomically it is still over a month away, but it feels a lot like summer. Hot temperatures, sunhats on, suncream used every time one goes outside for anytime. And for the first time this year I went out ringing in an evening with my shorts on when I went to Ipswich Minster's weekly practice and ended my night out sat in the beer garden at the Halberd Inn.

It hasn't got so hot as to make the actual ringing particularly hard work, which is lucky considering that for one reason or another I found myself on the eleventh quite a lot tonight! The session was able to proceed pretty much as usual with an eclectic repertoire from Plain Hunt on eleven to Grandsire Caters for welcome visitor Frances to treble to and then the Cinques variety for our very own Sonia to treble to, right up to Stedman Cinques and Yorkshire Surprise Maximus.

Earlier in the day meanwhile, a quarter-peal of Little Bob Royal was rung on handbells in Moats Tye. Which seems a very pleasant way to spend a summer's day.

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Sunday 11th May 2025

It was largely a day of celebration.

Alfie and his footballing teammates celebrated the end of their season with their annual presentation ceremony, followed by a picnic and of course an impromptu match between themselves.

There was certainly something to be celebrated at Ixworth where young Max Thomson did his first conducting with the 120 of Plain Bob Doubles rung for the service at St Mary's. Well done Max!

Barham's ringers celebrated the recent eightieth anniversary of VE Day by putting their service ringing on BellBoard complete with a cheery photo of the band taken out in the sunshine and the encouraging number of ringers at Little Cornard were ringing to celebrate the local Flower Festival.

At Drinkstone they were celebrating what appears to have been a well attended dedication of their restored and rehung six with some Grandsire Doubles during the service and then immediately afterwards rang the first quarter-peal on the new bells. Congratulations to all involved with this project. A timely moment to remind folk of the dedication of the augmented eight at Fornham St Martin planned for a week's time.

Mary Dunbavin's 1700th peal rung in the 5152 of Siddal Moor Surprise Major at Aldeburgh which was a first in the method for all the band and the Guild is also worth celebrating for a lady who has always been willing to help out at ringing whenever she can for many years. Congratulations Mary!

Meanwhile, congratulations also to Jeremy Spiller who celebrated his two hundredth handbell peal for our neighbours the NDA with a 5040 of seven Minor methods in Bacton, whilst there was also a 1260 of Stedman Triples rung on the front eight at The Norman Tower.

Sadly it wasn't all celebration as Gillian Gurdon was remembered in prayers during the morning worship at St Mary the Virgin church in Woodbridge following her death on Friday. Gillian and her husband Adam - who passed away in 2019 - were amongst the large number of recruits who learnt to ring at Burgh for the Millennium and although she was the mother-in-law of the world famous composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber she never displayed any airs and graces. Even though she gave up many years ago, she always spoke fondly of the exercise.

Before the service and after walking in from Ruthie's sister Clare's after her and Chris had very kindly put us up overnight, the ringing at Woodbridge - where we were joined by new Hollesley ringer Michael Brown - was the only I managed today as Alfred's team's event and then popping back to the sister-in-law's for tea prevented us getting out to anywhere else this afternoon. In between those two engagements however, I did find a brief period to sit out in our sunbaked garden and read the latest edition of The Ringing World which arrived with us yesterday but which there was no opportunity to read then. Amongst the pages of interesting content was a report of the recent ART Awards which filled in some more details about South-East District Secretary Liz Christian's winning of the 'Inspiring leadership in ringing' award, which says she was "praised for the thought and care with which she plans each session, in which everyone laughs so often while learning and aiming to be the best they can possibly be."

Which is something to celebrate!

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Saturday 10th May 2025

When I was 22 years and 171 days old, I had just rung my 163rd peal the day before. It was of Stedman Triples at St Chad's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Birmingham and I was relatively chuffed with my ringing 'achievements' in the my time out in the West Midlands, especially for someone of my limited abilities compared to most others around me.

Today at exactly the same age as I was back on 4th April 2001, Daniel Page became the youngest person ever to ring a thousand peals, less than a decade after his first. And he hasn't done it in an easy fashion either, with the vast majority of his numbers being on handbells and/or of spliced Treble Dodging on all numbers, really advanced stuff that most of us could never contemplate tackling. His thousandth was no gimme either, even with the superb band he was ringing with - which included former Exning learner Jimmy Yeoman - as they rang a 5040 of Orion Surprise Maximus at St Martin in the Fields in Westminster. Phenomenal achievement!

As I turned 46 years and 208 days old, there was nothing on BellBoard on Suffolk's bells recorded, although hopefully the North-West District Practice at Buxhall went well. Nor were either Ruthie or I contributing to any ringing efforts on a day when we simply didn't have time. In fact, it was another of those packed Saturdays that saw us doing something pretty much from when we woke to when we went back to bed, unsurprisingly these days mainly down to football.

It all began with a trip out to a grassroots footy tournament, a series of short matches over a couple of hours at a venue packed with twelve pitches all hosting games from all age-groups watched on by hundreds and hundreds of spectators. No trophy to play for or anything like that, no overall winner declared, just an opportunity for Alfred and his football-mad peers to play the beautiful game and we were delighted that he was able to take part as he thoroughly enjoyed it.

However, with a 1.30pm finish and Ipswich Town due to kick-off against Brentford in their penultimate home match of their Premier League season at 3pm a dozen miles away, it made for a significant logistical challenge, especially as we needed to meet with my brother Chris to give him his ticket. That was solved by the stroke of serendipity that was one of the other parents also going to the match and with a parking space next to the stadium and so they very kindly offered to take AJM into town whilst we made an early getaway, although it did mean us missing his final fixture. That enabled us to get into Ipswich, find somewhere to park up and make our way into the Fanzone to meet up with my younger sibling and Norwich ringer Simon Rudd for a drink, before being reunited with our son who was pleased to bits at his team having won all their matches.

Sadly, the Tractor Boys were unable to replicate such form as they lost 1-0 to their visitors from London, but we consoled ourselves with going round to the home of Ruthie's sister Clare and her fiancé Chris for a BBQ before they put us up for the night. Which we were grateful for as it was a lovely, though exhausting day.

I'm not as young as I once was, even if Daniel Page is.

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Friday 9th May 2025

There was more ringing for the eightieth anniversary of VE Day today across the UK and particularly on the Channel Islands where 9th May 1945 was their day of liberation. And also here in Suffolk where there were quarter-peals of VE Day Bob Minor at Tostock and Beverley Surprise Minor at Wissett, with the latter being Erika Clarke's first blows in the method. Well done Erika!

There was also ringing at Leiston, but none for Ruthie or me as we had our first evening in together this week. I am pleased that others in the exercise were more active today and for a very good cause.

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Thursday 8th May 2025

It was such a big news day that all the media outlets weren't sure which way to look. A UK-US trade deal announced with incredible fanfare, a new Pope elected and of course today is the eightieth anniversary of VE Day.

The last headline was the one ringing was most concerned with marking, although the unexpectedly quick election of Pope Leo XIV at just after 5pm led to much rushing around to ring bells at Roman Catholic churches ahead of then ringing for Victory in Europe at 6.30pm!

No such rush for us, although my ringing at Ipswich Minster to mark the anniversary of the latter event still provided our household with logistical challenges as we sought to feed the boys and ourselves before Ruthie was dropped off at choir practice in Woodbridge and Alfie, Josh and I dashed as fast as was safe to the county town. We just made it in time for me to participate in the first bit of ringing bang on 6.30 as we managed to squeeze quite a lot into the half-hour we were there, with two touches of Grandsire Caters, a bit of Stedman Triples on the front eight and some rounds on ten rung before we left. Personally, for all the logistical juggling, I'm absolutely delighted to have been able to ring for this after we'd all missed out on doing something for the seventy-fifth anniversary due to lockdown. I've always been struck by what a huge moment the Second World War was for the history of society in the UK, Europe and worldwide and how different things could've been if it weren't for the sacrifices of civilians and the armed forces between 1939 and 1945. A cessation to that six years of warfare in Europe was therefore something to truly celebrate and an important moment to continue marking, especially as those who can remember it firsthand sadly diminish in numbers, although it is worth remembering that the war continued in the Far East for another three months. I'm sure VJ Day on 15th August will also be marked in similar fashion, including with bells.

Certainly bells were doing their bit today though, with our ringing on Suffolk's heaviest ring not the only happening for the occasion within our borders. Far from it. Indeed this is one of those days when there is just far too much to practically list here and that's just from BellBoard! Even the list of quarters is quite extensive for a Thursday, but here goes. 1260s were rung of Plain Bob Doubles on the back six at Aldeburgh and front six at Stowmarket, six Doubles methods at Bardwell, Plain Bob Minor at Horringer and Grandsire Doubles at Rushmere St Andrew, where Peter Mayer was ringing his first quarter-peal bonging behind. Well done Peter! And appropriately 1280s were rung of Cambridge & Yorkshire Surprise Royal spliced at The Norman Tower and of five Doubles methods and Stedman at Pettistree.

Meanwhile, whilst a peal attempt at Bildeston unfortunately had to be brought round after 3120 changes due to illness, the first peal on the restored and augmented bells at Laxfield was rung, which in itself is a significant performance. Congratulations to all involved in this project on this landmark.

Further afield ringing generally was marking the day too, most notably at Liverpool Cathedral where Ewan Hull became the youngest person to ring a peal on the heaviest bell in the world that can be pealed as he rang behind on the 82cwt tenor to a 5009 of Stedman Cinques composed and conducted by Rambling Ringers Ringing Master Alex Riley.

After my participation in VE Day ringing it was back to Woodbridge to drop the car off for my wife and on a pleasant evening the boys and I wandered back home with Alfred timing it and Josh correctly guessing how long it would take to the minute. Which was big news for him on a big news day!

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Wednesday 7th May 2025

Immediate Past Master of the Guild Katharine Salter is looking to gauge interest in a potential Sunday afternoon/evening session at The Wolery consisting of open ringing and maybe some quarter-peals, as well as potentially a spot of handbell ringing. This is essentially normal towerbell ringing, but of course the weight of the bells and subsequent speed they are often rung at means that it will be something that some will feel less confident on, so this would be a superb opportunity to have a go. Please do contact Katharine on the tower's contact details on this website if you are interested.

We used to do a lot of peal-ringing on this light eight in Ipswich, but it was usually on a Wednesday, as were the first peals there for five years which were rung recently. However, Wednesdays aren't really a practical night for either of us to participate in these days. Even with the later start times afforded by the shorter peal times, we can't make it primarily due to Alfie's football training and it was there that I began my evening as what has been billed as the last session of the season (I say 'billed' as last year they began a weekly summer session the week after the 'final' one, so I'm not banking on us being available early Wednesday evenings just yet!) saw the traditional adults versus children 'friendly' match.

My evening ended by beating a group of thirsty cyclists to the bar at the Greyhound Inn at Pettistree following a practice on the neighbouring ground-floor six where despite the presence of Hilary Stearn's cousin Geoff we didn't quite have enough to ring spliced but still managed Stedman Doubles and Surprise Minor of the Durham and Ipswich varieties, whilst it was all preceded by a quarter-peal. That 1296 of Cambridge Surprise Minor wasn't the only ringing from Suffolk today noted on BellBoard though, with a 1312 of Double Norwich Court Bob Major and 1260 of Stedman Triples rung on The Barn Owl Ring in Norton and an impressive 1280 of Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow & London Surprise Major spliced at Elveden on a day that I noticed that until the peals in Worcester of London No.3 Surprise Royal and 5040 of Stedman Triples were added to BB late in the day, all eight peals recorded up to that point were of multiple Minor methods of some sort or another, which seemed unusual.

It could be down to all those lucky enough to regularly ring peals during the day in the working week being spread thinly as ringing attempts to mark the forthcoming eightieth anniversary of VE Day and indeed most of the peals were dedicated to that, whilst SGR Public Relations Officer Neal Dodge was speaking to Wayne Bavin 3 hours 23 minutes and 52 seconds into the latter's BBC Radio Suffolk Breakfast Show this morning talking about what ringers plan to do for the occasion. Although only a couple of minutes long, it was enough for Neal to get across what we're doing and will hopefully make people think about the art when they hear bells tomorrow.

So please do turn out at a tower if you can and also get in touch with Katharine if you are interested in ringing at The Wolery!

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Tuesday 6th May 2025

With Ringing Master Kate Eagle not around this evening I was running the weekly practice at Ufford on this occasion. Well, in partnership with Hollesley RM Peter Harper with the majority of those present and the main focus of our efforts tonight Margaret and Mary derived from the local ringers of the glorious 16cwt eight on the North Sea coast. Despite my mother-in-law's absence we fashioned a fairly productive session, with Margaret trebling to some Cambridge Surprise Minor and ringing inside to some Grandsire Doubles and Plain Bob Minor, whilst Mary rang a couple of pieces of Plain Hunt on five and I stood with her as she bonged behind to some Plain Bob Doubles as she hones her rhythm and how to adjust it, whilst the conducting duties were shared out between four different ringers.

Meanwhile, the forthcoming eightieth anniversary of VE Day continues to be marked by ringing, including here in Suffolk with a 1280 of Yorkshire Surprise Major on the 8cwt ground-floor eight at Offton ahead of their weekly practice, for which I wasn't needed to run the ringing!

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Monday 5th May 2025

At Ipswich Minster's weekly practice this evening, Ringer A decided that they needed a box on the eighth, put it down and promptly stumbled over it, rescuing themselves before flinging themselves across the ringing chamber. Cue gentle ribbing along the lines of them having had too much/not enough to drink, etc. Ringer A muttered with a smile on their face "you'll miss me when I'm gone" as we pulled off in rounds ahead of a planned half-course of Cambridge Surprise Maximus, to which Ringer B on the tenth replied "well just hold on fifteen minutes please" to much chuckling.

It was a snapshot of the atmosphere that we typically ring in on Suffolk's heaviest twelve, with lots of smiles and not taking things too seriously. That's not to say that we aren't focused though and whilst of course not everything went there was a lot of endeavour that saw us also ring Yorkshire Surprise Maximus, Stedman Cinques and London (No.3) Surprise Royal, whilst young Will - who was there with his gran Mary Whittell - rang the treble to some Grandsire Cinques really well, especially as it was the first time he had done it and with the caveat of the usual challenges of ringing that bell on twelve! All achieved on a bank holiday when we weren't entirely sure we would get enough to ring all twelve with some regulars away, but we were helped by the presence of Guild Ringing Master Julian Colman who joined us in the Halberd Inn afterwards as well.

Although earlier there were mundane, typical bank holiday elements to our day, such as Ruthie doing the shopping and us fixing our fence, the ringing neatly completed a memorable day as the forthcoming eightieth anniversary of VE Day was marked by the usual pageantry down in the capital, including with a fly-past that rather excitingly the boys and us were able to catch a glimpse of from our house as it flew over Melton on its way before appearing mere minutes afterwards on the TV when it flew over the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace! If you haven't already committed to helping ring somewhere on the actual anniversary on Thursday - especially at 6.30pm when bells have been requested as part of the official national celebrations - and you can, then please do seek out where needs help. There are a number of towers who have been asking for help on the SGR's Facebook page for example, such as Felixstowe and Rushmere St Andrew.

Plenty of ringing was going on today for the occasion too though, with ringing within our borders contributing. Whilst a 5040 of forty-one Surprise Minor methods spliced was rung on handbells in Bacton, appropriate lengths were rung at Huntingfield and The Norman Tower, with a 1280 of Plain Bob Doubles and a 5080 of Stedman Cinques respectively, the latter of which was Tim Hart's first as conductor in the principle. Well done Tim!

I hope everyone was able to enjoy their ringing today as much as were at Ipswich Minster this evening.

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Sunday 4th May 2025

There was a very youthful feel during my morning's ringing. At Ipswich Minster we were entertained by Percy and his apparent disdain of the Annual Report (sorry Joshua, your work has been appreciated, honest!) as he patiently watched his father Ian and uncle Ivan ring and at Grundisburgh Guild Chairman Mark Ogden brought along his grandchildren to watch on as we rang some pretty decent Cambridge Surprise Minor, Plain Bob Triples and call-changes on ten on the back six, eight  and ten respectively. And through it all I was accompanied by Alfie & Josh, including for refreshment at Costa Coffee in between my ringing at Suffolk's two oldest twelves.

That was it for my ringing today though as this afternoon Ruthie and the youngest two sons visited our friends Charlotte & Gregory and their daughters and our Goddaughters Ava & Bea at their new home for the first time and in a very British fashion (perhaps appropriately as we approach the VE Day celebrations!) enjoyed a BBQ on a chilly afternoon, but elsewhere in Suffolk a quarter-peal of Llaregyb Surprise Minor was rung at Little Cornard. Well done to Andrea Alderton, Maureen Gardiner, David Steed, David Howe, Stephen Dawson and conductor Lesley Steed on ringing their first blows in the method in that 1320, whilst at Westhorpe the Golden Wedding of John & Barbara Evans was celebrated with a 150 changes of Grandsire Doubles.

Fantastic to see ringing being enjoyed by people of all ages!

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Saturday 3rd May 2025

On a pleasant spring evening it was lovely to go to a place like Easton, a little village steeped in rural history, the church sat on the green alongside the pub in one direction and its famous crinkle-crankle wall in the other.

Our presence here was for the South-East District Practice and although the boys and I were without Ruthie as she was feeling a little under the weather, it was also a fun occasion. Most notably in the middle when District Ringing Master Hal Meakin took most of us out into the church and churchyard to judge some pieces of ringing in an exercise in listening, which I thought was a superb idea! And it was with forthcoming planned striking competitions in mind. For the SE it is intended to be back here on this 12cwt ground-floor six next month, for the North-East District their 2025 programme states an aim to hold theirs a week later on Saturday 14th June at Rumburgh, for the North-West District the plan is to hold theirs at Horringer on Saturday 13th September and whilst there is no mention of it anywhere at the moment, the South-West District usually hold one over the summer.

However, before any of those are the Guild six and eight-bell striking competitions, which this year are slated for a fortnight today at Yoxford and Aldeburgh. If the wonderful sunshine and hot temperatures we have basked in over recent days are with with us on that day it is hard to think of many better places to find oneself. That we can participate or experience one of the most fun (there's that word again!) elements of the exercise is even better. I mean fun too, because to my mind competitions at this level strike just the right balance, with trying to produce your best possible ringing can be extremely satisfying whilst hopefully also realising it is just a bit of... well, fun. Have I mentioned that it's fun? It isn't professional sport, but rather an excuse to get ringers together from across Suffolk with food, drink and conversation.

For the six-bell the ground-floor ring are easy-going, whilst the village has lots of amenities, including The King's Head and the church hall where the intention is to hold a ploughman's lunch, as well as a cafe, a shop, various footpaths and of course the Yoxman! Meanwhile I think most reading this will be aware of all that the seaside resort hosting the eight-bell has to offer, which on this occasion also includes cream teas at the church hall. If you want to book the food at either or both venues then you will need to contact Marie Owen via the food order form on the What's On by Saturday 10th May. There are so many Saturdays in the year to get lots of other stuff done, please do set aside a few hours to support this if you can, either as part of a team or taking in the atmosphere. It would be super to get entries from every district.

Today though, there was a good turnout from the South-East District which allowed for much to be rung from call-changes to Cambridge Surprise Minor and which included who many will remember as Michelle Chapman who was apparently inspired by happening across a mention of her on my blog to come along and do her first ringing for twenty years! I rang nine peals in under two years with Michelle in the mid-1990s when we were both teenagers, mainly of Surprise and/or Maximus and she rang 120 in total before completely disappearing from the exercise bar a handful of quarters in 2005. She was an extremely talented ringer and clearly still could be as her striking this evening was flawless, even two decades after last touching a bellrope! Life and circumstances mean that she may not be a regular in our ringing chambers in the near future, but hopefully it won't be 2045 until we see her next ringing!

Even though the boys and I passed on the opportunity to join others in the enticing White Horse next door so that we could see how the their laid low mother was, it was a great evening out led brilliantly by Hal, who earlier in the day rang in his first peal of Double Norwich Court Bob Major in the 5008 at Eye, whilst a visiting band rang a 5040 of Whistler Delight Royal at Stowmarket. Both of which would also be lovely places to go on a pleasant spring evening.

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Friday 2nd May 2025

The announcement that the 12th July is not only due to be the day of the North-West District Practice at Oakley but the middle of three evenings of Ed Sheeran concerts at Portman Road was the main headline of the day locally. However, our focus this evening wasn't a concert but rather a comedy show as Ruthie and myself joined my wife's sister Clare and her fiancé Chris at the Regent Theatre to watch the comedian Henning Wehn. It was a hilarious night on what was the penultimate event at this venue before it shuts for a seven-month refurb and thanks to mother-in-law Kate who not only got us the tickets but also looked after her grandchildren whilst their parents were out.

There was no ringing of course, but we heard the 6cwt six of Tuddenham St Martin during their weekly practice as we drove through the village on the way into town and we were pleasantly surprised to meet Ipswich ringers James & Claire Smith who were also there for the show.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that Carol Girling's funeral is due to take place at Holy Trinity in Stowupland at 2.30pm on Thursday 15th May, with a request for those attending to wear bright clothes. I imagine there will be a huge turnout to celebrate her life.

Today though, there was a ringing celebration of new life as a band of Scases rang a quarter-peal at Earl Stonham for the recent arrival of a first child for former Suffolk ringer Alex and his wife Jess, as Gwendolyn's birth was marked by her grandparents Mervyn & Tracey, uncle Oliver, great aunt Jenny, great uncle Robert and cousin once removed Tom. A wonderful thing for them to be able to do and congratulations to all concerned, especially the new parents!

Further afield a Suffolk band have been on a quarter-peal tour of Herefordshire and Worcestershire over the last week with twelve quarters rung. Well done to Adrian Edwards on ringing his first of Queen Mary Surprise Minor in the 1296 at Tenbury Wells on Saturday, to Lesley Steed, Adrian again, Stephen Dawson and David Steed on ringing their first of Banstead Bob Triples in the 1288 at St Nicholas in Hereford on Monday, to Josephine Beever, Andrea Alderton and Stephen once more on their first of Hunslet Bob Triples at All Saints in the same city on the same day, to Josephine again on her first of Aberdare St Elvan Place Triples in the 1344 at Burghill also on Monday, to Maureen Gardiner on her first of Netherseale Surprise Minor in the success at Bishops Frome on Tuesday and to the entire band at Madley on Wednesday on ringing their first blows of St Osmund Bob Triples, whilst there were also successes at Withington, Stoke Prior, Marden, Holme Lacy, Staunton and Eardisland. Indeed well done to all who took part for representing the county so superbly.

All being well I imagine quite a lot of them will also be at Oakley on 12th July during what is intended to be a big weekend within our borders.

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Thursday 1st May 2025

It was a day of birthdays, one of which went better than the other.

Alfie was meant to be in Felixstowe this evening playing on the arcades for the eleventh anniversary of his classmate's birth, but when said friend had to leave school early with an unpleasant sounding illness, that scuppered those plans. Still, that meant he was able to join us to celebrate another birthday, that of his Aunty Clare who along with her fiancé Chris very kindly hosted us with our first barbecue of the year.

Although we were in the company of Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle though, that left no time for ringing, but it was quite a busy day for the exercise elsewhere in Suffolk as the forty-second L Martin Daniels Peal Tour to the area continued with a 1320 of Cambridge Surprise Minor at Theberton and 5040 of seven Minor methods at Yoxford, the latter of which was the first peal on the bells due to host this year's Guild six-bell striking competitions since 2002. There were also a couple of quarter-peals from local ringers too though, with 1260s of Minor and St Martin's Bob Doubles on handbells in Beccles and the 11cwt ground-floor six at Chediston respectively.

No footnotes for any birthdays though.

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Wednesday 30th April 2025

Ruthie was able to show how it is possible to do both life and ringing with a very busy evening today! It began with a meeting for Alfie at the secondary school he is due to start at in September, an opportunity for them to find out a bit more about him and for him and us to ask any questions of them, although typically the only question he came up with was about what footwear he was allowed to wear when playing football on the astropitch there!
There was just time for a hurried tea before he was then dropped off at footy training with myself and Josh, with the idea being that his mother continued on to Tesco to purchase some clothing for the boys for a forthcoming school event. Except she never got as far as that as instead she answered an emergency SOS to help out with something that had come up at work and so instead once she had picked us up from training we then needed to make that shopping trip.

By the time we had all got home she was immediately then out to the weekly practice at Pettistree for a session that saw her ring much from plain courses of Grandsire Doubles to Durham Surprise Minor and spliced whilst the boys and I had a rather more leisurely evening in. My wife was at least rewarded for her hectic few hours with a drink in the Greyhound Inn that rounded off a session preceded by a 1272 of Norwich Surprise Minor. Although Ruthie has been far too busy to ring in that!

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Tuesday 29th April 2025

Congratulations to Liz Christian on winning the ART Award for Inspiring Leadership in Ringing! The award is for "for individuals who create and deliver a long-term vision for their bellringing community, and deliver it through imaginative and inspiring leadership. The judges want to understand the barriers and challenges that have been overcome and what has been instrumental in making the leader successful – including insights into the specific leadership skills that have made the difference and reflections on what others could learn.  This award is looking for nominations of individual leaders, even though they might well be working as part of a team." Wonderful to see ringing-wide recognition for a Suffolk ringer and well deserved it is too!

Those of us there on Saturday were also grateful for the tea that she helped provide at the Guild AGM at Debenham which has been one of the ringing highlights of April. However, there is also plenty lined up for May.

At a district level the South-East are up first as usual, this time with a practice planned at Easton on Saturday evening which handily is immediately next door to a pub with a good reputation! Seven days later the North-West intend to have their monthly practice on the lovely gallery-ring of eight at Buxhall. A fortnight further on and the South-West are slated to hold theirs at St Gregory in Sudbury.

Dotted in amongst those are events that have become monthly occasions, such as the Kaleidoscope Session which is penciled in for Friday 23rd at Barham and the Surprise Major Practice that is hoped to be held at Grundisburgh a week after that.

Then there are one-off occasions, such as the dedications at Drinkstone and Fornham St Martin on the Sundays 11th and 18th respectively and perhaps most notably of all the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of VE Day on Thursday 8th. The request is for bells nationwide to be rung at 6.30pm, but that will be challenging as there are more bells than ringers across the county and country. Indeed, the SGR's Facebook page features a number of requests for ringers to help, whilst the various WhatsApp ringing groups I'm on have been busy with arrangements for it. If you're not already ringing somewhere and can help then please do.

Meanwhile, the 17th is planned to be Guild Striking Competition Day, booked in at Yoxford and Aldeburgh. If we get the weather we've had today and recently it should be an absolutely glorious occasion by the seaside and with ample parking at the church you shouldn't be battling with the tourists to park either. Please do consider entering a team or encouraging your tower to do so and even if you aren't in a team come along and take in the atmosphere for one of the highlights of the local ringing year!

Ringing was going on within our borders today too though. At Stutton a quarter-peal was rung as part of the L Martin Daniels Peal Tour, whilst a 1288 of Grandsire Triples rung ahead of the weekly practice at Offton and at Ufford I attended the monthly Surprise Major Practice there. Anne Buswell did very well with Lincolnshire despite at one point being told to dodge with the seventh at the same time as I - ringing the seventh and knowing that she wasn't dodging with the seventh - was telling her not to dodge with the seventh. Elaine Townsend rang a course of Cambridge successfully even though she'd asked for half a course when I forgot to call it round at the halfway point. We even had a couple of attempts at London which is now firmly on the radar. All done amongst much else and with some good ringing.

That came at the end of a great day for Josh who along with his school classmates won first prize in a dance competition and then passed his latest stage at swimming. Well done Josh! And well done Liz!

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Monday 28th April 2025

After a bank holiday, Holy Week and the Easter holidays it's been a few weeks since I've experienced a 'normal' weekly practice at Ipswich Minster, but this evening it was just me heading out to the session and then post-ringing refreshment at the Halberd Inn. Pity as it was not to be joined by my family this time there was at least a sizeable turnout that enabled us to ring Erin Cinques, Stedman Cinques and Surprise Maximus of the Cambridge and Yorkshire varieties amongst much else as we put on a good show for some recruits from Copdock who were watching on.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day the three hundredth anniversary of the first peal of Plain Bob Major was marked in Suffolk with a 5056 of the method rung on handbells in Moats Tye where I expect the post-ringing refreshments were jovial and informative.

As they were for ours, with topics ranging from the end stages of the augmentation at Ardleigh in Essex to gyms to Double Dublin Surprise Major and Double Dunkirk Bob Minor to round off a very pleasant 'normal' Monday evening.

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Sunday 27th April 2025

After her busy Easter weekend of singing, Ruthie and her choral colleagues were given the morning off today and so she accompanied Josh, Alfie and myself to Ipswich Minster for service ringing. Along with the visit of one-time local Helen Carter it allowed us to manage a very decent repertoire with good striking, including a touch of Stedman Cinques. There aren't huge numbers of provincial twelves capable of that on the Sabbath morn, so we should be very pleased with that.

With a slight change in the service times there this morning the ringing was held an hour later than usual and so there was no time to continue on to Grundisburgh, but that did allow for a more leisurely visit to Costa Coffee for post-ringing refreshment on a morning that generally felt more leisurely than Sunday mornings often do!

It even allowed either side of our trip out for my annual appreciation of all those running the London Marathon as I watched the coverage of it. Lots of inspiring stories and great causes that always gets me thinking I ought to give it a go, before I remember I get out breath if I'm just running late!

That said myself, Ruthie and most impressively of all Josh were getting plenty of exercise this afternoon as with his brothers Mason and Alfie working and at a friend's house respectively we joined my wife's schoolfriends Verity and Vicky, their other halves Jade and Gavin and their dogs for a walk from Sutton Heath to Shottisham. Where of course we had a drink outside the Sorrel Horse before making the return journey. When in Rome and all that.

With there only being a single bell at the village's church there was no ringing involved, but others in Suffolk were being more active in the exercise with a quarter-peal of Grandsire Cinques rung at The Norman Tower with new Guild Ringing Master Julian Colman ringing, whilst the forty-second L Martin Daniels Peal Tour to the area continued with a 5040 at Campsea Ashe for the Lancashire Association at the end of a busy two days of ringing in the county.

There may be other ringers who need a break next weekend!

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Saturday 26th April 2025

26th April 2025 was a day that will be remembered for a number of things.

Worldwide I imagine that most will recall it as the day of Pope Francis's funeral, Ipswich Town fans - ourselves included - will prefer to forget that it is the day that the Tractor Boys were officially relegated from the Premier League. Whether it will be particularly remembered for it or not, today was also when this year's Suffolk Guild AGM was held.

For us that began in leisurely fashion as we even had time to watch the start of proceedings in the Vatican City which were also marked by various ringing performances. Our day got properly underway at Framlingham though, where we had agreed for one of us to ring in a quarter-peal attempt for the occasion whilst the other looked after the boys. Which one of us wasn't decided until we were walking up to the churchyard of St Michael's when Ruthie willingly volunteered, so Alfie, Josh and myself took a football up to the park from where we could hear their ringing clearly before wandering back just as the 1344 of Cambridge Surprise Major was coming round.

It was one of four quarters rung for AGM Day, with a South-West District band ringing a 1320 of Plain Bob Minor at Barham, Superlative Surprise Major was rung at Coddenham and a North-East District band rang a 1273 of Grandsire Triples at Rendham. There was a handbell peal rung in Bacton too, albeit for the Ely Diocesan Association, but whilst unfortunately a peal attempt at Gislingham (funnily enough there wasn't much appetite for the original plan of one at Stonham Aspal!) was lost, the morning's ringing was a great way of getting this showpiece occasion up and running and involving more people with it.

As we greeted my wife and fellow the successful bandmates in the church, we ourselves were greeted by the surprise appearance of Nottinghamshire ringer and fellow Rambler Phil Wild. Phil is an extremely good ringer and a lovely chap and is in the area for the annual L Martin Daniels Peal Tour which began today with a lost attempt at Marlesford that saw them ring a QP instead and a 5040 at Tunstall. it was nice to catch-up before we continued on to the next stage of our day as we made the relatively short journey to Winston where there was open ringing as part of a day that was far more than just a meeting.

The ground-floor five are a handful for ringers of any ability and yet we managed some April Day and Stedman Doubles, as well as giving a friend of Katharine Salter a go. And it is an absolutely beautiful location, a quintessential rural Suffolk idyll that seems absolutely timeless, almost in a different world. Bathed in sunshine and nature all around awoken with spring it was such a relaxing place to be, enhanced by the ringing chamber being opened to the outside.

By comparison Debenham is like a bustling metropolis, but of course is also a picturesque slice of East Anglian country life, replete with ancient timbered buildings of various pastoral colours and it was here that we spent the remainder of our day out.

Starting with fish 'n' chips from opposite St Mary Magdalene's, we sat outside the church eating them whilst others went to one of the cafes. Gradually members began arriving and once we'd rectified me pulling the tenor up the wrong way there was lots of ringing done from call-changes on eight to Bristol Surprise Major and much in between including Grandsire Triples and Plain Bob Major, whilst we periodically popped into Dove Cottage for refreshment and catching up with people like Paul Stannard, former Ringing Master Lawrence Pizzey and one-time Guild Chairman Winston Girling, the latter of whom it was particularly nice to see at a difficult time for him.

After a lovely service led by the Reverend Keith Rengert who has been learning to ring and was therefore able to offer a more personal perspective than many vicars are able to when leading these, we strolled up to the United Reform Church for a wonderful tea before the AGM itself. Led by the current Chairman Mark Ogden it was again a brisk affair coming in at under an hour for the second year running, but there was still plenty of note mentioned and sorted in that time. Most particularly that Norman Tower ringer Julian Colman was elected Ringing Master to replace Katharine Salter who was stepping down after four years. Katharine deserves our considerable gratitude, taking on the role whilst we were still unable to ring due to lockdown restrictions and carrying it out to the backdrop of a demanding job, caring for her husband David when he got very ill before he sadly died and now studying. Having done the job myself in far easier circumstances I'm not sure how she managed it all! However, having known and rung with Julian for many years I also know that we continue to be in good hands!

There were other nice moments too, such as Ruth Young and Christine Knight being elected Life Honorary Members and deservedly so having dedicated decades between them to important roles at district and Guild level, whilst Treasurer Tim Hart gave a very informative overview of the situation regarding the legacy left by Adrian Knights. Please do contact him for further details, especially if this may of use to your tower.

And as it usually is, it was concluded with a drink in a local pub, which on this occasion was The Lion, a tavern only reopened in 2023 having been a private residence since 1998. I am pleased it did reopen as we enjoyed our refreshment here at the end of a very enjoyable day. Well done and thank you to all who made it happen, but especially the Debenham ringers and the South-East District led by Liz Christian, Stephen Christian and Hal Meakin and their fantastic team.

The only downside was that weren't as many as I imagined might be there. In a such a pretty, central location with ample free parking with superb bells and on a stunning day of weather, the turnout was slightly disappointing with what I worked out was only around sixty present for the meeting itself. I heard lots of good reasons for people not being there. No one expects members to sacrifice family events or holidays, many people have to work on a Saturday and it has to be said that if Ipswich Town had been at home this afternoon (many of us in Debenham were following their familiar tale of woe up at Newcastle United that mathematically relegated us) we wouldn't have been able to make most of today's proceedings. However, it is a pity that more who could've made it (I'm not convinced that all 600+ absent members couldn't make it) didn't come along for at least a bit of the day, although many did do what they could. In the ideal world the SGR would be regularly sending a handful of experienced ringers out to individual towers, but in an organisation of volunteers balancing ringing with life that isn't always possible, so events like these are one of the best ways for ringers to get help, surrounded by a host of experienced ringers more than happy to support, guide and offer advice. Perhaps not everyone knew the date, so for the avoidance of doubt next year's is due to take place on Saturday 11th April 2026 in the South-West District!

Overall though it was a very upbeat, enjoyable day and one other positive thing mentioned during the meeting was that it is intended to hold the Guild Striking Competitions in three weeks at Yoxford and Aldeburgh. God willing we'll have this same glorious weather and the 17th May 2025 will also be a memorable date, for all the right reasons!

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Friday 25th April 2025

Watching Have I Got News for You tonight, they commented upon some recent research on what is considered the perfect day. Apparently it consists of no more than six hours of work, but should include six hours of family, two hours with friends, ninety minutes of "extra socialising", two hours of exercise and one hour of eating. It struck me how much of this ringing can encompass, although how far ringing can be constituted as exercise is debatable. Ruthie's Fitbit thinks she's been swimming whenever it records her ringing activity, so I suppose there must be some benefit to it in that respect! Indeed, God willing tomorrow's Guild AGM will see many of these elements come together for the perfect day!

Not that we were able to meet any of these conditions today. We are extremely fortunate with our jobs, especially now that I work from home full-time, but the working day was more than six hours. With the increasingly late sunset Josh and I had time to enjoy a kickaround in the garden and my wife and I participated in a beer or two into the evening, but family time was nowhere near six hours. Not unusually for a Friday night at home, there were no friends and no "extra socialising" and as is often the case during the average day of employment and education eating was far too rushed to equate to an hour.

Other ringers in Suffolk were doing more of at least some of those conditions with two quarter-peals and a peal remembering the lives of two ringers from the county who have passed away recently. The 1260 of Plain Bob Doubles at Brandeston was in memory of John Garratt who was a lifetime ringer on the 7cwt gallery-ring six and on the 9cwt ground-floor five of Badingham, whilst the quarter-peal of two Doubles methods on the front six at Stowmarket by the BAC and peal of Cooktown Orchid Delight Major at Felixstowe remembered Carol Girling.

Meanwhile, well done to Lizzie Wood, Erika Clarke, Peter Lock and Jonathan Iles on ringing their first quarter of Double Court Bob Minor in the success at Wissett.

Hopefully it contributed to the perfect day for them!

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Thursday 24th April 2025

I haven't been on one of my lunchtime walks for a few weeks, primarily because the school holidays over Easter have seen a change to the usual routines, but also because in the lead-up to the peal at Helmingham for Alfie's birthday much of my downtime saw me learning, revising and reciting the composition and methods! Today though I got out during my hour break from lunch, taking me past Melton Old Church, a pond of ducks and to the edge of Lower Ufford, but not quite far enough to spy the tower of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary that holds the 13cwt eight there.

Apart from my usual everyday blessings that I try not to take for granted though, that was as noteworthy as my day got. There wasn't even time for eBells whilst Ruthie was out choral practicing this evening as instead I slumped on the sofa watching snooker. It was a more significant day for Past Master of the College Youths Martin Cansdale and Rosemary - daughter of former Bramford ringer Christine Hill and her husband Peter - as they became parents for the first time with the birth of their daughter Esther, an event celebrated with a touch of Stedman Cinques at St Paul's Cathedral no less! Congratulations to all concerned including former Bramford, Grundisburgh and Sproughton ringer Daphne Pegg on becoming a great grandmother again, but especially to Rosemary and Martin. Who I don't imagine had the time or energy today to go out on a lunchtime walk!

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Wednesday 23rd April 2025

The Easter holidays now finished, it was back to just one of us going out to ringing whilst the other stays at home getting the boys to bed at an appropriate time for a school night.

On this occasion it was Ruthie's turn as once I'd returned from taking Alfie & Josh to the former's football training, she went out to Pettistree's weekly practice. It sounds like it was a good evening too, as Surprise Minor including Alnwick and London was rung whilst others took advantage of the makeshift 'waiting room', before Mrs Munnings retired to the Greyhound Inn next door.

Further afield well done to former Bardwell ringer Louis Suggett who not only rang his first handbell peal of Bristol Surprise Royal in the 5040 rung in Bosham in West Sussex, but conducted it to boot. Meanwhile the session that my wife attended tonight was preceded by a quarter-peal of Cambridge Surprise Minor, whilst a 5120 of the none too straightforward Brislington Surprise Major was rung at Horringer by a band less effected by whether the school holidays have finished or not!

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Tuesday 22nd April 2025

It was a remarkably straightforward day for our household, with the main activity being Alfie going round his friend's for a playdate (and bumping into more friends at the park whilst there!) and me joining my mother-in-law and Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle at the weekly practice on the 13cwt octave. With the presence of Alan McBurnie we were able to produce a very useful session which was probably the best for Hollesley ringer Margaret Weeks since her return from injury last year as she trebled to Cambridge Surprise Minor and Grandsire Triples and rang inside to Grandsire Doubles and then Plain Bob Minor for the first time.

For a couple of ringers it was a much more dramatic weekend though and although it didn't directly impact them, it was for very sad reasons. On Saturday Bardwell was rocked by a fire that burnt down five houses. Mercifully no one was hurt, but it means a lot of people whose lives have been upturned, including a couple apparently due to give birth soon. Former local ringer David Ruffles was busy being interviewed by various media outlets in his role as the Chairman of the Parish Council, whilst Ruth Suggett the Ringing Master of the village's 11cwt eight was interviewed just before David from about 2 hours, 52 minutes and 30 seconds into the morning show on BBC Radio Suffolk, as she lives near the affected houses. Both are encouraging people to donate to a GoFundMe page if they can, in a heartwarming show of community that is familiar amongst the ringing family. Hopefully with the help of these ringers, their fellow villagers and anyone else willing and able to help, some good can come out of this dreadful situation.

Meanwhile the latest edition of The Ringing World finally arrived with us in the post following the long weekend and as usual features plenty of interest, albeit nothing Suffolk-related bar entries in the peal and quarter-peal reports. However, recent issues have included details of the Guild AGM planned for this Saturday at Debenham. Today was the final day to book a tea for the occasion, but if you haven't booked yours then I hope it doesn't put you off joining in for some or all of the other elements of the day. The event is due to be in a good place for other means of getting food with shops, pubs, cafes and a fish 'n' chip restaurant in this large village and plenty to do and find for non-ringers, as is outlined on 'The Tourist Trail' in what is - at this stage - forecast to be quite nice weather. We really are blessed to have places like this on our doorstep and we have a good excuse to go there and ring on a lovely eight in the company of friends established and new. And please do support the meeting if you can, which if recent years (especially last year's!) is anything to go by should be short, but will - if all goes to plan - see the new SGR Ringing Master elected, with the current one Katharine Salter stepping down this weekend. Be a part of democracy and a significant moment in the Guild's 102-year history on what should hopefully also be quite a straightforward day!

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Easter Monday 21st April 2025

The next South-East District Surprise Major Practice is due to be held at Grundisburgh on Friday 30th May, but we inadvertently managed a pretty decent version at Ipswich Minster this evening. Monday night sessions here - and I imagine at other places that practice on the first night of the working week - take a bit of a hit at this point in the calendar. Of course there was no ringing seven days ago during Holy Week and with today being a bank holiday there is usually uncertainty about numbers. Sometimes we can get lucky with visitors who might normally be at another Monday night practice that has been cancelled or those holidaying in the area, but we can also suffer with absentees away on the long weekend.

The latter was true of tonight on Suffolk's heaviest ring of bells. With feelers sent out in recent days via the band's WhatsApp group we had ascertained that holding a practice was worthwhile, but when one or two had to pull out due to illness Ruthie and I - with the boys still on Easter school holidays - had to shore up our commitment to coming along, having initially been unsure if we could or not.

We were pleased that we did though as our presence and that of one or two welcome surprise extras meant that it was quite a fruitful couple of hours. Straight after us arriving in the rain my wife was asked to conduct a course of Superlative and later I called some four-spliced, whilst there was also some Lincolnshire (although that elicited a gasp and some mutterings from the ringer next to me who had been expecting Yorkshire!), London and Bristol, as well as the 'standard' eight spliced. It wasn't all Surprise Major though, with a couple of pieces of Double Norwich Court Bob Major - one on the back eight that I pulled the tenor in to, one on the front eight - and a touch of Stedman Caters also rung before some went on to the Halberd Inn and we returned home with a patient Alfie & Josh.

Ours wasn't the only ringing going on in the county today with a handbell peal rung for the NDA in Bacton, whilst further afield there were the usual 'big' Easter Monday peals at places like Winchester Cathedral and Worcester Cathedral, as well as some other notable performances. Such as the 5040 of seven Surprise Minor methods on the heaviest ring of six in the world hung for change-ringing, with Michael Wilby pulling in the 37cwt tenor at St Buryan in Cornwall. And at Tamworth the 15009 of spliced Caters and Royal advertised by and featuring former Exning learner Jimmy Yeoman was successfully rung, thus becoming the longest peal of Caters & Royal spliced yet rung.

Meanwhile there was lots of ringing done in memory of Pope Francis, with the world waking to news of his death this morning in what seems an aptly timed passing for the leader of the Catholic church, with his survival to after Easter having been seriously ill for a couple of months understandably seen as miraculous by many. His passing is not surprising, especially as most get the job when they are already old men, but he is still only the third Pope in my lifetime (indeed the first John Paul II was elected the day after I was born), so much like the death of Queen Elizabeth II it still feels shocking and significant and why there was debate on the Bellringers Facebook on whether flags should fly half-mast and/or bells rung half-muffled. Indeed there is some video of the bells at the Roman Catholic church of St Wilfrid's in York being rung fully muffled with the tenor open at backstroke which is very moving and brings back memories of the days following the Queen's death.

We weren't doing any ringing for Pope Francis though or any other ringing for that matter until our presence at the 34cwt twelve in Ipswich, with our main highlight being visiting Framlingham Castle at the request of the boys. No matter how many times I visit here I still find this a fascinating place with a sense of calm, even as our boys ran around looking for hidden egg clues. And although they were partially closed for maintenance we still enjoyed the magnificent views from the walk around the top of the walls, including of the tower that holds the town's 16cwt eight and which is another great place for a Surprise Major practice!

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Easter Sunday 20th April 2025

This morning was logistically fraught, entirely due to the moving of Ipswich Town's men's football match with Arsenal. On any Sunday the 2pm kick-off would make things rushed for those of us who are busy on the Sabbath morning, but of course this wasn't just any Sunday as we celebrated Easter.

Add to that it being the tenth birthday of our niece Anna which meant that her Gran and our usual lift Kate was otherwise engaged, plus Alfie being at his friend's house for a sleepover and getting to The Mermaid for our necessarily early booking for lunch required some considerable thought for arrangements with Ruthie's involvement in the worship at St Mary the Virgin church in Woodbridge.

In the end, my wife carried out her duties and flinging her choir robes off dashed out at the conclusion of the service to collect Alfred and then Mason to get them to our lunch venue.

By which point Josh & I were already there to ensure we fulfilled our booking in time, having caught the train into Suffolk's county town to join the ringing at the Minster which was being held at the later time of 10-10.30am. That shorter than usual period, squeezed between Easter services only left enough time for some call-changes on twelve and a touch of Grandsire Cinques but was a decent return with numbers short due to the different ringing time and illness. All followed by the usual refreshments in Costa Coffee. It is also worth noting we intend to hold a practice tomorrow evening on the Bank Holiday.

Meanwhile a quarter-peal of Yorkshire Surprise Major was rung on the back eight at The Norman Tower, whilst the service ringing at Little Cornard, Stowmarket and Woodbridge was noted on BellBoard as this special day was celebrated by the bells of the county.

For us though there was no further ringing as once we'd eaten we met up with Norwich ringer Simon Rudd in the Fanzone and then watched the footy. That we lost to the team that knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League during the week was no surprise and incredibly we're still not officially relegated from the Premier League, but it was another glum result. As well as the instigator of much logistical fraughtness.

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Holy Saturday 19th April 2025

It is the biggest and most important weekend in the Christian calendar and as a pivotal part of a church choir it is a busy one for Ruthie, who tonight was practicing for and then singing in a service at St Mary the Virgin church in Woodbridge.

Meanwhile Alfie was at a friend's house for a sleepover, Mason was working in his new job at a local pub and so Josh & I decided to go down the park to play football as the daylight hours continue to stretch out later. It was a lovely way to spend an evening.

No ringing though, with none much going on generally, but God willing that will change over the next two days of this big and important weekend of the Christian calendar.

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Good Friday 18th April 2025

It felt like Throwback Friday this evening. Or should that be Frowback Friday? Either way, there was a sense of nostalgia as Simon Rudd sent out an open invitation to join him at his virtual pub, as we did for almost every Friday night throughout the lockdowns and for a while after, but not for a long time as naturally most have got back to normal life.

There were some familiar faces such as Lesley Boyle & Gareth Davies from Cambridgeshire,  Norman Tower ringers Cath & Julian Colman and Simon's partner Ros Burroughs, but also familiar names who we'd not met before in the form of Alexandra Hajok from Bolton and Jeff Ladd who joined us from Vernet-les-Bains in the south of France where he is responsible for the 5cwt ten. It was nice to meet them and although we have seen the others a number of times since we came out of lockdown, it was lovely to catch-up in this relaxed fashion without having to get someone to look after the boys or even leave the house!

Earlier in the day our host had been in part responsible for the only ringing in Suffolk noted on BellBoard on this Good Friday as he conducted a quarter-peal of Rutland Surprise Major in Ipswich, but there was no ringing for our household as instead Ruthie was singing in Woodbridge on this most important of weekends in the liturgical calendar. Nonetheless, the weather was lovely again and with no work or school on this bank holiday it was wonderful to spend some quality time with Alfie & Josh.

It was indeed a Good Friday. Or Throwback Friday. Or Frowback Friday.

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Maundy Thursday 17th April 2025

Not unusually for a Thursday evening Ruthie was singing, but rather than practicing she was putting it into practice on this Maundy Thursday at the start of what is due to be a busy weekend of singing for her and her choral colleagues.

Also not unusually for a Thursday evening that meant no ringing for us, although my wife did bump into Halesworth ringer Jason Busby in the shop and I enjoyed looking back at entries on BellBoard of ringing in Suffolk from the 1700s and 1800s. Primarily that was because Colin Salter had mentioned at the weekend that he had added a lot of performances, but so too has Sue Marsden, David Willis, Guild PR Officer Neal Dodge and former Reydon ringer Philip Moyse. What always fascinates me about ringing of centuries gone by is how restricted the repertoire was compared to now. I expect the striking was good and I imagine it was because bells were harder going back then, but I'm not sure there is a band around these days who would even contemplate a 10080 of Grandsire Bob Minor as they rang at Gislingham in 1822! Lots of interesting venues too, such as the unringable fives at Hessett (1200 Grandsire Doubles) and Sibton (5040 Doubles) and handbells at the Halberd Inn.

Although I can report on a successful quarter-peal rung at Pettistree yesterday though, there was nothing being added to the historical records of Suffolk ringing today, probably due to it being Holy Week. And maybe ringers being out singing.

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Wednesday 16th April 2025

Our evening was one of two pubs, a ground-floor six and a shipping container.

The pubs in question were The Cherry Tree in Woodbridge and the Greyhound Inn next door to St Peter and St Paul church in Pettistree, where we were doing our ringing in between.

Alfie's birthday celebrations continued at the former tavern as having been away for the actual anniversary of his birth last week, his Granny Kate wanted to treat him to a meal, which she very kindly did today.

Lovely food and a convivial time enjoyed and we continued on to the aforementioned six who were ringing as they usually do during Holy Week. Less usual though was the shipping container sat at the bottom of the tower to accommodate the ringers sitting out whilst the church is closed. Well done to Chris & Mary Garner on getting this arranged as it now offers a weatherproof, secure 'waiting room' that has also allowed us to create a little extra space in the ringing chamber and it could also be heated if necessary.

Whilst not taking advantage of this new space at another well-attended practice, my wife and I were pleased to be able to use our joint presence during these Easter school holidays to ring some Alnwick and London Surprise Minor, whilst Mrs Munnings also conducted a 120 of Grandsire Doubles before we retired to the latter hostelry.

Meanwhile, following my efforts to mark the birthdays of my sons with peals with suitable lengths and/or numbers of methods, I'll admit to a small chuckle when seeing the eightieth birthday of Gill Fielden marked by her son and grandsons in a fashion much more possible in the Pipe family than the Munnings family! Happy Birthday to a lovely lady and a superb ringer who I rang with during my time ringing in Birmingham and who many here will also have rung with as she did a fair bit in Suffolk, especially when married to son of the county Rod.

There was peal-ringing going on within our borders too, with it particularly pleasing to see Essex ringer George Thoday back in the peal columns with his first in the medium since 2023 as he rang the fourth to a 5280 of Yorkshire Surprise Major at The Wolery. And well done to North-West District Ringing Master and Annual Report Editor Joshua Watkins on ringing his first in the method.

A good evening for George and Joshua therefore, although I can't say what else their evening consisted of.

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Tuesday 15th April 2025

Before today, there had been at least one quarter-peal rung in Suffolk every day of this month. In fact on every day for the last seventeen days. It was an impressive run, but I suspected that it may come to an end at some point during this Holy Week, with many towerbells unavailable for use. And so it was today as nothing was noted on BellBoard from within our borders, but there was ringing activity from the county's ringers present and past further afield, as well as a couple of notable peals.

A number were ringing in the quarter-peal on the Mancroft Ringing Discovery Centre bells in St Peter's in Norwich conducted by former St Mary-le-Tower Ringing Master Simon Rudd. One-time North-East District RM Maggie Ross was peal-ringing in France at Vernet-les-Bains whilst not all that far away her other half Tim Palmer was ringing in the first peal ever rung in Andorra. Meanwhile back in the UK a peal of the 'standard' forty-one Surprise Minor methods was rung at Lustleigh in Devon by the five ringers who have rung the most peals of this once unattainable achievement and Ian Avery who has rung the treble to it more than anyone else.

There was also activity aimed at making attending ringing at Pettistree more comfortable. With the church currently closed for redecorating, where to put the large numbers of ringers who usually attend the weekly Wednesday night practices on this ground-floor six has been a slight issue. There isn't really enough space in the ringing chamber and although God willing as the weeks and months progress the evenings will get lighter and warmer and are when we tend to spill out into the churchyard anyway, the current conditions aren't conducive to standing out in for long periods of time. A tent was put up at first but wasn't up to the job of protecting folk from the wind and so there was nothing at all last week, which made things very cosy!

Now though there is a shipping container that has been dropped opposite the west door that takes you into the ground ringing chamber and has been transformed into a waiting room for those not ringing, out of any wind or rain that the British springtime may throw at you! Especially tomorrow when there won't be many places ringing due to Holy Week (although Martin Kirk has added to yesterday's thread on the SGR Facebook page that Bardwell will still be ringing too) then please do come along, take a look and get your ringing fix!

Finally, there is now just a week left to book your tea for the Guild AGM due to be held in Debenham on Saturday 26th April.

By which point I imagine there might have been a few more quarter-peals rung in Suffolk, even if there weren't any today.

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Monday 14th April 2025

A message on the Suffolk Guild Facebook page from Josephine Beever announcing that there is no practice at Stowmarket during this Holy Week prompted a number of messages that highlighted the need to check before you do or don't go out ringing this week. I mentioned that there is no session at Ufford, but that also Pettistree are due to hold theirs on Wednesday evening. Jackie Shipley imparted there is no practice at Woodbridge, whilst Lesley Barrell announced the same is true of Falkenham. In contrast, Jacky Savage posted that they intend to hold a practice on the simulator at Felixstowe on Wednesday and asked people to email her on felixstowe@suffolkbells.org.uk if they would like to join it.

Ipswich Minster is one such place that falls silent during Holy Week and traditionally we have used the free evening to carry out the annual spring clean of the famous ringing chamber. I say "we" as actually we didn't go along. The Easter weekend and the days leading up to it are usually very busy from a singing perspective for Ruthie and so if I'm perfectly honest I was reluctant to sacrifice a rare bit of downtime with my wife before that hectic period for her and her choral colleagues for cleaning somewhere else, especially as keeping our own place tidy feels like the proverbial painting of the Forth Bridge (although fans of QI will be aware that that that isn't a thing anymore!). However last year in a clever move, it was decided to hold our AGM on the Monday of Holy Week. It makes a lot of sense, not only meaning that we no longer have to curtail the ringing on a practice night for it, but also that people aren't just travelling into Ipswich for a spot of dusting and it encourages folk like me in to help with the cleaning when we might not otherwise have, as we were coming in for the meeting anyway.

Not that I made the cleaning this year. My presence there last year reinforced my belief that as ever in such situations I am more a hindrance than help, but even putting that to one side we had a visit from bridesmaid and best friend of Mrs Munnings Fergie planned at the last moment on a flying visit to her hometown this evening. I did make it to the Stables in the Halberd Inn for the AGM though, with holding proceedings here another smart innovation from 2024 allowing us to enjoy a tipple of choice whilst getting down to business.

And there was a fair amount of business, again led superbly by the Reverend Tom Mumford. Although some of our band do, most of us can't regularly attend services here as we travel in from distance and/or help ring the bells at other churches, so it can be difficult to feel a part of the church community here. Tom has always been genuinely and enthusiastically supportive of the ringers though and really makes us feel a part of his flock and tonight he was quick to point out how much the bells are appreciated by the congregation, whilst on behalf of the PCC he presented a gift to George Heath-Collins who is responsible for the church's website.

George was truly showing his worth tonight, not only helping guide us on issues of our own website and taking on the newly created role of Webmaster Officer, but filling in for his wife Lucy who was at home unwell and therefore unable to carry out her role as Secretary in person this evening. He had much to keep up with and contribute to, such as relatively minor issues like changing our name following the rebranding of St Mary-le-Tower to Ipswich Minster to vital ones like safeguarding and finances, whilst Ivan Culham, Peter Dykes and David Lugg were all deservedly elected members of the society. Well done to them!

So much is done by so many to make ringing here function and it is certainly appreciated by me who contributes very little to it all currently and I expect even more so by those who travel even further than me to ring here. For all the business covered, this felt a little like a celebration and appreciation of their efforts. Thank you to all the officers and those like Peter Davies who opens up and ensures that conditions are right for us to ring in.

Meanwhile earlier in the day there was ringing carried out in the county as a quarter-peal of Little Bob Royal was rung on handbells in Moats Tye.

Great to see that there is still some ringing going on within our borders during this Holy Week!

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Sunday 13th April 2025

April has begun in a busy fashion for Suffolk ringing and continued as much today. This afternoon's 1282 of Cambridge Surprise Royal at The Norman Tower was the twenty-sixth rung within our borders since we bade farewell to March and means that at least one quarter-peal has been rung in the county on everyday this month thus far.

Not only that, but the monthly second-Sunday peal at Aldeburgh today was the third peal for the Guild in three days and it's fourth of April on top of a handbell peal rung in Bacton for the Ely Diocesan Association.

And of course there will have been plenty of service ringing across Suffolk today, including that which I was a part of at Woodbridge this morning which had an audience during the last piece when Alison Wintgens' Godson and his family came up to watch us. Also like other places we were ringing for the Palm Sunday worship which whilst my fellow ringers rang down I joined, initially on Market Hill and then with an ambitious procession in a currently roadwork and traffic light-infested area and into the church as we followed a donkey, which was later seen coming out of the Kings Head as we left the post-service refreshments!

Meanwhile, I was struck by the fact that today's peals were rung across four different countries and if one broadens that to quarters too there are performances recorded on BellBoard from seven separate countries, with ringing arguably more global than ever before.

Our afternoon was closer to home and a lot quieter from a ringing perspective, although I did take a first read of the new SGR Annual Report which is now available to read on this website. Well done to Joshua Watkins on an accomplished debut as Report Editor which as ever is an interesting account of what happened in the districts, Guild committees and the like in 2024. Do try and make sure you have a read of it before the 2025 AGM, which is due to take place in thirteen days in Debenham and linked to that the Agenda for the actual meeting is also now available on this website.

As I've mentioned previously though, that meeting is but a small part of the day. Indeed last year it was just forty minutes of proceedings overall! There is open ringing planned on the 21cwt ground-floor eight whilst refreshments are served in Dove Cottage next door, as well as beforehand on the light ground-floor five in the neighbouring village of Winston, with a picturesque walk between the two an option for those who wish. A short service is intended to be led by the Reverend Keith Rengert at St Mary Magdalene church before a tea (which needs to be booked by Tuesday 22nd if you want one) is scheduled in the United Reform Church a few minutes stroll away and if previous experience is anything to go by a drink or two in a local hostelry after the business. All slated to be preceded with four quarter-peal attempts and a peal attempt.

God willing Suffolk's ringing in April will also finish in as busy a fashion as it has begun.

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Saturday 12th April 2025

Two peals in two days is a rarity for me currently.

Ringing on a Saturday morning is also a rarity for me currently.

Today, both were realised, but for good reason. I was already in the process of organising yesterday's ultimately successful attempt at Helmingham for Alfie's birthday when I was asked by Guild Ringing Master Katharine Salter if I would like to ring in an attempt at St Margaret's in Ipswich to celebrate tomorrow's ninetieth anniversary of the birth of John Girt, the longstanding tower captain there. I have a huge amount of respect and fondness for John who has done so much for local ringing, the South-East District and the Suffolk Guild, whilst this is a tower that is close to my heart as it was where my brother Chris and I did a lot of our early eight-bell ringing and where our father Alan and grandfather Jack did a lot of their early ringing.

Therefore, I was fully prepared to ring another peal almost precisely twenty-four hours after my previous one for this cause.

However, we don't normally do Saturday morning ringing either, as typically Alfred is playing football which quite apart from us wanting to watch him play also makes committing to ringing at the same time logistically challenging. Several weeks ago though, his team's coach very kindly sent out all the fixtures remaining this season. Not unusually as we are now in the depths of the school Easter holidays, this morning was free and so although Ruthie couldn't ring as she was at a work event that she was able to take the boys to, I said I could ring. Imagine our horror then when in a short-term enquiry that seems common in youth footy, the coach sent out feelers earlier this week for an away friendly this morning. We hate to say no as we know how much this now eleven-year old enjoys playing for his team, but we had to say no this time. As it happened we weren't the only ones who were busy this morning though and football plans were abandoned, so I was able to participate in the 5152 of Double Norwich Court Bob Major without any pangs of guilt for missing him play.

I'm very glad I was able to, as this was possibly one of the best peals I have rung in recently, if such a claim is credible with my low numbers currently. And I say possibly as I didn't hear all that much of it. For all that sentimentally I miss the old cosy and characterful ringing chamber, what was done here in 2017 is fantastic with the ringing now done in a spacious, bright, airy room on show to churchgoers. The downside though is that as with any ringing chamber open to the church you have to compete with the noise that can be created in that church and so it was this morning as in a spot of bad luck we found ourselves competing with the annual spring clean of the church. Vital work and thank God for volunteers such as these ensuring that these beautiful old buildings are loved, but it made it extremely difficult to hear our bells. There was vacuuming, drilling and even someone flicking a tape measure around and when loud hammering just beneath us began as they fixed a pew we literally couldn't hear any of the ringing, prompting one of the band to shout "quiet" which seemed to work for a while. Very well done to all the band therefore on keeping going and keeping right (especially as putting someone right in those circumstances would've been extremely challenging!) and in particular conductor Colin Salter with a composition which was far from straightforward.

Having been let in by tomorrow's birthday boy and his wife Shirley, we were also met by them afterwards for a catch-up and photos before a number of us retired to the sunbaked beer garden of The Woolpack, where it was interesting to hear more about Adrian Knights' legacy to the SGR. Most of you reading this will be aware that he left over £250,000 to the Guild in his will specifically for augmentations and as a charity we can't really hang on to this money for any longer than necessary. We don't want to open the door for inappropriate augmentations though, so they are looking for places where an augmentation would help and to that end the SGR are writing to parishes across the county to gauge any potential interest. The most obvious places would be heavish eights that could benefit from a lighter and more manageable front six or even front eight and those where there are large active bands who could take advantage of more bells, but of course the Guild would welcome any serious suggestions.

One person who missed out on our post-ringing activity (including the photos) and pub discussions was Nigel Gale who rushed off for the opportunity to chime the bells at the hung-dead but glorious eight at St Mary's in Bury St Edmunds which was part of the North-West District Practice next door at The Norman Tower. That was followed by a quarter-peal at Bardwell which was Sylvie Fawcett's first of Major inside, so well done Sylvie!

Meanwhile, once I'd returned from Ipswich I was able to read this week's issue of The Ringing World which features an excellent piece on the town's Minster and its training bells, written by Amanda Richmond and Jonathan Williamson, whilst on the back page there was some background to the 30,288 changes of Bristol Surprise Maximus at Tulloch in Scotland being attempted today. Sadly it was lost after more than seven hours when one of the band couldn't continue, but if successful it wouldn't only have smashed the record length on twelve bells which was set on Alderney with that 25,056 in 2017 but would also be the longest duration of any non-stop towerbell ringing ever. It is a reminder that these phenomenal ringers are human, that these aren't a case of twelve elite ringers just turning up and setting another record and why this would be an achievement in achieved. Indeed it is a reminder of why any quarter-peal or peal is an achievement. Even if you ring two in two days.

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Friday 11th April 2025

This morning's peal attempt to celebrate Alfie's birthday has probably induced more anxiety in me than any other peal I have arranged or even been in.

The ambition was... well, ambitious. Alfred was eleven yesterday and so faced with a choice of getting a band for a 5011 of something almost certainly on eight or more or one for 11-spliced I plumped for the latter. And then to make it even harder for myself I decided to do that with Surprise Major. And then to make it even harder than that, when I first thought about it before Christmas and April seemed eons away, I was inspired to go for a 'Pickled Egg' eleven. Naturally that reduced the pool of potential ringers, but there is actually a lot who are capable of doing this (far more so than me!) in Suffolk and especially once widened to East Anglia. However, I was getting nervous as one by one I was rebuffed by those helping at the Essex Ringing Course, holidaying in Australia or up in Scotland for record peal attempts. Fortunately I was still able to get a really good band with much experience in doing this sort of thing, even after one of the band had to drop out earlier this week when I'd given them completely the wrong start time! Still, not good for the stress levels.

Nor was getting the tower itself, which was hampered by communication issues but mainly my lack of proactiveness and organisational inadequacies, which saw me still phoning round last night to confirm someone was letting us in! It was all in hand and I needn't have worried, but I did!

All this was the backdrop to me also learning a composition and a handful of unfamiliar methods which has seen my mind thoroughly occupied over the last few weeks in amongst everyday life. I had learnt it all as much as I possibly could, but would it stick? How the likes of Jack Page and Alan Reading learn so many different far more complicated compositions at the same time is beyond me!

Nonetheless, we gathered at Helmingham where we had been let in and were ready to raise the 17cwt eight. Everything seemed to be falling into place, until I got a phone call as I stood in the gallery ringing chamber looking out over the church below. One of the band was letting me know that they had arrived. In Framlingham. It was better than I had initially feared as thoughts of them being hours away raced through my mind. Framlingham was OK in the circumstances. At just twenty minutes away they could get to us whilst we rang the bells up and then enjoyed some of the sunshine whilst we waited, before we finally got going. And then stopped again following several mistakes within the first couple of leads.

Frankly after all of that I am all the more amazed that we were ultimately successful in 3 hours and 8 minutes (pleasingly in the same time as three peals recorded by boards on the walls there, so we clearly got the speed right!) as we produced some moments of uncertainty but also - despite my dubious pronouncing of Turramurra and Ytterbium - a whole lot more really good ringing, some of which was kindly caught on video by Jenny Croft as explored the surroundings.

In fact in the end the only disappointment was that there were no pubs nearby open, which was a pity as we could have done with a drink! Nonetheless, I did end up at a pub as following a spot of food shopping with Ruthie and the two youngest boys and before picking Mason up, the four of us found ourselves in the beer garden of The Turks Head in Hasketon whilst the boys (particularly Josh!) discovered an aptitude for petanque.

Meanwhile, well done to Maureen Gardiner, Andrea Alderton, Lesley Steed, David Steed, David Howe and conductor Stephen Dawson on ringing their first quarter-peal of Francis Genius Delight Minor in the 1296 at Tostock.

Hopefully it didn't induce too much anxiety.

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Thursday 10th April 2025

Eleven years ago today Ruthie and I entered the brave new world of full-time parenting. We'd been blessed with Mason of course, but never 24/7 as he split his time with his mother. Of course having a baby with you as your responsibility all the time was life-changing, as it was for his older brother too. So Alfie's arrival at 2.04am on Thursday 10th April 2014 was a big thing for all of us and so began a life of working all of our lives - especially ringing - around children. For most of that time only one of us has been able to go out to evening practices. When my wife goes singing on a Thursday it is impractical to get out ringing without the boys being out very late on a school night. And some of you will probably have frustratedly experienced trying to get an answer out of us for ringing in a quarter or peal, which is usually a protracted process as we're typically trying to find ways of saying yes whilst also not abandoning our children! Logistically parenthood makes our lives challenging and it only got more so on Josh's birth and continues to as they get older and have their own social lives, activities and work! We wouldn't swap any of it for anything though and therefore Alfred's birthday - as well as Mason's, Joshua's, Mother's Day and Father's Day - is a day to celebrate.

Which we did! With his big day falling - as it so often does - during the school Easter holidays, both his parents took the day off work and with his cousins coming round early as we looked after them on behalf of his Aunty Clare, he took the opportunity to open his presents and cards in front of them and we then took advantage of the nice weather and took them down the park, where of course football was involved!

Then at his request we went to Ask Italian in Ipswich, a venue he remembered going to - and clearly enjoying - a couple of years ago, before we rounded the day off with another stunning cake made by his mother.

It meant Mrs Munnings forgoing her choral practicing and also me doing likewise for the Surprise Major Practice at Hollesley. I'd love it if AJM or any of the boys were to one day take to the exercise, but at the moment it seemed a little unfair to drag him out to more ringing on his birthday, as much I would've been more than happy to go and ring on one of the nicest eights in Suffolk.

Others were ringing elsewhere in the county too, particularly at Ixworth where a 1344 of Painswick Surprise Major was rung. Well done to Stephen Dawson, Joshua Watkins and Alan Moult on ringing their first in the method.

But our main focus today was on celebrating parenthood, all three boys and most particularly today Alfie. Happy Birthday Alfred!

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Wednesday 9th April 2025

Birthdays are at the forefront this week in Suffolk ringing as well as us personally. Tomorrow is the eleventh anniversary of Alfie's birth, whilst at the other end of the scale it would've been George Pipe's ninetieth birthday today. It is also the ninetieth birthday this week of John Girt. Much like George was, John is one of those stalwarts synonymous with the Guild because he has done so much for it. Most notably he was Guild Secretary for an incredible fifteen years, but he is also a Vice President, a Life Honorary member, has worked hard in recruiting and training and much, much more. And personally I have always been grateful for the initial eight-bell opportunities that my brother Chris and I got in our youth at St Margaret's in Ipswich where he has been running the ringing for many years.

Therefore it is only appropriate that his significant birthday is being marked within our borders this week. I am aware of ringing planned for it this weekend and today a 5090 of Double Norwich Court Bob Major was rung at Rendham, whilst the pre-practice quarter-peal at Pettistree was dedicated to him too and was rung in by Ruthie before myself, Alfred & Josh joined her at a slightly different feeling session. With the church closure intended to last until July, a tent had been put up over the west door entrance at the bottom of the tower to create an overflow space in the absence of being able to use the church. However, that wasn't really working and so there was nothing there tonight whilst a suitable solution is actioned. Of course the evenings should be getting lighter now and hopefully warmer too, but on this occasion it meant that the ringing chamber was unusually cosy, especially once it got too dark and chilly to hang around outside!

Nonetheless, this was still a very good practice, with the help of Rob who was visiting from Herefordshire as along with Doubles for Helen, John and Sam to ring, there was also much Surprise Minor including Cambridge, London, Norwich and Surfleet, as well as a well-struck touch of spliced Minor before we retired to the Greyhound Inn.

Our night was relatively late, but not as late as it was for Matthew Higby who after we'd returned from the pub posted on Facebook that he was still working up at Tulloch in Scotland splicing in new tailends ahead of a planned attempt of 30,000 changes of Bristol Surprise Maximus there on Saturday. That is something to look out for!

Meanwhile, something else to look out for is the return of the weekly practices at Grundisburgh on a Thursday night, starting with tomorrow. They had been mothballed over the winter, but although there won't be one next week on Maundy Thursday, the intention is for them to be up and running again now, so please do support them if you are able.

And please do enjoy celebrating the many birthdays of this week!

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Tuesday 8th April 2025

On the front page of BellBoard today is an announcement sent in by former Exning learner Jimmy Yeoman of the intention to ring 15009 changes of 6-spliced Stedman Caters & Treble Dodging Royal for the Cumberland Youths at Tamworth in Staffordshire at 9am on Easter Monday. Going by the 3 hours and 6 minutes that it took to ring the peal I rang there in 2000 and variations of time taken in other peals rung on the 21cwt ten, I imagine it would take around nine-and-half to ten hours to ring if successful, which would be around nine-and-a-half to ten hours more ringing than either Ruthie or I managed today, with Ufford's weekly practice cancelled due to a lack of numbers. Worth noting there will also be no session there next Tuesday either, as it is Holy Week. And again it is worth checking if you would usually go to a practice in case they aren't ringing next week and indeed if you are intending on not going to a practice in case they are ringing!

There was definitely ringing at Offton this evening though with a 1260 of Plain Bob Doubles, as for the eleventh day running a quarter-peal was rung in Suffolk. During that period there have been twenty-seven quarters rung, which by my calculations is about twenty hours of ringing. Or roughly twice that which Jimmy Yeoman and friends are intending to ring for on Easter Monday. Good luck Jimmy!

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Monday 7th April 2025

Being the start of the Easter school holidays both Ruthie and I went out to Ipswich Minster's practice this evening, dragging along a reluctant Alfie & Josh with us. Although they may not have appreciated it, I think the rest of the band did as my wife's presence enabled us to ring some Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus during a session that also saw us ring Cambridge Surprise Maximus and Stedman Cinques. More support is always welcome and along with The Norman Tower we now have two very decent twelve-bell practices for those who want to break into and/or progress on this number. You would be most welcome. Apart from next Monday when there is no practice as it is Holy Week, which I believe is also the case in Bury St Edmunds on Maundy Thursday.

Others went on to the Halberd Inn afterwards, but with the boys understandably not allowed in at that time we headed straight home for a cup of tea at the end of another lovely sunny day that saw quarter-peals rung on handbells in Moats Tye and on the 8cwt six at Great Barton. Well done to North-West District Secretary Mary Oliver-Barratt on ringing her first inside in the latter.

It's been a pretty good start to the Easter school holidays, even if Alfie & Josh might not appreciate it!

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Sunday 6th April 2025

It was another busy day of quarter-pealing in Suffolk as for the third day running there were a quartet of quarters rung in the county. Well done to Lizzie Wood on ringing her first on eight on a working bell in the 1260 of Plain Bob Triples at Halesworth and to Sonia Doherty on ringing her first on eight at all in the 1288 of Grandsire Triples at St Margaret's in Ipswich! Meanwhile another couple of quarter-peals were rung in memory of Carol Girling, with Plain Bob Minor rung at Tostock and another of Grandsire Triples today, this time at Stowmarket where she was such a big part of the ringing scene and her husband Winston was Tower Captain until recently. A clip of the ringing can be found on the Guild's Facebook page.

Sadly we weren't able to add to those figures with an attempt of more Grandsire Triples at Woodbridge this afternoon. This was to be in memory of Mike Tyler who rang here and at nearby Bredfield and who died just after Christmas. It had been initiated by the local ringers of the 25cwt eight, but I had been asked to complete the band and so we'd gathered in the tower with a good band to go for this, once Peter Mayer and I had managed to pull the tenor up! Appropriately the bells were half-muffled as they have been throughout Lent and we set off producing some pretty decent ringing for the crowds listening specifically to this (it was apparently announced in church this morning and was in this week's notices) and from outside the pubs and cafes on the Market Hill, but around halfway through the conductor noticed that the bells weren't in the right order and set it up. What went wrong exactly is unclear, but of course there was no point carrying on from that position and when after some scouring for compositions a subsequent restart floundered within minutes - as can often happen with restarts when the original attempt has gone a long way - we decided to call it a day and take advantage of the refreshments very generously laid on for us by local ringer Jackie Shipley in St Mary's House..

Disappointing as the lost quarter was, it was a part of what was still a very pleasant afternoon as I walked up to St Mary-the-Virgin church in the glorious sunshine that has become the norm recently and then back via the park where Alfie & Josh had been kindly invited to a birthday party (with a football theme of course!) and where I met up again with them and Ruthie.

The morning wasn't too bad either. Ringing at Ipswich Minster saw me ring the tenor to some Cambridge Surprise Maximus, the treble to call-changes on twelve (having only just about got out "treble's going, treble's gone" whilst nearly losing my voice partway through!) and finally right in the middle on the seventh for a touch of Stedman Cinques, before we retired to Costa Coffee for refreshment and then went on to Grundisburgh to ring there.

Numbers were much lower here, with only five ringing out as we arrived and then one of the ringers needed a bit of time out as they were clearly struggling, but in the end we managed Plain Bob Doubles and call-changes on six whilst Joshua bonded with Helen's granddaughter Lyla over ladybirds!

It was all very relaxed on a busy day of quarter-pealing in Suffolk!

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Saturday 5th April 2025

Recent days have seen absolutely gorgeous weather. For all that the wind has been chilly, it has been dry, bright, sunny and - out of that wind and in the sunshine - really warm. Absolutely lovely conditions to be on the Felixstowe Peninsula at Falkenham. Much like the Shotley Peninsula I went to earlier in the week, this is surrounded by big towns, docks and busy dual carriageways and yet the village is a small rural idyll that feels miles from anywhere. This was where the South-East District was holding its monthly practice this morning with a focus on Grandsire on this light easy-going ground-floor six where there is plenty of room even in the small quaint church that the ringing chamber is a part of and outside with views down to the River Deben.

Hopefully plenty of members were taking advantage, but we were unable to on another Saturday of football, primarily Alfie's team's fixture which was on at the same time as the SE event and whilst we were sorry to miss the ringing we were also really pleased to be watching him and his teammates winning with another clean sheet in what he described as his best match so far this season.

Sadly Ipswich Town's latest Premier League fixture this afternoon didn't go quite so well as they lost at Portman Road to Wolverhampton Wanderers and thus pretty much finishes any realistic prospect of the Tractor Boys staying up this year with our visitors the team who are the worst of the rest above us and already quite a few points ahead even before proceedings just down the road from the six at St Matthew's.

Despite the depressing outcome of the actual footy it was yet another fun day out with the family and other ringers in those glorious conditions. Although mother-in-law and Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle couldn't make it today, once we'd had the usual pre-match food and drink in The Mermaid we met up with my brother and Norman Tower ringer Chris and then entered the Fanzone for a drink with Norwich ringer Simon Rudd.

Elsewhere in Suffolk meanwhile, it was another busy day of quarter-pealing in the county. Well done to North-West District Ringing Master Joshua Watkins on ringing his first blows of Queen Mary Surprise Minor (which is sixth-place King Edward, which in turn is Cambridge with a bell making places in thirds when the treble lays at the back at the half-lead rather than fifths, in a demonstration of how many Minor methods one can learn from just a handful of base methods) in the 1320 at Woolpit and on his first spliced as conductor with the 1272 of Bourne, Cambridge, Hull, Ipswich, Norfolk & Primrose Surprise Minor (in another good demonstration of my previous point!) at Euston, which also remembered Carol Girling. And there were QPs of St Clement's College Bob Minor and Beverley, Surfleet & York Surprise Minor spliced at Tostock and Troston respectively as well.

It was a lovely day for it too!

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Friday 4th April 2025

It was a busy day for ringing in Suffolk, with four quarter-peals rung within our borders today by four completely separate bands.

Two were rung in memory of ringers lost recently, with the 1320 of London Surprise Minor at Tostock remembering Carol Girling and the 1260 of Plain Bob Doubles at Metfield dedicated to the former Tower Captain at the 9cwt six Bryan Wareham, but they also saw personal achievements. Well done to Lizzie Wood on ringing her first inside in the latter and to Andrea Alderton on ringing her first in the method in the former, whilst a 1344 of Cambridge Surprise Minor was rung at Earl Stonham and a 1263 of Stedman Triples at Elveden.

No ringing for us though, but we did spend our evening with ringers as we met our fellow Ipswich Minster ringers in the Halberd Inn ahead of a curry at our usual venue of Maharani on Norwich Road. Unusually we had Alfie and Josh with us, a combination of them now being well versed with curry etiquette and their usual child-sitter for such occasions being present as my mother Sally joined us. Less unusually though, we all had a superb night out (with the Culham-Munnings end of the table good value for company!) with good food, good service and good hospitality. Thank you to David Potts for organising and on making it having begun the day in Germany!

It was a busy day for him, even if just not from a ringing perspective!

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Thursday 3rd April 2025

The lighter evenings really do feel like they give you more of the day and make such a positive difference. Gone are the days (until we put the clocks back at least) where it is dark when work finishes and makes one feel that the day is over and just passing time indoors, usually looking at screens. Evening practices now start in daylight and whilst Ruthie was out practicing with her choral colleagues I was able to play football with Josh in the garden. Lots of smiles and fresh air and not a screen in sight.

Ironic then that I find myself congratulating someone for a performance on Ringing Room, but it is worthy of mention on this blog as the 1344 of Yorkshire Surprise Major rung on the platform by a band featuring Suffolk Guild Treasurer Tim Hart was former St Mary-le-Tower Ringing Master Simon Rudd's 2000th quarter-peal as conductor. Of course they haven't all been rung on RR, but whilst it isn't everybody's cup of tea and wasn't universally popular even when we couldn't do ringing in any other way, personally I think it has been a wonderful innovation and although most have moved on, Simon, Tim and many others have continued using it as an outlet for progressing their ringing without having to spend time travelling the country to do it, so it is perhaps appropriate that he has reached this impressive landmark in this way.

There was ringing happening on real bells in the county today too though, as well as further congratulations to be imparted as the 1280 of Bristol Surprise Major at Horringer celebrated the birth of Sally Crouch's grandson, which all contributes to a very positive feeling day!

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Wednesday 2nd April 2025

This is not a drill! The year is 2025 and Ipswich Town's men have won a Premier League match! Momentous as their victory in Bournemouth tonight was for us fans of the Tractor Boys, it was but a backdrop to my participation in the practice at Pettistree, which was unusual for more than just the Superblues winning.

Indeed on my arrival I was greeted by a tent covering the entrance through the west door straight into the ground-floor ringing chamber, which for the next four months is intended to be the way in rather than the usual through the south door and via the church. That is because the building is closed for replastering, but ringing is continuing as normal. We did have the unusual visit of my mother Sally who was mainly here for the socialising as she still isn't ringing and Rhonda and John who have recently moved into the area from Cambridgeshire and whose presence will hopefully become perfectly normal! And as soon as I eventually entered the ringing chamber following a group photo that was being taken outside our new entrance, I bonged behind to some Plain Bob Doubles, which is a rare opportunity. Nonetheless, despite the absence of two or three Surprise Minor ringing regulars, we also rang Cambridge, Norwich (which saw Gavin Edwards pulling a tenor in for the first time, so well done him!) and Surfleet before we retired to the Greyhound Inn for a drink very kindly bought for us by Mary Garner ahead of the anniversary of her birth tomorrow. Happy Birthday for tomorrow Mary, an event marked by the pre-practice quarter-peal, a presentation of a card to her and a rendition of Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday also to Brian Whiting, who celebrated his with a 1260 of Gainsborough Little Bob Major at The Barn Owl Ring in Norton, whilst on the same bells a 1250 of Cambridge Surprise Major was dedicated to Carol Girling. Carol was also remembered with the 1280 of London Surprise Major rung at Elveden and in Bacton a peal was rung on handbells for the Ely Diocesan Association in memory of Derek Sibson, a Past Master of the Cumberland Youths and someone I remember from the times I rang in his home county of Northamptonshire as a youngster when visiting my maternal grandparents.

Earlier in the day, I found myself at the Royal Hospital School in Holbrook, beneath the tower with a 21cwt five and the tower of Stutton with it's 11cwt six poking above the woodlands alongside the grounds where for the third year in a row Alfie had qualified to represent his school at the annual cross country festival here against pupils from primary schools across the south-east of Suffolk. As with previous years he also did really well, although his experience was sullied somewhat by being highly placed as he got to the final bend only to be pushed to the ground by another runner following a spot of jostling for position! Having despondently trudged the final few yards he was visibly upset which was sad to see and had hurt his ankle in the incident which meant that he couldn't go to football training this evening. Still, he can be really pleased with his efforts as he was still relatively highly placed at the finish.

Having taken the morning off to cheer him and his schoolmates, I had time either side of the event to explore the peninsula. Although hemmed in by dual carriageways, Ipswich and the ports of Felixstowe and Harwich, it is also bordered by the rivers Orwell and Stour, both of which were shimmering beautifully this morning and it is home to pretty villages and feels extremely isolated and rural. It is also somewhere that our family have strong roots. The churchyards are liberally sprinkled with gravestones with the Munnings name on and I believe my Grandad Jack used to cycle into Ipswich from Holbrook to ring at St Margaret's, but we don't come here often and so I took the chance to get some photos for the Guild website. On a gloriously sunny morning when the churches of our county were looking at there most wonderful, I got pictures of Chelmondiston and Freston, both of which are one-bell towers.

It was a pleasant way to start a day that ended so momentously.

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Tuesday 1st April 2025

A notification for approval on the Suffolk Guild Facebook page today brought dreadful news as Cath Colman shared that her mother Carol Girling passed away overnight in her sleep. Our thoughts are with Cath, as well as Carol's husband Winston who she supported through all he has done for ringing in Stowmarket, the North-West District and the SGR, which is a lot. But Carol did a huge amount herself. She was a member of the BAC, the NW District Representative on the Recruitment & Training Committee and the Newsletter Editor, whilst also a very useful ringer. She was a regular quarter-peal ringer locally helping ringers near the beginning of their ringing progression and Pealbase shows she rang 92 peals from one of thirty-six Minor methods inside to the first peal of ten ringers. Above all else she was a lovely lady who is a sad loss for us ringers and of course her family, a number of whom are ringers.

It was a sombre note introduced to what had been a really upbeat day. The skies were clear, the sun was shining brightly and temperatures warm and being April Fools Day I had enjoyed hearing about the various pranks and jokes being played out. Such as the news that the Tide Mill in Woodbridge being painted a different colour and the peal of one-spliced at the fictional Much Groaning in Shropshire!

However, Ufford practice had to be cancelled due to one of the regulars having to take someone to hospital. Thankfully the patient was fine after being seen to, but as I've mentioned before the absence or addition of one or two ringers to towers like here can make the difference between a relatively expansive session including Triples and Surprise Minor and no session at all.

There was at least ringing at another Tuesday evening practice though, with the one at Offton preceded by a 1260 of Plain Bob Triples rung on the ground-floor eight and dedicated to Carol Girling, whose family was utmost in the thoughts of ringers, ourselves included.

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Monday 31st March 2025

I have always felt uplifted going to St Mary-le-Tower on the first Monday night practice following the change of clocks, as it is usually the first evening of the year where I travel out to ringing in the daylight. So it was when I made my way to what is now Ipswich Minster for tonight's practice, my journey taking me through the beautiful Suffolk countryside coming to life and basking in the orange glow of the late evening sunshine and waited in a churchyard of blossoming trees for the piece in progress on my arrival to finish.

Very pleased I was too that I was there as we were missing quite a few Surprise Maximus regulars with the WhatsApp group busy beforehand with apologies from those unable to come due to coming back late from work, those still working, those ill and even those preparing a meal for the bellhangers they were hosting! We at least had the presence of my mother Sally for the first time for a few weeks, but she is still not allowed to ring, so we couldn't benefit from her skills on the end of a bellrope.

Nonetheless, Ringing Master David Potts was able to fashion a useful practice, with even a little indulgence thrown in as we rang a very enjoyable touch of Stedman Triples and Bristol Surprise Major spliced, appropriately enough following the marking of the thirty-fifth anniversary on Saturday of the first peal of spliced Cinques and Maximus. Most of the session was dedicated to ringing on ten and Hal's confusion over transposing numbers from twelve to ten, something that must be contagious as I started struggling with it too! Despite such issues we still managed a range that included Stedman Caters and Cambridge Surprise Royal before we rounded proceedings off with a couple of courses of Grandsire Cinques and a drink in the Halberd Inn.

Meanwhile earlier in the day, the Guild's quarter-peal ringing for the month was rounded off on handbells in Moats Tye with a 1296 of Little Bob Royal, an effort that hopefully also left the band feeling uplifted.

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Sunday 30th March 2025

This morning began early.

Partly because of the lost hour with the clocks moving forward. Mainly though for two very important reasons.

One was to drop Mason off at Suffolk Rural - or Otley College as many of you will probably know it better - where he was volunteering to serve jacket potatoes at their spring family farm day, the other was of course for the boys and me to wake Ruthie with flowers, gifts and a cup of tea for Mother's Day. It was the very least we could do for a woman entirely worthy of a day like today and so I'm glad to say that it wasn't the only treat she got today as we ended up at Chestnut Tree Farm for a meal with not just my wife, but her mother and Ufford Ringing Master Kate and her mother Janet, as well as Ruthie's sister Clare and her girls and fiancé Chris. With Mason collected and pleasingly talking enthusiastically about his day, it was a nice occasion to celebrate the mothers of Ruthie's family.

Earlier in the afternoon we'd also celebrated the mother of my family as we visited my mum Sally for a cup of tea as well as bringing a card and gift for another mater deserving of the attention for all she has done for my brother Chris and me in raising us, supporting us and teaching us to ring!

And even earlier this morning Ruthie received flowers from the boys at church in Woodbridge where she was singing in the choir and which was preceded by me, Alfie & Josh joining the ringers upstairs so I could help them to ring on the front six of the half-muffled 25cwt eight. Or at least until the rope on the fourth slipped its wheel whilst the Ringing Master Bruce Wakefield was ringing it!

Meanwhile on BellBoard, Little Cornard's ringing for this morning's service was noted, as was a 1314 of Grandsire Caters at Stowmarket which was the first quarter-peal on all ten bells.

Stowmarket is also where last year's Guild AGM was held and is enough for me to tenuously link it to reminding readers of this year's AGM, which is due to be held in Debenham on Saturday 26th April. The AGM itself is just a small part of the day. In fact a really small part if the 2024 one is anything to go by, which was done and dusted in under forty minutes. Although I can't guarantee that it will be as quick this time, it is the strongest indication yet that the meetings that once dragged on for hours and hours and seemed to have understandably put people off attending are well and truly a thing of the past. Much that once filled those lengthy proceedings is dealt with as it happens, quickly and en masse through emails and social media, but whilst there is still some business to attend to on the day and even if you cannot bear to participate in this now short dose of democracy, there is so much else due to happen on that day to hopefully entice you along. Ringing at Debenham, as well as beforehand on the ground-floor five in the quaint neighbouring village of Winston, a hopefully joyful and usually also brief service, refreshments in Dove Cottage next to the church of St Mary Magdalene and beneath the sound of the lovely 21cwt ground-floor eight, a fantastic sounding spread at the meeting venue of the United Reform Church, much socialising with members from an organisation that stretches from Aldeburgh to Poslingford, Palgrave to Stutton and if every Guild AGM I've ever been to is anything to go by, a drink or two with a sizeable crowd in a local pub afterwards. Please do support this if you can and if you want a tea then book it by Tuesday 22nd April with South-East District Secretary Liz Christian.

Although the AGM and Easter mean that there isn't as much going on in the districts as is typical (with the North-East and South-West the ones missing out due to the vagaries of the moving liturgical calendar at this time of year), there is still ringing penciled in for April in the SGR with the South-East District due to be holding their monthly practice on Saturday on the very easy-going light six at Falkenham where Grandsire Doubles is the main focus but I imagine not the only focus. There is due to be an event in the NE with the Beccles 10-Bell Practice on the evening of Wednesday 9th, whilst twenty-four hours later a Surprise Major Practice is slated for Hollesley, the North-West District intends to hold their practice at The Norman Tower from 10am-noon on Saturday 12th and a Kaleidoscope Session is scheduled for Friday 25th between 7 and 9pm at Barham.

There may be some late nights and some more early mornings next month too.

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Saturday 29th March 2025

At one point today, Ruthie said to me "I can't believe we've done so little but it's felt so rushed" as we raced to meet our next engagement.

She had a point. On this sunny spring Saturday, we only had two main things to go to, neither of which would be very long. In the morning Alfie and his teammates were playing a football match at home, something that wasn't expected to take more than an hour and a half out of our leisurely day. Then this afternoon we'd agreed to go along to Messy Church at St Mary's Church House in Woodbridge between 2 and 4. And at some point in between I needed to collect Mason, we had to get the click and collect shopping and I'd asked the boys to get a card and gift for their mum for tomorrow's Mother's Day, none of which was anticipated to take very long, still leaving plenty of time for a spot of lunch.

Things didn't quite pan out at that sedate pace though. Alfred's game was subject to all sorts of delays like injuries, drinks breaks on a warm morning and the retying of bootlaces and then when he discovered that friends were playing in the match kicking-off afterwards he was keen to stick around to cheer them on. With the sun shining and Josh enjoying a kickaround with other kids on the same park, it seemed a pity to take them away from this and back home where I imagine they would've instantly been glued to a screen.

However, that gave us much less time to squeeze those smaller tasks in before Messy Church. Having picked my eldest up though, we should still have had plenty of time to get shopping and gifts. Except I rather naively underestimated that on the day before Mother's Day everywhere within a mile of Tesco and its surrounding shops in Martlesham Heath would be completely gridlocked.

Eventually those tasks were completed, but it was very much lunch on the run as we dashed to St Mary's Church House, a route currently complicated and lengthened by a huge chunk of the town's one-way system being closed for several weeks. My wife and two youngest sons thrown out (not literally of course!) of the car outside our destination just in time, I scoured the area for somewhere to park (with the aforementioned road closure also reducing the available parking nearby) and spent the next couple of hours helping out at a really enjoyable event. Well, more like two and a half hours. In fact, once we'd helped clearing up, almost three hours before a message from my wife's sister Clare saying she was waiting outside our home to pick something up led to another frantic trip and that accurate comment from Mrs Munnings. After all was said and done, we eventually slumped on the settee to a relaxed Saturday evening after nine hours solid activity on our leisurely day!

Unsurprisingly on a day when we barely had the chance to breath there was no time for any ringing for us, but happily that wasn't the case for every ringer in Suffolk, especially the six who rang four quarter-peals in the county today. Well done to all those who rang their first blows of St Anne's Bob Triples in the 1344 rung at Coddenham, but especially to Juliet Griffiths for ringing her first of Grandsire Triples in the 1260 at Hollesley and congratulations to her & Sally Crouch on ringing their 25th QP together and to Neal Dodge & Joshua Watkins on ringing their 75th together in that success on the 16cwt eight. Juliet also rang her 50th in the medium with the forty-three minutes of St Clement's College Bob Minor at Clopton, so congratulations to her on that, whilst Cambridge Surprise & Plain Bob Minor were rung at Ashbocking in the other of the quarters. Meanwhile further afield, a peal of Stedman Cinques was rung for the SGR at Ossett in West Yorkshire in 3 hours and 31 minutes.

Although we were unable to do any ringing ourselves, we did find time this evening to read this week's edition of The Ringing World, which features the obituary of Essex ringer Jim Towler written by former Bures ringer John Loveless and also notice of the Guild AGM due to be held at Debenham on Saturday 26th April. God willing that will also be a busy day!

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Friday 28th March 2025

There was ringing going on this evening at Earl Stonham with the South-East District Kaleidoscope Session on the gallery-ring six and hopefully it was well attended and useful to those there. These are an opportunity for those near the beginning of their ringing progression to get together and take advantage of the experience available throughout the district and so I hope that was the case on this occasion.

However, we were unable to make it as we were invited as a family to The Bull Inn on the Market Hill beneath the 25cwt eight of Woodbridge to celebrate the birthday of one of Ruthie's choral colleagues from St Mary the Virgin church. With the vicar the Reverend Nigel Prior also present and links to ringers in the choir, ringing did come up, including the open day the ringers are intending on holding soon.

Although there wasn't time to get across to that aforementioned SE practice from our early evening engagement, we were back home in time to enjoy a chilled evening with a drink and even a perusal of the draft minutes of the BAC meeting held at St Margaret's in Ipswich at the start of last month and which were shared to this website today.

With the usual caveat that they aren't exciting or meant to be and with a momentary pause to remember what we used to get up to on Friday nights instead of reading BAC reports, these again offered an insight to much that is going on across the Guild.

There is the usual mixture of bad news, good news and sort of in between. It is a pity for example to see that Cotton are now unringable once more. These are such a unique ring of bells due to being rung from a ringing chamber completely open to the elements and so much more could be made of them from a PR perspective as well as from the pure ringing benefits of a manageably weighted ground-floor eight, but I guess - as with anywhere - it needs local enthusiasm and motivation, which it seemed to have briefly when former SGR Secretary Carl Melville was the incumbent there. That certainly isn't a criticism of anyone as I don't know enough about the situation 'on the ground', but it is a shame.

On a more positive note though, it appears the project to install an eight at Hoxne continues to enjoy community support, with the bells waiting in storage at Blyth & Co in Nottinghamshire, whilst the in between bit is fulfilled by Blythburgh, where they are thinking of installing facilities at the bottom of the tower. As a result the ringing chamber would need to be moved from it's current position on the ground-floor to a new floor above, but when the technical advisors attended a site meeting with the architect it became clear that the initial plans didn't really leave enough space for the bells to be rung, so they advised as much. An example of how important it is for ringers and especially those with the expertise that BAC members have to be involved in such projects.

The biggest headline of the report though is that Alan Moult has resigned as the joint Technical Advisor after many years in the role. Fortunately Jed Flatters is remaining as the sole Technical Advisor and although Alan is also planning on relinquishing the post of Diocesan Bell Advisor in a couple of years time he intends to continue on the BAC. I can only reiterate the report's words of thanks for someone we as a Guild are very lucky to have, although I will go further and say how fortunate we are to have those willing and able to serve on the BAC generally. Thank you to them all, but on this occasion especially Alan.

And thank you to those willing to run events like tonight's Kaleidoscope Session at Earl Stonham.

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Thursday 27th March 2025

I do enjoy a spot of history, I enjoy exploring the evolution of language and I love spending time with my sons, so I was in my element when I found myself in Alfie's class with our eldest for a 'Stay and Investigate' session on the Vikings that involved a quiz on what English words a list of Old Norse had evolved into! Although much to the shock of no one I'm sure, I was rubbish at weaving.

Elsewhere in Suffolk meanwhile, a handbell peal was being rung in Bacton for the Norwich Diocesan Association, but there was no ringing for anyone in our household today, bar me doing some more practicing of methods on Ringing Room whilst Ruthie was singing with her choral colleagues.

Another time where ringing opportunities on towerbells are limited is Holy Week, which is due to start on Monday 14th April. And as is usually the case at this time of year a debate has started up on the Bellringers Facebook page about the rights and wrongs of ringing during the week leading up to Easter. At one extreme it was suggested that we shouldn't be ringing during the whole of Lent (apart from Sundays which apparently aren't a part of Lent for those looking to indulge in whatever they've given up!), at the other towers continue to ring as normal. Someone believed that the actual period of mourning 'prohibiting' us from ringing is from Maundy Thursday through to Easter Sunday morning, which makes sense. Personally I'm with Norfolk ringer Steve Day who points out that hardly anyone walks past a church and wonders why the bells aren't ringing, but more would notice if they were ringing half-muffled, which might stand a greater chance of making the general public aware of Holy Week and it's importance.

Nonetheless, it doesn't vex me enough to push back against it and so therefore I intend to go with the flow. Whilst of the towers I go to there will be no ringing at Ipswich Minster on the Monday or Ufford on the Tuesday, there is a practice planned for Pettistree as usual on the Wednesday, but as the thread on Facebook highlights and as we see each year in Suffolk, different places have different customs that might include moving to ringing a mini-ring and/or handbells or having a social. Before you decide not to go to a tower because you don't believe they are ringing then do check that that is actually the case in case they're left short. Likewise, if you are planning on going then please contact them in case they are one of those not ringing or are going elsewhere to do something different.

As they would say in Old Norse, verðr viðbúinn.

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Wednesday 26th March 2025

For the second day running a peal of Surprise Royal was rung for the Suffolk Guild beyond it's borders as following yesterday's 5040 of Cambridge at Gressenhall in Norfolk today saw the same number of changes rung at Tollesbury in Essex in a Yorkshire-above method named Newbury Town.

No peals for me on any number on this warm bright Wednesday, but I was preparing for one in some unfamiliar methods not rung by me for a while if at all, as I found myself on Ringing Room this evening doing some revision whilst Ruthie was out at Pettistree's weekly practice enjoying avoiding ringing Stedman Doubles amongst actually participating in various other bits such as Surfleet Surprise Minor during another apparently productive session rounded off with refreshment in the Greyhound Inn, all of which had been preceded by a quarter-peal of St Martin's & St Simon's Bob Minor.

A useful evening all round before I went to bed, wondering if there might be a peal of Surprise Royal for the Guild in Cambridgeshire tomorrow.

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Tuesday 25th March 2025

What constitutes a successful practice can be open to conjecture. At this evening's Surprise Major Practice at Ufford I don't believe there was a single mistake-free piece, but I think it can be considered a success. Michael (who I've been mistakenly labelling as Martin!) who has recently returned to ringing at Hollesley not only did his first treble-dodging on eight for the first time in decades, but also rang inside to a couple of half-courses of Cambridge Surprise Major. Although Elaine Townsend hasn't been away from ringing at this level for the same amount of time, she too was returning to Surprise Major ringing after quite a while and also did well in the same method. Invaluable entry points back into this level. Hilary Stern was focusing on Lincolnshire and three leads of Bristol but was also given greater insight into course bells by the more experienced ringers there. Notes on striking were imparted and there was good ringing in amongst it all. Although we were a couple of experienced ringers short of attempting a touch of Stedman Triples and Bristol Surprise Major spliced which was mooted, generally speaking I thought it was productive, useful and therefore yes, successful.

Meanwhile other Guild members were indulging in Surprise of the Royal variety, as a peal of Cambridge was rung at Gressenhall north of the River Waveney with a sort of joint Norfolk-Suffolk effort on the 9cwt ten. And back within our borders more Lincolnshire Surprise Major was rung at Offton in a quarter-peal ahead of the weekly session there. Which they hopefully considered to be a successful practice.

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Monday 24th March 2025

Having followed the National 12-bell Striking Contest qualifiers on social media on Saturday and got a report on the South-West District Practice at Polstead from my mother yesterday, it was great to receive the lowdown on the other of the main ringing events from the weekend, the North-East Essex Open Tower Day this evening from one of the organisers Gavin Edwards. Apparently around £1,800 has been raised directly from it towards the Little Bromley Bell Restoration Fund and Gavin had met lots of ringers of all ages and from lots of places, including the Garners from Suffolk.

Our conversation was carried out at this week's Ipswich Minster practice, once I'd got in after standing outside listening to what sounded a mammoth touch of Grandsire Cinques (but was probably only a couple of courses) that was nonetheless very enjoyable to listen to. However, I did do some ringing myself, including calling the bells to Tittums (172839405E6T) and back during call-changes on twelve and a couple of pieces of London (No.3) Surprise Royal, called for on a whim with not quite enough for Surprise Maximus as a few regulars were away. In fact so well did the London go there was talk of learning Newgate Surprise Maximus as the next natural step.

I felt we'd certainly earned our post-ringing refreshment in the Halberd Inn, where we caught the end of England's men's football match against Latvia on the TV and reflected on a successful weekend of ringing.

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Sunday 23rd March 2025

We began our day listening to Falkenham bells, being rung by... well, us. As advertised, an extract from the piece that won Pettistree the Mitson Shield when the Guild 6-bell Striking Competitions were held on the lovely 5cwt ground-floor six last year was played on BBC Radio 4's 'Bells on Sunday' this morning.

It was a lovely way of starting a morning of ringing - for me at least - at Ipswich Minster and then Grundisburgh, where we had the same number of ringers at both. For the former that meant we very short, at the latter it was a bumper crowd! At both we made the most of it though. On Suffolk's heaviest twelve, call-changes were being rung on the front eight as the boys and I arrived, but we did ring three leads of Bristol Surprise Major on the back eight, Grandsire Caters and once David Lugg had left early to help out on the 10cwt six of St Matthew's across the town centre, some nicely rung Grandsire Triples on the light octave.

Having enjoyed refreshment in Costa Coffee, received a report on yesterday's successful sounding South-West District Practice at Polstead from my mother Sally who had gone along despite still not being able to ring and walked back to our car as the bells at St Margaret's were being rung up, we went to the county's lightest twelve where we rang some more Grandsire Triples and a couple of bits of rounds on ten, watched by a youthful bench of Alfie, Josh and Guild Chairman Mark Ogden's grandchildren.

My youngest two sons and I were back in the county this afternoon, this time for football at Portman Road. Not for the Tractor Boys, but rather the Tractor Girls who are doing rather better than their male counterparts this season. Indeed, as we sat in the lower tier of the Sir Bobby Robson stand that is usually out of bounds for the boys due to their young age we witnessed the first Ipswich Town victory of 2025 on this pitch as the women beat their visitors Plymouth Argyle to go top of the table in a very pleasant atmosphere created by over 10,000. God willing, whilst this was the first time we had watched them live, it won't be the last.

Ruthie wasn't with us though as she was singing with the Illuminati choir, watched by SGR Webmaster Chris Garner and his wife and Membership Secretary Mary at Hasketon. Whilst there my wife was able to see for the first time the facilities at the back of the church whose construction necessarily prevented access to the ground-floor six, but it does mean there is now a toilet in the church that will be just as useful for the ringers as churchgoers I imagine!

There wasn't any ringing on the bells on this occasion, but that wasn't the case elsewhere within our borders on a very busy day on Suffolk's bells as six quarter-peals were rung. Well done to Mark Ingledew on ringing his first of Stedman Cinques in the 1311 at The Norman Tower, to Juliet Griffiths on ringing her first of St Clement's College Bob Minor in what was the first QP on the 11cwt six at Rattlesden since the ringing chamber was moved upstairs and congratulations to David Steed on ringing his 2,250th in the medium with the 1272 of Norwich Surprise Minor at Tostock, whilst Henry VIII's sister Mary Tudor was remembered with a QP of Oxford Treble Bob Minor in Westhorpe, the village where she died in 1533 (has anyone booked the bells for a peal attempt on 25th June 2033 yet?!), whilst there was a 1320 of Cambridge Surprise Minor rung on the front six of the 16cwt ten at Mildenhall rung in memory of the former Tower Captain there Marion Turner who died on 4th March and a 1260 of Grandsire Doubles at Old Newton.

Meanwhile, my wife returned from what was apparently a concert well-received by a packed church, which was as lovely a way to end her day as listening to Falkenham bells was to start it.

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Saturday 22nd March 2025

As I mentioned on Thursday, today was a busy day of ringing.

However, we couldn't make any of it on a day which highlights perfectly how our current circumstances can make getting to ringing events difficult and sometimes impossible. Even on a day like today when the boys' activities actually made up a relatively small percentage of our waking hours, beginning with Alfie keeping a clean sheet (not conceding any goals) in his team's football fixture in the morning and then Josh going to a footy-themed birthday party on my old stomping ground of Whitton Sports Centre where he kept four clean sheets and nearly scored a goal, before we ended our day with a great meal out at The Coach & Horses with our friends and near neighbours Verity and Jade to celebrate the former's birthday. All extremely enjoyable, but ultimately it left us no opportunity to join one of the three ringing events that we may otherwise have gone along to.

Hopefully the South-West District Practice at Polstead and the North-East Essex Tower Open Day both went well, but we were able keep up with proceedings of the National 12-bell Striking Contest qualifiers through social media and the competition's website. Leeds were pleased to be drawn to ring early, Birmingham and Norwich less so to be drawn late. Video of ringing outside Rotherham demonstrated a typically high standard of ringing. And the results were shared to the wider world almost immediately after they'd been announced, revealing pretty much what I had vaguely imagined would happen, apart from at Beverley. Not that past winners York and St Paul's Cathedral getting through is a surprise, but I have to admit that I envisaged that more recent regular finalists Leeds and Melbourne would finish in the top two. Especially the latter, with the 2025 final at St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol on Saturday 28th June due to be the first to not feature the Derbyshire team since 2008. Well done to Leeds and St Paul's, as well as to former Exning learner Jimmy Yeoman on qualifying with the Brummies and to the ASCYs, Cambridge, Exeter, Guildford and the Cumberlands on earning the right to join the hosts at the main event in the summer.

And we did find the opportunity to catch-up on other ringing stuff. Such as The Ringing World, the latest edition of which arrived with us today and includes a report on the leading quarter-peal conductors of 2024, featuring representation from our county in the form of Philip Gorrod and Brian Whiting, but first an unexpected treat discovered via my usual Saturday morning email from Ringing Forums. For under a thread on the subject of the recent strange article about the exercise in The Telegraph, South-East District Ringing Master Hal Meakin pointed people towards an interview he had done at Ipswich Minster on BBC Radio Suffolk 2 hours, 40 minutes and 36 seconds into about the new training bells. Something I had missed despite listening to Sarah Lilley's show on 13th March about the new training bells. Something I had missed despite listening to the show, although I miss chunks whilst making phone calls or on video meetings. A brilliant bit of PR though. There was even time for a spot of rabbit chasing following its escape from a nearby garden! Whilst it also didn't escape my notice that we have precisely a month to get our names in for tea at the Guild AGM due to take place in Debenham on Saturday 26th April.

Which God willing will also be a busy day of ringing.

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Friday 21st March 2025

Fridays are usually quiet from a ringing perspective, in a normal week the only night of the working week where the boys and us are all together at home and we made the most of it by watching England's men's football team's first match under their new manager Thomas Tuchel on the TV and also the under-21s match involving Ipswich Town players having varying degrees of success. For Alfie and Josh in particular, it was the perfect evening! Indeed it was very pleasant for us all.

However, the closest we got to anything ringing related was the sound of bells ringing across the Yorkshire Dales from the depths of the 1970s as we watched an episode of the old version of All Creatures Great and Small, a reminder that even the most mundane ringing can be caught for posterity for decades and who knows centuries into the future. Make every piece as good as you can!

I'm sure that was the case with those who were actually ringing in Suffolk today, especially at Theberton and Tostock where quarter-peals were rung of Grandsire Doubles and Chadkirk Treble Bob Minor respectively. Well done to Paul Wetherell on ringing his first of Grandsire in the former and to Josephine Beever, Andrea Alderton, conductor & birthday girl Lesley Steed, her husband David, David Howe and Stephen Dawson on ringing their first in the method in the latter.

And congratulations to former Reydon learner Philip Moyse, who hot on the heels of ringing his 500th QP a few days ago rang his 300th peal in the 5120 of Humph Surprise Major rung today at Barrow Gurney in Somerset, sixteen years after his first one at his then home tower during the 2009 SGR Peal Week. Like his quarters, all his peals are on BellBoard too.

Great to see that not everybody's Fridays are quiet from a ringing perspective!

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Thursday 20th March 2025

Hotter than Ibiza we were told. It was certainly the nicest day of weather here thus far this year and lovely for a lunchtime walk that took me nearly to the centre of Bromeswell and within sight of the village's church tower which is home to two bells swung chimed.

It was as adventurous as my day got, with my Thursday evening spent at home, as is the norm. Less typically, it was spent in the company of Ruthie as her singing voice has evaded her for the moment as she battles a cold and so she was unable to practice with her choral colleagues. Lovely as it was for me to have her there, it was a pity for my wife who so enjoys singing and unlike me who has been ringing, hasn't been out on any evening this week.

As per usual for this day of the week, there was no ringing for us, but there was elsewhere in Suffolk with belated and 'pre-emptive' birthday compliments paid to Sally Crouch and Lesley Steed respectively with a quarter-peal of Plain Bob Minor rung at Horringer. Happy Birthday Sally and Lesley!

And Saturday is due to be a busy day here and further afield. If all goes to plan, the National 12-bell Striking Contest qualifiers (rebranded this year from the admittedly more brutal sounding eliminators) will be taking place across the country, for the first time at four venues. Regrettably there is no entry from Ipswich this time, but there is East Anglian representation in the form of Cambridge and Norwich who are both scheduled to compete in Rotherham. It'll be interesting to see how the new format of the top two qualifying for the final rather than the top three as previously will effect the dynamics, but one expects that the former from just over the Cambridgeshire border should qualify, whilst the latter north of the River Waveney may be considered outsiders as they haven't qualified (although they competed in 2015 when they so superbly hosted) for the final since 2007. I imagine the other team to qualify for the final planned for St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol on Saturday 28th June from that group will be the College Youths, but I also imagine they'll be pushed hard by Oxford and Southwark. Perhaps too soon for Leicester in their first entry since 2006 and 2023 hosts Sheffield who have only entered in the last four competitions after a sizeable gap, but as we and Portsmouth showed in 2022 and last year respectively surprises are entirely possible!

Talking of Portsmouth, having hosted and qualified from our eliminator in 2024, they are planning on competing in Shrewsbury where serial winners Birmingham will be looking to regain the Taylor Trophy they lost last summer in Chilcompton and are favourites to top a qualifier where one of the judges is Katie Waterson, daughter of former Bramford ringer Christine Hill and niece of twice past Guild Ringing Master Stephen Pettman, both of whom have judged in the contest themselves. One imagines that Katie will be deciding (blind of course) between Portsmouth or 2019 winners Exeter to come in second behind the Brummies who have won the contest a staggering twenty-six times (including seventeen times this century of which I was privileged to have contributed to twice), although Towcester will be hoping to qualify for the first time in a decade for an event they quite regularly qualified for for a period or perhaps Hursley may finally make it after entering on and off but regularly since they first competed in 2008. Much like Leicester and Sheffield elsewhere it may be too soon for last year's hosts Chilcompton, whilst its a pity that Truro have had to pull out.

Meanwhile at St Mary's in Beverley the hosts may hope that home advantage will mitigate for inexperience as they make their debut in the contest, but will be unlikely to come above the other teams who have all previously qualified for multiple finals and in the case of St Paul's Cathedral and York who have won the whole thing. Going on more recent form though one imagines the top two places will be taken by Leeds and Melbourne, with the latter having been in the last fourteen finals, whilst Stockton will also hoping to be in the mix.

Finally, in Liverpool (mercifully on the 'light' 41cwt twelve of Our Lady and St Nicholas in Pier Head rather than the 82cwt ring at the Cathedral!), the holders the Cumberlands will be confident of qualifying from a fairly inexperienced group where only Guildford have any very recent participation in the final, but Worcester may push them having qualified in 2016 and on bells not too dissimilar in weight to their own Cathedral, but of course home advantage may give the hosts an extra chance and Reading could be dark horses. It would be a surprise if Chester or Cheltenham qualify with only seven entries between them before this year, but again surprises can happen!

There are further details of schedules and the like for each qualifier on the contest's website and if you are in the vicinity of any of them I would encourage you to go along and take it all in. It is a real festival of ringing and socialising, but if you can't make any of these or Bristol in the summer it is worth noting that the final in 2027 is lined up to be held at The Norman Tower!

Closer to home but still just beyond our borders, the North-East Essex Open Day ought to be a fun occasion, with the beauty being you can do as little or as much as you wish, in the process meeting all sorts of people as everyone goes around at their own pace. One of those who has been organising this is Gavin Edwards who has been hugely supportive of ringing this side of the River Stour, so it would be great for there to be Suffolk representation!

However, if you are unable to go on that or are happy to just do the morning (and there are six available before noon) then please do support the South-West District Practice at Polstead between 3-4.30pm which should be an invaluable opportunity for those near the beginning of their ringing progression, so long as there is enough experienced help on hand.

It would also an absolutely wonderful place to be if the weather is hotter than Ibiza!

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Wednesday 19th March 2025

Pettistree's ringers are due to appear on BBC Radio 4's 'Bells on Sunday' again with an appearance penciled in for the weekend. This time it is from our winning piece at last year's Mitson Shield at Falkenham. As is usually the case and thanks to Mike Cowling there is a longer recording on the tower's page on this website, alongside the superb piece that won Bardwell the Lester Brett Call-Change Trophy at the same event.

Some of the band whose ringing is scheduled to be listened to by thousands worldwide were on home turf this evening for the weekly practice, including myself once I'd squeezed in Alfie's football training first. A useful session with a big crowd saw much managed in the dimness of the church, with lightbulbs removed ahead of some planned work in the building over the coming weeks. And all to a typically high standard that wouldn't be out of place on the airwaves. Although Alnwick started badly with the fourth ringer realising after a couple of false starts that they were actually trying to ring Surfleet! Nonetheless, once that misunderstanding was ironed out, Hilary Stearn was able to cross off 'A' as she endeavours to ring an A-Z of the 'standard' forty-one Surprise Minor methods. Or A-Y, as there isn't a method in the forty-one that begins with the letter Z.

Later, Surfleet was also rung (amongst much joking that the aforementioned ringer would try to ring Alnwick!), as well as London and some spliced Minor on a productive night preceded with a quarter-peal of Double Oxford Bob Minor and followed by a drink by the candlelight of the Greyhound Inn, as we continued our evening of dim lighting!

It all rounded off a nice night out for the stars of BBC Radio 4...

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Tuesday 18th March 2025

I was really pleased with my lunchtime walk today as on the way out it took me past Melton Old Church and on the way back in sight of Bromeswell's church tower and as far as Lower Ufford and within sight of the church that where the 13cwt eight hang.

A few hours later, I was back there to ring on them during the weekly session which was particularly productive, especially for Margaret who trebled to Cambridge Surprise Minor and rang inside to a 120 of Grandsire Doubles and Mary who rang Plain Hunt on Six, whilst we also rang call-changes on eight and a touch of Grandsire Triples.

Elsewhere in Suffolk a quarter-peal of Cambridge & Yorkshire Surprise Major spliced was rung on the 8cwt ground-floor eight of Offton ahead of a practice that my mother Sally was intending on joining following a chat I had on the phone to her to see how she was getting on, although she still isn't ringing. Additionally, that 1312 wasn't the only performance of the day on the county's bells as a peal of Bristol Surprise Major was rung at Horringer for the seventieth birthday of Richard Knight by a band of Cumberland Youths from across East Anglia and most deserving he is of the celebration. Richard is one of the stalwarts of the Guild without whom it would struggle to function. A vital part of the South-West District of which he is currently the Ringing Master, he has served on the GMC and is always willing to travel distance to help ring in peals if he is able, including the occasional Ipswich Town peal! Happy Birthday Richard!

Meanwhile I came across more reading material on the art today. In fact one I discovered during the course of my work as an article on one of our websites was celebrating the bell ringing club at King's School Rochester in Kent, which takes place at the Cathedral where we visited on last year's Rambling Ringers Tour.

And later on I read a piece that is more fantastic PR from Dickson Love and St James Garlickhythe in London. Both bits are well worth a read and I'm glad I found the time to do so on a busy day of work, phone calls, ringing and long walks!

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Monday 17th March 2025

The latest edition of The Ringing World arrived with us this morning and includes amongst much typically interesting content an excellent report on the recent George W Pipe 12 Bell Competition at Bishop's Stortford written by Anne Sloan, part of the team that hosted us so superbly at the 15cwt twelve and next door at The Windhill Churches' Centre on a memorable day.

Come this evening and I was at a place very close to George's heart, St Mary-le-Tower. Or Ipswich Minster as it is now of course. I hope he would be pleased with how we're taking the strong history of twelve-bell ringing forward here, but it has to be said that tonight's practice was a mixed bag. Sue Williamson and myself on the trebles were sent to the sinbin for an untidy bit of Plain Hunt on Eleven which then saw some better Plain Hunt on Nine before we were reintroduced for some much improved Plain Hunt on Eleven. Yorkshire Surprise Maximus didn't go very well at all in the first bit of ringing I did after arriving, but a second go at it later saw some really good ringing, albeit disrupted briefly by a couple of blow-ups. For some Little Bob Maximus I stood behind Peter Davies and there was some reasonable Stedman Cinques, whilst the session was rounded off with a quick plain course of Erin Cinques on an eclectic and productive night of ringing.

We'd certainly earned post-ringing refreshment, as many did in the Halberd Inn where I had a lovely chat with Diana Pipe about Hilda Snowden. Hilda died in 2002 and her active years in the exercise seem to have been before my time in the art, but her name is very familiar to me and there is a biography for her on the Central Council website. She was well known for being a super tenor ringer and indeed was - according to that biography - at twenty-three years old the youngest lady at the time to pull in a tenor over a ton when she rang the 21cwt eighth at Great Dunmow in her native Essex to a 5024 of Bristol Surprise Major in 1939 and during our conversation over a beer Di was reminiscing about how skillfully she pulled the 25cwt tenor at Woodbridge in to a 5088 of Yorkshire Surprise Major in 1954. As well as Hilda's need for a cuppa during the racing about of an open tower day! It was fascinating to hear some in depth firsthand memories of someone who has largely just been a famous name to me up until now.

In fact, with that, this evening's ringing and The Ringing World, there's been much to read about and listen to today.

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Sunday 16th March 2025

Five years ago today, we were told to stop ringing as coronavirus began taking a grip on the UK. Things were already changing. Events were being cancelled and sport put on hold. The full lockdown wasn't announced until a week later which is when British society generally considers the moment life changed. But it was Monday 16th March 2020 that sticks out most vividly in my mind.

Bellringing is the main thing in my life apart from my family and friends, many of whom I owe to ringing. I enjoy seeing people, going to places and the exercise was then and is now my main outlet for that, so I was devastated to lose it, especially once the novelty of the situation wore off. Even then I thought it might only be for a few weeks or months, but once we'd rung the bells down at that final poignant practice at St Mary-le-Tower on the same night as the government announcement it was over a year before I touched bellropes again and nearly eighteen months until we could do full unfettered ringing. At times there were fears that it would be years before we would be back. What was once considered completely normal felt like a dream and I pray that we never take the freedom to get out to ringing wherever we like, with whoever we like and with as many as we like is never taken for granted again.

For all that this dreadful period felt never-ending, it did eventually end and mercifully this 16th March was entirely free and normal as I rang some Stedman Doubles on the front six and call-changes on the eight of Woodbridge half-muffled for Lent before the boys and I went downstairs to attend the worship that followed. Even the simple pleasure of tea and biscuits after that are a freedom taken away from us precisely half a decade ago and with that anniversary in mind felt that extra bit more pleasurable today.

Not that I did anything much this afternoon that we couldn't do back at the depths of the lockdowns, but Ruthie was out and about singing with the Jubilate Singers for Evensong at an apparently packed church in Tattingstone. Although sadly there was no ringing, so she was deprived of the unique sound of the 10cwt six there.

My primary viewing this afternoon was of the League Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United (just two of the many teams we have watched in person soundly beat Ipswich Town this season) on the TV, but I also got to watch a brilliant video on YouTube that featured two ringers from Suffolk. It is 22 minutes and 50 seconds of tremendous coverage from St James Garlickhythe in London that covers lots of ground which is excellently explained by Dickon Love - as you would expect - without getting bogged down in technicalities and showcases ringing on the 9cwt eight rung by a diverse band of many ages, including former Great Baron ringer Alex Tatlow (who incidentally yesterday conducted a quarter-peal of Bristol Surprise Maximus at another of the rings mentioned St Magnus the Martyr) and Guild PR Officer and North-West District Chairman Neal Dodge.

And on the radio I listened to an interview twenty-three minutes into 'Broadcasting House' on BBC Radio Four with a young ringer called Thomas who was at All Hallows in Twickenham whilst what sounded like the front six of the 18cwt ten were rung in the background in another good bit of publicity for the exercise. Both pieces are well worth sparing the time to take in.

Perhaps many of the county's ringers were already doing just that as there were no quarters or peals rung within our borders noted on BellBoard today, but someone who learnt to ring here was ringing his 500th quarter-peal and in impressive style, as Philip Moyse pulled in the 50cwt tenor at St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol to a 1282 of Cambridge Surprise Royal. He has come a long way from his first at what was then his home tower of Reydon when he trebled to a 1260 of Grandsire & Plain Bob Doubles in 2007. Congratulations Philip, whose five hundred are all on BB!

It is all a lot more positive than this time five years ago.

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Saturday 15th March 2025

This morning's Surprise Major Practice at Debenham is a timely reminder that it is precisely six weeks until the Suffolk Guild AGM is due to be held there.

Of course the actual AGM is only a small part of a day of activity that - if all goes to plan - will start with a peal at Stonham Aspal for a number. For others a quarter-peal at Coddenham, Framlingham, Stowmarket or Worlingworth. Some may begin it at Winston where the plan is for open ringing from 11.30am-1pm. Others could choose to head straight to the lovely 21cwt ground-floor eight to ring there from 1.30-2.45pm ahead of 3pm service. Not obligation to attend obviously, but an important reminder of why we have the opportunity to ring bells in such beautiful locations.

Then just a few minutes walk through this village of half-timbered and multicoloured ancient cottages, shops and pubs in the depth of our rural county to the United Reform Church for the tea and then the meeting.

And I imagine many will end up in either The Lion or The Woolpack for post-ringing refreshment. That's the beauty of the day. You can do as much or as little of the day as you wish, but your presence would be greatly appreciated, however much of it you can make.

We were unable to go along to the aforementioned octave this morning, as not unusually football took over our Saturday, with varying degrees of success. Mainly it was Alfie and his teammates winning their match on the other side of Ipswich that prevented us joining in with some Bristol and Double Dublin Surprise Major, even without the logistics of then getting into the county town to watch it's professional men's footy team lose it's latest Premier League match.

As ever, much like the Guild AGM day it wasn't just about the reason that took us there though. Alfred and I met the rest of our household in the usual haunt of The Mermaid for dinner, along with Ruthie's sister's fiancé Chris and her mother and Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle and where we were also met by my brother and Bury St Edmunds ringer Chris.

No Simon Rudd before kick-off as he was coming straight from conducting the peal of Cambridge Surprise Maximus at The Norman Tower, where Norfolk ringers Stephen Rabong was ringing his first of Maximus. Well done Stephen! We did eventually meet him at half-time though, by which point the Tractor Boys were already 3-0 down against our visitors Nottingham Forest and Simon was perhaps wishing that he'd stayed for a post-peal drink with his bandmates on another dismal day for us Ipswich Town fans.

Hopefully 26th April at Debenham for Guild AGM Day will be a better day for us.

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Friday 14th March 2025

It's been a quiet week of ringing in Suffolk on the BellBoard front with just a handbell peal for the Norwich Diocesan Association and a couple of quarters since Sunday, compared to eight QPs and a Guild peal across the corresponding period last week. And so it continued today, with nothing from within our borders noted on BB.

Nor were we helping with those figures today, but for those who are interested and could make it, things could be different on Thursday 3rd April. This is when the DAC Bell Advisers Conference is due to be held in Leeds and which I came across today on the Central Council's website. At an important time with churches - where of course the vast majority of our ringing is carried out - closing down there will be many interested in this I'm sure and if you are it is important to note that it isn't only open to DAC members. Anyone is welcome. And if you do go along, the programme is slated to feature Suffolk connections with SGR Chairman Mark Ogden booked to speak, as is Deborah Thorley whose father the late Martin Thorley was Guild Ringing Master from 1981 to 1983.

All being well it should be an interesting occasion and busier than Suffolk's BellBoard output of this week!

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Thursday 13th March 2025

As is typical for a Thursday there was no ringing for Ruthie or me, but the exercise was still occupying my time this evening whilst Mrs Munnings was out singing with her choral colleagues.

There is the organising of a peal for a start, but also trying to work out the logistics of ringing in two quarter-peals on the same day as one of the boys has been invited to a party. Although the discovery tonight that one of those quarters has been cancelled eases that challenge!

I was also intrigued by Suffolk Guild Ringing Master Katharine Salter's request on the SGR's Facebook page for anyone with a background in App design as she would like to explore the idea of using one to help coordinate extra support for practice nights. If you are skilled in that area then please do contact Katharine.

And in between all of that I was adding some more photos to The George W Pipe 12 Bell Competition FB page, this time taken by some of the Bishop Stortford ringers which are due to accompany the report in The Ringing World.

Elsewhere in the county meanwhile, a peal was rung for the NDA on handbells in Bacton, whilst a quarter-peal of Lessness Surprise Major was successful at Horringer. Well done to Alan Moult on ringing his first in the method.

Plenty of ringing in action, as well as in thought.

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Wednesday 12th March 2025

After neither of us could go along last week, once I'd returned home from Alfie's football training, Ruthie was able to represent our household at Pettistree's practice this evening. Like many places we could do with more ringers to get numbers back up, but this ground-floor six remains a place that attracts those who want to progress their Surprise Minor ringing in particular and tonight showed again why that is as my wife reported ringing Alnwick, London and Surfleet. All done in a sociable atmosphere that continued on to the Greyhound Inn for post-ringing refreshment that rounded off a night that began with a quarter-peal of Cambridge Surprise Minor.

I imagine it is activity that they will be hoping to participate in at Drinkstone soon, where the new six there are now up in the tower as demonstrated by a photo that Suffolk Guild Ringing Master Katharine Salter shared on the SGR Facebook page. They're not finished yet, but it is another landmark in the project, so well done to all concerned.

God willing both Ruthie and I will be able to ring on them in the near future.

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Tuesday 11th March 2025

We've been a little unfortunate with numbers at Ufford on Tuesday nights in recent weeks, to the extent that a number of practices have had to be cancelled due to a lack of those numbers.

However, numbers weren't a problem this evening, helped by the presence for the first time of Martin, a ringer who has recently moved to Hollesley, although he used to ring in Suffolk. He was a welcome and useful addition, good at standing behind people and able to ring Cambridge Surprise Minor really well considering he reckoned he hadn't rung it for about thirty years! And he was able to witness the belated awarding of Mary Garner's Monthly Plate from Elaine Townsend to Peter Harper which had been awarded to him at the recent Pettistree Dinner but which Elaine - the previous holder - had forgotten to bring along on the night!

Martin and others present tonight may be interested in Saturday morning's planned Surprise Major Practice at Debenham, where the focus is intended to be Bristol and Double Dublin Surprise Major, but where I expect there will also be opportunities for ringing methods like Cambridge and Yorkshire. These do need people to go along and support them and that they are being held on different days is aimed at making them as accessible as possible, so if you can then please do support it.

Whilst on the subject of focus practices, for those looking to progress their Stedman and Surprise on ten and twelve The Norman Tower are looking to hold their advanced practice on Thursday night. I'm sure they'll appreciate the numbers, as we would at Ufford!

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Monday 10th March 2025

I was welcomed to Ipswich Minster tonight by the sound of the back bells booming over the town centre, a lit doorway cutting through the darkness of the bottom of the tower and at the top of the stairs by a man carrying a guitar case. Not an easy task on those stairs!

We sometimes get visitors off the street here and they often seem to be the worse for wear from drink and/or drugs, but are usually not nasty, as was the case on this occasion. However, although we never like to turn people away, it can be distracting as we try to keep an eye on them, lest they do something that inadvertently puts them or us in danger, such as trying to step into the rope circle while we are ringing.

There was none of that this evening though, as he patiently sat there, looking up in awe as non-ringing visitors typically do and so whilst he was there and after he left we were able to get on with our ringing. In fact, our biggest challenge this evening was lack of numbers, especially of the more experienced. I counted at least seven Surprise Maximus ringers who could be considered regulars who were away for reasons like recovery from operations, work and stag dos and so unlike last Monday when we rang spliced Surprise Max, this week the theme was more like Plain Hunt which was useful for Gavin Edwards, Erin Caters for Claire Haynes, Grandsire Caters for Sonia Docherty to treble to (very ably with no one standing behind her) and Cambridge Surprise Royal for David Lugg to ring inside to, whilst before I arrived Ivan Culham apparently also did well with some Cambridge Surprise Major. Lots of endeavour and focus led superbly by Hal Meakin (with Ringing Master David Potts one of those absent tonight), but also much humour. Hal's muddled attempts to designate bells to ringers saw me asked to ring behind to the Cambridge Royal whilst also asking Paul Bray to ring the eleventh (try working out elevenths place Royal!) and James Smith got the Pied Piper effect down to a tee when he rang the treble (or the third of the twelve!) and was surrounded by people wanting to watch him!

That jovial atmosphere continued on into the Halberd Inn, where despite the low attendance in the ringing chamber there was still a double-figure turnout for the post-ringing refreshment, completing a lovely evening out that began with that welcome.

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Sunday 9th March 2025

With the anniversary of her birth approaching later in the week, we paid my father Alan's sister Marian a visit this afternoon.

Much was discussed, including the passing of Max Page, as announced in this week's edition of The Ringing World. It mentioned that he was a ringer from Ipswich and had been Secretary of the Suffolk Guild, but he wasn't familiar to me and I couldn't find him in the list of former SGR Secretaries. However, I wondered if my aunty would remember him and it transpired that she did and was able to fill in some more details, such as that he rang at St Lawrence and eventually moved to Switzerland. My curiosity aroused, later in the day I found myself doing some light research on him and discovered that although he wasn't a Guild Secretary, he was listed in the 1951 report as the Secretary of the Ipswich District, whilst he rang in seventy peals, including sixty for the SGR, three with my Grandad Jack and conducting Neville Whittell's first. He certainly left his mark on ringing locally and I'm pleased to have found out more about him. I imagine there are others with memories of him and I expect will be - as Aunty Marian was - sad to hear of his death.

Our visit was preceded by our morning's activities, which for Ruthie was singing at St Mary-the-Virgin church in Woodbridge where the bells are now half-muffled for Lent, whilst the boys and I were doing our biweekly ringing circuit, starting with Ipswich Minster where I was thrust straight into calling some call-changes on twelve for Chris Birkby's first ringing at his home tower since injury stopped him before Christmas, as his careful recovery continued on a morning when we also rang some well-rung Stedman Cinques.

Talking of recoveries, it was nice that my mother Sally met us all after ringing as she continues hers. Unable to ring, she was still able to join us in Costa Coffee for refreshment, where it is great to hear that the training bells are already being used and earning money.

From there we made our way to Grundisburgh where another decent turnout enabled some Grandsire Triples and rounds on ten.

And after our family visiting, we took advantage of the glorious weather (before it is apparently due to get cold again from tomorrow) by going down to the local park for a game of football with Alfie & Josh and then retired with a drink outside The Coach & Horses.

Throughout all of that, other of Suffolk's ringers were ringing elsewhere in the county. The same band rang a brace of 1260s, one of Doubles at Pakenham and one of Minor at Troston, whilst at Aldeburgh the monthly second-Sunday peal was rung of Floccinaucinihilipilification Surprise Major. A first for all the band and the Guild, but not the first time it has been rung in the county, as it was rung by a visiting band to a quarter-peal at Fressingfield in 2019, when I noted that Floccinaucinihilipilification is an "action or habit of estimating something as worthless." Well done to Mary Dunbavin, Mary Garner, Jed Flatters, Mark Ogden, Mike Cowling, Tom Scase, Richard Rapior and conductor Alan Mayle, who hopefully didn't come away from their 2 hours and 55 minutes of ringing with a sense of floccinaucinihilipilification!

It may also give us something to chat about with Aunty Marian on any future visit.

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Saturday 8th March 2025

This week's issue of The Ringing World arrived this morning and was one of the most interesting reads for some time personally and I think probably for a lot of Suffolk ringers.

For example, there is a fantastic article by David Brown about the seventy consecutive Christmas Eve peals rung at Long Stratton just over the Norfolk border which has featured many ringers from our county and was for many years organised by twice past Guild Ringing Master David Salter.

Further along in the edition, Bures ringer Evelyn Reeve was remembered with an obituary written by SGR Public Relations Officer Neal Dodge with help from former Guild Peal Secretary Christine Knight and John Loveless, who learnt to ring on the 21cwt anticlockwise eight. Alongside that, North-East District Ringing Master Philip Gorrod had written an obituary about Sonia 'Sonic' Tucker, who he'd rung with in Winchester and we'd met once or twice on the treasure hunts he and Maggie used to host, but who sadly died tragically young last year.

Meanwhile the death of former Ipswich ringer Max Page at the age of 90 was announced on p203.

On a happier note though, there are several names from within our borders that appear in the report by Editor Will Bosworth - who spoke at the Guild's Centenary Dinner two years ago - about those who rang over a hundred quarter-peals in 2024.

There is further reading material about the exercise in The Telegraph, although it is going in from an unusual angle. Primarily it focuses on the decline in peal-ringing. It is something I believe needs reversing if at all possible, a vital element of ringing to hold the interest of ringers, something to aspire to, but not - I imagine - something that grabs the attention of non-ringers as much as elements they could relate to such as striking competitions and outings for example. Also, I'm not convinced we want to be pushing the "we're desperate for recruits" headline as much as we ought to shout about what the art can offer people. Still, here's hoping that the "all publicity is good publicity" adage is true!

There were examples of just a fraction of what it can offer here in Suffolk today. Photos by Claire Whiting from the North-East District Practice at Wingfield were very kindly shared on the SGR Facebook page, whilst from earlier in the day those who are friends with Barking ringer Phil Day will have seen a couple from the North-West District Practice at Gislingham.

We couldn't feasibly make either though, with Alfie playing for his football team in the morning and then going swimming as his classmate's guest at their sister's birthday party this afternoon.

Further afield there was another handbell peal from the path of Cyclone Alfred in Brisbane, but the big ringing occasion of this glorious spring day was the marriage of Alan Reading and Lucy Warren at Yatton in Somerset, an occasion marked by peals across the country, mostly to compositions of the groom's and including one at the venue beforehand conducted by him. Alan has rung eleven peals for the Suffolk Guild - conducting ten of them - over the last fourteen years and Lucy three, with the latest for both being the 5008 of Double Norwich Court Bob Major rung at Aldeburgh in November 2023 and they have ringing friends from here, so I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing them all the best from this part of the world on their big day.

God willing we'll read about it in a future issue of The Ringing World.

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Friday 7th March 2025

Having written off the the ASCY Country Meeting Tour of Australia off yesterday, I was pleased to see that a handbell peal was rung today, by four members presumably hunkered down in Royal on the Park Hotel in Brisbane whilst they awaited Cyclone Alfred!

Also featuring on BellBoard today and in much more tranquil circumstances were two quarter-peals rung in Suffolk, as a 1280 of Kent Treble Bob Royal was rung in hand in Hasketon and a 1320 of British Scholars' Pleasure Treble Bob Minor at Tostock. Well done to Andrea Alderton, David Steed, Lesley Steed, Maureen Gardiner, David Howe and conductor Stephen Dawson on ringing their first in the method in the latter.

The closest we got to ringing though was Ruthie bumping into Mike Whitby in Woodbridge taking photographs. I expect some may appear on the Facebook profile he set up for his many wonderful photos (separate from his personal account) and which of course pictures taken whilst on his ringing adventures. Well worth following if you aren't already.

Otherwise though, it was a typically quiet Friday for us from a ringing perspective, hunkering down at home with a mercifully more placid Alfred!

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Thursday 6th March 2025

World Book Day saw the boys off to school and their mother to work dressed for the occasion.

Nothing as exciting for me, although I am currently reading 'Notes From The Green Man' (the pub in question being one I knew very well when I lived in Tunstall!) and former Ipswich Town footballer Jason Dozzell's autobiography. And we have got a couple of ringing books on our shelves with The Core Seven and Beyond by Simon Linford and George Pipe's biography Shake my hand and I'll show you the ropes by John Loveless, both of which I would highly recommend if you haven't already read them.

No actual ringing for me today though for the usual Thursday night reasons, but others in Suffolk were with a 1269 of Grandsire Doubles rung on the 11cwt ground-floor six at Chediston.

And the College Youths Country Meeting Tour in Australia continued with a peal of Cambridge Surprise Maximus at Brisbane Cathedral. However, with Cyclone Alfred approaching the area it appears that might be the last ringing of the visit. This peal was brought forward before "the biggest cyclone in a generation" makes landfall and apparently others in the forthcoming days have had to be cancelled.

It is a sorry way for what sounds like has been a hugely successful trip, but I guess it'll leave them with a bit more time for reading.

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Wednesday 5th March 2025

It is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.

Most immediately that meant we couldn't get out to any ringing as Ruthie was singing at St Mary-the-Virgin church in Woodbridge, whilst once I'd returned from Alfie's football training I was at home getting the boys to bed on this school night.

Longer term though, it is due to end with Holy Week when a lot of towers cancel their practices, so it is worth checking before heading out to any ringing, lest you have a wasted journey or somewhere that is still ringing misses out on your presence! Then God willing the Easter weekend will hear church bells ringing out joyfully and the following Saturday the Suffolk Guild AGM is due to be held at Debenham, with a lot planned that means it is more than just a business meeting. And if the weather is anywhere near as nice as today (when my lunchtime walk saw me briefly lost on the Ufford Park golf course but was also the first time this year I'd left the house for any great period without my coat!) then it should make the day even nicer in such a beautiful part of the county. Please do get names for tea to South-East District Secretary Liz Christian by Tuesday 22nd April.

Meanwhile in the here and now, George Pipe was remembered five years after his passing with a 1312 of St Clement's College Bob Major at The Barn Owl Ring in Norton, which was one of the two quarter-peals rung there on this sunny day with the other being a 1260 of Erin Triples.

They weren't the only quarters rung in the county today either, with a 1272 of Norwich Surprise Minor rung before the practice at Pettistree, where they don't seem to have suffered from our absence on this Ash Wednesday.

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Tuesday 4th March 2025

No Ufford practice this evening as a large proportion of the regular band were involved in a pancake event on this Shrove Tuesday.

Pity as it was for there to be no ringing tonight, it did at least give us plenty of time as a family to enjoy some pancakes ourselves, complete with fruit, chocolate spread, syrup and even ice cream in a rare spot of indulgence.

There was ringing elsewhere in Suffolk though, with the weekly session at Offton preceded as it often is with a quarter-peal on the 8cwt ground-floor eight, which on this occasion was a 1260 of Plain Bob Triples. And I imagine there will have been other Tuesday night practices at places such as Bramford, Debenham, Halesworth and Woodbridge.

Further afield other ringers from the county were also ringing, with Bardwell Ringing Master Ruth Suggett conducting a 1344 of Cornwall Surprise Major at North Lopham in Norfolk that fellow North-West District member Martin Kirk also rang in.

Nothing else within our borders was noted on BellBoard though. Perhaps they were all making pancakes too.

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Monday 3rd March 2025

I had a dilemma this evening. As Ipswich Town's men's FA Cup match away to Nottingham Forest was being broadcast on ITV and therefore available for us to watch at home, I had been tempted to stay at home to view it. For all the woes of ITFC this season, watching them with Ruthie and the boys is still a joyful thing to do, a collective family experience we rarely get at any other time.

However, it was of course also practice night at Ipswich Minster and especially knowing a number were travelling from the west of Suffolk to help ensure that we could attempt Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus, I felt it wouldn't be a good look if a regular from ten miles away chose to sit in front of the television instead of coming in to help out! Which would I choose?

In the end I got the best of both worlds and I'm glad I decided to travel to the county's heaviest twelve tonight as there was some tremendous ringing. Despite myself and another on the trebles inexplicably swapping in a plain course of Erin Cinques (which was spotted very quickly to much amusement but allowed to continue until a "magic single" at the end as it was still going alright), we rang some really good Stedman Cinques, Cambridge Surprise Maximus, Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus and the two of those spliced with Yorkshire, in between keeping up with proceedings from the East Midlands. And with the session finishing a few minutes early it allowed me to get home to not only catch the end of the ninety minutes, but with the score finishing 1-1 also the extra-time and then with no further goals the penalty shoot out too. Sadly that ended with defeat, but logistics for me personally couldn't have worked out much better.

Earlier in the day it was lovely to see a peal of Otley Surprise Major successfully rung at Grundisburgh in memory of Tony Soames. Although not a ringer himself, as conductor Stephen Pettman says in the footnote Tony drove and provided coaches for numerous ringing outings and Stephen's ringing trips to Italy over the years, so it is nice that he has been remembered by ringers.

That 5088 wasn't the only success from within our borders today to be noted on BellBoard though, with a quarter-peal of Little Bob Royal rung on handbells in Moats Tye.

I don't imagine that presented the band with any dilemmas!

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Sunday 2nd March 2025

Our morning was very foody.

Breakfast as you might expect. Then chocolates kindly given by the Woodbridge ringers to Alfie & Josh for their patience whilst I rang. Not surprisingly pancakes with junior church for the boys with Shrove Tuesday due to happen in two days time. The usual post-service biscuits in St Mary's House. And unexpectedly nibbles and a glass of fizzy for the choristers and their hangers on like me and our sons, laid on as a thank you.

I did get some ringing done at the aforementioned tower before the brothers received their sweets as we rang all eight, which isn't always possible. On such a bright and sunny spring morning (and it is now metrological spring so that's good enough for me!) the spectacular view from the tenor box and down the River Deben was particularly lovely!

Elsewhere there was more ringing, as you would expect on a Sunday. In fact it was a busy day in the exercise in Suffolk with four quarter-peals rung within our borders. One of those was at Pettistree where a 1260 of Doubles was rung to welcome the Reverend Charlotte Wallington for her first service and which pairs up nicely with one rung on Thursday on the other ring of bells under her care at Wickham Market. Meanwhile at The Norman Tower another member of the clergy was being welcomed with a quarter-peal as a 1296 of St Simon's Bob Caters was rung for the commissioning of Acting Bishop Graeme Knowles, whilst at Halesworth the QP of Plain Bob Triples was rung as farewell to the retiring Reverend Gini Williams. And although the quarter at Rougham wasn't rung for any clergy, it did see Sally Veal ring her most methods inside. Well done Sally!

It's all enough to make me feel quite hungry again though, so I'm off to eat something else.

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Saturday 1st March 2025

Our waking hours today were divided into three distinct sections - football in the morning, family visit in the afternoon and ringing in the evening.

The footy was Alfie's team and despite defeat was a pleasant way to spend a morning in pleasant conditions.

Our family visit was to my Mum Sally who as a birthday present earlier this week had cataract surgery. It means she can't get out and about as much as she usually does as she needs to wait until she can drive again and she can't pull, meaning she isn't able to ring of course, so we thought we would pop over to see how she's getting on. Which is fine as it turns out, with neighbours helping her with shopping and the like and her eye recovering well. God willing she'll be back in ringing chambers soon.

For now though she was unusually not present at the South-East District Practice at Grundisburgh tonight. We were though, as were a lot of others I'm delighted to say. At any one time the ringing room was packed whilst there was a crowd down in the church enjoying the refreshments very kindly laid on by local ringers Joanna Crowe and David & Gill Twissell. Fantastic to see so many from across the district of a wide range of ages at all stages of ringing progression and as usual the young and enthusiastic Ringing Master Hal Meakin fashioned a suitable practice from all of that as he used the experienced twelve-bell ringers to help those less experienced on these numbers and indeed many who were ringing on twelve for the first time. Although perhaps with a few more regular twelve-bell ringers we may have given it a go, ultimately this wasn't a night for Surprise Maximus. Although I did learn that the change with internal pairs swapped (132547698E0T) is called 'Priory' on a useful night!

Well done to Stephen 'Podge' Christian on ringing his first blows of Lincolnshire Surprise Major in the quarter-peal afterwards. With Ruthie and her mother Kate ringing in that 1344 and Mrs Eagle having given our household a lift out, the boys and I retired to The Dog for a few drinks along with a big crowd that got bigger as the quarter-pealers joined us following their successful efforts.

We thoroughly enjoyed what was a good old fashioned convivial ringing night out and catching up with friends longstanding and new. Such as the Henley ringers who are still enthusiastically continuing to practice at Barham whilst their home bells are out of action due to cracks and falling masonry on the tower. Or exciting family news from Mervyn & Tracey Scase. And that Hal remembered when Queen Victoria died...

Even amongst our busy day we had the chance to read the latest edition of The Ringing World which arrived with us this morning and featured an article about the BUSCR 70th Anniversary Dinner by Stephen Stanford - brother of Clopton Ringing Master David - and another by former Suffolk ringer John Loveless about Worcestershire ringer Michael Fellows, fifty years after his death at a young age. By all accounts he was an incredibly talented ringer who was sadly gone long before I began ringing in the UK's second city, but I did ring fifteen peals with his brother Martin (which could've been about double that as we frequently met one short when he organised them!) who was also a decent ringer, so this was of great interest to me.

There was much done that should appear in a future edition, including the QP of Plain Bob Triples at Fornham St Martin which was Jill Apter's first on eight. Well done Jill! Also worthy of note from (just) beyond our borders is the 18720 at Willingham in Cambridgeshire of the 'standard' 147 Treble Dodging Minor methods with all the inside bells ringing every bit of all the methods, or 'all the work' (ATW). Pretty standard for the band I expect, but still phenomenal.

And it took about the same amount of time as roughly two-thirds of our day!

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Friday 28th February 2025

Whilst it was difficult not to watch the political car crash taking place across the Atlantic in the Oval Office between Presidents Zelenskyy and Trump, I was trying to guide my attentions again to Australia, where the College Youths Country Meeting visit continued with Suffolk residents among those ringing a peal at Sydney Cathedral and four quarter-peals. What has been nice to see on this trip is that it hasn't been fancy peals and showing off, although there has been some impressive stuff. Local ringers Inga Griffiths-Hunt and Tracey Gunningham have benefitted from their visitors for example, the former on Wednesday with her first of Stedman in the 1260 of the Triples variation at Geelong and of Yorkshire Surprise in the 1250 of the Major version at Melbourne Cathedral, the latter yesterday with her first of Minor in the quarter-peal of Plain Bob at Wangaratta Cathedral.

Meanwhile, it was the Right Reverend Martin Seeley's last day as Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich and therefore as President of the Suffolk Guild. Although there was no ringing for him today he has been a supporter of bells and of course spoke at the SGR's Centenary Dinner in 2023, so I'm sure I am not alone amongst our membership in wishing him well in his retirement.

Although it's sad that his final day has been overshadowed by those astonishing events in Washington.

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Thursday 27th February 2025

There was a Surprise Major Practice at Framlingham this evening, a continuation of the bimonthly sessions organised by South-East District Ringing Master Hal Making on Friday nights last year, but now intended to be monthly and held at different times of the week to allow as many people as possible to join, with the next one intended to be held at Debenham on the morning of Saturday15th March.

That is a great idea, but unfortunately on this occasion it meant Ruthie and I couldn't make it as my wife was practicing with her choral colleagues and being a school night I was at home with the boys.

Hopefully it went well, as it seems other Major ringing elsewhere in Suffolk went as was presumably the first quarter-peal of Black Bourn Bob was rung with the 1312 at Ixworth, whilst on six the Ladies Guild remembered Past National President of the Guild and Norfolk ringer Theo Crowder with a 1260 of Plain Bob Doubles rung at Redgrave.

Meanwhile, whilst on my evening in I got to catch a short but interesting video on Facebook from The Churches Conservation Trust filmed from Croome D'Abitot in Worcestershire whilst yesterday's peal there was rung.

I wonder if there was any video from Framlingham to make up for missing out!

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Wednesday 26th February 2025

Happy Birthday to my mother Sally, a generous soul willing to give time and support to family, friends and ringers wherever she can. I've often said that ringing could do with more like her, with her willingness to travel out to ringing practices and events across the local area, the county and often beyond and the depth of her ringing teaching knowledge.

I am blessed to be able to see her regularly at Ipswich Minster ringing, but I was also able to speak to her on the phone today following Alfie's football training and ahead of Ruthie going out to Pettistree's weekly practice, a session preceded with a quarter-peal of Thelwall Bob Minor and followed by some - including my wife - retiring to the Greyhound Inn for refreshment, all whilst the boys and I listened to Ipswich Town's latest depressing Premier League loss on the radio. In between there was apparently a typically eclectic repertoire of methods from Grandsire Doubles & Plain Bob Minor to Ipswich & Surfleet Surprise Minor and some spliced.

Meanwhile there was great news on the SGR Facebook page from Drinkstone where their new six has arrived and will be blessed and on view on Sunday before being hung in the coming weeks and Bardwell where Sue & Loretta were receiving their Guild membership certificates, whilst not far away from either tower a peal of James Smith construction Cooktown Orchid Delight Major was rung at Horringer where Alan Mayle and Simon Rudd completed circling the tower to peals and just over the Cambridgeshire border in Willingham, former St Mary-le-Tower Ringing Master Colin Salter was ringing his first handbell peal on eight with the 5040 of Stedman Triples with Henry, David & Cecilia Pipe.

Well done Colin, congratulations Alan, Simon, Loretta and Sue and Happy Birthday Mum!

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Tuesday 25th February 2025

This evening didn't go to plan as we met six for the monthly Surprise Major practice at Ufford. Still, the journey wasn't entirely wasted as 360 changes of Cambridge Surprise Minor and then some spliced Cambridge & Ipswich Surprise Minor were rung. Hopefully more will come out for the South-East District Surprise Major Practice planned for this Thursday night at Framlingham. And the Kaleidoscope Session due to be held at Otley from 7 to 9pm on Friday for that matter.

For today though, some of Suffolk's ringers were busy ringing in Norfolk, with representation from our county in the quarter-peal at Pulham Market and peal at King's Lynn.

I assume they went to plan.

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Monday 24th February 2025

There was quantity and quality at Ipswich Minster's weekly practice this evening. Over twenty were present at varying stages of ringing progression, which meant that whilst we rang stuff for those easing into higher number method ringing such as Erin and Grandsire, there was also Surprise Max of the Cambridge and Yorkshire varieties and a couple of pieces of Stedman Cinques and whilst one of those touches of the latter principle was especially well rung there was generally a high standard of ringing. We were helped by the visit of Neil Pasmore, a Writtle ringer who added to our north Essex contingent that included Paul Bray whose reflexes in staying right in Stedman offered some amusement in a typically jovial but focused atmosphere.

That continued on to the Halberd Inn where I treated my mother Sally to a drink and packet of crisps ahead of the anniversary of her birth on Wednesday (I know, I know, such generosity!) and those in attendance impulsively organised a band spring curry!

Meanwhile, mention was made by South-East District Ringing Master Hal Meakin of this Saturday's practice planned for Grundisburgh between 6 and 8pm. It goes without saying that with twelve bells we need lots of people, including those experienced on higher numbers, but it is also a fantastic opportunity for those less experienced on these numbers at a venue less daunting than Suffolk's two heavier twelves may appear. This is for you all!

Hopefully there will be quantity and quality there too!

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Sunday 23rd February 2025

Halesworth ringer Jason Busby had an exciting morning. Partway through the service he was leading at St Mary's he suddenly had to attend to a heater on fire in the church! All caught on the live stream and all dealt with so quickly that the worship was able to continue.

It certainly put my morning in the shade, although it was still productive and with the boys in tow very pleasant too.

We made it to Ipswich Minster in time to ring some Grandsire Caters, call changes on ten and Cambridge Surprise Royal before refreshment at Costa Coffee, where it was nice to hear about a successful South-West District Practice at Kersey from my mother Sally who went along.

Hopefully the next one due to be held at Polstead on Saturday 22nd March will be equally well attended.

That is intended to be the last of another packed month of events in Suffolk, with a Surprise Major Practice planned for a week earlier at Debenham, whilst a further seven days prior to that is slated to be a busy day with first the North-West District Practice and short business meeting at Gislingham in the morning and then the North-East District's Ringing Meeting at Wingfield in the afternoon. And most immediately the South-East District's Practice is pencilled in for six days time from 6-8pm at Grundisburgh.

Which is where I was to round off my morning's ringing and where for no reason other than lazy convenience I didn't ring any bell other than the eighth of the county's lightest twelve throughout the various pieces of ringing from call-changes on eight to Plain Bob Doubles.

That was it for my ringing for the day, but there was more ringing going on elsewhere within our borders. At the tower where I'd earlier finished my day's ringing, well done to Anna White on ringing her first quarter-peal of Grandsire and to her and Max Meeson on ringing their first on ten in the 1259 of the Caters version, whilst there was also a 1260 of Cambridge Surprise, Single Oxford & Plain Bob Minor rung at Rougham and Happy Birthday to Pat Lees.

All great to see, but not as exciting as Jason Busby's morning!

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Saturday 22nd February 2025

Football was the bumper filling of our day, but it was liberally seasoned with ringing connections and sandwiched with chunky slices of content about the exercise.

Indeed when we awoke, a peal had already been rung Down Under at Adelaide Cathedral by the College Youths and video of its ending shared on the Bellringers Facebook page. The usual Saturday morning email from Ringing Forums came through, directing me to subjects as diverse as Ringing 2030, bookstalls and job descriptions for ringing jobs. This week's edition of The Ringing World arrived with us with further analysis of peal ringing by Pealbase founder Andrew Craddock (apparently Richard is one of the leading names of peal-ringers since 2000, with myself being one of 243) and news of updates to Dove's Guide including the addition of the unringable three at Cavenham, north-west of Bury St Edmunds. And the day was rounded off by viewing some typically mesmerising handbell ringing from the Henry Johnson Dinner in Birmingham.

In between, I watched Alfie and his teammates win their match before we caught the train into Ipswich to join the rest of our household in The Mermaid after they had caught an earlier train with our usual driver Kate taking full advantage of the hospitality from an executive box at Portman Road. This was our first pre-match visit to this venue since its recent refurbishment and it was a typically enjoyable place for us (and especially the boys) to enjoy food, despite or because of constantly being brought drinks we hadn't ordered!

Again, it wasn't just us three ringers present at the game afterwards. With Mrs Eagle safely ensconced in her box enjoying the good life, the rest of our party met as we usually do with Norwich ringer Simon Rudd, fresh from his team's victory a week ago at Bishop's Stortford in The George W Pipe 12 Bell Competition and impressively making it to the Fanzone for a drink with us after massive issues on the trains from his way this afternoon.

Sadly the match again was the only downside, albeit again watching some of the best players around on Suffolk soil as Tottenham Hotspur beat us 4-1, but otherwise it was a tasty filling complementing the ringing slices of our day's sandwich.

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Friday 21st February 2025

The President of the Suffolk Guild of Ringers was interviewed on the local BBC radio station this morning. Of course that wasn't an actual ringer, but rather the Right Reverend Martin Seeley as he prepares to retire as Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich and therefore from the aforementioned role of the SGR. Just at the end of his interview with Sarah Lilley (which begins at 1 hour, 37 minutes and 35 seconds into her show) there was a mention of bells as the story is recounted of when the only way he could dedicate some bells was from below with a super-soaker! I do recall hearing it before, but can't remember where it was. I'm sure someone will though!

Meanwhile, members of the organisation he is president of were busy ringing on both sides of the county, with a 1320 of King Edward and a 1272 of Bourne Surprise Minor rung at Tostock and Wissett respectively. Well done to David Howe on ringing his first in the method in the former and Erika Clarke and Chrissie Pickup on doing the same in the latter.

It was a quieter day from a ringing perspective for us though. And I suppose there may well be quieter days ahead for our President too.

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Thursday 20th February 2025

The College Youths Country Meeting in Australia continues, having moved from Perth to Adelaide, with performances in the latter area yesterday and today.

The Cumberland Youths visit to The Tulloch Ringing Centre continues, with a trio of peals rung there twenty-fours ago followed up by a peal and a quarter-peal on this February Thursday.

A visit to Lundy with a group featuring Suffolk ringers past and present continues, with now three peals and three quarters rung.

No ringing for us though as Ruthie was choral practicing, the closest we got being watching the familiar bellringing episode of Midsomer Murders on a relaxed evening in.

Meanwhile, if you are a young ringer or know a young ringer, it is worth looking at the interim Young Ringers Hub, particularly if you feel you could help them out in any way at all. And hopefully help young ringers to make the most of the endless opportunities that ringing offers, much like those in Australia, Tulloch and on Lundy.

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Wednesday 19th February 2025

There is now a Facebook page for the George W Pipe 12 Bell Competition. I know this, as with the permission of instigator and organiser Ian Culham, I have set it up! Ian is unable to get onto FB anymore and therefore has been unable to maintain the original page and so there was no longer a reference point for what has become a huge event, which seemed a big pity. Therefore, between finishing work and going out to Pettistree, whilst cooking tea I created the page, added a photo of the winning Norwich band and some of my own from the day and invited those from my friends list who I could recall ringing in the competition and attending, plus others like PR Officers and Ringing World editors that it might be of interest to, but I would welcome anyone who is interested in joining the page, so do take a look and let others know about it! Additionally, there are apparently plans for a website, so watch this space!

It is hopefully a positive bit of news to join two other bits of positive news involving Suffolk's ringers and bells today. Congratulations to Clare ringer Alan Mayle who today rang the tenor to a peal for the 1000th time in the 5040 at Inworth in Essex, only the 33rd ringer to reach that landmark according to Pealbase. It points to a ringer that can be relied upon to ring the tenor to a peal, a vital bell in a peal, who sets the pace of a performance and can make or break a peal.

Some of those peals were rung at The Wolery in Ipswich, a once very familiar name in the peal columns of the Guild and indeed for myself, but which haven't been pealed for exactly five years to the day. At the time it was a fairly unextraordinary event, just one of the useful monthly efforts at this venue, but obviously the pandemic put paid to meeting up to ring these from the following month and by the time we were allowed to gather together again David Salter was very ill and sadly died not long after. It was wonderful therefore to see that today the first peal on the bells since 19th February 2020 was rung, appropriately to one of David's compositions called by his son Colin and with a band full of friends, family and people who have rung many on these bells previously. Congratulations to Abby Antrobus on ringing her 50th peal and to conductor Colin on ringing his 500th in the medium.

Ruthie and I were very kindly invited to ring, but these days Alfie's football training means that we couldn't commit to this, which made it all the more frustrating that in the end that this was cancelled, albeit entirely understandably due to a lack of numbers. It isn't just ringing that can struggle on this front! Still, at least we had the evening completely free to go to the weekly practice on the aforementioned ground-floor six as a family and enabled Ruthie and me to contribute to a couple of courses of Westminster Surprise Minor (with my wife and me calling one each), Norwich and Bourne, as well as Plain Bob of the Doubles and Minor varieties and Grandsire. And an entertaining touch of St Clement's College Bob Minor where for the benefit of the watching Julie Brown, SGR Chairman Mark Ogden on the treble was asked to call out when he was leading, which was also very useful for the more lazy of us to know when to dodge!

A session that was preceded by a quarter-peal of Ipswich Surprise Minor was followed by a sizeable crowd - including us - to the Greyhound Inn next door where they had very kindly saved us a table alongside one for the local ping-pong group and where topics of conversation included the appearance of the village's bells on BBC Radio 4's 'Bells on Sunday' over the weekend and the Facebook page that has appeared for the George W Pipe 12 Bell Competition.

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Tuesday 18th February 2025

We've had a run of bad luck in recent weeks at Ufford with getting the numbers for the weekly practice and that continued tonight. Like so many places I suspect, the numbers are on a knife edge. One or two extra on top of the regular core and we can do quite a lot, even up to Surprise Major, but if a couple of the usuals can't make it then Ringing Master Kate Eagle can't justify bringing people from across the area (sadly there is no one from the village currently ringing) for what wouldn't be a particularly useful or worthwhile experience. It can't be helped with illness, holidays and life in general, but it meant that for the fourth Tuesday evening running we were at home, albeit that is a very happy alternative, especially during this half-term when the usual routine is a bit more flexible and we get to spend a bit more time with the boys.

It looks like they were having better luck at Offton though, at least judging by what was presumably a pre-practice quarter-peal of Plain Bob Triples on the 8cwt ground-floor eight, with another QP under young Elizabeth Goodchild's belt a big positive.

Meanwhile, some important dates for Ipswich Minster ringing that were imparted at last night's practice were shared via email to us Minster ringers today, but may be of interest to a wider ringing audience to varying degrees. One is that on Monday 14th April we are planning our annual spring clean during Holy Week, followed by our AGM, so please don't turn up that week! More generally, as with every year I urge you to check before you do or don't go to a practice that week, as most places won't be ringing but many will intend to. On Sunday 25th May the training bells are due to be blessed during the 10.30am service and so the hope is to get as many of our regulars along to that as possible, but of course anyone is welcome. However, the main event of interest for other ringers though is the Open Day to formally launch the training bells, which is slated for Saturday 14th June between 1-4pm and for existing ringers to come along and take a look.

Hopefully we'll have better luck with that than we have had with practices at Ufford recently.

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Monday 17th February 2025

A couple of landmarks were mentioned on the local BBC radio station this morning. One is that it is 100 days until the Suffolk Show is due to open, the other that it is 80 days until the 80th anniversary of VE Day. It is a long time since the Guild had any official presence at the former unfortunately, but the latter is an important (perhaps never more so than currently) occasion to mark and again mention of the bells was made when plans for 8th May were spoken about. More information can be found on the CCCBR's website, but it would be great if the county's ringers could respond as magnificently as they have done for previous big national events such as Queen Elizabeth II's jubilees and King Charles III's coronation.

There is much going on in the exercise currently too, with a quarter-peal rung on the ground-floor six of Easton - where incidentally it is planned to hold the South-East District Striking Competitions on Saturday 7th June - in memory of Brandeston ringer John Garrett and having mentioned the ringing that has been going on in Australia for the College Youths and continues, the Cumberland Youths have also been on a trip. Maybe not quite as far as they are 'just' in Scotland, but they have been doing some pretty impressive stuff too. Yesterday they rang the longest peal of ORABS - Orion Surprise, Rigel Surprise, Avon Delight, Bristol Surprise and Strathclyde Surprise Maximus spliced - at the Tulloch Ringing Centre and today at the same venue they rang the first peal of Orion Maximus (the principle rather than the aforementioned Surprise method) rung outside of St Philip's Cathedral in Birmingham and for good measure David Pipe's 'Classic' composition of six Maximus methods.

Nothing quite as complex as that for us, but after missing last week's practice at Ipswich Minster it was great to return tonight and with Ruthie and the boys with me! It is half-term and the boys are at the age now that during the school holidays at least an early bedtime isn't quite so crucial, which opens up the opportunity for both of their parents to go ringing together, even if it means we can't go to the Halberd Inn as it understandably - as a full-on town centre drinkers pub - won't let children in after 8pm. It did allow us to contribute to a session that included a couple of nicely rung touches of Stedman Cinques and a pretty decent bit of Cambridge Surprise Maximus as we welcomed Cambridge ringers Lynne Hughes and Barry Johnson.

It was all a nice evening out, but there was nothing worthy of mention on the local BBC radio station.

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Sunday 16th February 2025

Today the ringing community woke to news of an astonishing complaint from Leicestershire, where a resident has complained about the 16cwt eight of Hugglescote ringing so early on a Sunday morning - at 9.30am! Even putting aside that us ringers are maybe more used to earlier starts on the Sabbath morn to much of the general public, 9.30 doesn't really seem that early in a society when probably most people will be up and about by 7/7.30am for school-runs and work throughout the rest of the week. And when the main point of bells is famously to ring on a Sunday morning, I find it staggering that anyone would live next door to a church with a bell tower and complain about them for ringing on a Sunday. It's not even as if they seem to have put up with lots of extra ringing, with no quarter-peal here noted on BellBoard for over two years and the last recorded peal being back in 2019.

Despite my slightly dismissive tone though, I hope that rather than getting into a "ding-dong" with local residents over this, the ringers are able to engage with those living nearby to raise awareness and understanding of our wonderful art. As is usually the case with such incidents it appears the support - or at the very least general apathy - of residents far outweighs the small number of vocal complainants and its worth noting that considering the number of towers that must ring on a Sunday morning alone (never mind the rest of the time) and often much earlier than at Hugglescote that there are so few complaints about change-ringing, but we really shouldn't be complacent. None of us wants to upset our neighbours and so we always ought to be looking at ways to maintain good relations with them. Get to know them, invite them along, hold open events, be involved in the community, even if it is just supporting the village pub after practice night and although I really feel that bells should be able to ring out for morning worship as they were designed, more towers need to consider sound control to allow for extra ringing like training, outings, quarters and peals to help ringers and ringing to progress and thrive without disturbing people nearby.

I found myself ringing at the apparently unseemly hour of 9.30 this morning as I rang at Woodbridge where I rang the second to some Grandsire Doubles that after a shaky start improved, with Robin Townley on the tenor behind on the front six doing really well by the end, whilst my Godson young Jonathan occupied himself playing with the rope of the downed tenor of the eight as his mother Susanne watched over him. That was it from a ringing perspective for today for me though as Ruthie went to Raydon south of Hadleigh where there are no bells hung for change-ringing, as she made her latest outing singing for the Jubilate Singers at the Evensong there, but other ringers in Suffolk were still ringing as a quarter-peal was rung on the front six at Stowmarket for the Afternoon Tea event being held for the Organ Restoration Fund and was hopefully being rung late enough in the day for the local residents.

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Saturday 15th February 2025

Six days after travelling over to Bishop's Stortford to practice for the George W Pipe 12-bell Striking Competition, we made the same journey to participate in the contest itself. And what an occasion it has become. When it first began in 2018, it was competed for by four teams and only open to bands from the twelve-bell towers of Essex and Suffolk, both of which needed a shot in the arm from a twelve-bell perspective. The results were announced in a chapel in a corner of the vast cathedral, sparsely populated by a decent but relatively small crowd. Even that exceeded my expectations. At the time, I was only aware of regular twelve-bell ringing in Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich and a seemingly struggling scene in Chelmsford, but everything has to begin somewhere and the inaugural outing of this fledgling competition was rightly considered a success. Despite still being in its infancy when the pandemic hit though, it has grown to such an extent that when rounding proceedings off today, the organiser and instigator of this event Ian Culham requested help with the organisation of a competition that he has been arranging on his own ever since he started it seven years ago.

Such a plea is understandable on the basis of the behemoth of an event it was today, as a record number of seven teams from four counties - including for the first time Hertfordshire where we were today - competed for a trophy that had only been won by teams from within our borders until Norwich added Norfolk to what is now a list of victorious counties today. As Ian spoke, he was addressing a packed hall in The Windhill Churches' Centre beneath the tower and spire of St Michael's where Waltham Abbey, Norwich, Saffron Walden, Chelmsford, the hosts, The Norman Tower and finally us had rung the same touch of Erin Cinques across a day of a high standard of ringing. Even Waltham Abbey who came seventh were only 18 percentage points behind the winners from north of the River Waveney, which I think is quite close across a whole field of teams. Quite apart from the eighty-four competitors, there were numerous hangers on and interested attendees including a decent smattering of youth amongst the many familiar faces, a lot of whom found themselves watching the live feed from the bells and ringing chamber.

Across the participants the spirit of the competition was in evidence too, with opportunities given to a number of ringers who had never competed in a twelve-bell striking competition, including for us with George Heath-Collins and David Lugg. George only began ringing two or three years ago, whilst David has only been ringing on twelve with us regularly over the last year or so and even then his job means that he can't always make it on Monday nights, so that they were both able to ring in a piece of ringing on twelve of this quality is hugely impressive. Well done to them and to all who competed today, especially our friends from Norwich.

Well done and thank you also to the judges Ian Bushell and Jadd Virji who delivered kind and constructive comments and managed to pick a winner from a top three separated by only three percentage points and most of all to Ian for his organisation of today and the locals for their superb hosting. It was a great day and wonderful to people like former Guild Treasurer Gordon Slack, his son Jonathan who was one of my young ringing peers in Suffolk and in turn his son Jamie who is apparently also learning to ring. So many chats with so many people from across the eastern region.

That wasn't end of our activities for this cold February day though, as following a tense return home listening to Ipswich Town holding on for a 1-1 draw at Champions League participants Aston Villa despite only having ten players for most of the match after a sending off, we then walked in the snow to The Wilford Bridge where we were met by Mason, Alfie and Josh after their Granny Kate had generously taken them there following a day of looking after the younger two brothers whilst we competed in Hertfordshire.

The main reason we were at one of our local pubs tonight though was for the annual Pettistree Ringers' 'Christmas' Dinner, this time kindly arranged by Chris McArthur. A couple of long tables were full of more of the ringing friends we are blessed to have, enjoying fantastic company, some really nice food and drink and speeches by Mary Garner and Mike Whitby, with Mary's 'Monthly' Plate deservedly awarded to Peter Harper. Or at least it will be when last year's winner Elaine Townsend brings it from home! Well done Peter!

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, the first performances of the ASCY's Country Meeting in Australia were being rung, even featuring ringers from our county. As a College Youth and someone who transformed ringing in the antipodes I imagine the late, great George Pipe would be absolutely delighted that this event has started so successfully.

And I expect he would feel likewise about how successful the competition that bears his name has become.

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Friday 14th February 2025

Valentine's Day is never an occasion Ruthie and I have ever gone overboard on, as much as we love each other of course. The odd meal out here and there and the occasional gift, but normally it's been spent as we did today, with cards exchanged and cooking a meal that isn't just convenient. Nice, but not extravagant, although it is notable that the 14th February is one of the sixty-five dates I haven't rung a peal on yet!

Peals were the big topic in this week's edition of The Ringing World which arrived with us this morning with Andrew Craddock - who runs the superb Pealbase and spoke at the Guild's 90th Anniversary Dinner in 2013 - analysing 2024's peal totals with former Central Council President Simon Linford, Sheffield University ringer Hanna Booth and former Bures learner and Master of the Cumberland Youths John Loveless invited to offer their thoughts. It really is fascinating reading, even if you aren't a peal-ringer. Personally I believe the art needs all its elements to be at their best, whether that's outings, practices, quarters striking competitions or indeed peals. They are frowned upon by some as selfish and indulgent, but they offer something aspirational to those who want to fully take advantage of what the exercise offers and along with the other aspects mentioned retain the interest of so many. So that numbers of peals and ringers ringing them have been falling has been a worry for some time and only exagerated by the pandemic. However, much like the numbers for the SGR, there seems to be an encouraging slight upturn of those numbers as the art has recovered from the lockdowns, including the number of first-pealers and to varying degrees seem almost up to pre-pandemic levels.

However, as Mr Loveless alludes, more perhaps needs to be done by peal-ringers to help ringing from its entry point as it were. That's not to say that they don't already and locally the best examples of recent years have been Stephen Pettman and David Salter who were both leading peal-ringers and conductors in the county yet also did much for ringers at grassroots level and Jake's point is mainly aimed at what he describes as the "top 100." Us peal-ringers (if I can still count as such with my low levels of recent years!) need to make sure we engage with district and Guild events, Surprise Major practices and local sessions where and when we can to enable us and aspiring peal-ringers to meet to allow ambitions to flourish.

John features further into the issue with a letter bringing the attention of the readers to the 75th anniversary of the first peal of Bristol Surprise Maximus which falls on 22nd May, but there isn't anything else Suffolk-related apart from QPs and peals, including the 5040 we rang at Pettistree for Mason's eighteenth birthday recently.

Meanwhile there was ringing within our borders that all being well should appear in a future edition of the RW as a 1260 of St Clement's College Bob Minor was rung at Earl Stonham.

Which seems as good a way as any to spend Valentine's Day!

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Thursday 13th February 2025

This Thursday evening was unusually busy for the boys and me.

It began with a very positive parents evening for both Alfie and Josh which of course Ruthie and I went along to before we dropped their mother off for her usual Thursday night choral practicing and our evening then took a different spin. Recently our go-to pre-match venue of The Mermaid in Ipswich has been closed for refurbishment into more of a sports bar, but as regulars(!) we had been invited by means of beer mats distributed to us on one of our previous visits that we could also use to purchase free drinks on this special reopening evening. There has been quite the change and with just about every wall now bedecked with screens showing different sports the boys didn't know which way to look!

A drink with mother-in-law Kate, sister-in-law Clare and fiancé Chris and her daughters plus unexpected puddings for Joshua and Alfred and we returned home where ahead of picking my wife up there was even time for me to indulge in a spot of eBell practicing. Once I realised that my brain wasn't capable of wrapping itself round Bristol Surprise Major at this late stage of the evening, I gave myself a blast of Plain Bob Minor on 5-6 and then 3-4 and even a course of Little Bob Maximus on 11-12 in my first handbell ringing on twelve.

I can't say that the standard was particularly great, but I imagine it was a lot better in the three quarter-peals rung in Suffolk today. They featured a number of achievements and landmarks. Congratulations to North-West District Ringing Master Joshua Watkins on ringing his 75th QP with former NW Chairman David Steed in the 1260 of Cambridge Surprise & Plain Bob Minor at Hinderclay and his 100th as conductor in the 1344 of Turramurra Surprise Major at Horringer where he was also ringing his first in the method. Congratulations also to one of Joshua's predecessors in the RM role Ruth Suggett, who in the latter performance rang her 50th with Sally Crouch and her 100th with Martin Kirk and congratulations of course also to David, Sally and Martin! And for good measure the band also rang a quarter of Plain Bob Minor at Rickinghall Superior.

Thursday wasn't just busy for us!

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Wednesday 12th February 2025

There is much excitement amongst friends of ours fortunate enough to be going to Australia for the College Youths Country Meeting, with photos of thrilled members going through airports and messages of anticipation from others about to leave for the antipodes appearing on my Facebook feeds.

My travels this evening were less exotic but almost as long-winded. The short journey to Pettistree from Melton has been bedeviled by not just one set of traffic lights for roadworks but two for weeks, but as if that isn't enough the road into the village was also closed tonight!

Still, I was mightily glad I made it, immediately rewarded with a sausage roll made by Wickham Market ringer John Horsnell's wife Chris for his recent birthday and then having popped my head into the ringing chamber to bring the tower's copy of The Ringing World in, I was thrust straight onto the tenor to call a 240 of Ipswich Surprise Minor. Despite low numbers tonight, that was part of a repertoire that also took in Carlisle and Norwich, as well as Doubles of the Grandsire, Plain Bob and Stedman varieties, which was followed by a drink in the Greyhound Inn and preceded by a 1260 of Grandsire Doubles.

That success was one of two quarter-peals rung in Suffolk today, with the other at Bramford being a particularly notable one as not only was Eric Falla ringing his first QP of this millennium, but Janus van Helvert was ringing his first in the medium altogether. Well done Eric, but especially to Janus!

Meanwhile, beyond our borders but for the Guild, a peal of Earl of Shaftesbury Surprise Major was rung at Fulbourn in Cambridgeshire. It may not have been as exciting as going to Australia, but hopefully the journey wasn't any longer than they expected!

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Tuesday 11th February 2025

Occasionally I have a read back of some of my blog entries of a few years ago. It has been going for so long that we have now reached some of those distant dates in the future that I once mentioned that seemed eons away. Such as precisely a decade ago when I read an article in The Telegraph (which is now behind a paywall) that rather sensationally claimed that rural churches could disappear within ten years when we reached the futuristic-sounding 2025. Well, ten years on, even with a pandemic in between that most of us couldn't have foreseen and which accelerated much decline, we mercifully still have rural churches, with the opportunity to ring in some truly beautiful places on our doorstep and beyond remaining open to us. That's not to say this isn't a concern anymore, it very much is, but the enlarging of some benefices and the redesignating of some places of worship as 'festival churches' means that I'm not aware of any rings of bells in our most rural of counties that have been lost because of a church being closed down since this article was written.

One rural church still going strong is that of Ufford, but unfortunately unlike most Tuesdays we weren't ringing on the 13cwt eight here tonight as a lack of numbers made holding a session unviable. It did at least give Ruthie and me a relatively rare opportunity to spend a midweek evening in together with the boys, although that went on a lot longer than expected as we all sat up watching the match on TV to see if it would be Exeter City or Nottingham Forest that Ipswich Town are due to play in the next round of the FA Cup as the fixture suffered from lengthy injuries and went all the way to penalties.

At least other ringers in Suffolk were participating in the art though, most particularly at Offton where the weekly practice there was preceded as it often is by a quarter-peal. Well done to Caroline Goodchild on ringing her first of Yorkshire in the 1312 of the Surprise Major variation.

And well done to former Ipswich ringer George Salter who conducted a peal of Roderick Horton's four Surprise Major methods of Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow and London spliced in the 5024 at Edgbaston in the West Midlands today. This is a challenging composition to ring with lots of points, wrong hunting and going in different directions in a short space and is even more difficult to conduct, something that is born out by George being only the 66th ringer to achieve this, according to Pealbase.

George has undoubted talent and has also generated a lot of his opportunities in what is a wonderful example to all local aspiring young ringers, but I imagine he was also helped by the ringing opportunities afforded him on bells in Suffolk's rural churches. Which despite that warning of ten years ago are still there, thank God!

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Monday 10th February 2025

Following my busy day of twelves and Erin yesterday, there were no twelves or Erin today or indeed any ringing at all as Ruthie got stuck at a work's meeting that ran too late for me to get out to Ipswich Minster for the weekly practice.

There is lots of ringing planned for the future that came to my attention whilst I was busy not ringing tonight though. Most immediately on Saturday when the George W Pipe 12-bell Competition is due to be held on the new twelve of Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire. This is the striking contest organised by Ipswich ringer Ian Culham open to twelve-bell bands in the east of England including the weekend's hosts and towers from Essex, Norfolk and here in Suffolk and has become a real highlight of the ringing calendar for us and others. It is a really relaxed social occasion and judging by the itinerary for Saturday sent to us today, the 2025 one should be the same, with the plan being that bacon, veggie and sausage baps are served in The Windhill Churches' Centre nearby the church from 8.30am up until the 10am draw, a lunch of jacket potatoes with cheese & beans, chilli con carne and veggie chilli served between noon and 2pm, tea, coffee and biscuits served throughout the day and a licensed bar and soft drinks available. It should be exciting. Since its inception the trophy has only been won by teams from within our borders, shared between Ipswich and The Norman Tower, with the latter the current holders, but could this be the year that someone else wins it? If you can, please do consider coming along to find out and support the bands, especially the ones from our county!

Meanwhile, a message popping up on the 'Nabbers' Facebook page reminded me of an event that I imagine will be of interest to many Guild members. The Tower Open Day to raise funds for the Little Bromley Bell Restoration Fund south of the River Stour is scheduled for Saturday 22nd March taking in twenty-one towers in the north-eastern area of our southern neighbours. As I've said before these can be really fun events and God willing by that time spring will have sprung and daylight hours will be long and making for a really pleasant day out. Further details and tickets are available from Gavin Edwards.

Another ringing event I received a message about on this damp February Monday was twice past Ringing Master of the SGR Stephen Pettman's week to Italy planned for the autumn of this year. This is due to begin with a coach pickup on the evening of Friday 17th October, take in lots of fantastic hospitality, plenty of food and drink, opportunities for a unique ringing experience, demonstrations of local styles of ringing and a visit to the eight and ten at Dordrecht in the Netherlands on the way back before the coach is due to drop everyone off in the early hours of Monday 27th October. Level of ability is unimportant as ringing on the bells in Italy is safe but a real leveler - there won't be any Surprise Major rung on this trip! Indeed, Stephen would be just as interested to hear from non-ringers who want to experience this busy, though fun and fascinating holiday. Please do get in touch with him for more details via the contact details for Grundisburgh and/or spread the word amongst family and friends!

Nothing quite as interesting for me, as instead of ringing I had a lads night in with the boys watching football on the TV and enjoying the delicious chocolate & ginger muffins that Josh had made at school!

It was a wonderful alternative to more twelves and Erin!

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Sunday 9th February 2025

Four twelves. Ten pieces of Erin. 160 miles. That was my Sunday.

It all began at St Mary-le-Tower. Or Ipswich Minster as the boys quite rightly corrected me on before we set off, although I believe the full title is Ipswich Minster Church of St Mary-le-Tower, so I don't think my slip of the tongue was entirely erroneous!

Whatever its name, we were there for me to ring in my first two bits of Erin of the day, albeit the only two of Caters and after refreshment in Costa Coffee, we were then off to our second twelve of the day and star of the big screen Grundisburgh where there was no Erin, but plenty on six and eight.

Ruthie was picked up from her choral duties in Woodbridge, the boys were dropped off at their Granny's and a spot of lunch grabbed at home and my wife and I were both on our way to Bishop's Stortford, my third and newest twelve of the day. It is also the planned location of the 2025 George W Pipe 12-bell Competition due to be held on Saturday and where the test piece is due to be Erin Cinques, thus why we were in this near corner of Hertfordshire and why we were ringing so much Erin today!

When committing to a competition where one has to travel considerable distance to, it is always useful to visit the venue beforehand, especially somewhere as unfamiliar as this ring of bells augmented from ten only three years ago were to most of us. Usually the chance to get to grips with the foibles and individual quirks of 'your' bell's striking in and around the others in the competition touch is invaluable, which is why some of us were slightly disappointed that we were ringing with simulated sound this afternoon. Nonetheless, I could understand why it was so and we still had a really worthwhile hour and a half here getting a feel for their go, which is important as at 15cwt they are quite a bit lighter than our own twelve, as well as getting used to the surroundings both inside and out so that the potential for unsettling surprises on the competition day is reduced! Plus it was a fascinating experience, a first for most of us on twelve especially. And although extensive sound control could do the same (and there may be reasons why they can't have that), ultimately if it wasn't for the simulated sound preventing the neighbours being disturbed, we wouldn't have been able to practice here at all, so we were very grateful for our welcome and their hospitality. As was my mother Sally when she had left her rollator in the church not realising it was going to be locked up! Many thanks to the local Anne for finding someone to release it despite two keyholders being in Egpyt and Portugal! Although some of us were perturbed by one of the pealboards for reasons that will probably jump out to most!

Understandably it was here we rang the most Erin Cinques - including an attempt to replicate competition conditions - but we did also attempt some Cambridge Surprise Maximus before we continued on to Chelmsford Cathedral. This is somewhere better known to a lot of our party, including my wife and me, with Ruthie having rung two peals here and me five. I am even on a pealboard here! Still, it was a useful experience for less experienced ringers such as Claire Haynes and George Heath-Collins, both of whom rang really well here and indeed at both towers. It also made it even more worthwhile travelling such distances rather than just making a 120-mile long round-trip for an hour and a half session. Thank you here to local Colin Chapman - who recently kindly conducted the peal of Grandsire Cinques to celebrate the designation of St Mary-le-Tower as a Minster - for welcoming us and ringing with us as more Erin was rung.

I expect some retired to a pub after our afternoon's ringing, but we returned to mother-in-law Kate's abode where she had generously cooked us some tea having very kindly looked after Alfie and Josh, taking them to Rendlesham Forest whilst their parents traversed the landscape south of the River Stour on a day when there was much ringing within our borders. Well done to Juliet Griffiths on ringing her most methods and to Judith Raven her first on eight inside in the quarter-peals of eleven Doubles methods at Bardwell and Plain Bob Triples at Southwold respectively and to Mary Garner, Mary Dunbavin, Mike Cowling, Jed Flatters, Alan Mayle, Mark Ogden, Richard Rapior and conductor Tom Scase on ringing their and the Guild's first peal of Lincolnshire-variation Z Battery Battersea Park Surprise Major in the second-Sunday peal at Aldeburgh, whilst there was also a 1320 of Erin Cinques rung at The Norman Tower.

It wasn't just me ringing lots of Erin or at twelve-bell towers today!

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Saturday 8th February 2025

It was great to see the Suffolk Guild's peal-ringing on twelve beyond our borders continuing into another year with the 5042 of Cambridge Surprise Maximus at Leicester Cathedral rung today. I rang a peal there myself conducted by Stephen Pettman in 2001 but that was for the Leicester Diocesan Guild and as far as I can tell today's was the first SGR peal there.

No such ringing adventures for us on this Saturday, though we still had a pleasant enough day, with the main activity from our household being a family trip to watch Alfie perform superbly (he even kept up his 100% record of defending penalties!) in his team's football match but end up on the losing side and Mason travelling to Coventry to watch Ipswich Town win in the FA Cup.

Hopefully the North-West and North-East District events at Brandon and Rendham respectively went well too and SGR members were also having a successful day within our borders!

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Friday 7th February 2025

Even in this day of saturation screen time, it still feels odd seeing somewhere familiar to you on TV. We are used to Portman Road and even Ipswich itself appearing on the televisual box since the men's football team put the club and town on the world map, but local places away from the Premier League gaze are rarely seen on the big screen.

Framlingham will be familiar to Ed Sheeran obsessives from across the planet and millions of fans of Detectorists which is predominantly filmed in the town as well as other locations round here and the castle here plays a big part of Mary I's story, so we weren't surprised that Lucy Worsley - who we are big fans of - visited there during her programme about the queen often dubbed 'Bloody Mary' or even to see brief shots of the tower that holds the town's 16cwt eight. When filming cut to Westminster Abbey that wasn't surprising either and nor was the sound of bells ringing, although it didn't sound like the Abbey's bells or ringers!

We were therefore hooked, but caught completely off guard by the historian suddenly popping up in Grundisburgh, sat in the churchyard within view of Jim & Sylvia Pipe's gravestone and then walking beneath the tower that Ruthie, myself and so many of you reading this will have done much ringing at, filmed as she walked past the door to the stairs up to the ringing chamber on her way into the church. And then spoke with a fellow historian in The Dog where many a drink has been had after ringing on some or all of the 10cwt twelve opposite, as she followed the story of Alice Driver, a protestant woman from the village who was one of the last to be burnt for her faith under Mary's reign in the sixteenth century.

There was also reading material for us to enjoy tonight as this week's edition of The Ringing World arrived in the post for us and ultimately the Pettistree band. In it are lots of interesting articles including one from Pettistree ringer and Chairman of the Guild Mark Ogden about his first peal and his first as conductor in November and December 1974 at Stretford in Greater Manchester. They both featured lots of first pealers from a very young band and he writes a nice piece on the celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the performances marked by a quarter-peal at the same venue with some of the same ringers just before Christmas.

No actual ringing for us today though, unlike others in the county with Cambridge Surprise and Plain Bob Minor at Tostock and Wissett respectively. Well done to Judith Raven on ringing her first of Minor in the latter.

Perhaps we will see both places on TV soon.

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Thursday 6th February 2025

A wander alongside the River Deben at lunchtime and a sight of the tower that holds Woodbridge's 25cwt eight was as close as I got to ringing today, as I stayed in this evening with the boys whilst Ruthie was practicing with her choral colleagues.

That was in contrast to North-West District Ringing Master Joshua Watkins who celebrated his birthday by ringing - and achieving - in three quarter-peals in Suffolk. The 1320 at Horringer was his first of Bourne Surprise Minor as conductor and a first in the method for Juliet Griffiths, the Doubles at Old Newton his 250th in the medium and 1260 at Wetherden his first of Pinehurst Bob Minor as conductor and Sally Crouch's first in the method. Well done Juliet and Sally, but particularly well done, congratulations and Happy Birthday to Joshua! And thank you for making my blog more interesting from a ringing perspective today!

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Wednesday 5th February 2025

I've never been asked to ring something "sympathetically" before, but that's what we attempted with a couple of courses of Kent Treble Bob Minor at Pettistree practice this evening. Whether we managed that I'm not really sure, we got to the end of it during a session where we also rang a couple of touches of spliced Surprise Minor, once of Durham & York and once of seven methods called by Mark Ogden. All accompanied by a visit from former Ipswich St Margaret's ringer and fellow Rambling Ringer Sue McCouaig and some lovely chocolate cake brought along by Chris McArthur made by his wife Mary-Jane and followed by a drink in the Greyhound Inn.

Earlier today meanwhile, I was listening to BBC Radio Suffolk when a report on the eightieth anniversary of VE Day on Thursday 8th May was played about 3 hours and 47 minutes into Wayne Bavin's Breakfast Show. Its main focus is on a planned singalong at 9.30pm, but around three minutes into the piece mention is made of church bells and is a timely reminder that plans are afoot for ringing at 6.30pm that day. Further information can be found on the Central Council's website with a link to a BellBoard event set up for the occasion and to more details on the day as a whole.

God willing it'll be a busy day of ringing, but today was fairly busy for Suffolk ringing too. Although neither of us could ring with Alfie's football training clashing with it as it normally does, this evening's pre-practice quarter-peal on the aforementioned ground-floor six was the first success here for three weeks and was one of three QPs rung on the county's bells for birthdays, with the other two rung at Norton as a 1312 of Double Norwich Court Bob Major and 1376 of Yorkshire Surprise Major celebrated Andrew Stone's big day. Happy Birthday Andrew and Chris!

Hopefully the ringing was done sympathetically.

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Tuesday 4th February 2025

I have been continuing my lunchtime walks most days, with the weather in 2025 thus far conducive to wandering through the countryside we are blessed to live, work and ring in. It's just I haven't given daily updates, partly because with the time limitations I long ran out of new walks a while ago, partly because there has been enough ringing to mention without getting into my meanderings. Today though, my walk as far as Foxburrow Farm during my break from work was pretty much the only thing of note from my day, beyond the usual delightful time spent with my family. That was because there was no practice at Ufford this evening, with numbers sadly too low to justify people travelling out to the 13cwt eight.

Not so at Offton, where the quarter-peal of Double Norwich Court Bob Major was presumably followed by the usual weekly session on the ground-floor octave.

Nice as that part of the world is though, it is too far to walk from ours.

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Monday 3rd February 2025

If you would like to receive emails through the Suffolk Guild about news, events and calls for help, then please contact the SGR Webmaster Chris Garner.

Those who already do should have received an email today from the Treasurer Tim Hart and the rest of the Trustees Chairman Mark Ogden, Ringing Master Katharine Salter and Secretary David Everett with news of a phenomenal legacy left to the Guild by Adrian Knights who died in December 2023. He has left the organisation a staggering amount of money specifically for the purpose of helping fund augmentations to eight or more bells. I know some quite rightly feel that we haven't got enough ringers to ring the bells we already have, but of course ringers aren't evenly distributed across the county. Some places may have a large thriving band for whom augmentation would help their progress, whilst if done right and the local community is engaged in a project to augment a ring, it can incorporate a recruitment drive. I don't imagine the plan is for everyone to suddenly to start pitching augmentations or putting forward proposals to turn Benhall into a twelve and the like, but hopefully it can help projects that may come up for many years to come. This is an extremely generous gesture that could help many, from a lovely man who is much missed.

Arnie spent many years ringing at Ipswich Minster - which of course was 'just' St Mary-le-Tower throughout his life - and it was there that I was this evening for what was one of those nights when much didn't go. Sometimes it goes that way and it was still impressive that we rang what we did and with a number of those just feeling their way into methods on this number. When I arrived a band was about to pull off for some Stedman Cinques including not just my reluctant mother Sally (she really doesn't like ringing Stedman!), but also three learning to ring this famous principle, each with someone stood behind them, including Amanda Richmond who still can't ring as she recovers, but remains useful! There were also pieces of Cambridge and Yorkshire Surprise Maximus, as well as Erin Cinques with the George W Pipe 12-bell Competition due to be held at Bishop's Stortford in twelve days time.

Our evening's ringing was rounded off with ringing all the bells down for the second week running with new ropes fitted onto some of the bells immediately afterwards and an inspection from Taylor's planned.

And it was all topped off by a drink at the Halberd Inn where the main topic of conversation was probably the same as in many other pubs across the country after ringing tonight, the loss of the Cumberland Youths Master's badge as we mused where it might be.

Meanwhile earlier in the day a quarter-peal of Little Bob Royal was rung on handbells in Moats Tye.

I imagine there may be more things going on in the SGR, some of which might be shared via the Guild's emails.

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Sunday 2nd February 2025

For the second morning running it was an unusually leisurely start to the day, with a bell from Melton New Church chiming away as we got ready, this time because it is the first Sunday of the month and therefore a later service and ringing time at Woodbridge. And for the second morning running, before we'd even woken up a peal had already been rung on handbells in Risby.

That village's three is mentioned in the draft minutes of October's BAC meeting in Tostock which was shared on this website on Tuesday but read by me today. An inspection of the 10cwt ring was undertaken and sadly decided that due to "potential structural issues" full circle ringing isn't possible at the moment, but it is one of many reports from towers good, bad and in between. The latter category includes the 9cwt six at Bedfield where due to excessive frame movement and a cracked tower the bells are now unringable. A project driven locally to restore them is ongoing but apparently not imminent. In the middle the news from Sudbury Arts Centre - formally known as St Peter's isn't great. Seemingly the bells can't be heard from downstairs where only the front six can be rung and are very noisy from upstairs. Among the first category meanwhile it is wonderful to hear that the community of Hoxne are fundraising for the new eight from the Keltek Trust to be hung there. As ever a really interesting insight into what is going on at towers across Suffolk.

Eventually I did get to ringing and I was pleased to have done so as I made the sixth ringer before going to the service downstairs, but that was it for my ringing today.

Not so for other ringers in the county though. Thoughts are with Mendham ringer Erika Clarke on the loss of her mother Hazel who was remembered in the footnote to the quarter-peal of Plain Bob Triples at Halesworth that Erika was to have rung in. Meanwhile at The Norman Tower a 1320 of St Martin's Bob Cinques (which as you might expect of an extention of the Doubles version involves lots of places on the front!) was rung for the farewell Evensong for the Right Reverend Bishop Martin Seeley, the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and therefore President of the Guild.

Our day continued with a visit from Ruthie's best friend Fergie and then a quiet evening in with not such a leisurely start planned for tomorrow morning.

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Saturday 1st February 2025

With Alfie's match this morning called off last night, we had a leisurely lay-in as February dawned. In fact so leisurely that a peal had already been rung in Suffolk before we woke up! Although that peal was rung on handbells in 1 hour and 57 minutes as two Pipes and an Earis got up early to ring a 5760 of the 'standard' 147 Treble Dodging Minor methods in Risby before setting off on a parkrun!

That wasn't the only ringing performance within our borders to appear on BellBoard today though. At Stowmarket the 1260 of Plain Bob Doubles was Ricky Paterson's first quarter-peal away from cover, whilst the 1320 of Norwich Surprise Minor at Woolpit was Astrid Gale's first in the method. Well done Ricky and Astrid!

Meanwhile, there was hopefully a big crowd at Offton for the South-East District Practice, but we weren't there as we were at Portman Road for what turned out to be probably the most depressing men's Ipswich Town game for some years as we lost 2-1 against the bottom team Southampton who many have labelled one of the worst teams in Premier League history. Congratulations though to James Croft and Maggie Ross, ringing Southampton fans with Suffolk connections!

However, the rest of our afternoon out was typically fun although slightly different to the norm as with our usual pre-match venue of The Mermaid closed for refurbishment we went to the Chestnut Tree Farm on the outskirts of Ipswich for our dinner and then caught the park & ride in to town. We still saw other ringers though, apart from ourselves and mother-in-law Kate, bumping into Hollesley ringer Sam Shannon on the bus both in and out and of course enjoying a pint with Norwich ringer Simon Rudd in the Fanzone before kick-off and then again at half-time.

Nonetheless, I think a lot of us were wishing this match had been called off too!

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Friday 31st January 2025

Usually Friday evenings are quiet affairs at home for our household. Or at least as quiet as one might expect with a household of five. It is a brief moment in the week to unwind in amongst work, ringing, football and the children's activities, but occasionally there are things that we like to go along to on the first night of the weekend.

Such as the Surprise Major practices that South-East District Ringing Master Hal Meakin has been running on a bimonthly basis for the last year. The plan is for them to be monthly in 2025 and held on different nights of the week so those who go to a regular practice on a Friday can come along too. For example, the next one is penciled in for Thursday 27th February at Framlingham. January's was held tonight though at Ufford as the first of a SE two-parter that is also due to take in Saturday afternoon's practice at Offton.

Rare as Friday night activity is for us therefore, that we don't usually get a clash of events on such nights, but on this occasion I did as I was invited to the farewell drinks of my work colleague Phoebe, whose final day for John Catt Educational - or rather Hachette Learning as we're a part of now - was today. Whilst the timing was frustrating and I like to support ringing ventures such as that happening a mile and a half away on the 13cwt eight if I possibly can, it would've been sad to miss Phoebe's send-off, especially as it was being held in walking distance at The Bull Inn in the shadow of the tower that holds Woodbridge's ring of eight.

Ruthie and the boys did go to the ringing though, where she rang Cornwall Surprise Major on a productive evening, although sadly a quarter-peal attempt beforehand was lost.

Others in the county were having better luck with their quarter-peals though, as Julia Brown rang her first of Grandsire in the 1269 of the Doubles variation at Theberton, which hopefully made up for the loss of the attempt at Pettistree on Wednesday.

Talking of Pettistree, it was mentioned in the latest edition of The Ringing World which arrived with us this morning, as it is on a list of towers that are slated to appear on BBC Radio 4's 'Bells on Sunday' during the forthcoming month, with its slot set for the 16th.

Also in this issue is a plea for people to look out for the lost Cumberland Youths Ringing Master's badge, with even a £1,000 reward being offered for information that may lead to its recovery. If you don't know what it looks like then there is a picture of it on the SRCY's website accompanying a copy of the statement in the RW which includes a detailed description of the badge. You are encouraged to contact the Honorary Secretary David Bath on secretary@srcy.org.uk with any information or anything you think may help.

Also looking for help is Jacky Savage who emailed Guild members today via the SGR's email system asking for ringers to ring at two weddings due to be held at Felixstowe in the summer. One is on Saturday 7th June, the other on Thursday 31st July. Do help if you can (Jacky alredy has enough ringers for both weddings. Ed.).

Although it's a pity neither is on a Friday evening which are usually so quiet for us.

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Thursday 30th January 2025

The Case of The Missing Cumberland Badge sounds like some kind of lighthearted period mystery like a Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple tale. Intriguing, full of gentle jeopardy, but lighthearted. As a member of the the SRCY's 'rivals' the Ancient Society of College Youths, one might imagine I'm supposed to find the loss of the Cumberland Youths Ringing Master's badge amusing and I have to admit that when I first heard about it recently I chuckled, albeit more out of disbelief than anything else. I was once a Cumberland myself, so I am actually quite sad to hear about this and indeed bar the odd joke and spot of friendly mockery on some corners of social media, the general reaction of ringers of whatever their persuasion or none has been one of sympathy and concern. For being older than the SRCY themselves the badge is part not just of the society's history and heritage, but of ringing itself, so its loss is distressing to all concerned and the wider ringing family. That its loss actually occurred back in July but only imparted more widely over the last week or two seems to have caused some understandable discontent too.

A heartfelt email sent today to those on the Cumberland's email list - including Ruthie - from the clearly upset Ringing Master Jack Page explains the background to its loss. The bag it was in seems to have been left on a railway station platform on his way back from the Ringing World National Youth Contest via some drinks at a pub and was gone when he went back realising he'd left it behind, which must have been an absolutely horrendous moment for him. A tantalising call from someone claiming to have the bag and offering to meet to return it wasn't fulfilled by the other person and then in a mysterious turn of events the bag was retrieved by a hotel in Acton (London, not Suffolk!) after it had been fought over by a couple of homeless people, but the badge was gone. The whereabouts of something that has been the centrepiece of the society's activities since its formation 278 years ago is now unknown and reported stolen.

There is also an explanation that the delay in letting the wider membership know was nothing malicious or part of an attempt to cover things up, but seemed to genuinely be done in the hope that it could be retrieved.

For all that Jack's carelessness will infuriate some, most of us have left things on journeys, often after a few drinks and sometimes very important or valuable things. He just seems very unfortunate that when he has left his bag behind as so many others will have done at some point in similar circumstances that it was carrying what it was. Jack is clearly full of remorse and has not only offered to contribute to its replacement but says he intends to step down as RM in May. Although as it isn't anything to do with me and of course I'm not privy to all the behind-the-scenes discussions and knowledge that may put a different slant on things, personally I hope he continues. I may not know him, but I do know he is one of the best young ringers in the world who has done so much for them from the peal-ringing exploits in their name to leading them to victory in the National 12-bell Striking Contest last year and it would be a shame for him firstly not to finish his stint in this position he has worked up to and secondly for it to end like this. From the outside at least, he doesn't deserve to simply be 'the master who lost the badge.' Hopefully the Cumberland Youths and ringers generally will rally round and support him, as I'm sure most already are.

It all made for sorry reading, but mercifully there was something cheerier for me to read whilst my wife was out practicing with her choral colleagues as the latest edition of Tower Talk is now available, published as ever by Bardwell's Ruth Suggett. Apart from the announcement that Felixstowe's Jacky Savage was one of December's 50/50 Club draw prize winner, there wasn't anything featuring Suffolk's ringers or towers, but it is still packed full of upbeat, inspiring and important content and as usual is well worth taking the time to read it.

Hopefully there will also be an upbeat ending to The Case of The Missing Cumberland Badge.

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Wednesday 29th January 2025

Though not in a bad or sinister way, there was a slightly strange feel to Pettistree practice this evening. I arrived after Alfie's football training to a sizeable crowd slightly subdued following the loss of the pre-practice quarter-peal attempt, which this week was of Grandsire Doubles. If one QP loss here is rare then two in a row is practically unheard of! When a tired Mike Whitby (as I guess many accountants are at this time of year!) left early though, it seemed to prompt an unconnected mini exodus. And yet bizarrely the last couple of pieces of the session and the lower with those left were probably the best of the night!

That's not to say the ringing had been poor before that though. As soon as I arrived I was thrust straight into a very decent course of Westminster Surprise Minor (Norwich start) and then a couple of bits of Norwich Surprise Minor (Westminster start!), whilst we also rang a touch of spliced Surprise Minor conducted by Guild Chairman Mark Ogden and sung Happy Birthday to Chris McArthur. Lovely as well to see Hilary Stearn back ringing after she been laid low for weeks by illness.

Lovely also to meet Gavin Edwards in the Greyhound Inn afterwards celebrating his birthday with his other half William, with them joining us after their meal for a convivial ending to the evening.

Meanwhile, despite the loss of the quarter on the ground-floor six tonight, there was ringing success in Suffolk with a 5184 of Yorkshire-above method Xian Surprise Major at Felixstowe. Following a slow start to the Guild's 2025 peal totals that saw us get to 12th January before one was rung in our name, that is now five thus far this year, with three of them rung in the last four days.

The SGR's peal totals are now taking on a less strange feel!

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Tuesday 28th January 2025

There was no ringing at Ufford this evening and so I found myself at home and searching through the peals on BellBoard rung on Saturday for something to do. In the process I came across a couple of performances with Suffolk connections.

One was the 4500th in the medium for one-time Bures learner John Loveless when he pulled the tenor in to the 5088 of Bristol Surprise Major on the back eight at Northfiield in Birmingham. As far as I can make out from Drew Craddock's superb Pealbase, he is only the fifteenth to reach that total, so it is a phenomenal achievement. Congratulations Jake!

Meanwhile on the same day Andrew Stone marked the fiftieth anniversary of his first peal at the same tower of Huntington in North Yorkshire and on the same bell, although back then it was the treble of a six rather than the third of an eight as it is now! Since he returned to ringing a few years ago after a substantial break, he has been a huge boost to ringing at places like The Norman Tower and Offton, as well as the quarter-peal and peal scene in Suffolk and has been extremely active in peal arranging for the Guild, so I'm delighted that he has been able to mark this landmark. Nice too that Peter Sanderson - who has his own links to Suffolk - was able to mark the anniversary of what was also his first peal as conductor.

My extra free time tonight also allowed me to read Maureen Gardiner's email to members about the ART Module 2C Teaching Course due to be held at Stowmarket on Saturday 22nd February. Recent correspondence in The Ringing World has highlighted that ART isn't necessarily for everyone, but I believe it has generally shown to be a successful way of engaging and progressing those who wish to make their way as far as possible into this almost limitless pastime, so if you feel you could benefit from this course then further details of this event are on the ART website.

Hopefully it will help ensure there aren't too many evenings like ours without ringing.

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Monday 27th January 2025

Today Mason turned eighteen. That fragile newborn with feet turned inwards, who throughout his younger years was subjected to operations and even wheelchairs and yet took it all on cheerfully is now an adult. All of us around him have tried to prepare him for this point and thus far I think we've all done a good job as he is a polite young man who is happy to work and keen to help and please, but of course he isn't suddenly on his own and indeed I doubt he will notice much difference. Like most his age now and in the past he isn't yet ready to have his own place, driving lessons have been put on hold for the time being and he has already made a start in the world of employment, whilst he is continuing to learn at college. And as he has never touched alcohol and has no intention of doing so (and more power to him!), there was no ceremonial drinking of his first legal pint of beer. Yet this is still a significant birthday, a sign of him growing up and being seen as more responsible by society. It also makes me feel very old!

I did speak with him on the phone today, but I didn't see him as it was quite a busy day for him and me, as he spent the day in education and then went out this evening, whilst I was working all day and was then out myself as I went along to the weekly practice at Ipswich Minster on a night that was extremely quiet. Apart from the bells of course, but there was lots of Caters and Cinques rung with low numbers in attendance and several regulars away. That continued on into the Halberd Inn where only a handful of us retired to an unusually quiet pub.

There was further ringing activity in the county though and not just from the usual Monday night practices, as a quarter-peal of Little Bob Royal rung on handbells in Moats Tye, whilst there was Suffolk representation in the peal at St Philip's Cathedral in Birmingham that was rounding off the 70th Anniversary Dinner Weekend celebrations of BUSCR, with former learners from within our borders John Loveless and Jimmy Yeoman ringing in the 5070 of Stedman Cinques.

Congratulations to a society that I was never a member of but often socialised with and Happy 18th Birthday to Mason!

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Sunday 26th January 2025

Usually when I ring at St Mary-le-Tower and then Grundisburgh on a Sunday morning for the services there we will typically ring on all twelve at the former with Stedman Cinques and Surprise Maximus often rung, whilst at the latter we normally have enough to ring on six or maybe eight if we're lucky. It has been that way for some years, sadly so for the latter, but this morning the norm was reversed at Suffolk's oldest twelves.

At Ipswich Minster we had the numbers to ring on eight and so with all the bells needing to be rung down we lowered the back four (very well as it happened) and rang on the front eight before ringing them down too and retiring to Costa Coffee for refreshment. And then when the boys and I arrived at the county's lightest twelve they were already ringing call-changes on eight, with my arrival allowing call-changes on ten and then rounds on twelve to be rung.

Later in the day there were just the right number for a peal attempt at Pettistree, which was a relief as I had been arranging this for several weeks and suffered a dropout due to illness in the last few days. For this was the latest effort to mark Mason's birthday with a peal of an appropriate length and/or number of methods (hence the eighteen methods) and the last one at that as I decided several years ago that I would only arrange the boys' birthday peals whilst they were children and then God willing if they wished to have birthday peals after that they could be free to organise it themselves! I can't keep arranging them forever and the start of adulthood seems a good point to stop! With Mason due to reach that next stage in life tomorrow this completed a collection of peals that I hope he can look back on with a sense of fondness that I arranged these performances specially for him and that so many were happy to travel (sometimes considerable!) distances to ring for him. We have got him presents of course (although it's got harder to find something for a teenager earning and spending his own money!), but this is something different that I can offer him and even if he never rings again he hopefully appreciates that his name is recorded in the history of the exercise through BellBoard, The Ringing World and the Guild Annual Reports for as long as people are still looking back over peal records.

Sadly I couldn't ring one for every birthday. The pandemic lockdowns put paid to that with my handbell ringing not up to celebrating his fourteenth birthday, but nonetheless ever since we rang a 5040 at Monewden (where I had intended to return today until correspondent Brian Martin very kindly let me know of rope issues, so thank you to him for that and to Kate Eagle and Mary Garner on getting me Pettistree bells at relatively short notice) four days after his birth that also celebrated the arrival eighteen years ago today of Ruthie's cousin Freddie who offered my son a peer at family gatherings, there have been seventeen further peals in his honour. Like so many peals there are memories attached to each one. Such as his third birthday peal when I hadn't realised I had got both Jim & Yvonne Towler so Nigel Newton kindly stepped down and we were able to ring a 5003 of Yorkshire Surprise Royal at Grundisburgh that also celebrated the third birthday of the Towler's grandson who is presumably also celebrating his eighteenth birthday. Mason's eighth birthday in 2015 was marked with a peal of the 'standard' eight Surprise Major methods spliced at Debenham with a band that not only included one of the best tenor ringers in the world in Andrew Mills but also the superb Susan Marshall who very kindly agreed to ring after I discovered she was at a loose end in the area! The one for his eleventh birthday in 2018 which started out as a 5011 of Stedman Cinques at Grundisburgh with a band including Tom Griffiths and Chris Woodcock ended up being a 5040 of eleven Minor methods at Burgh over a fortnight later following two losses and a false start.

Eleven of the eighteen peals were conducted by Stephen Pettman, but he was unable to call today's attempt and so I was out of my comfort zone for the fifty-third time in my peal-ringing 'career' as I stuck the calls in and tried to keep track of where everyone should be. Not that I really had to do the latter with this band as we produced a pretty decent 2 hours and 39 minutes in a worthy climax to eighteen years of ringing peals for Mason's birthday. Thank you to those who came out to ring today and indeed anyone who has ever rung in an attempt successful or otherwise over the years for my eldest son!

Nice as well to ring another peal with my brother Chris who did well on the fifth which is the bell that works the hardest here and he was one of those who joined me in the Greyhound Inn afterwards, where we were met by Ruthie and tomorrow's birthday boy's younger brothers, with Mason himself busy working today.

Our efforts weren't the only from the county that featured on BellBoard today though. Our thoughts are with Lynda Rochester, with her husband Barry remembered by a quarter-peal rung at her home tower of Stowmarket, which impressively was rung silent and unconducted. And congratulations to young Max Thomson on ringing his tenth QP in the 1260 of Doubles rung at Bardwell!

Meanwhile, we enjoyed listening to the bells of Stoke by Nayland on BBC Radio 4's 'Bells on Sunday' which was taken from the quarter of Grandsire Triples rung there in September 2022 and as ever there is a longer recording on the tower's page on this website.

Suffolk's bells on the national airwaves is something I'm pleased to say is very much the norm, even if my morning wasn't!

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Saturday 25th January 2025

Last weekend's making of St Mary-le-Tower into Ipswich Minster already feels a strong contender for a potential highlight of 2025, so I was pleased to see a peal arranged to mark this historic occasion this morning was successfully rung with a 5060 of Grandsire Cinques which was also Ivan Culham's first on twelve. Well done Ivan!

However, we were unable to ring in it as we were watching Alfie and his teammates winning an under-11s football match before we popped into the county town afterwards for a spot of shopping with the anniversary of Mason's birthday in mind.

Hopefully February will be busier from a ringing perspective though, with a lot packed into the shortest month of the year if all goes to plan, starting with the South-East District Practice lined up at Offton in a week, which is combined with a Bake Off. Should be a tasty afternoon! Seven days on from that both the North-West District and North-East District are hoping to hold events with the former looking to have a practice at Brandon from 10am-noon and the latter a quarterly meeting and bring and share tea alongside ringing at Rendham. Should be another tasty afternoon! On the 15th the George W Pipe 12-bell Competition is slated for the new twelve at Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire with hopefully representation from The Norman Tower and Ipswich Minster and on the evening of Wednesday 19th the intention is for a ten-bell practice to be held at Beccles in what is hoped to be the first of a bimonthly practice on the 3rd Wednesday of the month (apart from in April). On the 22nd the South-West District are planning on running their monthly practice from 3-4.30pm at Kersey and on the following Thursday there is a Surprise Major practice penciled in at Framlingham. A reminder that this month's Surprise Major practice is still to come, being lined up for Friday at Ufford with an intended focus on Cornwall and Lessness. And in amongst all of that there are plans for the GMC to meet at Stowupland Church Hall on the afternoon of Sunday 16th and a Bellringing Exhibition to be held at Little Cornard on Tuesday 18th.

Lots of potential for 2025 highlights in February.

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Friday 24th January 2025

House!

No money won, but still a great night out enjoyed by Ruthie with her work colleagues as I stayed in the house with the boys.

With Storm Eowyn raging in the north of the country and especially Northern Ireland and Scotland, staying indoors was pretty much essential with red warnings, huge amounts of damage to buildings, felled trees, destroyed sheds and the usual sight of news reporters telling everyone to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary, whilst standing outside in the dangerous conditions to show us what we could all already see. It showed on BellBoard too with the most northerly performance in the UK noted on BellBoard being the 1296 of Stedman Triples (incidentally composed by Suffolk ringer Richard Weeks) at Over Kellet in Lancashire, as far as I can tell anyway.

Further south a ringer from this county was achieving as Sproughton ringer Tristan Shaw rang his first peal inside in the 5040 of Doubles at The Mount Without in Bristol where he is studying - well done Tristan!

And well done to Josephine Beever, Andrea Alderton, Maureen Gardiner, David Steed, Stephen Dawson and conductor Lesley Steed who rang their first quarter-peal of Mendip Treble Bob Minor in the success at Tostock, while a 1260 of Grandsire Doubles was rung in memory of Jill Rood at Thurston.

All performances that should appear in future editions of The Ringing World, but this week's arrived with us this morning and through the annual report on the Keltek Trust's activities in 2024 features towers within our borders. Bells from St Paul in Truro and St Chad in Rochdale have gone into Fornham St Martin to create the new eight there, the intention is for bells from Bishop's Stortford and St John's in Windsor to make up the new trebles of an eight at Felsham, whilst there is no further news on Hoxne which were included in the 2023 report.

It was very interesting stuff to read in our house whilst those around Ruthie were shouting 'House!"

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Thursday 23rd January 2025

Come Dine with Me - the show which pits four members of the public against each other in who can host the best three-course dinner party - is apparently twenty years old today, a topic that came up on BBC Radio Suffolk whilst I was listening to the local BBC radio station this morning. It prompted listeners to send in amusingly named spin-offs from the show, including 'Dave from Aldringham' (no idea if there is a ringing Dave from Aldringham!) who suggested "'Come Chime with Me' for Suffolk's bellringers."

That was as close as I got to ringing today though as Ruthie went out practicing with her choral colleagues as I stayed at home with the boys, including a happy Josh after he'd been round a schoolfriend's house straight after school.

Not so at Ixworth where 1344 of York Surprise Major was a first quarter-peal in the method for all the band. Well done to Andrea Alderton, Louise Whitehead, Deborah Blumfield, Lesley Steed, Martin Kirk, David Steed, Joshua Watkins and conductor Stephen Dawson and congratulations to Martin on his wonderful family news!

And I suppose happy anniversary to Come Dine with Me. I'm looking forward to Come Chime with Me though...

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Wednesday 22nd January 2025

The Greyhound Inn at Pettistree was open on a Wednesday evening for the first time since New Year's Day following its usual January break.

Completely coincidentally, Ruthie went along to her first practice on the ground-floor six in St Peter and St Paul church next door for the first time since New Year's Day.

In all seriousness though, as I've ended up going out lots recently it's good that my wife had the chance tonight. It enabled her to join a session that was attended by ringers from ten different towers including the local ringers, from as far away as Orford and Theberton and which was preceded by the loss of a quarter-peal attempt of Westminster Surprise Minor, but she got to ring a course of it herself and even managed to avoid ringing in her nemesis Stedman by hiding behind some shelves!

And of course it was rounded off by a drink in the reopened Greyhound Inn.

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Tuesday 21st January 2025

A big focus at Ufford's weekly practice tonight was handling as those nearer the beginning of their ringing progression look to take the next step. One was attempting to pull the tenor in to Plain Bob Minor, so how to adjust their place on the tailend was imparted. Another was panicking when it came to handstrokes, which was impacting on their control when trebling to methods, so we focused on them pulling their hands all the way down at backstroke to avoid the mad scramble to grab the sally that they were having. Along with getting the tailend round the back of the sally at handstroke, avoiding taking your hand off the rope any longer than necessary, pulling the rope straight down at backstroke and other things, these will not necessarily prevent progression (there are one or two super ringers with an appalling handling style!), but failure to get them licked early on will make life harder for you. Lots of ironing out was done this evening and progress made during a productive session.

Progress was also being made at Offton where Elizabeth Goodchild was ringing her first quarter-peal as she trebled to the 1260 of Plain Bob Triples with a band featuring her mother Caroline. Whenever I see Elizabeth ring she always seems to be enjoying it which is wonderful to witness and it is marvelous that she has achieved this. Well done Elizabeth and Happy Birthday!

She is also the second young ringer in less than a week to ring their first quarter following Edith Wankowska's at Bramford last Wednesday. After a slow few years for the Guild with youngsters it is great to see signs of improvement with that situation.

No doubt helped by excellent handling!

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Monday 20th January 2025

Amongst the coverage of preparations for Donald Trump's inauguration later today as President of the USA for the second time, one of the first things I heard on BBC Radio Suffolk whilst I overseeing the boys getting ready for school this morning was an interview with Griff Rhys Jones outside Ipswich Minster yesterday to the backdrop of us ringing Grandsire Cinques, which can be heard at 2 hours, 1 minute and 57 seconds into Wayne Bavin's Breakfast Show.

It was those same bells I was ringing on this evening as I joined the first weekly practice in the Minster era along with twenty-three others, a potential recruit and briefly a deacon at a session that saw us squeeze in plenty including Stedman Cinques and Surprise Maximus of the Cambridge and Yorkshire varieties before we retired to the Halberd Inn for refreshment.

Among our number there was David Stanford who earlier in the day had rung 7-8 to a quarter-peal of Little Bob Royal on handbells in Bury St Edmunds as that particular medium of local ringing continues strongly in 2025, but there was nothing further to report from BellBoard within our borders.

God willing not so on Sunday when an extract from the 1260 of Grandsire Triples at Stoke by Nayland in September 2022 is due to be broadcast 'Bells on Sunday' on BBC Radio 4. It's not just Ipswich Minster bells appearing on the airwaves at the moment!

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Sunday 19th January 2025

It was the day of the letter M for the Melton branch of the Munnings mob. Minster-making, Mermaid, Manchester City.

Most will be aware that this morning was the morning that after centuries of being 'merely' St Mary-le-Tower church, the home of the county's heaviest ring of bells became Ipswich Minster, one of just thirty-one in the country. It is a momentous event and as such the last few days has been a mass of media with events like yesterday's Bell Ringing Workshop, but the service today was the main show. And what a show! The choir are renowned for their excellence and were magnificent, comedian, actor & local resident Griff Rhys Jones made a lovely speech and the Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich - and therefore President of the Suffolk Guild - the Right Reverend Martin Seeley was undertaking one of his last official duties before he is due to retire next month, all in a packed church. Or minster as it ended the service being.

Bells played their part too as we rang beforehand and then as the service processed to the Cornhill round the corner afterwards, with a couple of courses of Grandsire Cinques bookending the Minster-making.

With our subsequent plans this afternoon, the later ringing afterwards presented challenges which were solved by the later ringing beforehand. That allowed the boys and me to catch the first train of the day from Melton into Ipswich and a walk across the town centre that highlighted the abundance of churches, towers and bells we have in the town, albeit not all ringable. St Nicholas which was once the HQ of the Diocese is currently empty and the tower where a ring of five hangs is in scaffolding. Round the corner St Peter's was visible down the street named after it, but of course only has a 7cwt five hung for chiming with the treble of the original six removed in 1983 and recast as the trebles of the then newly augmented eight at Offton. St Stephen's is now a concert venue with the three long unringable, as now for over a year has been nearby St Lawrence where work continues to assure the flintwork on the tower is safe. And of course finally Ipswich Minster.

Training it in also meant we could make our way to meet Ruthie for our pre-match meal at The Mermaid after she'd been collected from her morning of music in Woodbridge, without having to worry about what to do with the motorcar. Although that also meant more miles for the boys it also enabled us to take in another of the town's ring of bells as we passed the six of St Matthew's.

Food and drink consumed, we then walked to the Fanzone to meet Norwich ringer Simon Rudd (fresh from ringing a peal yesterday at Great Yarmouth dedicated from one minster to another!) and then into the stadium to watch the Tractor Boys take on a team that despite their relative difficulties this season are still the reigning the club world champions, Premier League champions for the last four years (last time they didn't win the English title we were a poverty stricken mid-table League One side) who are led by the best manager of modern times and some real superstars of the biggest sport on the planet. Not surprising therefore that we were beaten and beaten well by our multi-million pound megastar visitors, but whilst the result was miserable, watching some of these players was mesmerising.

Meanwhile there was ringing going on in Suffolk beyond Ipswich Minster. Congratulations to Sally Crouch and conductor Joshua Watkins on ringing their one hundredth quarter-peal together in the 1260 of St Nicholas College Bob Minor at Hartest in a performance that also saw them and Pat Lees ring their first in the method and Deborah Blumfield her first blows in it altogether. Well done Sally, Joshua, Pat and Deborah! Then three miles away at Glemsford, the same band also rang a QP of two Doubles methods, whilst nationwide celebrations continued of the tercentenary of the first peal on twelve on the precise anniversary. That included a 5060 of Grandsire Cinques at Trowbridge in Wiltshire with former Reydon learner Philip Moyse on the eleventh and one-time Bardwell ringer Louis Suggett conducting it, a day after a truly magnificent performance in conducting a 5009 of Stedman Cinques at St Paul's Cathedral. Although more peals are rung there nowadays, there still aren't a huge number of people who have rung one on these famous bells, let alone called one, so very well done Louis!

Marvelous stuff to report on a marvelous day (maybe football result aside!) with a capital M!

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Saturday 18th January 2025

This morning Alfie saved a penalty. The first he has ever faced in a match. It was a momentous moment for him and us and I reminder why Saturday mornings are not a time I can really commit to ringing. I wouldn't have wanted to miss it and I think it made it even more special to him that we were there to see it.

Therefore we weren't sorry to be late to today's Bell Ringing Workshop at St Mary-le-Tower, but we were nonetheless really pleased to eventually make a substantial amount of what was a hugely successful occasion. This was a part of a weekend to mark the making of Ipswich's civic church into a Minister, which is due to happen tomorrow, but actually for us ringers the greatest point of interest was the new training bells installed this week. They are aren't fully ready as the electrics need to be plumbed in - as it were - but they were there, the ropes hanging down into this famous old ringing chamber. And they were usable and were very much used today. We'd missed one tour but still got there in time for some handbell ringing and to see two further tours which included former South-East District Ringing Master Jonathan Williamson giving a fantastic talk which was entertaining and informative but not too heavy on the technical side. That was followed by some rounds on twelve and Plain Hunt on Eleven (the clapper on the second has now been sorted  thanks to Neil Thomas from Matthew Higby & Company) and then trips up to the bells with George & Lucy Heath-Collins where the heaviest bell in Suffolk was turned over for them, whilst visitors - and Alfred - were given a go on the training bells. Ruthie and Alfie enjoyed their first trip up to the bells, dozens of visitors discovered ringing and many potential recruits left their email address. This seems to have been an extremely successful event and well done to all involved in arranging and running it.

St Mary-le-Tower wasn't the only place in the county where ringing was happening though. In fact it was rather busy elsewhere too as four quarter-peals and a peal were rung. Well done to Juliet Griffiths on ringing her first QP of Surprise in the Cambridge Minor at Campsea Ashe and on ringing her most quarters in a day, with her also ringing in the 1260 of five Doubles methods at Benhall, 1320 of two Minor methods at Marlesford and finally six Minor methods at Bredfield.

Meanwhile the peal was at The Norman Tower and was part of a wider celebration of the tercentenary of the first peal on twelve, which was rung on the now gone ring at St Bride's, Fleet Street in London on 19th January 1724 (apparently before the moving of New Year's Day from 25th March to the 1st January) which was a 5060 of Grandsire Cinques, which was what was rung in Bury St Edmunds today amongst an unusual number of peals in this method in the modern age of spliced Maximus and Particles, with lots of performances dedicated to that groundbreaking success of three hundred years ago.

That was a momentous day in ringing history, but not as momentous as today was for Alfie!

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Friday 17th January 2025

This is the start of St Mary-le-Tower's big weekend. Or Ipswich Minster, as it is due to become officially on Sunday. As such it was very much making the news - with the BBC at least - as the event featured on their news website and in a report on Sarah Lilley's show on Radio Suffolk. Parts of both reports were also dedicated to the installation of the training bells and indeed former Guild Ringing Master Amanda Richmond - who along with Jonathan Williamson has driven this project from the beginning - is interviewed about four minutes into the piece on the wireless which begins an hour and forty minutes into Sarah's programme.

As alluded to in yesterday's blog there is also the possibility of something about it featuring in a future edition of The Ringing World and this week's edition arrived today packed with lots of interesting stuff, including an article about the one hundredth peal on the 28cwt six at Hoar Cross in Staffordshire, a ring of bells on which I rang one of those one hundred peals when I rang the treble to a 5040 of Stedman Doubles in 2001 when organiser and conductor Richard Grimmett brought the entire band in his people-carrier! Suffolk connections this week are tenuous, with Southwold pupil Peter Blythe mentioned as the teacher of Norfolk nonagenarian Michael Gooderham, Lord Suffolk featuring in a page about the celebrations for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the restoration of the bells of Charlton in Gloucestershire (which is also due to include a world record attempt for the greatest number of ringers through a tower in twelve hours on 10th May!) and a piece about the composition of the first ever peal rung on twelve was written by former ringer at the aforementioned heaviest twelve in the county Mark Liebenrood.

Meanwhile more potential future content for the RW was being generated within our borders with a trio of quarter-peals. One was at Bredfield which remembered local ringer Mike Tyler. I was very sorry to hear of his passing recently as I enjoyed chatting with him and although for a long time he wasn't in the best of health he always supported ringing at Woodbridge if he could. RIP Mike. I'm sure he would have been pleased to see Trevor Boyd ringing his first QP in the 1260 of Grandsire Doubles - well done Trevor! Well done also to Chris Graham on ringing his first quarter inside in the Plain Bob Doubles at Tostock, whilst there was a 1280 of Kent Treble Bob Royal rung on handbells in Hasketon.

No ringing for us though with the day mainly taken up by work for me and going to the funeral of the husband of one of her choral colleagues for Ruthie, but God willing we shall do some ringing over this big weekend in Ipswich.

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Thursday 16th January 2025

Thursday is a strange day for football but now Ipswich Town's men are in the Premier League, tonight was just the latest day of the week that we have found ourselves down at Portman Road to watch the Tractor Boys play. Although the result was a disappointing 2-0 loss to our visitors Brighton & Hove Albion, it was still a fun night out with the family and as we don't normally do any ringing on the fourth day of the working week we weren't missing any, albeit Ruthie had to forsake her choral practicing.

Still, we did spend time in the company of ringers with dinner at The Mermaid with Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle, a drink was had with my brother and Norman Tower ringer Chris in the Fanzone before kick-off and we met with Simon Rudd at half-time as he impressively made it having begun the day in France!

Meanwhile, across town at St Mary-le-Tower, the six new training bells are now installed, hopefully ready for their first outing during the 'Bell Ringing Workshop' as part of the Minster Making weekend on Saturday and this evening we received photos of them, whilst there is also the potential of something on it all in a forthcoming edition of The Ringing World, so watch this space!

It was a positive note to end a strange day for football.

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Wednesday 15th January 2025

It was a day of quarter-peal achievements in Suffolk.

Congratulations to Edith Wankowska on making her debut in the medium when she trebled to the 1260 of Plain Bob Doubles at Bramford in what is hopefully the first of many and well done to Gavin Edwards on ringing his first of Norwich Surprise Minor in the 1320 at Pettistree before the weekly practice there.

The session that followed was one I could join at a relatively leisurely (or at least what constitutes leisurely in our household after a day at work and school!) pace with Alfie not going to football training as he had hurt his ankle. That allowed me to join in with a typically eclectic range of methods from Grandsire Doubles to Cambridge Surprise Minor for Vince to reinforce what he'd done at Ufford last night to as much Stedman Doubles as we could squeeze in at the end before ringing down. And there can't be too many six-bell practices nationwide that will have rung Westminster Surprise Minor as well as we rang it this evening. Meanwhile, Mary Garner was showing everyone her photo in the East Anglian Daily Times which was unfortunately placed alongside the headline 'Driver arrested' but of course referred to the article below about the £23,000 impressively raised for the refurbishment of the parish rooms!

With the Greyhound Inn still closed for its traditional January break though, there was no opportunity to round the night off with a drink in this lovely ancient tavern. Or to toast today's quarter-peal achievements.

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Tuesday 14th January 2025

After Ufford's weekly practice this evening, Alan McBurnie suggested a drink in the pub. However, with the White Lion seemingly packed out for a quiz night we decided to retire to The Coach & Horses for what still turned out to be a pleasant post-ringing drink with Mr McB, mother-in-law & Ringing Master Kate Eagle and Bredfield ringer Vince Buckman. I really enjoy a good pub quiz, but I don't imagine it would've been overly conducive to catching up.

Still, it seemed apt today. On occasion I have wondered if one could pitch a ringing themed round to non-ringing quizzers, but what you could ask stumped me to an extent. What you do when you pass the treble on the way up in seconds in Plain Bob Doubles or who was ringing the fourth to the 1280 of spliced Surprise Major at Sheldwich in Kent in July 2018 didn't seem overly fair or engaging questions for the general public! However, this afternoon on BBC Radio 2, Henrik Hansen from Maidstone showed the way forward as he asked the questions in a competition seemingly devised by presenter OJ Borg. The general gist seems to be that OJ invites a listener to come on to ask questions about a subject unfamiliar to him, once he has done as much research as he can over the period of a song. Therefore, about 1 hour and 28 minutes into the show Henrik is introduced and then from 1 hour 31 minutes and 11 seconds he pitched a trio of questions, all of which OJ got wrong but which I thought were quite clever inasmuch as I believe a layman could work out the answers. Well worth a listen.

Many thanks to my resident spotter of ringing and ringers on TV and radio Ralph Earey who originally brought my attention to this unexpected bit of ringing PR, but by this evening there was lots of excited chatter from ringers on social media about the piece, by which point I was at a productive session on the 13cwt eight at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Amongst talking about stands for mobile phones in the ringing circle for those looking to follow a line in something unfamiliar, Alan's presence enabled us to ring Surprise Minor of the Cambridge & Ipswich varieties for Margaret Weeks and Vince to treble to, as well as some Grandsire Triples for the latter to try inside and Plain Hunt on Five and call-changes on eight for another Hollesley learner Mary Leaming. An example of how just one single extra ringer of Alan's calibre can make a difference to a practice such as this where without him we wouldn't have managed Surprise Minor, at least not with someone standing behind Margaret and Vince.

Earlier in the day I had been on another lunchtime walk that took me to Melton St Audrey's where a hospital once stood and a chapel now stands abandoned with a single bell hung in a turret which could only be viewed from afar, so I was glad to get in some actual ringing a mile away later in the day. Meanwhile at the same time they were practicing at Offton where they preceded the session with a quarter-peal of Cambridge Surprise Major, which is great to see but may not be prime material for a quiz topic.

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Monday 13th January 2025

This is the start of a potentially a big, historic and exciting week for St Mary-le-Tower and there was definitely a different feel about the weekly practice this evening.

That wasn't entirely down to what is planned to change here in the coming days. The new ropes had been put on eleven and twelve and offered some entertainment and with the clapper of the second which is usually rung in the twelve still playing up, Ringing Master David Potts chose to focus on ten-bell ringing apart from some rounds on twelve for Neil Thomas from Matthew Higby & Company Ltd to help him hear for himself the problem with the clapper. It was also the first time I had heard it and I can definitely tell why we can't practically ring it at the moment as it is extremely late at backstroke and quite quiet.

Norwich ringer Neil's presence with his work colleague Julian Ferrar (who had a good catch-up with my mother Sally when he recalled her from their days ringing in Northamptonshire) wasn't for our clapper troubles though, but rather for one of the big changes occurring this week, that of the installation of the new training bells. There were plenty of signs of the work they had done today, which mainly involved get the materials in which included a couple of planks of wood leaning up downstairs, and the training bells themselves and their ropes and their Ipswich Town blue & white sallies (in contrast to the Norwich City yellow & green at the Mancroft Ringing Discovery Centre!) resting around the ringing chamber before the serious work of constructing everything is due to take place over the next couple of days. It was strange to think as I glanced around this evening that this was the last time this famous old ringing chamber will look like this, largely unchanged bar the occasional added pealboard for decades.

God willing it'll all be set up by this weekend when it is planned for the church to become Ipswich Minster with a number of events. That includes the 'minster-making' service on Sunday where we have been requested to ring beforehand at the slightly later time of 9.45-10.30am and then afterwards too, whilst we ringers are slated to give a 'Bell Ringing Masterclass' on Saturday from 10.15am to 1.30pm and preparation for our contributions to that were part of an anticipatory buzz tonight that continued on into the Halberd Inn.

Meanwhile a quarter-peal of Kent Treble Bob Major was rung on handbells in Moats Tye as handbell quarters in Suffolk got underway for 2025 at the start of a potentially big, historic and exciting week for St Mary-le-Tower and also the county around it.

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Sunday 12th January 2025

Excluding lockdowns and the Second World War, the latest that the Guild has rung it's first peal in a calendar year is on the 23rd February in 1963, presumably due to the big freeze of that winter. I thought it unlikely that it would be that long before the first of 2025, but even so it is unusual in recent years for us to be this far into the New Year without at least one peal on the board for the SGR.

Nonetheless, I had a sneaking suspicion that the 'drought' wouldn't last longer than the second Sunday of January when one would expect the monthly attempt at Aldeburgh to happen and so it was today with a 5008 of Double Norwich Court Bob Major which was also conductor Alan Mayle's 250th peal on the 11cwt eight. Congratulations Alan!

The Munnings peal totals for 2025 remain at zero though, with no time this afternoon to squeeze in three hours or so of ringing as we were at Portman Road for Ipswich Town's first match this season in the famous FA Cup. It all felt unusually relaxing as we comfortably beat Bristol Rovers from two divisions below 3-0, but much else was familiar including the pre-match meal at The Mermaid with mother-in-law and former South-East District Ringing Master Kate Eagle and meeting with Norwich ringer Simon Rudd just before kick-off and at halftime.

And I did do some ringing this morning, first at St Mary-le-Tower and then after refreshment at Costa Coffee at Grundisburgh. At the former we were ringing on the back ten whilst we await a diagnosis on the clapper for the second of the twelve and saw me call some call-changes on ten and then ring in a touch of Grandsire Caters. At the latter the numbers were lower but repertoire similar as we rang call-changes on six and Grandsire Doubles, as well as Plain Bob Doubles.

Meanwhile a 1320 of Plain Bob Minor was rung on the 15cwt six at Rougham and was the sixteenth quarter-peal in Suffolk thus far this year.

Peals have a spot of catching up to do!

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Saturday 11th January 2025

On TWTD which I regularly frequent for Ipswich Town news and discussion, someone announced that they were in London for a challenge. That challenge was that whichever team scored the first goal of the 3pm kick-offs this afternoon, the (presumably young, footloose and fancy-free) member of the forum would travel up to the place that team came from to go out on the town tonight. For those interested and equally those not interested, it transpired to be Stoke with their fourth minute opener in Sunderland.

If bellringers were to undertake a similar challenge on the basis of where the first peal was scored today then they would be boozing in Reading this evening. For that was where the first peal of this bitterly cold Saturday was rung, with a 5040 of seven Treble Dodging Minor methods rung on handbells which was also the first rung at the address. Indeed it was the first of six 5040s of seven Treble Dodging Minor methods in the same house today, as a peal was rung in every "pealable" room.

No such ringing activity for us though. Or much activity at all to speak of bar leisurely knocking around the house doing necessary chores, watching footy on the TV and briefly popping out to the shops as Alfie's match this morning was called off due to a frozen pitch.

Elsewhere ringing was happening in Suffolk though with the North-West District holding their first event of the year at Stowmarket and then the Shepherd & Dog in Onehouse and not far away at Bardwell a quarter-peal of Plain & Little Bob spliced was rung in what was Max Thomson's first of Major. Well done Max!

Now, off to Reading for that night out...

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Friday 10th January 2025

It was a rock 'n' roll Friday. Oh no it wasn't! Oh yes it was! Four quarter-peals in the county, the arrival of The Ringing World and an evening of pantomime.

Well done to Andrea Alderton, David Steed, Maureen Gardiner, David Howe, Stephen Dawson and conductor Lesley Steed on ringing their first QP of Cotswold Treble Bob Minor in the 1272 at Tostock, whilst there was also a 1250 of Cambridge Surprise Major at Horham, 1296 of Plain Bob Major at Helmingham and 1260 of Grandsire Triples at Debenham on a busy day of ringing within our borders.

Not so for us, although the first edition of the RW following it's bumper festive issue and it's subsequent three week hiatus over Christmas and New Year brought lots of typically interesting ringing content into our home. Although apart from the peal and quarter reports, there was nothing Suffolk related bar a letter from Woodbridge Ringing Master Bruce Wakefield which brings up some interesting points on ART.
And we did go out with a ringer to watch the actual rock 'n' roll part of our day as we joined Ruthie's mother Kate and other family members in watching the New Wolsey Theatre's RnR panto performance of Sleeping Beauty. Most entertaining it was too, especially when my former work colleague Pete was reluctantly dragged up on stage to make a balloon sword!

It was all very rock 'n' roll.

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Thursday 9th January 2025

Another nice day, another lunchtime walk. This time I stumbled across a Christmas tree farm (there is no method named Christmas Tree, but now probably isn't the time to challenge the county's ringers to come up with one!), but no church towers.

Nor did I travel to one, but I did do some ringing as I undertook something else I want to do more of in 2025 - ringing my eBells. Ruthie wasn't out as long as she usually is singing and these days the boys are up later so I didn't have any time entirely to myself free of distractions this evening as I normally get on a Thursday, so I tried a bit in the dining room whilst the boys watched TV in the living room. And I was soon reminded of why I try to do this on my own as partway through a decent attempt at a course of Yorkshire Surprise Major I was called upon to settle a disagreement between Alfie and Josh.

Eventually I did manage a course to the backdrop of the occasional interruption from the other room, but it is unlikely that I'll be bothering Josh Watkins's excellent annual quarter-peal analysis with handbells this year or any year soon! I did enjoy reading his report of Suffolk's QP ringing in 2024 today though. Compared to the previous year the story seems to be of fewer ringers ringing more. However, of course 2023 was a very special year with a flurry of activity and endeavour involving lots of members for the Guild's centenary celebrations, including thirty first quarter-pealers and so it would've been very impressive to beat those numbers. Taking that unusual twelve months out though, 2024 has continued the upward trajectory since coming out of the lockdowns in every aspect with most numbers almost back up to pre-pandemic levels. Encouraging signs as quarter-peals are such a valuable way to progress and engage ringers.

Adding to 2025's figures was today's 1296 at Horringer of Ickworth Bob Major, a first in the method. Well done to all the band.

A nice day for ringing as well as walking.

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Wednesday 8th January 2025

If he were still alive, Elvis Presley would've been ninety years old today. Cue regular playing of his hits on the radio throughout the day.

Tomorrow is the seventieth anniversary of the birth of Pettistree Ringing Master Mike Whitby. Cue a box of chocolates very kindly brought along by him to this evening's practice on the ground floor six, a rendition of 'Happy Birthday ' in the ringing chamber and presentation of a card to him from us ringers who are extremely grateful for all he has done for ringing here since the bells were restored and local band started in the mid-1980s.

Despite me almost forgetting to run in to a bob in a 120 of Plain Bob Doubles, the ringing was generally of a high standard and the repertoire eclectic with Surprise Minor of the Cambridge, London and Norwich varieties rung, as well as a touch of Doubles & Minor spliced. We were unable to top it off with a drink in the Greyhound Inn as that is currently closed as it traditionally is over a large part of January, but it was preceded by the first quarter-peal of 2025 at the tower that usually leads the county's QP lists by some distance every year.

Meanwhile, somewhere else within our borders where the first quarter of the year was being rung today was Elveden and as has become the norm it was something impressive as a 1344 of Belfast Surprise Major was being rung as ringing across the country continued through the snow.

Nothing rung for Elvis though.

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Tuesday 7th January 2025

I haven't made any New Year's resolutions as such, but I would like to do more walking generally. My work has long seen me stuck indoors all day but without even the walk to the office anymore and miles of open countryside on our doorstep I was conscious of the missed opportunity to get out of the house and do my physical and mental health the world of good.

Therefore today's lovely sunny weather and the boys return to school was enough to encourage me out on my lunchbreak for a wonderful wander. Within minutes of stepping out the door I was in forests, fields and country lanes enjoying views of both Melton Old and New churches and Bromeswell. Only six bells between them and none of them hung for change-ringing, but there is still something I find uplifting about spotting a church tower when out and about, especially from a different angle.

If I had time I would have happily have continued on to another tower, that of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ufford, but I did make it eventually, albeit by car as I went along to the weekly practice.

It was worthwhile finally getting there too with a productive session that saw Mary Leaming improving at Plain Hunt on Five and call-changes on eight was also rung with each member of the band changing a pair (that didn't involve them) in turn, although a work call for Ringing Master Kate brought it to a premature end.

There will have been other practices running tonight, there was nothing else mentioned on BellBoard from Suffolk on this bright winter day though.

Perhaps other ringers in the county have been busy walking too.

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Monday 6th January 2025

There was a very disconcerting noise emanating from St Mary-le-Tower at it's weekly practice this evening. Some may even say dreadful. It wasn't the standard of ringing however, although of course not everything went, as you expect at most practices. Rather, before I had arrived to immediately stand behind George Heath-Collins to a touch of Erin Cinques they were pulling off for as I walked through the door, the clapper on the second to the twelve had started to strike late, if at all. What exactly is the matter with it couldn't be definitively identified, so whilst it will hopefully be sorted quickly for tonight we had to use the sharp second normally used for ringing on the front eight. Not a particularly pleasant sound, but actually it was fortunate it hadn't happened to any of the other bells instead or else it would've sounded even worse!

Still, it was a pity especially for our visitor from Cirencester Sarah Ewbank was particularly useful as someone who could help us to pick up Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus again, but at least we were able to ring twelve, which enabled us to ring some Stedman Cinques and Little Bob Maximus with varying degrees of success before retiring to the Halberd Inn.

Meanwhile, well done to Maureen Gardiner and the conductor Stephen Dawson on ringing their first quarter-peal of Rising Brook Bob Minor in the 1260 at Woolpit on Saturday. I imagine it didn't sound  disconcerting, unlike St Mary-le-Tower bells this evening!

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Sunday 5th January 2025

Christmas summons up visions of snow covered countryside, despite it hardly ever snowing on 25th December in living memory. Well today Suffolk got it's white Christmas on the final day of this winter's festival.

It was all gone from Melton by the time we looked out of the window for the first time this morning, but by the point that the boys and I had dropped Mason off at work, Ruthie at St Mary the Virgin's in Woodbridge for her choral duties and we were on our way into Ipswich for me to ring at St Mary-le-Tower there was definite white stuff in the fields and hedgerows of the countryside. However, that had been washed away by our return journey by the constant rain that pretty much stayed with us throughout this grey day.

By then I had contributed to some Grandsire Cinques, Stedman Caters and even Yorkshire Surprise Maximus on the county's heaviest twelve before George & Lucy Heath-Collins were presented with a framed certificate of the quarter-peal we rang on their wedding day by Stephen Cheek and many of us retired to Costa Coffee for refreshment.

Elsewhere within our borders meanwhile, a 1282 of Yorkshire Surprise Royal was rung at The Norman Tower for the Plough Sunday Evensong and at Halesworth a 1280 of Plain Bob Major was rung upon the 18cwt ground floor eight.

Meanwhile, if you're planning your holidays, it might be worth contacting Stephen Pettman (his details can be found on the Grundisburgh page on this website) for further details about his Italian ringing trip that he is planning for October. These are fascinating trips and the hospitality is phenomenal, so I can highly recommend it to you.

No more ringing for me though as we spent our afternoon round Ruthie's sister's watching Ipswich Town's 2-2 draw at Fulham on the TV, before returning home to take our decorations down on this twelfth night of a (sort of) white Christmas.

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Saturday 4th January 2025

Getting along to South-East District events has become increasingly challenging to get along to over the last year or two, frustratingly so for us as a couple who would like to get to every one if possible and indeed for Ruthie who used to be District Secretary and thus appreciates how much time and effort goes into organising these. Mainly it is down to football, especially Alfie's matches on Saturday mornings, sometimes organised at short notice and which we like to support him with and where he can't get to under his own steam. In our blessed position to have the hottest tickets in town at Portman Road and especially at this exciting time for the Superblues, when a home fixture falls on the afternoon of a first Saturday it typically prevents us getting to any post lunch SE occasions and depending on location evening ones too. Although annoyingly (from the sods law nature of it rather than the wonderful reason behind it!) with Alfred's team's game cancelled and ITFC's game against Bournemouth moved to the following day, we were still unable to get to the ADM held at Framlingham last month as we were in Brighton where my wife was being bridesmaid for her best friend Fergie. We can't expect the District to organise its events around us of course and to be fair they try to schedule them at different times to allow as many members as possible to get along to at least some of them (some work on Saturdays for example or have other commitments), but ultimately it is harder to logistically make as many of these monthly treats as we used to, as hard as we try.

However, with no match for AJM and his teammates this morning and the Tractor Boys not due to play until tomorrow, we had a completely free day to make it to the first South-East District event of 2025, held this afternoon at Orford. Well, not completely free as with our household and their various activities it's almost impossible to get a completely free Saturday. Our arrival at this 10cwt eight was delayed by needing to pick Mason up from work and then an unexpected SOS meant that rather than then just heading straight from ours to the coast we had to negotiate the multiple traffic lights and one-way system of Woodbridge town centre for Mrs Munnings to drop some important choral paperwork off at church before we eventually undertook our journey out to ringing.

Despite getting there a bit later then we would've liked, we still managed to contribute to a session which seemed quite a useful one, with the highlight being how pleased Tracey Scase was with her course of Bristol Surprise Major, as was Gavin Edwards with his Little Bob Major and Claire Haynes with her Cambridge Surprise Major (still in boot protecting her injury!). All of which highlights the benefit of these occasions if supported properly, as it allows ringers to ring stuff with a strong band and people standing behind that is possible with the pooling of a district's talents. Well done to all concerned and to Secretary Liz Christian on ensuring those there were supplied with tea and biscuits.

With Ruthie and her mother Kate ringing in the quarter-peal afterwards, the boys and I decided to hang around for them in The King's Head which backs onto the churchyard and with Pippa Moss waiting for Mike Whitby and thinking along similar lines, we enjoyed a pleasant forty-five minutes or so by a window looking out at the church. Although - despite the otherwise perfectly hospitable barman speaking in not entirely complimentary tones about listening to them in the summer - we couldn't hear them at all inside the ancient tavern and it was striking just how quiet and intrusive these bells are outside. And ultimately my wife and mother-in-law, conductor Hal and tenor ringer Mike joined us in contributing further to their business with some more drinks following their efforts.

Their 1250 of Yorkshire Surprise Major wasn't the only QP rung within our borders as a 1280 of Bristol Surprise Major was rung at Hitcham and an apparently extremely cold 1296 of Beverley, Cambridge & Surfleet Surprise Minor was rung on the 11cwt ground floor six of Barham!

On a busy day of ringing in the county, we were just delighted to have the time to join in!

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Friday 3rd January 2025

It's been a quiet start to 2025 for ringing in the county from a BellBoard perspective. Three days in and only two performances can be found on an otherwise busy site - Woodbridge ringers ringing the New Year in and the date touch at Offton. Mind you, our household weren't helping things today, with the closest we got being seeing Grundisburgh ringer Ruth Symington in a group photo accompanying an article about Suffolk Singers on p19 of Woodbridge Talk, one of the free monthly magazines delivered to us.

Meanwhile, this is due to be a big month at St Mary-le-Tower as it is lined up to officially become Ipswich Minster on Sunday 19th at the end of a weekend of events to celebrate this historic moment, including a 'Bell Ringing Workshop' the day before. And in the week leading up to that the installation of the new Training Bells is scheduled to be done by Matthew Higby & Company. God willing these will have a huge positive impact for ringing and ringers locally, for the Guild and beyond, so this final step is an exciting development.

Hopefully it will help ringing in the county pick up the pace in 2025!

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Thursday 2nd January 2025

Guild Handbell & Mini-Ring Trustee Brian Whiting is probably Suffolk's most prolific composer currently, along with Stephen Pettman. It's not just quantity, but clearly quality too, with his compositions regularly used by many different conductors around the world and it hasn't been surprising to see them popping up in recent days. However, in the first forty-eight hours of 2025 it stood out to me that already three of his compositions have been successfully rung and put up on BellBoard, amongst the leading composers this year thus far. One was conducted by Brian himself yesterday at his home tower of Offton on the same day as a 5040 of Yorkshire Surprise Royal composed by him was rung at Ledbury in Herefordshire rung for the Yorkshire Association, whilst there was a 1312 in four Surprise Major methods spliced of his rung at Leicester, St Mary de Castro today. As far as I can tell, thus far this year his numbers are just short of John Warboys and more than the most famous like Alan Reading or David or Rod Pipe. An example of some of the ringing talent within our borders.

None of that talent was ringing anything that made it onto BB on a much brighter, sunnier day and neither Ruthie nor I were contributing to the exercise at all as I returned to work after nearly three lovely weeks of holiday. The time off spent with family and without deadlines and the like has been wonderful, but as I now work from home the first day back isn't anywhere near the depressing shock to the system that it once was, with my wife and the boys only in another bit of the house whilst I caught up with emails and the few independent schools who are back at the moment.

Mrs Munnings had a day off both work and singing with her choirs having a break and so her efforts seemed primarily focused on helping building Josh's model Wembley Stadium (a very long-term project!) as I had a rare evening sofa slumping and others were ringing Brian Whiting compositions.

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New Year's Day 2025

A perfect New Year's Day is a leisurely start, a walk in the countryside and a spot of ringing. Well, as the late Meatloaf once sung, two out of three ain't bad.

The leisurely start was achieved by most in our household after the early hours finish overnight, with Alfie the only one getting up before 11am.

I hope to get more walking in over 2025, but one today was always going to be challenging with needing to drag a pair of reluctant young boys along with us, but with my pulling of the curtains back being accompanied by the window being absolutely pelted with sideways rain and the sound of powerful winds, even I felt staying indoors for as long as possible would be more sensible.

We did get out of the house eventually when we went to Pettistree for the first practice on the ground-floor six of this year, albeit it was held this afternoon rather than in the evening as it usually is, perhaps sensing after days of overindulgence and particularly last night that we might all be nodding off between 7.30 and 9pm! It was just the ticket as daylight was disappearing and a great way to blow away the cobwebs. It was obviously needed too, as my first bit of ringing was calling a touch of Norwich Surprise Minor from the fifth which didn't come round as I missed two and three swapping over! Nonetheless things got better as we rang Stedman Doubles, Grandsire Doubles and a touch of spliced Doubles & Minor that began with Stedman, Plain Bob Minor and then London Surprise and was really well struck. That certainly got us up and running again! All followed by a drink in the busy ancient candlelit Greyhound Inn next door with a large crowd of us ringers. Lovely also to catch-up with folk and meet Gavin's partner William as we heard about ringing in the New Year last night at Great Bromley in Essex with Suffolk representation and at Aldeburgh to join Debenham, Sproughton and Woodbridge in places I knew were ringing at midnight as 2024 turned into 2025.

There was more ringing done in the county today with a date touch of Double Norwich Court Bob Major at Offton, whilst further afield there were typical Bank Holiday 'big' peals at St Paul's Cathedral and York Minster and the New Year's Day quarter-peal at Westminster Abbey by a 'provincial' band saw Worcester Cathedral ringers ringing a 1289 of Stedman Caters.

God willing it is the start of a good year for ringing here and beyond. Although for better or worse one cannot expect everything to go to plan, hopefully that will include most immediately the South-East District practice at Orford on Saturday and further into the future the Suffolk Guild AGM in what I think should be the South-east District on Saturday 26th April and the SGR Striking Competitions in the what I believe would be the North-east District on Saturday 17th May, whilst district competitions are also planned for the SE on 7th June and the return of the North-West District's on 13th September at Horringer and their outings on 5th July for the former and 9th August for the latter and their ADMs on 11th October and 6th December respectively. There is so much lined up, not least from the NE and SW when they reveal more detail about their plans for 2025. And hopefully there will be a Guild entry to the Ridgman Trophy penciled in for 21st June at Boston in Lincolnshire, a competition the SGR have had great success in over recent years.

Personally I am looking forward to hopefully helping expand our Surprise Maximus repertoire at St Mary-le-Tower which began towards the end of last year, all being well doing more Surprise Major and the Rambling Ringers Tour planned for Herefordshire that we hope to join in the summer and I would like to be able to ring more peals than I managed last year.

That will be challenging with Alfie's and possibly even Josh's footballing endeavours which will quite rightly come first and which Ruthie and I love witnessing, as well as helping ensure Mason can continue his studies and work, plus it doesn't seem fair to leave my wife alone with the parenting duties whilst I go gallivanting off ringing lots of peals! First and foremost therefore, the happiness and health of my family and friends is my main hope for 2025, so any quarter-pealing or peal-ringing I manage will just have to fit in around that somehow! Also though, it would be lovely for Ipswich Town to avoid relegation from the Premier League, although after the last couple of glorious years with them I feel a bit greedy asking for more success!

Whatever the year ahead may or may not hold in store for us, I'm fairly happy with the way it's started today!

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The views expressed in this blog are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Suffolk Guild of Ringers.

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