Suffolk Guild of Ringers

Saturday 7th February 2026

Richy's Blog

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Thursday 5th February 2026

Whilst yesterday was bright and sunny, today was the opposite as it was grey, dark and damp from constant drizzle throughout the day. The perfect day for ringing therefore. And some in Suffolk did just that.

Most notably so on the 12cwt six at Wickham Market where Barbara Harrington was ringing her first quarter-peal. Well done Barbara on what is hopefully the first of many!

Well done also to Josephine Beever, Andrea Alderton and Sally Crouch on ringing their first quarter of Jacobs Ladder Bob Minor in the 1260 at Horringer, whilst there was a QP on handbells in Sudbury.

No ringing for us though, with choral practicing for Ruthie and football training for Alfie as at least one of our household braved the outside.

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Wednesday 4th February 2026

Ruthie went to Pettistree's weekly practice this evening, participating in London Surprise Minor and some spliced amongst a typically eclectic repertoire of methods, before retiring to The George in neighbouring Wickham Market after finding the Greyhound Inn shut.

Meanwhile I was at home looking after the boys and reading about Ardleigh ringer - and wife of Ipswich Minster Tower Captain Ian - Claire Culham's fundraising efforts for Macmillan Cancer Support. It seems she and her friend Jenny are planning on undertaking a gruelling sounding race called the HYROX Doubles challenge (sadly there doesn't seem to be a method called Hyrox Doubles!) next month, so she will have truly earned what she raises, not withstanding what a great cause she's doing it for. If you can, please do donate.

Ringers here in Suffolk weren't being quite so energetic today, but they were still active in the exercise. Most notably at Troston where former Guild Peal Secretary Alan Mayle was not only ringing a peal at his 200th different tower in the county, but also his 1300th in the medium for the SGR. Congratulations to Alan who is third in the list of leading peal-ringers for the organisation behind Past Ringing Masters Stephen Pettman on 1484 and David Salter on an incredible 1813.

That 5040 of seven Surprise Minor methods in 2 hours and 25 minutes on the delightful 5cwt six wasn't the only ringing within our borders on this bright winter day as a 1280 of Rutland Surprise Major was rung on TheBarn Owl Ring in Norton and back at Pettistree a 1320 of Bourne, Cambridge & Ipswich Surprise Minor spliced preceded that practice which Ruthie attended this evening.

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Tuesday 3rd February 2026

It was a day of cancelled plans.

Primarily because Alfie had a mercifully rare day off school due to illness. It meant that I had to postpone a lunch date with local ringer Pete Faircloth who was on annual leave and Alfred couldn't go to goalkeeper training. Additionally it put in doubt our intention to go round Ruthie's sister Clare's house to watch Ipswich Town's men's football match at Portsmouth on TV, but that was rendered academic by the postponement of the fixture due to a waterlogged pitch, a month on from it's previous postponement due to a frozen playing surface.

After all that there wasn't any ringing for us, nor any from Suffolk noted on BellBoard. Indeed, the 5152 of 23 Surprise Major methods spliced at Cholsey in Oxfordshire was the only peal worldwide submitted to BB until a late night flurry.
Hopefully it wasn't a sign of cancelled plans.

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Monday 2nd February 2026

The Reverend Tom Mumford's final service as the vicar of Ipswich Minster is due to take place on Sunday 8th March and he will be missed. He has been fantastic for St Mary-le-Tower as it became a Minster (which he was a driving force behind), Ipswich's churches generally and the diocese, a young down-to-earth and normal man to be the face of church in the local media. And he has been great for the ringers, being really supportive of us and involved in our social side as he chaired our AGMs, joined us for our curries at the Maharani, came along to our BBQs and invited us to his home for events. It is brilliant then that as part of an effort to create the ideal profile for his replacement that the various people and groups of the Minster are being consulted, including us ringers.

Therefore churchwarden David Matthews very kindly took the time to join us at the end of the weekly practice on the heaviest twelve in Suffolk and then in the Halberd Inn afterwards as he strove to find out more about us and what we'd like in the next vicar here. It is very reassuring to see us considered and I hope that our input is helpful to the process.

The session before this evening's consultation was also hopefully helpful, with much rung from Plain Hunt on Eleven to Cambridge, Lincolnshire & Yorkshire Surprise Maximus spliced.

Meanwhile earlier in the day a quarter-peal of London Surprise Major was rung on the 28cwt eight of Clare celebrating the fifth anniversary of the induction of the Reverend Mark Woodrow as rector here, just as we ringers at Ipswich Minster contemplate the departure of our vicar.

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Sunday 1st February 2026

Suffolk ringing enjoyed a good January. In the same month in 2025 there were five peals rung in the Guild's name, this year there have been six. Even more impressively, whilst there were 38 quarter-peals rung between 1/1/2025 and 31/1/2025 within our borders, there were 45 rung between 1/1/2026 and yesterday.

February 2026 started in similarly encouraging fashion. No peals for the SGR, but on 1/2/2025 two quarters were rung in the county, today there were five. Well done to Max Thomson who rang his first of six Doubles methods and principles in the 1260 at Bardwell (where he also called Sixty on Thirds for the annual carol service), Gavin Edwards for his first of Grandsire Triples in the 1288 on the front eight at Ipswich Minster and Clare Gebel on her first of the Caters version in the 1332 at Stowmarket, whilst there was a 1340 of Stedman Caters at The Norman Tower and 1280 of Plain Bob Major at Halesworth.

Although neither Ruthie or me were contributing to those totals, I did attend ringing for morning worship at Woodbridge, first looking after my Godson Jonathan whilst his mother Susanne rang and then ringing myself before the boys and I joined the service that their mother was singing at.

On a day that my wife returned there later to sing at the Evensong, my participation on this occasion was limited to confirming - alongside many others - that a screenshot of a church from an early episode of the 1980/1990s TV series Lovejoy shared on the Bellringers Facebook page was Hadleigh rather than Chesterfield.

Thankfully others were continuing a fine January for Suffolk ringing into February.

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Saturday 31st January 2026

It was a full-on day of football but featuring ringing content and ringers.

Before being an assistant referee as Alfie won the Player of the Match award for his team's fixture this morning my weekly email from Ringing Forums prompted me to take a look at some of the highlighted topics, including one about Recruitment and Development 2030 briefings, the other about the "views and effects of Victorian Ecclesiologists on bell ringing" as the site covers the future and past of the exercise.

In between getting back from Alfred's performance and before heading out to Ipswich to watch the Town's senior men's team draw 1-1 with Preston North End, I had enough time to have a decent read of the latest edition of The Ringing World which arrived with us whilst we were out.

And our afternoon out for the footy was spent with other ringers, as food and refreshment was taken at The Mermaid with Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle, we were met by Suffolk Guild Peal Secretary Caroline Goodchild as she carried out her job at the stadium, had a drink in the FanZone with Norwich ringer Simon Rudd ahead of him going to the annual St Peter Mancroft Guild Dinner this evening (and for which a peal attempt of Stedman Caters was sadly lost after 3 hours and 25 minutes) and Lincolnshire ringer Keith Brown and sat with my brother Chris for the game.

Ironically one ringer we didn't share the occasion with was Ruthie who needed to attend a safeguarding course in Lowestoft for work, but we were eventually reunited at the end of this full-on day of football, ringing content and ringers.

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Friday 30th January 2026

It's funny where one word or name can take you.

Having just been to the Foxhall Road Recycling Centre this afternoon, I saw the peal of Foxhall Surprise Royal at Exeter St Mark's in Devon which was the first of Royal in the method and wondered if there was any local connection to the naming of the method. Therefore I searched BellBoard for previous performances of the Major version and found that there was a local connection of sorts. Just not in the way that I imagined or even to the naming of the method as I discovered the first peal of it ever rung was on what was then the eight of Rothwell in Northamptonshire by a band including my mother Sally!

In other ringing history news, Josephine Beever shared an archive photo from the East Anglian Daily Times of a band of ringers and their vicar posing for the camera from what looks like many decades ago. Alan Mayle apparently believes it was taken in the ground-floor ringing chamber of the 8cwt five at Acton, but more information on the date and who the ringers were is being sought. Do take a look and see if you can help, it would be fascinating to find out more!

In the here and now it was interesting to see Suffolk representation in the quarter-peal at Southwark Cathedral following the memorial service for Dame Jilly Cooper, whilst there were also three QPs scored today in the county that Mark Liebenrood and Alex Tatlow once lived and rung in. Well done to the aforementioned former Guild Peal Secretary Alan on ringing his first quarter of Cambridge Surprise Major with the 1280 in Bury St Edmunds and to Chrissie Pickup and Peter & Julie Richardson on ringing their first of Westminster Surprise Minor in the 1272 at Wissett and Beverley, Durham and Surfleet Surprise Minor were rung spliced at Tostock.

No time for any ringing for us as we were doing things like going to Foxhall Road Recycling Centre and getting taken deep into ringing history by a name.

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Thursday 29th January 2026

Tower Talk's latest edition was published in September, but I only had my first read of it today. It's not unusual for it to take a few weeks for me to get the opportunity to read it, but even my spare time over the last couple of months has been rather occupied!

However, I really enjoy reading this as it is such an upbeat publication full of stories of those at the beginning of their ringing progression having fun! And on this occasion the editor and founder of the newsletter and Bardwell Tower Captain Ruth Suggett is rightly celebrated as it is a decade since she started publishing it. She has done so much for learners not just in Suffolk but also across East Anglia and through Tower Talk across the world. Congratulations and thank you Ruth!

Meanwhile I also filled in the petition shared by Alison Edmonds on the Bellringers Facebook page supporting ringing's bid to be added to UNESCO UK Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory. At the very least it's hard to see what bad can come of this, but at best it could help with conservation, give the exercise wider recognition and more publicity and give it credibility that could help in recruitment and dealing with the various parties that one has to deal with things like fundraising for restoration projects for example. All signatories would be gratefully received and it doesn't take long so please do find a moment to sign it.

For now though, ringers were getting on with ringing, including here in Suffolk where a quarter-peal of Superlative Surprise Major was rung at Horringer and there is much lined up for the Guild's ringing in February.

Such as the BAC meeting pencilled in to be held in The Crown in Stowupland on Friday 6th, the following day the South-East District Ringing and Bake Off is planned to be held at Burgh and then the day after that the North-West District intend to hold an Additional Practice at Rougham ahead of their regular one slated for Eye on Valentine's Day, the same day as the North-East District plan to hold a Ringing Get Together at Southwold if you're looking for something romantic to do, whilst then the next day the intention is for GMC to meet at Stowupland Church Hall to round a busy couple of weekends. All being well that won't be the end of next month's ringing within our borders, with the hope being that the Beccles 10 Bell Practice is held at the eponymous tower on the evening of Wednesday 18th, the George W Pipe 12 Bell Competition at Great Yarmouth on Saturday 21st, the bellsashen Training Hub's 'Ringing with Others' event at Earl Stonham on Friday 27th and the South-West District Practice at St Gregory in Sudbury the following afternoon. A lot potentially packed into the shortest month!

God willing there should be plenty of scope for us to do more ringing than we did today as our focus was on Alfie's football training and Ruthie's choral practicing. As well as finally reading Tower Talk.

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Wednesday 28th January 2026

It was a big day for the Church of England as Dame Sarah Mullally was confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury at St Paul's Cathedral, an occasion marked by ringing there with a band including former St Mary-le-Tower ringer Mark Liebenrood and at Canterbury Cathedral where a 1350 of Grandsire Caters was rung.

Meanwhile it was the busiest day of ringing in Suffolk in 2026 thus far, with five quarter-peals and a peal rung. The peal was a 5184 of Alford Delight Major rung on the 10cwt ground-floor eight at Rendham, whilst four of the quarters were rung by the same band. Well done to David Steed, Ruth Suggett, Deborah Blumfield, Sally Crouch, Issac Johnson and conductor Joshua Watkins on ringing their first blows of Doxey Bob Minor in the 1260 of that spliced with Rising Brook Bob Minor at Dennington and congratulations to Sally and Joshua on it being their 200th together in the medium and to Sally and Ruth on their 75th together in the Carlisle Surprise Minor at Tannington. Well done again to Deborah and North-West District Ringing Master Joshua on ringing their first blows of Annable's London Surprise Minor in the 1320 at Earl Soham, whilst five of them also rang one of Doubles at Badingham.

Meanwhile a 1274 of Cambridge Surprise Minor was rung at Pettistree ahead of the weekly practice which Ruthie attended and where she rang Stedman Doubles and Surprise Minor in the form of Beverley and London, as well as calling a course of Lincoln before leading the bells down and retiring to the Greyhound Inn.

Hopefully others were enjoying well earned refreshment following a big and busy day of ringing in the Church of England and Suffolk.

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Tuesday 27th January 2026

Happy Birthday Mason! I don't tend to think too much about how he has grown from a tiny fragile baby with turned in feet, via operations, wheelchairs and trips to Great Ormond Street Hospital suffered generally with admirable cheerfulness. Rather I simply enjoy his company as a polite young man.

However, the 27th January is a celebration not just of the anniversary of my eldest son's birth but increasingly what he has become. Keen to work, knowledgeable football fan and wonderful big brother, although sadly his ringing progress was halted by the lockdowns just as he was starting to show some real promise and even a little enthusiasm and never picked up again. God willing at some point in the future if circumstances allow he may take it up again, although this year was the first - bar the pandemic when I couldn't - I haven't arranged a peal for his birthday, now that he is an adult.

And thanks to my current status as a 'man of leisure' I was able to help him celebrate his big day and pass on presents and cards as he came to The Coach & Horses for breakfast with his mother, before they continued on to Ipswich to visit Planet Blue and then his Nana and my Mum Sally, whilst I returned home to read the latest issue of The Ringing World which arrived with us this morning.

It is an issue that features mention of Hoxne in the report of the Keltek Trust's activities in 2025, albeit just to say there is no further update on the project. Former St Mary-le-Tower ringer Mark Liebenrood writes an interesting article about Benjamin Annable and his compositions, whilst an interview with Chris Bell from Fordham just over the Cambridgeshire border recounts the tale of the first peal for Gill Sparling who does much ringing in Suffolk and with Suffolk's ringers.

That was a nice dry indoor activity whilst outside it rained almost all day, although we escaped the worst of Storm Chandra as it heaped just about every conceivable negative weather condition one can imagine on the rest of the country.

Not that it seemed to have an impact on ringing with almost exactly the same number of peals and quarters rung as last Tuesday according to BellBoard and within our borders the weekly practice at Offton was preceded with a quarter-peal of Plain Bob Triples dedicated to treble ringer Elizabeth Goodchild's birthday.

Happy Birthday for recently Elizabeth and Happy Birthday for today Mason!

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Monday 26th January 2026

I am forming the opinion that standards in the Ipswich Minster ringing chamber have gone up a notch and real progress is being made.

Not everything goes of course. After a successful course or two of Plain Hunt on eleven at tonight's weekly session the conductor attempted to change some of the bells round before going again, a not unusual or unreasonable practice. Except in the process some of the band thought they had been given the instruction to go again, meaning that some were ringing rounds, some were following the call-changes and others were ringing Plain Hunt! Yorkshire Surprise Maximus had to be called round prematurely as well as too many people were going wrong.

However, we rang a couple of really rather well-struck touches of Stedman Cinques and even with just enough to ring it and with no warning, we're now at the stage that we can casually drop Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus into some spliced with Cambridge and Yorkshire and ring it extremely well. There will be downs as well as ups of course, but it is very encouraging.

It was all accompanied with a welcoming, social atmosphere, which continued on to the Halberd Inn for some post-ringing refreshment where conversation included preparations for our planned entry into the George W Pipe 12 Bell Competition due to take place at Great Yarmouth on Saturday 21st February and constructing eBells and earlier in the day real handbells were being rung in Suffolk as two quarter-peals of Little Bob Royal were rung in Moats Tye.

Hopefully they too are forming the opinion that their standards have gone up a notch and real progress is being made.

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Sunday 25th January 2026

As the boys and I arrived at Ipswich Minster for a later ringing time of 9.45-10.30am for morning worship which the Right Reverend Dr Joanne Woolway-Grenfell's was attending in her first act as Bishop of the St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocese following her enthronement yesterday, the eight of St Margaret's were ringing out across the town centre. Just as we were climbing the stairs to the famous ringing chamber from where the 34cwt twelve are rung, the bells pulled off meaning that we ended up being at the end of a lengthy queue waiting to get in! Sometimes it's nice to listen to ringing.

I was pleased to participate in some ringing too though, as I trebled to some Grandsire Cinques conducted by South-East District Ringing Master Hal Meakin from the tenor, called some call-changes on twelve and pulled the eleventh in to pieces of Stedman Cinques and Yorkshire Surprise Maximus before some stayed on for a session on the training bells and a sizeable proportion of the rest of us retired to Costa Coffee where we were met by George & Lucy Heath-Collins and their daughter Zoe. Lovely to meet little Zoe and great to see her parents doing so well.

That was it from a ringing perspective from me for the rest of the day, but others in Suffolk continued their ringing. Well done to Sylvie Fawcett on ringing her first quarter-peal of Plain Bob Major in the 1344 rung at Bardwell, whilst a 1311 of Stedman Cinques was rung at The Norman Tower and a 1260 of Plain Bob Doubles was rung at Wissett.

Glad to hear of bells ringing out across the county, not just in Ipswich.

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Saturday 24th January 2026

There has been many a ringing outing when we've found ourselves in a motor convoy searching for the next tower, only for the lead driver to go the wrong way and end up leading us all up a narrow lane with grass growing down the middle or into a farmyard or similar. It doesn't usually happen on the way to Alfie's football matches as we don't typically end up arriving at the same time, but this morning at an unfamiliar venue Alfred and myself found ourselves coincidentally behind one of his teammates who in turn were following another one of the players, with more behind us as we all had to take it in turns to turn round in the entrance to a house behind the pitch! All's well that ends well though as we eventually made it and our son and his team won their fixture.

Despite the flashback to ringing outings past there was no ringing for us as instead with the help of Ruthie's mother Kate and sister's fiancé Chris we focused on reconstructing a new bed for AJM that they had kindly brought over.

Other Suffolk ringers were busier in the exercise though, both within our borders and beyond. For example, on the occasion of the lady due to become the Guild's President the Right Reverend Dr Joanne Woolway-Grenfell being enthroned as the twelfth Bishop of the St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocese in the Cathedral, a peal of Grandsire Cinques was being rung at The Norman Tower and sounded very nice in the clip that you may have heard if you are friends on Facebook with Halesworth ringer Jason Busby.

Meanwhile, well done to Sproughton ringer Tristan Shaw on ringing his first peal on eight in the 5056 of Cambridge Surprise Major at Bristol Cathedral as part of the celebrations for the University of Bristol Society's annual dinner being held this evening, whilst Sudbury ringer James Croft was ringing in the 3 hours and 1 minute of Coniston Bluebird Delight Major at Bromley in Kent, county resident Phillip Orme was in the 5016 of six Maximus methods spliced at Great St Mary's in Cambridge and Stowmarket ringer Ainsley Gilbert was in quarter-peals of Grandsire Caters on the back ten at Aston, Yorkshire Surprise Major at St Chad's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Birmingham and Cambridge Surprise Minor on the back six at Selly Oak with the Welsh Colleges Society. And hopefully the North-West and South-West Practices at Great Barton and Little Cornard were well attended and successful.

Hopefully they weren't led in the wrong direction on the way to their venues!

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Friday 23rd January 2026

For us it was a day about ringing rather than doing ringing, from the frivolous of The Marlow Murder Club and the bizarre full circle ringing representing a clock chiming and the vicar's wife having church bells as her phone message tone (much like Mary Garner from whose phone Pettistree bells ring out when someone calls her!) to the important announcements about the Dorothy L Sayers Award for Young Ringers and the replacing of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme with the Places of Worship Renewal Fund. I shan't go into detail on those announcements (not least because I don't fully understand the latter!), so do take a read of both.

That wasn't all I did with my day, as although I'm not due to start my new job for a while yet, I needed to pop into what is intended to be my office soon and in the process met some of who those slated to be my future work colleagues.

No ringing, but other ringers in Suffolk were busier. Most notably at Blythburgh where the first quarter-peal was rung from the new ringing room floor for what was previously a ground-floor six, whilst a 1280 of six Doubles methods was rung at what is still a ground-floor six at Tannington. And well done to Sally Crouch, Josephine Beever and conductor Stephen Dawson on ringing their first QP of Bluntisham Bob Minor.

Bluntisham's rectory was also where Dorothy L Sayers apparently first fell in love with bells, as I found out on my day about ringing.

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Thursday 22nd January 2026

Bumping into occasional Ufford and Woodbridge ringer Pete Faircloth and his son - and my Godson - Jonathan in the street and arranging a proper meet-up and musing on the timing of the lovely dedication to son of Suffolk Harold Rogers in the footnote of the peal at Huntsham in Devon was as close as I got to ringing today.

On a day that was otherwise mainly focused on getting Alfie to and from football training and Ruthie to and from choral practice, other ringers in the county were busier, especially at Horringer where a quarter-peal of Cambridge Surprise Major was rung on the lovely 8cwt ground-floor eight.

God willing I'll have busier days of ringing too.

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Wednesday 21st January 2026

Having walked there yesterday, I decided I ought to drive to Pettistree this evening to ring on the ground-floor six there.

Once there I rang in the quarter-peal of Lincoln Surprise Minor that preceded the weekly practice, much to the fury of Hilary Stearn who is keen to ring one in that method herself! I expect she'll get that opportunity having rung it well during the session that followed and which also included other Surprise Minor including Cambridge with a 'boy' band (or an "old boy band" as one scallywag quipped!), London and Norwich, as well as some Stedman Doubles and a plain course of Grandsire for John Horsnell to ring the second to. All followed by a drink in the Greyhound Inn which was open for the first time since it's usual January closure.

Meanwhile our earlier 1272 wasn't the only QP rung in Suffolk today, with a Hertford County Association band ringing 1344s of Yorkshire Surprise Major rung in 53 minutes at Long Melford and Ajax Surprise Major in 50 minutes at St Gregory's in Sudbury on a day when they also rang the same number of changes of six Surprise Major methods spliced at Halstead in Essex.

Presumably they didn't walk there either!

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Tuesday 20th January 2026

Last year saw me do a lot of walking, usually in my lunchbreaks from work. However, I let it slip when I was made redundant. Every possible moment felt like it ought to be used to find a new job and so although it probably would've actually helped me in my endeavours to take the occasional walk out in the countryside to clear the mind and get away from the relentless nature of my search, another handful of emails with lists of vacancies would come through or there would be a phonecall of some sort and so it never happened. Released from that now though and before I am due to gladly return to the working routine, I decided to take advantage of this pleasant winter's day and not only take a walk, but a long one.

Thus I found myself meandering along the country lanes and footpaths of the beautiful countryside to the north of Melton as I went on a circular route which took me all the way up to the six of Pettistree and back through Ufford and past the eight there, spotting familiar local towers from unfamiliar viewpoints.

It was all very peaceful and a complete contrast to my evening which was a noisy one as we went to Ipswich Town's men's latest football match at Portman Road, the fourth one here in 2026 just twenty days in, which hasn't helped in getting my ringing going this year so far. As per usual though it did involve seeing ringers, such as food with mother-in-law Kate Eagle in The Mermaid and a drink with Simon Rudd and my brother Chris in the FanZone ahead of our 2-0 win against Bristol City.

There was no ringing noted anywhere else in Suffolk on BellBoard either. Perhaps lots of other Guild members were busy walking too.

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Monday 19th January 2026

I am now in a not unpleasant in-between period where I don't need to spend every spare waking moment searching for work, but also have a wait until my new employment gets underway. Ruthie has understandably dropped hints about getting various chores done around the house, whilst there may be scope for midweek ringing providing it fits in with the school run, but today it allowed me to help my wife's sister's fiancé Chris in clearing out the home of mother-in-law Kate's Uncle Gerald following his passing a few months ago. And after a couple of dump runs and with it being Chris's birthday we felt we had earned a drink and so I treated him to a pint in the Coach & Horses back in Melton.

We could've spent all day in there, but we stopped short at one as we were both out tonight, Chris with his fiancée for a birthday meal and me to the weekly practice at Ipswich Minster. A jolly good one it was too, with Stedman Cinques and Yorkshire Surprise Maximus amongst the repertoire before I joined many others in the Halberd Inn for an alcohol-free Doom Bar.

Ours wasn't the only ringing being done in Suffolk today of course. At Stowmarket 660 changes of Plain Bob Minor was rung before the funeral and service of thanksgiving for Lesley Mayes, a Town and District Councillor who was a big supporter of the project to rehang and augment the bells there, whilst in Sudbury a quarter-peal of Allendale Surprise Minor was rung on handbells.

Good to see ringers using their spare time so productively. I hope to use my new found spare time just as productively.

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Sunday 18th January 2026

Stiff ropes are a common affliction for bellropes currently with the damp conditions, but Woodbridge's seemed particularly so this morning! With a relatively long draft here that combination makes things challenging, so very well done to the local band on their ringing for the service that the boys and I joined afterwards and Ruthie sang at. We even managed some Grandsire Doubles!

Earlier I had chatted with them about ringing at Campsea Ashe where the weekly Saturday morning practice was especially well attended yesterday, whilst even earlier than that I listened to Framlingham bells on BBC Radio 4's 'Bells on Sunday' as I lay in bed.

Later though, my wife and I were at Ipswich Minster for a 1346 of Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus. Despite a couple of false starts our success was an impressive one with a local band and it was a first quarter-peal in the method for Jill Birkby. Well done Jill!

And well done to North-West District Ringing Master Joshua Watkins on ringing his first QP in the method and to Ainsley Gilbert on ringing his first of Royal in the 1260 of Plain Bob at Stowmarket. Meanwhile on a busy day of quarter-pealing within our borders a 1282 of Yorkshire Surprise Royal was rung at The Norman Tower for the Epiphany Carol Service in the Cathedral.

We followed our ringing by picking up the boys from my Mum Sally who had very kindly looked after them while we rang and then made our way straight to the Red Lion in Martlesham for a meal to celebrate the anniversary tomorrow of the birth of Ruthie's sister Clare's fiancé Chris.

It was a happy way to finish a happy weekend, from that job offer, a school trip, footballing success and all those Suffolk ringing achievements. Including the Woodbridge band's handling of those stiff ropes!

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Saturday 17th January 2026

Well done to Craig Gradidge on ringing his first peal of Royal in the 5040 of Cambridge Surprise at The Norman Tower today.

The ringer of the third Brian Meads also features in this week's edition of The Ringing World which arrived with us today, with the former Ringing Master of the Essex Association writing 'Thought for the Week' in his role as a Licensed Lay Minister.

By the time I was able to read it we had been out for another Saturday of football and a very successful one at that, starting with our goalkeeper son Alfie keeping a clean sheet in his team's fixture this morning and then watching Ipswich Town's men winning their game against Blackburn Rovers 3-0. On the club's Memorial Matchday where they remember ITFC fans who have died in the last year, it was lovely to see former Falkenham Tower Captain Brian Aldous remembered in the video they released for the occasion.

The 12.30pm kick-off meant there wasn't time for Alfred and me to join Ruthie, Mason, Josh and mother-in-law and one-time South-East District Ringing Master Kate Eagle for breakfast in The Mermaid, but we did catch up with them and Norwich ringer Simon Rudd in the FanZone before the latest victory for the Tractor Boys.

Well done to the Superblues on their win, but especially well done to Craig Gradidge on his first peal of Royal.

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Friday 16th January 2026

Pretty much every time I have picked Josh up from school since I was made redundant he has asked me if I've found a new job that day and of course I've had to reply that I have not. This afternoon though I had to prompt him to ask the question, which was ironic as today my answer was "yes, I have!"

Yes, that's right after a stressful, relentless and occasionally depressing and frustrating few weeks I was phoned up whilst I was having my lunch and informed that I was being offered a job on the back of a successful interview. Sheer joy and relief washed over me and Ruthie too when I told her, for this has been as difficult a time for her as it has been for me and I am eternally grateful for her keeping my chin up when I needed it.

With my start date to be confirmed but not likely to be for a few weeks it also gives me some time to hopefully relax a bit and prepare myself for what is planned ahead. Perhaps even a bit of midweek ringing!

It was big news on a big day for others in our house, as I dropped Alfie off at school in darkness before dawn for a trip with his fellow Year 7s to the Tower of London. And picking him up in darkness after sunset was preceded by a meeting at Josh's school in preparation for his residential trip in the next academic year.

All of which meant I had to turn down a kind offer to replace a last minute dropout for a peal attempt, but others in Suffolk were busier in their ringing as a quarter-peal of Cambridge Surprise Minor was rung on handbells in Sudbury.

For us though the closest we got to ringing was trying to fathom how they expected to move a fallen tree in an episode of The Marlow Murder Club with a bellrope.

Not that it stopped us celebrating being able to answer Josh's question in the affirmative.

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Thursday 15th January 2026

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...

On a day like today it may surprise you to know that I wasn't visiting Lowestoft for a bracing walk along the promenade or even to ring on the most easterly ring of bells in the UK. Rather I was here for the latest development in my search for a job, as I travelled to a place so far to the north-east of Suffolk that it is to the north-east of the North-East District of the Guild for an interview.

I'd opted to travel up by train, primarily to allow some extra preparation for the interview but also to take a more relaxed journey ("let the train take the strain!") and along the way take in the familiar surroundings from a less familiar angle. That included spotting towers with rings of bells. Not so easy with raindrops rolling down the windows and the still beautiful countryside of our county draped in grey mist and murk and even less so trying to take photos of them, as my efforts to capture Campsea Ashe's on film demonstrate! I'm not Mike Whitby!

Nonetheless, as well as that sighting of the tower which holds the lovely 6cwt gallery-ring six, I caught glimpses of Ufford, the top of Saxmundham's tower, Halesworth and Beccles from the train, before spying the spire of St Margaret's from the new Gull Wing Bridge in my ultimate destination.

The actual interview itself seemed to go well, although I have thought that of other interviews which have thus far come to nothing and so I shall have to wait and see if it was enough to secure me full-time permanent employment again.

Later on the weather put paid to Alfie's football training, but not Ruthie's choral practicing and nor did it stop the band ringing a 1260 of Braeside Place Minor at Horringer. Well done to Andrea Alderton, Sally Crouch and conductor Stephen Dawson on ringing their first quarter-peal in the method on a day when they were probably sensible to stay away from the seaside!

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Wednesday 14th January 2026

My jobhunting is getting slightly less monotonous now, with responses coming in, phonecalls with agencies and potential employers and interviews happening, but I am still grateful for any opportunity daytime ringing can offer me to take a break from the necessary relentlessness of it all.

Therefore when volunteers were recently sought to ring at Ipswich Minster this afternoon for the funeral of Hilary Norman who had served this church for over fifty years as a Lay Elder, Deacon, pastoral visitor, church warden and in the PCC, I jumped at the chance. With the seven we were able to gather on a workday we didn't do anything exciting as first I and then James Smith called some call-changes, but it got me out of the house and more importantly it was apparently much appreciated by Hilary's family.

It was also the other ringing I managed today as I returned to the county town with my Ruthie, Mason, Alfie & Josh to watch this year's Rock 'n' roll panto at the New Wolsey Theatre opposite the 10cwt six at St Matthew's. As with last year this was with my wife's family including Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle, but coincidentally we found ourselves sat next to occasional ringer Steve Saunders and his wife Margy. Additionally, the beauty from this performance of 'Beauty and the Beast' was called Belle Ringer, which meant lots of bellringing jokes!

All of this left no time to get to Pettistree's weekly practice, but they at least had a good start with a 1320 of Beverley Surprise Minor beforehand. And that wasn't the only quarter-peal in Suffolk either as Katie Abraham rang her first of Belfast Surprise Major in the 1344 at Elveden. Well done Katie!

I'm glad ringing was able to give others a reason to take a break too.

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Tuesday 13th January 2026

A thread on the Bellringers Facebook page today led to a fascinating discussion on when full circle change-ringing got going and saw mention of Suffolk rings Horham where the youngest bell is the treble from 1673 and St Lawrence in Ipswich which is the oldest five in the world, with all the bells dating from the fifteenth century.

No ringing for Ruthie or me on this damp winter Tuesday as once again my day was taken up with jobhunting, including having to turn down a couple of potential jobs following phone calls. After seventeen and a half years in my previous role it has occurred to me that if I could give a similar length of service to my next job that - ridiculous as it sounds to me - it could conceivably take me up or at least very near to retirement and so this decision could be one of the most important of my life.

Partly that is because if I can help it I really don't want to have to go through this stressful, relentless process again. But also partly because I'd like to retain as much of the work/life balance I was very content with at John Catt Educational and what it then morphed into. Mainly to enjoy time with my wife and children, especially watching Ipswich Town which has become a wonderful family activity. When Josh recently exclaimed "yay, I get to spend weekends with my Dad" when I mentioned that I was looking to avoid anything that required me to work Saturday or Sunday, it reinforced my desire to get something Monday-Friday, 9-5, give or take a half hour or so.

However, being able to go ringing is also important to me. It has been a reassuring constant through good times and bad with it's friendships and traditions and is something that I can be useful with, even good at, which I have particularly come to appreciate during this period of unemployment when I don't feel particularly useful. Therefore, although I can't afford to be too picky of course, a job doing door-to-door fundraising for charities with unsociable hours or one I'd have to commute to Colchester and back everyday for have had to be put on the discard pile.

Mercifully such things aren't an issue for other ringers, especially those who rang in the pre-practice quarter-peal at Offton, a location that probably hasn't changed all that much throughout the history of change-ringing. However long that is.

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Monday 12th January 2026

The first edition of The Ringing World for 2026 arrived with us today and included an obituary for Lowestoft ringer David McLean, written by his ringing son Christopher. Although his home tower was part of the Norwich Diocesan Association and therefore he was more associated with them (including being their longest serving General Secretary), he was of course also involved in ringing and ringers on our side of the border. Indeed, Christopher mentions that his father held Suffolk ringer Jeremy Spiller in high regard and felt fortunate to ring with ringers such as Pat & Trevor Bailey and former SGR Ringing Masters David Salter and Martin Thorley. And I was fortunate to ring eight peals with him and found him a lovely chap, so I was very interested reading his obituary which - as often happens even with people I knew very well - revealed information about his life that I wasn't aware of.

Sadly it wasn't the only ringing passing on my mind today as I discovered that Northamptonshire ringer Len Hallifax died over the weekend. Len was someone who rang with my mother Sally when she was ringing on the 14cwt eight in her home town of Thrapston and he rang on the 13cwt six in his village of residence of Lowick a couple of miles away. Nine of his thirty-seven peals were rung with Mum and he rang one with my Dad Alan too. When we were on Rambling Ringers round there in 2011 we visited the home of him and his wife Lesley for a meal and they attended many a Munnings family event from funerals to birthday parties, whilst they also knew ringers from our county with Ralph Earey, Joan Garrett and Diana & George Pipe among those he had rung peals with.

This sad news was relayed to me by Mum this evening at an otherwise highly enjoyable and productive weekly practice at Ipswich Minster where amongst much else we rang Stedman Cinques and Yorkshire Surprise Maximus, whilst Neil Pasmore showed that Essex ringers can call three leads of Kent Treble Maximus unlike another ringer formerly from south of the River Stour who has gone down in folklore here for their attempts to call it a few years ago!

It was all followed up with another large number of ringers retiring to the Halberd Inn to discuss the ASCY's line of succession and Gavin Edwards covert enquiries about replacing the Reverend Tom Mumford when he is due to leave at the Minster in March!

Meanwhile, amongst the dozens of emails relating to my jobhunting, I received one from Mike Cowling making me aware that Framlingham's eight are due to be be broadcast on this week's 'Bells on Sunday' programme on BBC Radio 4 with a clip from a peal of Plain Bob Triples a couple of years ago.

Earlier in the day there was ringing at Stowmarket ahead of a celebration for the life of Gerard Brewster who was a supporter of the augmentation and rehanging of the bells here and added to quite a reflective day as I remembered David McLean and Len Hallifax.

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Sunday 11th January 2026

The ringing family is a wonderful thing. At refreshments in Costa Coffee following service ringing at Ipswich Minster that included Stedman Cinques and Yorkshire Surprise Maximus this morning, Hal Meakin was telling me about one of the learners benefitting from the training bells back in the ringing chamber. They commute daily to London for work and so evenings here in Suffolk's county town aren't really practical once they get back from the big smoke and so they are having to grab sessions at the weekend. Except, such is the ringing network that they have also been able to go along to St James Garlickhythe when down in the capital where Guild PR Officer Neal Dodge and former Great Barton learner Alex Tatlow ring regularly.

The 9cwt eight was also the scene of a peal this afternoon that demonstrates another of ringing's selling points, it's almost limitless opportunities for achieving something new, as a Philip Saddleton composition of twenty-three Surprise Major methods named after colleges at the University of Cambridge was rung in 2 hours and 56 minutes. Apparently St John's College "is not a thing of loveliness!"

There was a peal within our borders too, with the 5056 of Huancayo Delight Major at Aldeburgh the first in the method for the Guild and all of the band. Well done to Mark Ogden, Mary Dunbavin, Jed Flatters, Ben Keating, Alan Mayle, Richard Rapior, James Smith and the conductor Tom Scase.

It was also the third SGR peal of the year, already putting us well ahead of where we were by this date in 2025 when we hadn't even got started!

Quarter-peals have also been plentiful in our part of the world with another couple rung today as a 1287 of Stedman Caters was rung at The Norman Tower and an appropriate length of 1299 changes of Plain Bob & Grandsire Doubles was rung at Rougham for the 99th birthday of local Ted Williams.

I did some more ringing too after my efforts on the county's heaviest twelve as I made my first visit of 2026 to the county's lightest twelve to ring for morning worship at Grundisburgh. Not unusually we didn't have enough to ring all twelve and the repertoire was more limited with call-changes on six and Plain Bob Doubles (all done on the back six as is the norm) the order of the day, but importantly we were ringing. And it was nice to catch up with ringers like the Twissells after a difficult Christmas and New Year as I enjoyed the ringing family.

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Saturday 10th January 2026

Congratulations to Gavin Edwards on ringing his first peal, achieved today with the 5040 of Bourne, Cambridge, Ipswich & Norwich Surprise Minor at Brandeston in 2 hours and 32 minutes. It is a landmark well earned for someone who has enthusiastically pursued the exercise in Essex where he lives as well as here in Suffolk. Such enthusiasm is something we could always do with more of in the art.

I was very kindly invited to ring and would've dearly loved to but this Saturday was one of football, with Alfie's team's first match of the year and then Ipswich Town's men's team beating Blackpool to reach the next round of the FA Cup. In between we had a meal at The Mermaid with Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle, before being welcomed at the stadium by Guild Peal Secretary Caroline Goodchild and meeting Norwich ringers Simon Rudd and his partner Ros Burroughs in the FanZone for a drink and then at halftime.

Meanwhile back in Woodbridge a quarter-peal of Plain Bob Triples was rung on the 25cwt eight on a good day for ringing in the county and especially for Gavin Edwards. Congratulations again Gavin!

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Friday 9th January 2026

The thread on the Bellringers Facebook page enquiring about the closest pub to a ring of bells brought forth thoughts for me of the Greyhound Inn at Pettistree and elicited disappointment from Colin Salter that the six of St Mary at Quay in Ipswich are now unringable and the Seahorse pub that was directly opposite the tower was long demolished.

Just across the town centre from there the Halberd Inn is not close enough to The Minster to justify an entry in this discussion, but is the tavern of choice after ringing during opening hours and so it was this evening following the South-East District Surprise Major Practice at the church formerly known as St Mary-le-Tower.

Not for us though, as we had the boys with us who understandably aren't allowed in this public house so late, but whose presence allowed both Ruthie and me to join the ringing. We also brought Mary Garner along with us, as we did at the previous Surprise Major practice here a few weeks ago. However, unlike that time we had the support of greater numbers, which allowed for more breathers, more standers behind, more experienced bands and a greater repertoire this time around.

That included touches of six and eight methods spliced and three leads of Bristol on the 34cwt back eight, which climaxed a session begun with David Lugg getting wet when he pulled the eighth off! Not the first time the bell has filled with water with heavy rainfall, so check the weather forecast before you next ring it!

Ours wasn't the only ringing within our borders though. Well done to Juliet Griffiths on ringing her first quarter-peal of Primrose Surprise Minor in the 1320 at Tostock and to Erika Clarke, Peter Richardson, Julie Richardson, conductor Philip Gorrod and tenor ringer Peter Lock on ringing their first of Allendale Surprise Minor in the 1272 at Wissett.

Perhaps they celebrated in a pub afterwards, however close it was.

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Thursday 8th January 2026

We have an extensive range of printed publications delivered to us. Dilly Dallying Daily, Fromage Fortnightly, Mould Monthly, Woman's Weekly and Yoga Yearly. Well OK, we only get The Ringing World, but of the others I would recommend that you take a look at the latest edition of Woman's Weekly. Partly because the others don't actually exist, at least as far as I'm aware. But also because they feature an article on three ringing women - Ringing Master of the Oxford Diocesan Guild Catherine Lane, Lucy Chandhial of Chingford and Sue Robinson from Worcestershire. If you can't get a copy you can see the article on the Bellringers Facebook page.

No ringing for us ("quelle surprise" I hear you mock), but I was reminded of how fortunate we are that ringing is a predominantly indoor pursuit as with Ruthie practicing with her choral colleagues, Josh and I were outside at Alfie's football training as Storm Goretti was taking hold. So bad was it that Josh eventually requested that we return to the car to get out of it and we were closely followed by Alfred as proceedings were brought to a premature end as the persistent cold, wet conditions only worsened.

Mercifully others in Suffolk were taking advantage of the inside nature of the exercise with a quarter-peal of Cambridge Surprise Major rung on handbells in Hasketon.

I was just glad to get back indoors and read all those publications.

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Wednesday 7th January 2026

I am conscious that I haven't done much ringing this year or indeed in the last fortnight, especially for someone who writes a ringing blog! Since Christmas Day Sunday mornings, weekly sessions and the South-East District Practice have been missed due to various otherwise enjoyable reasons that have unfortunately clashed due to the way everything has fallen. Having finally made some ringing at Ipswich Minster on Monday, the recent normal order was restored this evening as we missed the first Wednesday night Pettistree practice of the year to meet with Ruthie's best friend and her husband Dan for a curry at Shapla in Woodbridge.

The occasion was to celebrate new jobs for them both, their recent move up here and the recent birthday of our bridesmaid and Godmother to Alfie and with busy diaries for both them and us, tonight ended up being the only time we could gather together all in the same place at the same time!

Still, I expect they managed without us at the ground-floor six, with the tower that has led the quarter-peal columns in Suffolk every year since 2006 getting their 2026 totals underway with a 1296 of Caithness Surprise Minor. Currently though, it is sharing the leaderboard with several other towers on one quarter thus far this year, including the Barn Owl Ring in Norton where a 1312 of Yorkshire Surprise Major was also rung today.

In between jobhunting and the like, I did find myself doing my bit for the exercise as I responded to a question on the Grundisburgh Village Facebook page about after-school clubs in the village. Of course ringing isn't an after-school club (at Grundisburgh at least), but having commented in my ramblings before about residents in villages across the county moaning about children not having anything to do when there is a band of ringers on their doorstep crying out for recruits, I felt I ought to make them and others reading the thread about the opportunity for a lifetime activity in their midst.

Meanwhile there is plenty of ringing planned within our borders. Such as the South-East District Surprise Major Practice due to be held at Ipswich Minster on Friday night. Or the North-West District Practice penciled in for 10am-noon on Saturday at Stowmarket which is the first of a programme for this year shared on this website last month but which I didn't come across until today. Much is lined up including their 6-Bell Striking Competition at Bacton in April, hosting the Guild competitions at Wickham Skeith & Gislingham on Saturday 16th May a week after ringing at The Norman Tower in Bury St Edmunds followed by chiming on the glorious sounding eight at St Mary's down the road, an outing to the Braintree area in Essex in August, ADM at Ixworth in October and Quarter-Peal Fortnight in November.

It is part of a busy programme across the Guild in 2026, so God willing I'll have plenty of opportunity to do more ringing than I have done recently.

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Tuesday 6th January 2026

Recently Membership Secretary Mary Garner forwarded me an email she'd been sent by former Suffolk Guild Secretary Sandra Pereira. Sandra had read my blog entry of a week ago about the first peal of the appropriately named James Peal, very kindly filling us in on the lovely background to his success, witnessing his progress firsthand as she is now down in Hampshire. Apparently he has only been learning a couple of years and is an extremely talented and enthusiastic youngster. Indeed he only rang his first quarter-peal in August and he rang his second peal - and his first on ten - just two days after his first on New Year's Day and seems to be ringing with other young pealringers. All very encouraging and hopefully we'll be seeing more of his ringing exploits in the future! Lovely to hear from Sandra too!

Meanwhile my jobhunting has made some progress as I had my first couple of job interviews today. One of them came back later with a polite "thank you but no thank you" which underlines just how tough this process is, whilst the other one was really nice as the interviewer and I realised we had numerous mutual acquaintances and friends, including a former work colleague of mine and a number of ringers! Whether it will help me get the job or not, ringing and ringers are proving a wonderful icebreaker in these tentative initial conversations.

They were also both by video, something that simply wasn't a thing when I was last searching for work eighteen years ago. It was great not to have to leave the house for these on a day when most of yesterday's snow and ice was still about and causing disruption, with Bramford and Offton both announcing the cancellation of their weekly practices due to the conditions via the SGR Facebook page.

There was some ringing going on in the county though with a 1300 of Grandsire Doubles at Great Barton rung to celebrate the 100th birthday of local ringer Doug Rood's mother Aileen.

Happy Birthday Aileen and congratulations again to James Peal!

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Monday 5th January 2026

Let it Snow, as the song goes. The first proper snowfall here in the east of Suffolk for years was a pleasant surprise for the boys in particular who have long been bugging me about the lack of the white stuff for many a winter, as if I had any responsibility for it! Ironically, it also provided a festive backdrop as I took down our Christmas tree and decorations on this twelfth night.

However, it inevitably caused disruption and uncertainty. BellBoard was noticeably quieter with only two peals recorded from across the whole of the UK, whilst there was nothing from within our borders at all, which is unusual in recent months. Woodbridge have cancelled their weekly Tuesday night practice tomorrow too.

Ipswich Minster's maiden Monday night session of the year went ahead, but as the ringers' WhatsApp group filled up with people saying they wouldn't be coming due to the conditions and of course others (entirely reasonably!) not going due to looking after a one-day old child, I was worried we were going to be quite short. So much so that when offered to join Ruthie, her mother and sister at The Wilford Bridge for dinner following a spot of bridesmaid dress shopping for the latter's wedding planned for later this year, I passed on that to go to the county's heaviest twelve.

Therefore with the boys picked up by their mother, gran and aunt to go to the pub, I made my way into the county town, treated myself to a McDonald's and went ringing for the first time since that first morning of Christmas. The lengthy break from the art certainly hasn't been intentional. I'd like to think I am good at parenthood and raising the boys is the most important thing I'll ever do, but in recent weeks especially ringing has given me something to be useful at in the wider world, whilst my friendships up the tower have been a much needed outlet of support beyond my wonderfully patient family. However, over Christmas everything seems to have happened at the same time as ringing I would've done, from oddly timed football to family trips to weekends away and New Year's Eve falling on a Wednesday when we would've otherwise gone to Pettistree.

Tonight then, I was particularly glad to get out to participate in the exercise. Despite the understandable absences we were able to ring Cambridge & Yorkshire Surprise Maximus and Stedman Cinques, but without me we wouldn't have had the numbers for Abby Antrobus to have someone standing behind her for Lincolnshire Surprise Maximus or to ring all three Surprise Max methods spliced.

A large number of us then retired to the Halberd Inn where Jonathan and Sue were in a celebratory mood after becoming grandparents, before I went Driving Home for Christmas in the snow.

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Sunday 4th January 2026

We're used to new beginnings in the New Year, but Ipswich Minster ringers Lucy & George have taken it to new levels with the ultimate of new beginnings with the birth this morning of their first child.

It was wonderful news to begin our day with as we vacated New Moze Hall after a lovely couple of nights here. Thank you to mother-in-law Kate for a hugely fun weekend which was just the thing to counter what is usually quite a depressing point in the calendar.

Although following a flurry of packing and eating up leftover food we had finished our stay here and we weren't too far from home, we continued our family trip with a visit to the famous and fascinating Tiptree Jam Museum and Tearooms, a bit of retail therapy for some of our party at the nearby Perrywood garden centre and Poplar Nurseries in Marks Tey before eventually getting back to our abode.

None of which left any time for ringing for the second Sunday in a row, but again Suffolk's ringers were picking up the slack, including at Halesworth where a quarter-peal of Plain Bob Triples was rung on the 18cwt ground-floor eight.

Well done to them on that success and congratulations to Lucy & George on their new beginnings!

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Saturday 3rd January 2026

A thread started by Norwich City fan but friend of Suffolk ringing and general good egg Sue Marsden on the Bellringers Facebook page last night asking who alive today has the earliest first peal date was already generating copious amounts of responses when I awoke this morning to that glorious Essex countryside surrounding New Moze Hall, with Daphne Pegg coming up in the conversation. Although no longer ringing, Daphne is still going strong at 96 and rang her first peal on 29th November 1946 at Burgh, conjuring up an idyllic scene that has probably altered little at this isolated church. Although hopefully the 8cwt six rung from the porch were hopefully easier going eighty years ago! Incredibly though, she was pipped to the post by 101-year old Lucile Corby who rang her first peal on handbells in Enfield (ironically in Suffolk Road!) on 28th April 1945 and then rang her first towerbell peal a few days later on the original VE Day at Edmonton. As an aside, according to the wonderful Pealbase, John Thomas on the sixth rang his first peal in 1899. Amazing ringing history.

No ringing for us though, including missing the South-East District Practice at Hollesley this afternoon. However, it sounds like they had a super turnout, whilst others in the county were also busy in the exercise, including the first Guild peal of 2026 as Philip Erith was remembered with a peal at Grundisburgh composed and conducted by twice Past SGR Ringing Master Stephen Pettman who he taught to ring. That wasn't the only peal rung within our borders on this bright but freezing Saturday, with a 5040 rung in hand in Bacton for the Ely Diocesan Association, whilst the quarter-peal of Plain Bob at Woolpit was Chris Graham's first of Minor. Well done Chris!

Pity as it was to miss the first SE event of the year, we were having a fun and interesting day as we made the short journey from our fantastic base in Great Oakley to Colchester where we took in a visit to the castle that included a bell cast by Richard Bowler in 1591 for East Bergholt, a cuppa and cake at Roots & Grooves Cafe, a spot of shopping and a meal at The Camulodunum before wandering past the 21cwt eight at St Peter's on the way to the Charter Hall to watch Shrek The Musical. It was lovely to see the children so excited to watch this and as is usually the case with these productions there was much to entertain us adults too, including star of TV Danny John-Jules starring as Donkey!

Meanwhile it has been a super start to the year for women's ringing as following on from Eleanor Linford's exploits at St Paul's Cathedral on New Year's Day she was today part of the first all-female band to ring David Pipe's classic 11-part of six Maximus methods spliced in the 5016 at Melbourne in Derbyshire, which also included Suffolk resident Liz Orme. This is something that most and probably all of the band will have done as individuals, but along with Eleanor's ringing of a 61cwt bell to a peal on Thursday it further undermines the once traditional perception of women in an art that in the past would attribute their husband's name to their performances and wouldn't allow them membership of societies like the College Youths or even to attend their annual dinner.

Appropriate too on a day when Daphne Pegg and Lucile Corby's peal-ringing was being celebrated!

Friday 2nd January 2026

Someone on the radio described today as being "simultaneously like a Monday and a Friday". Even in my current circumstances I thought it summed it up perfectly as many returned to work before then almost instantly finishing for the weekend.

Ruthie and I both skipped the work bit as once we'd picked Mason up we joined mother-in-law and Ufford Ringing Master Kate Eagle and others from my wife's family at New Moze Hall at Great Oakley in Essex. This huge property is to be our home for the next couple of days and my wife and I were fortunate to be allocated a room in the attic with a balcony. It is a bit too chilly to take advantage of that, but we do at least have a stunning view over the countryside surrounding this isolated old house. And there was plenty of space to enjoy a sociable evening of food, drink, the hot tub and - once my eldest son had worked out how we turn it on - TV.

No ringing for us though, but back in Suffolk another quarter-peal was rung as a 1260 of Buxton Bob Minor was rung on the 5cwt gallery-ring six of Tostock. Well done to Serena & Mark Steggles and Simon Veal on ringing their first in the method on this Monday-esque Friday.

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New Year's Day 2026

As mentioned in yesterday's rambling blog entry there were numerous towers in the county ringing 2026 in and I was delighted to read of a couple of other places doing likewise. And quite notable ones at that, with the entirely unique five at East Bergholt welcoming the New Year and Fornham St Martin doing so for the first time.

The latter was later also the scene of one of the first quarter-peals in Suffolk for this year, with the 1260 of St Alkmund Bob Triples accompanied within our borders by the same number of changes of Somersham Bob Minor on the back six at Horringer. Well done to Max Thomson on ringing behind to a QP of Triples for the first time in the former and to Martin Kirk, David Steed, Dee Smith, Sally Crouch, Louise Whitehead, Deborah Blumfield and conductor Stephen Dawson on ringing their first blows in the method, whilst in the latter well done to Sally, Stephen and David again and also Andrea Alderton, North-West District Ringing Master Joshua Watkins and Josephine Beever on ringing their first blows in the method too.

Meanwhile Josephine was part of a group of Suffolk ringers who have been quarter-pealing in Kent this week with a 1296 of Grandsire Caters at Ash next Sandwich on Saturday and at Bekesbourne on Monday a 1320 of Kent Treble Bob Minor which was Josephine's sixtieth and Adrian Edwards's one hundred and twentieth in the medium of 2025. Congratulations Josephine and Adrian!

That was a great end to last year for them both, whilst beyond our borders it was a great start to this year for many peal-ringers with David Pipe's 'Particles' composition rung at York Minster with a band featuring former Exning learner Jimmy Yeoman, whilst at St Paul's Cathedral the 61cwt tenor became the heaviest bell rung single-handed by a woman as Eleanor Linford rang it to 5009 of Stedman Cinques. Phenomenal efforts all round.

Whilst not expecting to achieve anything like these, one of my ringing ambitions for 2026 is to improve on my peal totals. I managed eleven last year with a couple called off and a couple more lost, so hopefully it is achievable. Of course my current circumstances make it harder to plan peal-ringing too far ahead, especially during the week, but it also opens up opportunities for some potential last minute filling in! There is the extra motivation that my next peal for the Guild would be my 500th!

More generally from a ringing perspective I hope that both Ruthie and I are able to support ringing locally on practice nights and on Sundays (albeit the latter is pretty much impossible most weeks for my wife due to her choral duties) and also get along to more South-East District events. On a similar note we hope to be able to enjoy the SGR AGM planned for the South-West District on Saturday 11th April and the striking competitions pencilled in for Wickham Skeith and Gislingham in the North-West District on Saturday 16th May, but there is so much lined up that I pray we and many others can support, so please keep an eye on What's On and join as much as you can. People put a lot of time and effort into these events and they can be so useful and enjoyable, so it is always a big pity if not many turn up.

Beyond ringing though and apart from the obvious aim of getting back into paid employment as soon as possible, my main hope for this year is good health and happiness for our family and friends and that I can enjoy even more time together with Ruthie and the boys, such as on Rambling Ringers which is intended to go not too far away in Hertfordshire and West Essex this summer. And of course in watching Ipswich Town play.

That was something we were able to get underway straight away this year as feeling hungover and tired after last night's celebrations we had a rare dry afternoon at Portman Road to watch the men's senior team move into second in the league with a win over Oxford United and take a stunning red sky. We still managed our usual pre-match meal at The Mermaid, but this time surrounded by teapots and met up in the FanZone and at halftime with former St Mary-le-Tower Ringing Master Simon Rudd, although our sobriety was a considerable shock to him!

Nonetheless it was a lovely way to start a year rung in so memorably at East Bergholt and Fornham St Martin.

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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.