Shropshire Association of Church Bellringers

The Association has lost one of its most longstanding members, with the passing of Margaret Rowley, who died on Christmas Day, aged 93.

Margaret was tower captain at Holy Trinity church, Dawley from 2004 until her retirement in 2020. She had taken over that role from her husband, Ted, after he died but she began her ringing life at Malinslee church, a mile or so away. This was in the early 1950s and when the couple married they moved to a house just a stone's throw from Dawley church. Here they raised 4 daughters, 3 of whom learned to ring. Margaret stayed in that house, and kept her connection to Holy Trinity, for over 70 years. She had an unflappable temperament in the ringing room, and will be much missed.

Margaret's funeral will be on Monday 16th February at 1.30pm at Telford crematorium.

The Shropshire Association’s 2026 AGM was held at Meole Brace. Prior to the meetings there was ringing, led by Nik Galton, followed by a service of thanksgiving. The service was led by the Archdeacon of Salop, The Venerable Nick Watson, and the organists were Dr Derry Bertenshaw and Patrick Braven-Giles. Jet Pariera-Jenks read Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Ring Out Wild Bells, and Paul Lewis read the reading from scripture. Nick Watson led the meeting, assisted by Tony Freemont.

The following were elected as new members of the Association: Ryan Hayes (Bicton); Joe Dymond, Helen Gordon, John Gordon, Ryan Hartley, Nathan Hickman (all Ellesmere); Natalie Grimmette (High Ercall); Judith Bennett, Victoria Mackworth, Mark Talbot (Market Drayton); Ruth Rawson (Lilleshall); Jane Boulton (St Martins); Laura Barrance, Yuna Hoskison, Harvey Jones, Arthur O’Hara, Duncan Smalley (Shrewsbury, Meole Brace); Olivia Brewin (Shrewsbury, St Chad); Amanda Ellis, Amy Grimes, Anya Kinnair, Liv Kinnair (Telford, Dawley); Paul Caddick (Tong); Pauline Hember (Whitchurch).

Long service awards (25 or 50 years of paid subscription to the Association) were made to Jad Bienek, Brian Cope, Paul Roberts, Edwina Smart, Chris Yates and Judy Yates, and Gill Glover.

The changes to the Association’s Bell Restoration Fund Rules were approved.

David Beckwith gave the Treasurer’s report. The balance in the General Fund was £3939.75, and the balance in the Bell Restoration Fund (BRF) was £47,699.45. A grant from the BRF had been made to Shifnal. Expenses from the General Fund had included Report/Handbook printing, attendance at the Central Council AGM, website subscription, Central Council affiliation fee and insurance. The external examination of the accounts was still to be carried out. David thanked Biff Patterson for her work in handling the membership subscriptions.

Gill Glover described the various training events held during the year, including a New Members’ Meeting, four regular training mornings, several Young Ringers’ meetings, a Tower Leaders’ Forum and an ART training day led by Paul Lewis.
Gill gave a brief description of the items held in the Association library and archive (including a set of handbells), inviting anyone who knew of items of interest to the Association to get in touch with her.
Sue Dancey gave the Social Secretary’s report on behalf of Vicki Sivess. The social events in 2026 would be the Centenary Dinner in May and a Ceilidh in October.
Paul Lewis reported on the CCCBR AGM and the Ringing World AGM held at Sheffield, which he attended as the Association’s Central Council Representative. Paul mentioned that the 2026 CCCBR AGM would be held in Rugby and the 2027 AGM would be held in the Burton-on-Trent/Uttoxeter area.
Biff Patterson reported that 2025 was a good year for the Lichfield Diocesan Mobile Belfry, consolidating the financial growth of the last two years and making the future ever more secure. The Mobile Belfry had been present at nine events during 2025, including three multi-day events.

Gill Glover was awarded the St Alkmund’s cannons for all her hard work for the Association during 2025. Tony Freemont also presented Gill with a gift voucher.

Elections for the Committee were held. There were no changes to the membership of the committee for 2026/2027. Nik Galton agreed to be the Association’s second Central Council representative.

Andrew Gordon agreed to restart the 100 Club. Due to the length of time it takes to change signatories on bank accounts, Gill Glover said that she and the other two signatories would continue signing the cheques for the moment.

Michael Carding went through the dates of events during 2026 to celebrate the centenary of the Association. Biff mentioned that calendars were available for members.

Paul Lewis talked about the Central Council’s application for UNESCO Intangible Heritage status for English call change and change ringing. A show of hands indicated that those present werein favour of Paul signing the petition on behalf of the SACBR. Jan Snowball asked whether the committee would consider moving the AGM to April, taking into account the poor weather in January. Abdrew Gordon reported that he will be seeking sponsorship for a charity climb of Snowdon, to raise funds for various charities including the SACBR’s BRF.

The raffle, with prizes of wine, chocolate, olive oil, and cakes, raised £145 for the BRF. The winners of prizes are John MacClean, Andrew Gordon, Madeline Harris, Will Lander, Alan Glover, Jad Bienek, David Beckwith, Kathy Fitchew, Cordelia Warr, Kathryn Greaves, Jacqui Barden, and Natalie Grimmette.

The next quarterly meeting will be held on Saturday 18th April 2026, at Shifnal, and the next AGM is scheduled to be held on 9th January 2027.

Thanks go to all those who made this meeting a success, especially Ann and John Peppiatt for their sterling work in the kitchen.

The 2026 Central Council AGM weekend takes place in Rugby, hosted by the Coventry Guild from Friday 4th to Sunday 6th September 2026 and is open to anyone wishing to attend, not just CCCBR Reps.

The weekend’s activities are open to all ringers and the full programme will be published in due course. Keep an eye on the CCCBR website (cccbr.org.uk) and social media for updates.

The CCCBR AGM will take place at The Benn Hall, Newbold Road, Rugby CV21 2LN, with other events being staged around Rugby.

Booking for all elements of the weekend will be essential and more details will be published as they are confirmed. The booking and registration process will be accessible nearer the time.

The January 2026 Newsletter, which has a report of the ART Training Morning, and details of the AGM and some future events, can be read and downloaded here.

Please note that the email address for the Membership Secretary is membership@sacbr.org.uk, and the email address for the General Secretary is secretary@sacbr.org.uk

The December 2025 Newsletter can be read and downloaded here.

I am sad to report the death of John Williamson, former ringer at St Nicholas, Newport. John joined our band in 2007 when he moved to Newport from Cheswardine, where he had also rung. It was whilst living in Cheswardine he gained his nickname “John the Post” due to his position as village postmaster.

John soon became a valued member of our band and our social secretary. He organised a number of ringing outings plus an extremely popular trip to Joules Brewery. John was rightly proud of his only peal rung in 2010 at Moreton Corbet to celebrate his 70th birthday.

John was always cheerful and kind, with a real zest for life. We were sorry when John retired from ringing in 2018 but our friendship with John continued.

A quarter peal was rung at Newport in memory of John and in thanksgiving of his rich and full life.

The bells of St Michael and All Angels Church in Lilleshall have been a cherished part of our community for over 200 years. However, they are becoming increasingly difficult to ring and maintain. We are now raising funds to restore the bells, to ensure they continue to ring out for generations to come.

We’re aiming to raise around £60,000 and have already made an excellent start.

If you’d like to support us, please visit our JustGiving page:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/lilleshall-bells?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL&utm_campaign=015

Thank you for your support!

We can now offer members a range of items embroidered with the SACBR logo. These are embroidered to order: contact Biff Patterson [ ] for details or to place an order.

COLOUR: burgundy or navy, with embroidered logo and lettering in blue/white/black/gold

PRICES
Short sleeve polo shirt cost £15, long sleeve polo shirt cost £20. Both of these are lightweight cotton pique with cuffed short sleeves, button placket and fold down collar. Sweat shirt costs £20.
T-shirts (cost £10) are also available.

SIZES ARE UNISEX

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers has issued three documents about its work, volunteering with the Central Council, and what it means to be a Central Council Representative.

Those documents can be read and downloaded here:
What's the point of the Central Council.pdf,
Volunteering with the Central Council.pdf,
What does being a Central Council Rep mean?

Are you looking for some practical, written help for yourself or your tower but don’t know what is out there? If so, Books for Bellringers may be what you need. It is a small collection of books aimed mostly at beginners but with some material for those learning methods. Towers can borrow the collection for a period of up to two months so that everyone has a chance to see what they might find useful. Individuals or towers can order copies of the books using the details in the catalogue supplied.

If you would like to borrow the collection please contact Gill Glover [] .

The next Association committee meeting will be held on Sunday, 14 December 2025.