Shropshire Association of Church Bellringers

The Association ceilidh was held at the Mereside Community Centre in Shrewsbury and was organised by Vicki Sivess. Music and calling were provided by the Devil’s Chair Band. This year’s cooks were Gill Glover, Biff Patterson, Madeline Harris, Vicki Sivess, Sue Dancey, Paul Lewis. They provided diners with a variety of stews, cheese and onion flan, coleslaw, green and Greek salads, rice. The main course was followed by pear and frangipane tart, roulade, brownies, apple crumble, pumpkin pie. Each diner brought along their own drinks for the evening.

Thirty six tickets were sold for this event, and thanks go to all who promoted the event and all those who helped make this a very enjoyable evening.

How many active bellringers are there today? How often do we ring? Who is joining the exercise? Where are we succeeding, and where do we need to do more?

Surprisingly, we do not know the answers with any confidence.

The Ringing Census 2026 will provide the most comprehensive picture of bell ringing for nearly forty years. It is a key initiative supporting the ambitions of Ringing2030, helping us to understand the current state of our community and providing the evidence needed to support recruitment, retention, training and long-term planning. Rather than relying on estimates or anecdote, the census will give us a robust evidence base to help shape the future of ringing.

The census builds on the valuable work of previous ringing surveys, including the landmark 1988 Ringing Survey and more recent pilot studies. Over the past few months, a small project team has reviewed what has worked well in the past, learned from previous experience and designed a modern, fully digital census that can be repeated in future years. By repeating the census at regular intervals, we will be able to measure changes in participation over time and understand the impact of initiatives such as Ringing2030.

The census will take place during a single week, from 16–22 November 2026. Participants will be asked to complete a short online questionnaire describing their ringing activity during that week. The survey should take no more than around ten minutes to complete.

Participation is entirely voluntary, but every response counts. The more people who take part, the more accurate and representative the picture of ringing will be. Whether you ring every week, only occasionally, or are just beginning your ringing journey, we hope you will take part.

Protecting your personal information is fundamental to the project. The census has been designed in accordance with UK data protection legislation and follows recognised good practice for research projects. Personal information will be used only for the purposes of the census and will be handled securely. Results will normally be published only in aggregated form so that individuals cannot be identified. Further information about how your data will be collected, used and protected will be available in our Privacy Notice before the census opens.

Delivering a successful census will depend on volunteers across the ringing community.

Census Enumerators
Enumerators will play an important role in helping us build an accurate picture of ringing across the country.
Each Enumerator will be allocated a small group of towers from our target sample and, after Census Week has ended, will:

• contact the Tower Captain or nominated tower contact
• encourage completion of the Tower Headcount Survey
• answer straightforward questions and provide practical support
• follow up where a return has not been received
• establish and record the status of towers unable to provide a return.

Our aim is for every tower in the target sample to be accounted for – whether it is active and completes the survey, has no active band, is currently inactive, or is unable to take part.

Most Enumerator activity will take place in the second half of November 2026, after Census Week. Full guidance, templates and an online briefing will be provided.

Enumerator Role Description

There will be a number of briefing sessions for Enumerators to go through what is required and when. You will need to book on to one of them via these links, timings are UK:

Sat 24 Oct at 10am: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1997442390961?aff=oddtdtcreator
Fri 6 Nov at 7.30pm: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1997442452144?aff=oddtdtcreator
Sun 15 Nov at 8pm: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1997442513327?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Association’s October Quarterly meeting and ringing were held at St Martins. Fourteen members of the Association took part in the ringing which was led by Tony Freemont. The ringing included Plain Bob Doubles, Grandsire Doubles, Stedman Doubles and Cambridge Surprise Minor.

After ringing, tea and biscuits were available in the hall, presided over by Dai Cartwright.

Nik Galton gave a short update about Safeguarding. Sue Dancey reported that there was about £45,000 in the BRF (including the ring-fenced £10,000) and about £5,300 in the current account. The training morning in September at Kemberton was fully booked. The next training morning would be on 14 November 2026, and would probably be at Edgmond. There would be a Tower Leaders’ day on 24 October at Lilleshall, and an ART Module 1 training day on 28 November at Oswestry.

Nik Galton alerted those present to the Ringing Census taking place between 16th and 22nd November. Please answer the census honestly if you/your tower is contacted.

The next Association quarterly meeting and ringing will be held on Saturday 9th January 2027, at Meole Brace, with ringing starting at 1:30pm. Note that the next AGM will be held in April 2027.

Thanks were given to all who attended and to Dai Cartwright and helper in the kitchen.

The October 2026 Newsletter (which can be read and downloaded here) includes a report of work done on the bells at Oswestry, a report on Association's Open Towers day, and a report on the recent training morning.

Also included is information about the Association's Ceilidh, to be held on 17 October at Mereside Community Centre in Shrewsbury.

There is also information about a meeting on 24 October for tower leaders, and an ART Module 1 course (an introduction to teaching bell handling) on 28 November.

The September 2026 Newsletter can be read and downloaded here.

It is with immense sadness that the death of Edwina Smart, a ringer at Baschurch, is reported.

As part of the Association's centenary celebrations the membership is challenged to ring 100 'firsts'.
If you or your band has rung a first please email the Newsletter editor [] and the webmaster [] with the details.

The list of 'firsts' achieved can be found here.

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

	12-13yr	S	M	L	XL	XXL
Chest	32 - 34"	34 - 36"	38 - 40"	42 - 44"	46 - 48"	50 - 52"
Length			27"	28"

The polo shirts are pure cotton, wash very well, BUT are skimpy. Biff suggests going up one or even two sizes on what you would normally select. Available in standard rectangular shape, quite long in the body.

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, 13 December 2026.