Central Council of Church Bellringers

Annual Report for 2000

1. The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (“the Council”) was founded in 1891 and is a registered charity, no. 270036. Its address is that of its Honorary Secretary for the time being, namely 50 Cramhurst Lane, Witley, Godalming, Surrey, GU8 5QZ. The constitution and conduct of the Council is governed by its Rules.

2. The Council’s Trustees during 2000 were as follows:

   President	Mr J. A. Anderson
   Vice-President	Dr M. J. de C. Henshaw
   Hon. Secretary	Mr C. H. Rogers
   Hon. Treasurer	Mr E. G. H. Godfrey

3. The Council’s bankers are Lloyds Bank, Westminster House Branch, Dean Stanley Street, London, SW1P 3HIJ. Its independent examiners are Mr S. J. Coleman and Mr A. G. Smith.

4. At the close of the Annual General Meeting on 29 May 2000 the Council’s membership comprised 10 Life Members, 18 Honorary Members and 204 Representative Members representing 67 affiliated societies. Since then there has been one change in Representative Members:

   Guild of Devonshire Ringers: Following the death of Mr F. D. Mack, Mr M. G. Mansley has been elected.

   Subject to any further changes, at the start of the 2000 Council meeting there remain 10 Life Members, 18 Honorary Members and 204 Representative Members.

5. The Aims and Objects of the Council are as follows:

   (i) To promote and foster the ringing of bells for Christian worship and on other appropriate occasions;

   (ii) To represent all ringers to national bodies and the world at large;

   (iii) To make available advice, assistance and information to ringers and ringing societies on all matters concerned with bells and bell ringing;

   (iv) To bring together ringers to discuss matters of common interest;

   (v) To recommend standards in change ringing and maintain such records as may be necessary to uphold these standards;

   (vi) To assist in the provision, maintenance and transfer of church bells.

   A motion to change the Aims and Objects will be considered by the Council at its 2001 Annual Meeting.

6. The work of the Council in pursuing these aims and objects is for the most part carried out by its fifteen committees and by working groups appointed by them. Summaries of their activities during 2000 are given in the committee reports, which appear elsewhere on the Council’s agenda and are being published in the April 2001 issues of The Ringing World.

7. The Accounts for 2000 show total funds at the year end of £333,548, of which £148,766 is in restricted funds. The income for the year totalled £60,730, compared with £40,861 in 1999; The Trustees have the power to invest money and adopt such measures as seem to them necessary in the interest of the Council. They do not have any power to borrow money.

8. It is confirmed that the Council’s assets, together with the expected income for 2001, are available and are likely to be adequate to fulfil the objects of the Council in that year.

C. H. ROGERS
Honorary Secretary

2 April 2001

CENTRAL COUNCIL OF CHURCH BELL RINGERS

Registered Charity Number 270036

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31st December 2000

CENTRAL COUNCIL OF CHURCH BELL RINGERS

Registered Charity Number 270036

Balance Sheet as at 31st December 2000

ERIC GODFREY, Hon Treasurer March 2001

CENTRAL COUNCIL OF CHURCH BELL RINGERS

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2000

1. Accounting Policies

   The accounts have been drawn up in accordance with the “Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting for Charities” known as the Charities SORP, issued by the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales, dated October 1995.

2. Fundamental Accounting Concepts

   The accounts have been drawn up in accordance with the going concern, accruals, consistency and prudence concepts as stated in Appendix 2 of the SORP.

3. Funds

   The General Fund is unrestricted. The Education Courses Fund, Publications Fund and Capital Fund are designated funds. The other funds have been set up and maintained for restricted purposes.

4. Transfers between Funds

   1. £966 has been transferred from the General Fund to the Bell Restoration Fund. This is the surplus on the sale of Ring in 2000 badges, etc.

   2. £1,061 has been transferred from the General Fund to the Capital Fund in line with inflation.

5. Tangible Assets

   The major tangible assets of the Council are the Investments in National Savings Income Bonds, The Fred Dukes International Bell Fund, which is invested in a CAF Gold Account and the Library Collection. The Library Collection is valued at a replacement cost of £52,171. The revaluation undertaken by J M Farringdon in December 1998 when the value was £54,000. To this sum has been added purchases less disposals since of £358. The Library Collection is being depreciated for accounting purposes at 2% per annum by the reducing balance method. Depreciation for the year 2000 is £1,065 giving depreciation to date of £2,187. The policy is to revalue the Collection every five years. An asset register is maintained for other tangible assets. The policy is to treat assets of an individual cost of up to £1,000 as fully depreciated in the year of purchase.

6. Interest Receivable

   This arises from investments in National Savings Income Bonds, Central Board of Finance of the Church of England Deposit Fund, CAF Charity Services Gold Account and bank deposit and current accounts.

7. Committee Expenses - General Fund

   These were as follows:	2000	1999
   	£	£
   Administrative	258	703
   Bell Restoration Funds	560	961
   Education	529	725
   Information & Communications	293	293
   Peals Analysis	14	13
   Public Relations	627	724
   Redundant Bells	0	49
   Ringing Centres	30	276
   Towers & Belfries	96	463
   Ring in 2000	0	521
   Total	2407	4728

8. Grants

   Grants were made by the Worshipful Company of Founders through CCCBR of a total of £2,400 to two Ringing Centres for equipment. A further £2,233 was paid by the Worshipful Company of Founders for training of instructors from Ringing Centres. No other grants were paid.

9. Publications Fund

   Storage and distribution cost of £1,980 was paid to Council members. Preparation cost - Dove’s Guide of £1,000 was paid to a Council member. Stock written off for accounting purposes includes £5,280 in respect of Dove’s Guide 9th edition, which has a closing stock of 3,809 copies out of an initial order of 5,000 copies.

10. Payments to Trustees

    There were no payments to Trustees.

11. Emoluments of Employees

    The Council had no employees during the year.

12. Charitable Commitments

    There were unfulfilled charitable commitments at 31st December 2000 of about £1,600 by the Friends of the Library.

13. Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (Millennium Grants) Limited

    The company was formed in January 1997 to receive and distribute grants to bell projects from the Millennium Commission. Copies of the Annual Report are available from the Secretary.

RESCUE FUND FOR REDUNDANT BELLS

Registered Charity No 278816

J C BALDWIN

The Ringing World, May 4, 2001, pages 453 to 454

Bell Restoration Funds Committee

The Committee met three times during the year; in February in Surrey, during the Central Council Meeting weekend in May at Bury St Edmunds and at Coventry in October. We were sorry that John Cater had to resign from the Committee due to pressure of other work.

Committee Objectives and Terms of Reference. The Bell Restoration Funds Committee was first voted into existence at the Central Council Meeting in 1975. The world, even of bell restoration, has moved on since then. Most Guilds have BRFs registered as charities and bell restoration activity is at an all time high. The Committee felt it was timely to consider its future direction. Our discussions have included an evaluation of what has been achieved so far and an assessment of what is needed in the future. We invited Guilds and individuals to comment on the value of current activities and to identify tasks they believe we should undertake. We also undertook a fundamental review of the services related to bell restoration which the Council should be delivering and this has inevitably involved us in discussions with other committees and other bodies.

Our discussions have identified four areas where we believe the Central Council should be providing a service:

1. Provision of Advice

   Advice and support to parishes
   Publicising bell restoration activity and funding
   Advice on sources of funds
   Centre for legal, taxation and general charities advice
   Advice on project management
   Education, training and support for affiliated societies

2. Distribution of funds

   Facilitation of CCCBR Bell Funds
   Facilitation of CCCBR Rescue Fund
   Manifold Trust administration
   Fred E Dukes International Bell Fund administration

3. Fund Raising

   Provision of money
   Identification of sources of funds

4. Resource Management

   Redundant bells

We made an oral report to the administrative committee in March 2001, and would like to hear the views of Council members at the May 2001 Council meeting.

Provision of Information and Advice. As expected it appears that the level of activity brought about by the availability of Millennium funding has passed its peak and there has been a falling off in the number new parishes contacting the Committee for advice. Only 50 parishes contacted us for the first time in 2000, compared to 60 in 1999. Several projects with which we had been involved came to fruition during the year and we received invitations to the dedications at Hacheston, Suffolk, Eaton Bishop, Herefordshire and Cowden, Kent. Kate Cameron has revised and republished the material we provide to parishes as general advice and guidance and it now has a much more professional look.

We were kept particularly busy providing advice on the revised Gift Aid Scheme which could markedly increase the money available to BRFs if well publicised and administered. As well as responding to individual queries we provided an article for publication in The Ringing World.

Administration of Funds. The Manifold Trust gave 10 grants totalling £32,500 during the year. At the beginning of the year the Trust decided to increase its level of giving, particularly to small parishes; included in the total for the year are four grants of £5,000. The Committee assists the Trust by the provision of administrative support. The bulk of this administration work is carried out by Ian Oram, who was a founder member of the Committee 25 years ago.

Applications were not invited for the small sum of money available in the Central Council BRF, but towards the end of the year, thanks largely to the fund raising activity of Stella Bianco and a generous donation, the amount in the fund has increased to over £5,000 and we will be inviting applications in 2001. As agreed at the Central Council meetings in 1997 and 1998 the criteria for allocating grants and loans are attached to this report. There are no recommendations for changes.

The Fred E. Dukes International Bell Fund was established during the year and applications invited from overseas projects. At the closing date of 31 December 2000 seven applications had been received (6 from Australia and 1 from South Africa). In addition, enquiries were received from a number of unexpected sources including St Saviour’s Anglican Church of Riga, Latvia. The Trustees expect the first grants to be announced in March 2001.

Future Work. One of the things that Guilds felt was an important contribution which the Committee should be making was the identification of new sources of funds for bell restoration and this will be a major task for 2001.

We will also conclude the review of activities referred to above.

In addition we will:

• Revise the publication Organising a Bell Restoration Project to take account in particular of changes in charitable giving.

• Publish the results of (probably the last) Triennial Survey of Bell Restoration Funds.

The First 25 Years. Having chaired the Committee for the entire 25 years of its life John Barnes retired as Chairman at the end of the year. It is to his great credit that, in all that time, the Committee has never been allowed to stand still but has always concentrated on what should be done next. We are pleased that he will continue as a Committee member. Kate Flavell is the new Chairman.

We have written a review of the Committee’s work over 25 years and hope that it will be published in The Ringing World.

The Ringing World, April 4, 2001, page 345

Rescue Fund for Redundant Bells

1. The full name of the charity is: Central Council of Church Bell Ringers Rescue Fund for Redundant Bells.

2. The charity is not incorporated. The constitution derives from rules adopted on the 29th May 1979 and registered with the Charity Commission on the 22nd October 1979. The Charity’s registration number is 278816.

3. The principal address of the Charity is that of the Secretary namely: 8 Lebanon Gardens, London SW18 1RG

4. The principal object of the Fund is to advance the Christian Religion by the rescue of redundant bells for the purpose of their being rehoused elsewhere for ringing in Churches.

5. The Managing Trustees of the Fund are the members of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers Redundant Bells Committee namely:

   Rev Dr John Baldwin	Roger Booth
   Michael O’Callaghan	Robert Cooles
   David Kelly	Jeffrey Kershaw
   George Massey	Preb John Scott
   Philip Watts	Mrs P.M. Wilkinson

   The Chairman of the fund is: Preb John Scott

   The Honorary Secretary is: Robert Cooles

   The Honorary Treasurer is: Rev Dr John Baldwin

   The Custodian Trustees of the Fund are the President, the Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers and the Chairman of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers Restoration Funds Committee namely:

   John Anderson	Christopher Rogers
   Eric Godfrey	John Barnes

The committee’s report on the Fund’s activities for the year is as follows:

There were no calls on the Fund this year. The Expertise of the Council’s member guilds and associations in ensuring the reuse of redundant bells coupled with the active promotion by the Keltek Trust of bell transfers has meant that emergency assistance has not been required.

It is very good to be able to report that the ringers at Escrick have made a payment of £517.77 to the Fund towards the cost of insurance and storage of the Birmingham bells prior to Escrick acquiring them. This is much appreciated. Further sums are promised.

All loans have been repaid. New promises of loans in case of need will be welcomed. The new promises and renewed promises made after the Bury St Edmunds Council meeting are greatly appreciated.

The accounts for 2000 are set our separately.

Towers and Belfries Committee

The members of the Committee were very sad to learn of the death of one of its members, Frank Mack, during the year. Frank had worked hard on the Committee for a number of years and will be sadly missed, particularly by John Scott, for his work on bells and bell installations in the South West of the country.

Two formal Committee meetings have been held during the year when, as usual, there has been lively debate on a number of issues.

The topic of installing mobile phone antennae in church towers has gathered momentum. A discussion paper on the effects of radiation on health from these antennae has been produced. It has become clear, however, that there are other aspects of these installations which require addressing and members of the Committee have assisted in advising the Council Officers, who have been in contact with the Church of England and the Council for Care of Churches. It is clear also that advice is required at individual church and diocesan level.

Ropes and bearings continue to be a popular topic for discussion. The information leaflets on plain and ball bearings have been further refined and are available from the Chairman on receipt of a stamped addressed envelope.

Members have again been busy on an individual basis, visiting towers and providing advice for incumbents and PCCs. The issue of sound management is becoming high on the agenda for a number of churches and the Committee has seen an increase in requests for advice in this field.

Requests for measurement of movement in towers with the bells ringing are also on the increase and Committee members have become concerned about the lack of sophistication of the measuring equipment. Plans are being developed to design and procure a more modern, compact and user friendly device. This, however, will need some finance and the Committee hopes to approach the Council Officers for this during the coming year.

Work on two publications has continued during the year. These are Guidelines for Bell Hanging Projects and the revised Maintenance Handbook. It is intended to have these ready for publication during the coming year.

A maintenance seminar was arranged and supervised by members of the Committee at Fontmell Magna, Dorset, in the autumn. This was enthusiastically welcomed by the district ringers who attended. The Committee plans to arrange more of these during the coming year, specifically in the Exeter and Bristol areas, but requests are also invited from other areas.

The Committee has a stall booked at the Ringing Roadshow in March 2001. The tower movement measuring equipment will be on display, amongst other things, and members will be available to discuss the committee’s work with those attending.

Report of the Steward of the Rolls of Honour

The Rolls of Honour, kept in a glass-topped cabinet adjacent to the College Youths’ Library in St Paul’s Cathedral, are in good condition and are seen by ringers and visitors as they access the ringing room. The pages in both books are turned regularly, for which I continue to be grateful to Jim Phillips, Secretary of the St Paul’s Cathedral Guild of Ringers.

A recent comparison between the Council’s Roll of Honour for the First World War and a volume recently produced by the Kent County Association has shown that there are over twenty names in the KCACR book (out of a total of 68 entries) which do not appear in the Council’s book. Whilst I would expect some discrepancies, I am surprised by the number found.

The question arises whether to attempt to update the Council’s book. I would be strongly opposed to making any alterations to the existing pages, but the loose insertion of professionally written addendum sheets is feasible. It may be that there are names missing from other areas of the country which could be included at the same time or later.

ANDREW STUBBS

The Ringing World, April 4, 2001, page 346

Library Committee

During 2000 the Committee met on three occasions, twice at Ullingswick to transact the normal business of the Committee and once at New Malden. The latter meeting took the form of a brainstorming session on the Committee’s terms of reference and the future role of the Friends of the Library.

The Council is currently looking at the terms of reference of its committees. We last reviewed ours in 1995, but our activities have changed since then from simply looking after an archive of printed and manuscript material into developing electronic based information (e.g. the Trollope Manuscript) and collecting a wider scope of related ringing material (e.g. association badges). Following our meeting we drafted new terms of reference to cover these activities and we should like the Council to consider them. They are:

To develop the Council’s Library and raise the profile of its work on bells and ringing by ensuring that:

(i) it acts as an up-to-date information source;

(ii) the archive of material is maintained in good condition for consultation;

(iii) relevant research is encouraged and made available.

The Friends of the Central Council Library scheme originally began as a means of attracting attention to the state of the Library, its subscriptions being used towards maintenance. All the Friends are kept informed of what is going on through an annual newsletter which. includes essays of ringing bibliographical interest. The Friends also assist the Committee in identifying relevant publications produced in their area which we might otherwise overlook. We see the Friends as a major source of help towards the committee and look forward to their continuing support, especially in taking forward Library project work.

The sale of the CD of the Trollope Manuscripts has continued throughout the year and the financial summary shows that the CD part of the project has almost broken even, mainly due to three generous donations from the USA. This year we have produced a CD of the short- lived newspapers, Campanology and The Bellringer. We originally intended to produce them as bound volumes, but market research showed that a CD was preferable. Our next project will be to reproduce The Bell News on CD. This will include the splendid index of about 500 pages prepared by Cyril Wratten. Suggestions for future CDs include classic early ringing books and illuminated peal books. An update on these projects may be given at the Council meeting if required.

The conversion of the Library Catalogue to an electronic format is proceeding slowly. So far the sections on change ringing books pre-1900; the Snowdon series; Central Council publications; 20th century books on ringing; the history of ringing; lists of rings of bells; and English Bell Archaeology have been completed but the steady increase in the size of the Library together with involvement in other projects has slowed progress up.

Our collection of badges and certificates from ringing associations continues to grow and now includes some of the new badges produced by societies to mark the Millennium. We aim eventually to produce a catalogue of all the known metallic badges for reference purposes.

We are still adding to our collection of Guild reports and during this year have bound twenty-nine volumes of reports from the Ely Diocesan Association, the Oxford Diocesan Guild, the Southwell Diocesan Guild, the Hertford County Association and the Lancashire Association. We still want to fill the gaps in our collections and appeal to Council members for their help in this.

We feel there is a need for a learned journal comprising scholarly research on bells and ringing. The type of articles we envisage would include in-depth material which would make them generally unsuitable for publication in The Ringing World. An editorial team would approach known experts in particular fields requesting appropriate papers which would be published in a quality publication produced on an occasional basis.

Finally, we have replaced our worn-out microfiche reader with a good second-hand one, and purchased a new PC and associated equipment. Our Library Steward can now access the CDs we are producing, and also communicate via e-mail!

Publications Committee

Four new publications were produced during the year. They were Ringing Circles, Learning Methods, Rung Surprise Supplement (to end 1999) and Dove’s Guide (ninth edition).

Seven publications were reprinted: Towards Better Striking, Ringing Skills, Listen to Ringing Cassette 1, Listen to Ringing Cassette 2, The Tower Handbook, Starting a New Band and Collection of Principles (2nd edition).

Special discounts were offered in March and at Christmas. Sales of most titles fell, so that in the absence of the income from Dove’s Guide the excess of income over expenditure would have fallen to well under £1000. A review of pricing policy resulted in a few minor changes, but concluded that by and large the small paperback books are correctly priced, and that recent rises in profits and cash balance have resulted from sales of just one or two major new works. Since these require considerable up front investment, and since sales volumes are uncertain, we have not so far felt able to reduce margins, although the matter will be kept under active review.

A stock check was carried out in July, prior to Barbara Wheeler beginning a two stage house move. Barbara’s move has inevitably caused difficulties with storage of stock. We are very grateful to several kind people in the Morpeth area who have provided temporary homes for large piles of books, thus enabling Barbara to maintain her usual service.

Dove’s Guide was the single major new book to be published during the year. The compilers, John Baldwin and Ron Johnston, were determined to have the book ready for sale before Christmas, and to facilitate this aim, production and sales were managed on our behalf by John Baldwin, using a printer local to him. John in particular has put in a very great deal of work, and both he and Ron are to be congratulated on the result of their efforts. In pricing Dove’s Guide we have had to take into account the need, from March 2001, to store, and perhaps to distribute, through a commercial outlet; the money tied up in stock, which after an initial surge will not move quickly; and a greater than normal uncertainty about volume of sales. We have erred on the side of caution, whilst holding the price to that of the previous edition.

Because of Dove’s Guide income from sales rose sharply to £26,000 and gross profit rose to over £13,000. The disposable cash balance remained at around £24,000.

Biographies Committee

The following eight past and present members of the Council died in the year 2000:

• GRIFFITHS, John William, Chester Diocesan Guild 1966-1968, died 1 January 2000, attended 2 meetings;

• WATSON, Derek Hubert, Beverley & District Society 1966 to his death on 24 January 2000, attended 4 meetings;

• MACK, Frank Devereux, Guild of Devonshire Ringers 1978 to his death on 1 June 2000, attended 22 meetings;

• CRAMPION, John Henry, Essex Association 1954-1962, died 7 July 2000, attended 9 meetings;

• MURFET, Donald Frank, Ely Diocesan Association 1961-2 and 1965-1970, died 15 September 2000, attended 5 meetings;

• WILSON, Rognvald St. Clair, Scottish Association 1954-1971, died 1 June 2000, attended 2 meetings;

• CLIFT, Donald George, Llandaff & Monmouth Association 1933-1935, died 17 October 2000, attended 2 meetings;

• BORDER, Peter, Ely Diocesan Association 1954-1959, Coventry Diocesan Guild 1972-1998, died 18 October 2000, attended 29 meetings.

Also, in the year 2001:

• HARDING, Norman Victor, Norwich Diocesan Association 1954-1977, died 26 January 2001, attended 22 meetings.

During the year, the Committee has worked on reorganising its records: we now know exactly from whom we need further information; and although many photographs were taken at last years meeting, there are still a number of current members whose photographs we do not have. During next year, we intend to get into the books as many as possible of the records of those who have died, but are not yet written up - there are almost 90 in this category. This will be a fairly major undertaking, but we should have something to show for it. Our main difficulty lies with those who have, for whatever reason, dropped out of ringing: we can only rely on present members to bring us up to date with what they know. A few members have helped us this last year, but we can always do with more.

The Ringing World, April 13, 2001, page 373

Education Committee

2000 has been a busy year for the Education Committee, with progress on several new projects, and delivery of five courses. There were three formal meetings of the Committee, all held at Sharnford. The Committee now has an e-mail list for the exchange of information between meetings. This is heavily used by some members of the Committee.

Courses. The committee was involved in delivering courses for Ely Diocesan Association, Yorkshire Association, Middlesex County Association, Truro Diocesan Guild and Kent County Association. Most of these were based on the MTM courses. The course in Cornwall, at Gwennap, was the first in conjunction with a Ringing Centre and the course in Kent was the biggest so far with 34 student tutors taking part. The Committee supported the Ringing Centres Committee’s training days.

We continued to develop the MTM course. It now includes a module on raising and lowering in peal, and we have updated some of the supporting documentation.

Publications. We completed a new publication: Learning Methods by Michael Henshaw. Work on a replacement for The Beginners Handbook has been slower than anticipated, but we hope to complete this within the next year. We are currently working on Touch creation and Guidelines for Chairmen. In response to users’ requests, we plan to produce CD versions of the successful training tapes Listen to Ringing and Listen to Ringing Live.

The Training Directory, produced again in collaboration with the Ringing Centres Committee, was supplied free of charge to education officers (where known) and association and branch secretaries. It is on the Committee’s website, and available to all via the Publications Committee.

The Learning Curve, is now an established monthly feature in The Ringing World. It has featured several guest contributors. The Committee’s website has been maintained as a source of information.

Simulators. Requests for loan of the simulators continue, but at a lower level now that simulators are becoming more common. The simulators may be borrowed by contacting Michael Mulvey.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The Committee responded to a request from the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award organisation to update the ringing “skill” as part of the scheme. Catherine Lewis responded very rapidly and developed an improved package, with which the recipients were well pleased. This was subsequently reported in The Ringing World.

Dissemination. The Committee set up a working group, together with representatives of the Publications, ICT and Public Relations Committees. The group worked by email during the spring and produced a report, circulated to Council members at Bury St Edmunds, and later published in The Ringing World. Six of its eight recommendations have been either wholly or partly implemented or are under consideration. Some of the recommendations related to collaboration between information providers, and we were particularly, pleased that Pam Copson offered to include order slips for The Tower Handbook with her mailings.

Communication. Early in 2000 we launched an E-mail list for discussion of learning and training. This has been very successful, with subscribers steadily rising. We are grateful to Peter Wenham for writing periodic summaries of the topics covered for The Ringing World. Each generates a wave of new subscribers.

Network for Ringing Training. The working group set up to progress the proposal for an Instructors’ Guild worked through the first part of the year. Although there was evidence of some support for the concept, there were also pockets of strong resistance. It became clear that to launch such an organisation would face considerable political and practical barriers. We therefore redirected our efforts to find a more acceptable way of serving the same objectives, i.e. to raise the profile of ringing training, to provide services focused on trainers.

The Committee decided that it was better to achieve something rapidly, even if only in embryo form, rather than prolong the search for the perfect solution - that would enable us to test the response. Accordingly we set the 2001 Roadshow as a deadline. By the end of the year, the concept of a Network for Ringing Training (NRT) had emerged, to be refined during early 2001.

Future plans. The Committee’s on-going programme of work at the end of 2000 includes:

• Delivering MTM and other courses in response to requests from associations.

• Producing new or replacement publications where needed. Work in hand includes: guidelines for chairmen, touch creation, a new beginners’ handbook and CD versions of the listening tapes.

• Developing resource packs for use at local level.

• Refining, launching, running and exploiting the Network for Ringing Training.

Our thanks go to Carol Franklin for her hospitality in hosting the Committee’s meetings at Sharnford, and to the people from outside the Committee who contributed to work on first the Instructors’ Guild and then the Network for Ringing Training.

At the end of the year, Ron Warford decided that he could no longer continue as a committee member and would stand down in 2001. Seven years ago, Ron proposed that the Committee should have a secretary and he has filled that role ever since. We are very grateful for Ron’s hard work on behalf of the Committee over that period.

Ringing Centres Committee

The Committee has had another busy year, with most of its effort going into various aspects of the scheme under which ringing centres are sponsored by The Worshipful Company of Founders. Four further centres, Bishopstoke, Gnosall, Gwennap and Tavistock, were recommended for funding, and a further round of applications was received towards the end of the year and processed in 2001, bringing the total to date to ten. Three other applications were referred back for further information and are expected to be resubmitted. Once again the applications have been handled by Louise Bland with financial control under the watchful eye of Eric Godfrey. Eric Godfrey and Phil Gay have had a number of meetings with members of the Founders Company, and we have been grateful for John Anderson’s support on several occasions.

An important component of the Founders’ scheme is the provision of training for those running ringing centres. The first training weekend, organised by Roger Booth, was held in July at the Docklands Ringing Centre, to which we are most grateful for providing a range of facilities. This course was the first of several (the next one will have taken place over the weekend before the Council meets), since all sponsored centres are expected to send people both to an introductory course and a follow-up course once they have some operational experience. The next course will include both categories, and we are confident that the first-timers will benefit considerably from the presence of those who already have experience of running centres. The tuition on these courses draws heavily, but not exclusively, on material developed by the Education Committee.

Another joint effort with the Education Committee is the Training Directory, once again the responsibility of Gail Cater, who is a member of both committees. This publication is now well established, and each year its scope widens to increase its usefulness. Roger Booth has done further development work on the dumb bell kit and published an article on it in The Ringing World.

One of the functions of the Committee is “to administer funds provided by the Council for setting up centres”. Early in the year it was realised that as the funds we are currently administering were not provided by the Council, it would be appropriate for our terms of reference to be amended, and we have submitted a motion to Council to do that.

Looking to the future, another weekend course is planned for November, during which we have been invited to Founders’ Hall for lunch and the presentation of the Founders’ Prize for the year 2000. We are conscious of the need for a more comprehensive web site, and also for continuity of funding if a really worthwhile network of ringing centres is to be achieved.

Report of the Stewards of John Carter Ringing Machine

The Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry remains closed to the public. However, access to the machine has been readily granted for the maintenance sessions which have been arranged to improve the reliability of the machine prior to the forthcoming display at the Roadshow. We wish to thank Barry Ward for his continuing assistance in arranging access to the machine and his practical help.

The Birmingham City Corporation has nearly completed construction of a new museum complex in Curzon Street. The opening of the “Discovery Centre” is scheduled for September 2001. There is insufficient room at the new location for many of the older and smaller items previously displayed at the Newall Street site and the Stewards are actively seeking a new home for the machine. The current loan agreement expires in the summer of 2001.

The Ringing World, April 13, 2001, page 374

Public Relations Committee

Ringing Roadshow. Over the past year a great deal of time and effort has been expended on preparation for the next Roadshow to be held at Keele University on Saturday March 31st. The brunt of this work has fallen on to the shoulders of our very capable secretary, Wendy Daw, who is also the main local contact for the event. We are also most grateful to Phil Gay who has acted as our main liaison with the University. We shall be seeking new venues for future Roadshows and welcome any suggestions that Council members might have.

PR Displays. This last year has been relatively quiet (15 bookings) but the month of June was very hectic and needed quite a juggling feat to satisfy all requirements. However all was resolved satisfactorily and many letters of appreciation were received. Westminster Abbey again made good use of the displays for explanation and discussion. Last year Council members were asked whether the displays should have a new orientation bearing in mind technological advances - no response was received.

Organisers who wish to make use of the displays should book early (especially for the months of May and June) with Harold Rogers (020 8560 3921) or Janet Edwards (01376 570933).

Complaints Working Group. The Complaints Advice Directory is convened by Nick Davies (01797 321188) and consists of 19 advisers and four consultants (Legal, Sound Measurement, Sound Control and Environmental Health Officer Liaison). Activity has been reasonably quiet over the last year with complaints advisers involved in a dozen or so cases. In four of these cases local EHOs became involved very early in the proceedings but in none of these were unreasonable demands made. The publication Guidelines on Ensuring the Acceptability of the Sound of Church Bellringing has been printed and is now available.

Central Council Newsletter. Following recommendations from the Communications Working Group the first issue of a Council Newsletter explaining the background to the formation of the Council and featuring the two Millennium projects was produced in August and distributed via Association General Secretaries. A second issue is planned for Spring 2001 and this will concentrate on education and training matters. It is anticipated that the Newsletter will continue to be published twice a year.

Nationwide Ringing. Ring in 2000 and Ringing in the Millennium were outstanding successes and it is hoped that similar nationwide ringing can be arranged to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen in 2002. On Tuesday 4th June (a Bank Holiday) we understand that the Queen will be attending a National Service of Thanksgiving in St Paul’s Cathedral and this would seem to be an appropriate occasion to encourage as much ringing as possible. We are suggesting that the aim this time should be to maximise local publicity for ringers and ringing.

Committee changes. Stella Bianco and Tina Stoecklin retired from the Committee at last year’s Council Meeting. We thank Stella very much for all her work on behalf of PR over a period of some 12 years. We also thank Tina who, as Editor of The Ringing World, gave great support to the Committee. Janet Edwards and Frank Lewis, both previously co-opted, were elected as members. Clare Rodliffe, who has also contributed greatly, especially in promoting the cause of young ringers, is expecting her first child and will be standing down from the Committee at the next Council Meeting. There will therefore be a requirement to elect a replacement for Clare.

Information & Communications Technology Committee

The primary activities of the Committee during 2000 were the Software Catalogue, the Council’s website, the Felstead database project and support for other committees.

The Software Catalogue continues to reflect new programs and updates to existing entries. Although a number of hard copies were distributed at the Council meeting in May, the copy on the Committee’s website receives about 70 accesses per week. Accesses to the Council website’s home page rose steadily during the year from 225 to 350 per week. The most popular internal page is the index to the online version of Dove’s Guide, which receives about 180 accesses per week, followed by the Bibliography page at about 60. The Felstead database is a joint project with the Peals Analysis Committee.

The Committee assumed control of The Ringing World website for essential housekeeping purposes pending the implementation of a new business plan and the redesign of this site. Support was also given to the staff of The Ringing World on managing their email correspondence.

Methods Committee

The Committee held two meetings during the year, in Whitchurch on 5 March and in Kensington on 7 October.

The definitive method collections at the Committee’s website (http://www.methods.clara.net/) continue to be updated on a weekly basis and now additionally include Minimus methods and details of first peal performances on tower and handbells for methods at lower stages than Triples. We are grateful to William J Hall and Philip A B Saddleton for their help during the year in maintaining the accuracy of the collections. In the world of electronic communications XML is emerging as a standard for interchanging information between computer applications and we propose to develop an XML version of the method collections.

A Supplement to the Collections of Rung Surprise, Delight, Treble Bob and Alliance methods covering the methods rung during 1999 was available at the Council meeting and we will be preparing a further Supplement covering the methods rung during 2000. Also published during the year were the 3rd edition of the Collection of Principles (reviewed in the RW p.1209) and a repackaged Collection of Methods on diskette including all methods zipped on a single diskette and is particularly intended for PC users who do not yet have access to the Internet (reviewed in the RW 2001 p.78).

In a letter to The Ringing World (p.446) Rod Pipe suggested that the Decisions on methods be amended to recognise methods with hunt bells where none of the working bells does all the work of the method. The suggestion was made in the context of 3 and 5-lead Little Surprise Sixteen methods rung in Spliced but would have much wider implications, including 3-lead Royal methods which are currently not permitted in a conforming peal. Correspondence with Mr Pipe clarified his intentions and the consequent discussions occupied much of the Committee’s time at its meetings. The suggestion is not a new one although, with the possible exception of Reading and St Dunstan’s Doubles, such methods were largely obsolete by the middle of the 18th century. It would be possible to amend the Decisions to recognise a new category of method although at the cost of making the Decisions still more elaborate and complex. The Committee was mindful of the large amount of work which had been undertaken, not least by the Methods Committee itself, in 1997 to amend the Decisions to recognise Variable Cover peals. The result is that the Decisions are now more complicated and, although many new arrangements are possible, very few Variable Cover peals have been rung. The Committee feels that there is a danger in increasingly complicated Decisions covering increasingly special cases. Whilst composers may argue for changes that make their job easier, the Committee feels that the challenge of method construction and composition lies in working within the traditional constraints. Consequently we have decided not to propose an amendment to Council. However we believe it is worth reminding the Exercise once again that Council does not tell ringers what they should ring and that, apart from record length peals, the Decisions on Peal Ringing are principally concerned with which performances should be included in the Peals Analysis. We consider that there is a strong argument for non-compliant performances being simply listed rather than Council deciding whether or not they are to be included in the Analysis.

We identified an initial list of possible amendments to the Decision on Method Extension but could not spend as much time as we had intended in detailed discussions. We hope to return to this subject during 2001.

As always, we are pleased to receive enquiries on all and any method-related matters by e-mail, post or telephone.

The Ringing World, April 20, 2001, page 401

Administrative Committee

Since the 2000 Council meeting the Committee has met twice in London, in October and March. The arrangements for the 2001 Council meeting were discussed and agreed, and the following were among the other matters considered:

1. Consultations on the Council’s role and procedures - The Officers and four working groups have continued to progress a wide variety of topics and their findings have been placed before the Committee. These have included proposals related to the Council’s function and membership, elections, the Object of the Council, Council administration and communications. Some of the working groups’ recommendations are being put forward as motions on the Council agenda, some have already been implemented and others are subject to further debate. Those identified as subject to further debate are mainly related to the committee structure and the organisation of the Administrative Committee. Some considerable time and effort has been devoted to devising election procedures that would reduce the amount of time spent in electing committees at the triennial meetings, but as yet no satisfactory alternative has been agreed. An updated version of the working groups’ report is being circulated separately to Council members for information.

2. Ringing in the Millennium - All except one of the 150 bell restoration and augmentation schemes which have benefited from this project have been completed, and the whole of the £3 million grant has been claimed from the Millennium Commission. As required by the Commission, members of the Millennium Working Party are now undertaking post completion monitoring, which involves the completion by all schemes of a questionnaire and visits to 10% of schemes each year.

3. Incorporation of the Council - Following last year’s Council decision to apply to the Charity Commission for a Certificate of Incorporation under the Charities Act 1993, an application has been lodged with the Commission. No further action has been taken, however, pending the outcome of proposals made in the report of the working groups (see item (1) above) in so far as they affect the constitution of the Council.

4. Working Group on ringing trends - At last year’s meeting the Council agreed “That the Administrative Committee should set up a working group (1) to ascertain the current state of ringing and the developing trends; and (2) to give their views on likely future developments and how the Council and ringing associations might deal with these developments.” The group has been set up and comprises the Vice-President (chairman), Prof M. B. Davies, the Revd Dr B. F. Peachey, Mrs P. M. Newton and Mrs S. J. Warboys. A work programme has been agreed and collection of relevant data has begun. The plan is to report back to the 2002 Council meeting.

5. Public liability insurance - Last year we reported proposals to take out a global public liability insurance policy on behalf of the Council and those affiliated societies who wished to take part. Regrettably, it has not been possible to arrange a suitable policy on better terms than those which many societies have already secured for themselves. This initiative will not therefore be pursued. Public liability insurance cover has however been arranged for the Council itself.

6. National Bells Register - For various reasons little progress has been made with the proposed register this year. The proposal has not however been abandoned and it is hoped that work on it will be resumed shortly.

7. Meetings with English Heritage - Two further meetings were held on 22 March and 13 September 2000 and another meeting was due to be held on 21 March 2001. Several cases of difficulty between EH and local ringers which had been drawn to our attention were discussed, most notably that at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, where EH’s insistence on retaining the mediaeval bell frame and some supporting beams would have seriously compromised the installation of a new two-tier frame. Other matters discussed included:

   • The Heritage Strategy Review being conducted by EH, to which comments were submitted on behalf of the Council;

   • The outcome of the Essex bell frame survey conducted in 1992;

   • Issues arising from the installation of ringers’ galleries;

   • Corrosion risks arising from the insertion of steelwork into tower walls; and

   • Access for ringing at St Peter’s Church, Barton-on-Humber, which is in the care of EH.

8. Radio aerials in churches - In November 2000 Church of England parishes were invited to express an interest in a proposal by the Archbishops’ Council to negotiate a preferred status with one of the telecommunications companies for the installation of radio aerials in churches. No mention was made at that stage of the impact which such aerials and their associated cabling and equipment would have on bells and ringing in towers containing rings of bells. A letter was accordingly sent to the Telecommunications Working Party of the Archbishops’ Council setting out our concerns. Subsequently the Council was invited to comment on draft guidance notes to be issued to parishes and this provided a further opportunity to record the concerns of ringers. The points made have included the following:

   • The need for early consultation with the local ringers and throughout the process;

   • The difficulty of installing bulky equipment in a usually cramped space and the need to ensure that it does not interfere in any way with the bells or the ability to ring them;

   • The effect on internal and external acoustics;

   • The need to obtain expert advice on the effect on bell installations;

   • The division of responsibility for the security of the tower; and

   • The health and safety issues, particularly when rapid access is required to the telecommunications equipment.

9. Diocesan Advisory Committees - We have considered the issues arising from correspondence in The Ringing World and with the Hon. Secretary on the representation of ringers on Diocesan Advisory Committees (DACs) and the appointment of Bells Consultants to DACs. We have taken the view that it is not appropriate to press for the representation of ringers on DACs, but that the Council would welcome being consulted on the appointment of Bells Consultants. Affiliated societies would then be consulted by the Council as appropriate.

10. “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” - The Charity Commission has introduced a new Statement of Recommended Practice, known as SORP 2000, which requires some changes in the presentation of charities’ accounts and more extensive changes to the annual report. It takes effect in respect of accounting periods starting on or after 1st January 2001. So far as the Council’s accounts are concerned, it will be possible to classify all expenditure as “charitable” and the “Other expenditure” heading will no longer be required; and the notes to the accounts will need to show the number and total value of grants given for various purposes. New information to be contained in annual reports includes the following:

    • the policy on reserves, justifying and explaining the level of reserves held;

    • the policy on investments and a review of performance against this policy;

    • the effectiveness of fund-raising activities;

    • the policy on grant-making;

    • the contribution of volunteers in achieving the aims of the charity; and

    • a statement on the major risks facing the charity.

Arising from Mrs K. Flavell’s election as Chairman of the Bell Restoration Funds Committee, there is one elected member vacancy on the Committee.

The Ringing World, April 20, 2001, page 402

Committee for Redundant Bells

Sixteen churches were declared redundant in 2000, the smallest annual number since the Pastoral Measure process began in 1969, bringing the overall total to 1621. Twenty were declared redundant in 1999. For the record, the previous lowest number was 17, recorded in 1992. Unless there is some Millennium effect at work here, there seems no obvious reason for this year’s lower number. The Church Commissioners, who suspect it is an aberration, have anecdotal evidence that numbers are going to rise again: their triennial survey of diocesan predictions, due this year, should make matters clearer.

Once a church is declared redundant under the Pastoral Measure, a decision on its future has to be made. In practice this means that about half find an alternative use; a quarter are preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust; and the remaining quarter are demolished. The Churches Conservation Trust is legally obliged to retain and maintain the bells of its churches; and a demolished church by definition is unlikely to retain its fittings. For churches in alternative uses the prospects are less clear cut. Bells may be removed before a church goes to its new use, or may be included in the sale or lease of the building. Since some buildings have been in alternative uses since the early 1970s, it may well be that some bells have been lost, or their existence even forgotten. As part of the Committee’s review of its work, therefore, a survey is under way, with the help of the local societies, aiming to establish, among other things, whether bells in such buildings are at risk, or, more positively, whether they are well cared for, or might even be available for re-use. We are grateful to the Church Commissioners for allowing us access to their definitive list of redundant churches, without which this exercise would have been difficult indeed. We hope, too, to gather information from Churches other than the Church of England, though equivalents to the Pastoral Measure may not, of course, be everywhere in place.

Some 12 enquiries seeking bells - two rings, nine singles, and seven enquiries from overseas - reached the Committee this year. We pay tribute to the work done by David Kelly’s Keltek Trust in rehousing bells - many enquirers have already contacted the Keltek Trust, or can be advised to do so - and greatly appreciate the way in which its work complements that of the Committee, whose remit of course is to work through the associations.

We are grateful for the help and interest of the Church Commissioners and the Advisory Board for Redundant Churches. The Council for the Care of Churches has supplied us for a number of years with a list of the churches referred at an early stage to them: they now, most kindly, send us copies of the reports upon which the list was based, which is a great, and much appreciated, help.

Peal Compositions Committee

The Committee currently holds no face to face meetings, but is in regular electronic contact via email. In addition to the committee members, much of the work of the Committee is done by advisors, most of whom are not Council members, and to whom we wish to offer our deep thanks. These advisors include Alan Ainsworth, David Beard, Jeff Brannan, Paul Flavell, David House, David Hull, Rod Pipe, Philip Saddleton, Tony Smith, and Glenn Taylor.

The most visible work of the Committee is publication of compositions in The Ringing World. To prevent the need for changing addresses every time responsibility for dealing with incoming compositions moves to a different member of the Committee, we have put in place an unchanging email address that forwards as appropriate:

compositions@ringing.org.

This is the best method for submitting compositions to the Committee, with respect to both speed and the minimization of transcription errors.

For those who cannot submit compositions electronically, we are also attempting to keep a postal address and FAX number fixed, and forwarding incoming paper copies from them as necessary. All these addresses are published regularly in The Ringing World.

In 2000 there were 148 compositions published in The Ringing World. This is a decrease from last year’s 180, but still compares favourably with the historical average of 103 per year. The proof reading regimen put into place 18 months ago seems to have paid off: in that time, only one substantive error has been found in a published composition, a significant improvement on the historical error rate.

We are grateful to the Editor and staff of The Ringing World for the space made regularly available, and all their help in producing attractive and accurate composition pages.

Two new print collections have been delivered to the Publications Committee, are at the printers, and should be available soon: the new Collection of Compositions in Popular Major Methods, and the Collection of General Purpose Major Compositions.

A third collection, the new Ten and Twelve Bell Collection, is at the stage of having its contents proof read, though there will undoubtedly still be work to be done in selecting and formatting the final presentation.

The Committee’s electronic collection and related materials remain accessible on the World Wide Web. While these materials are hosted at multiple sites in multiple countries, all can be accessed via

http://www.ringing.org/pcc

A recent addition is a collection of the late Peter Border’s peal compositions assembled from his notebooks by Rod Pipe, together with some interesting historical notes by Rod.

The Ringing World Ltd
Chairman’s Report 2000

This report can be shorter than it might have been due to the introduction of a regular series of Newsletters, the first of which was issued in January 2001. These Newsletters will keep Members of the Company up to date on what is happening and I hope that they found the first edition both interesting and informative.

The year 2000 was probably the most difficult period experienced by The Ringing World in living memory. However, despite a complete turnover of personnel in the office, the paper has appeared, week after week without fail, to the great credit of our staff and as a result of the dedication of all concerned.

One matter arising from the 2000 AGM at Bury St Edmunds on which I should comment is the establishment of the Review. It has taken longer than we had all hoped to get the Review underway but the Review Team, comprising Roger Bailey, Julia Cater, Prudence Fay and Rick Shallcross, commenced work at the end of February. It is planned that their report will be available in advance of this year’s AGM.

Now to other events. Paul Trend joined the staff on 12th June 2000 as General Manager. It says a lot for Paul, as it does for our Editor Robert Lewis and Administrative Assistant Pam Giddins, that they have determinedly worked to restore some stability and, at the same time, take the paper forward. This cannot happen quickly. Every step forward entails new learning and a reassessment of all the elements of the process, whilst simultaneously maintaining production of the paper every week. Pam has recently been joined by Gareth Dancer as our second Administrative Assistant. We welcome him to the team.

On the financial front, 2000 was disappointing although not unexpectedly so as the year evolved. The final loss of a little over £8,000, lower than we had at one time expected, results from contract termination payments in connection with the retirement of Anne Carpenter and the resignation of Tina Stoecklin, who moved with her husband to Glasgow having served for a shorter period than expected, together with additional staffing expenses. The latter arise from the total turnover of staff and an increase in the staff complement. Other, more positive, developments to report include the following:

• Discussions are well advanced with The Church Times for a pilot scheme for them to sell advertising space in The Ringing World to their existing clients.

• Sponsorship of the 2001 Ringing Roadshow, including running a beer tent.

• The half price offer to new subscribers in selected association areas during 1999 produced a pleasing renewal rate (at the full price) in 2000 and it is hoped to resume this type of offer in 200l.

• Email addresses are to be expanded to make it easier for contributors to target the correct part of the organisation.

• A new piece of software now checks all peal submissions for accuracy.

• Ringers may now request their personal peal records from our database.

• A new and enhanced Website is being designed with several exciting new features and commercial developments.

Finally, I take this opportunity of thanking all those who play their part in keeping the paper alive and moving ahead - our staff, our outworkers, contributors of articles and other material and even our critics! In looking back at 2000, I am also deeply grateful to all those who have lent their support and encouragement to me and to my fellow Directors during the troubled times of the past year.

ANDREW N. STUBBS

The Ringing World, April 27, 2001, page 430

Records Committee

Correction to 1999 report:

Barton under Needwood Surprise Major was rung on November 13, not November 11.

The Ringing World, May 4, 2001, pages 468 to 469, corrections June 29, 2001 pages 663 to 664

Peals Analysis Committee

We have recorded a total of 5271 peals rung in 2000, of which 4721 were on tower bells and 550 on handbells. This is the third highest total ever, behind 5340 in 1994 and 5319 in 1997. There was an increase of 382 compared with the revised total for 1999, which reflects increased activity for millennium year and celebration of the 100th birthday of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The change occurs primarily with increases on tower bells for Doubles, Minor, Triples and Major, with small reductions on the higher numbers. Handbells have small differences at all stages, but the increase of 21 overall is mainly due to the continuing increase for Minor of 27 (+43 last year). Full details are included in the methods table which accompanies this report. The Oxford Diocesan Guild have retained their customary position as the leading society with 406 peals, with the Cumberlands retaining second place. Bath and Wells have slipped to fifth, allowing the Lancashire Association and the Hertford County Association both to move up one place. See separate table for details.

The Committee met once during the year to finalise records for 2000 and to agree the format of the report. We are grateful for the continuing work done by Andrew Craddock collating, editing and correcting the current peal data extracted from The Ringing World input system, which is being used to check our figures. Andrew has also provided software to enable us to extract the leading tower list from this data. We also thank William Hall, working as a technical advisor to the Information and Communication Technology Committee, for his work in checking peal data and those other peal secretaries who have compared figures.

As requested by The Council we have taken note of peals rung during 2000 which would not have been accepted by The Council previous to recent rule changes. There were two peals of Stedman Variable Cover, one of Triples at Harpenden, and the other of Cinques at St. Sepulchre’s, Holborn. In addition there were one each of Minimus and Minor with a cover. In view of the small numbers (also with only 1 case in 1999) the Committee proposes to drop this from future analyses.

Peals not complying with the Decisions on Peal Ringing

There is one peal which the Committee wishes to bring to the notice of Council, which does not conform with decision (D) B.2. This was a peal of 5100 Doubles rung in 9 methods at Hessle on 17th August for the Beverley & District Society, in celebration of the 100th birthday of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The Committee appreciates the reason for the extra 60 changes of Grandsire to complete the significant number of changes, and recommends that it is accepted by Council. It has been included in our analysis.

The number of peals which require later correction have been a feature of our analysis work this year. We hope that processes being put in place will reduce the problems, but improved accuracy in original submissions is still required. There were 40 (22 in 1999) peals which appeared twice, 16 peals originally submitted as NON Association, subsequently attributed to an affiliated society and 23 peals with others changes in attribution. I suspect more will become apparent by the time we present this report in Liverpool.

Methods and change on year

The accompanying table incorporates a summary of the more popular methods with an analysis of the year on year change in the numbers of peals rung on each number of bells. “Single Surprise” means the total rung in single Surprise methods other than those listed specifically. There are no methods in this category rung more than 20 times, but it will be seen that Uxbridge Surprise Major, which has been listed separately this year, should also have appeared last year. An “Other” category is included for completeness. An additional category this year is Single Delight Royal, reflecting the increased number of such peals in recent years.

Towers

The following 70 towers had 10 or more peals in 2000: (63 in 1999)

All but three of the top 17 towers (with more than 24 peals last year) are still in the top 15 (with more than 24 peals this year) with Belper dropping out of the table with only nine peals, and Burton Latimer, 20 peals, and Saltby, 11 peals, being lower down. The additional tower in the top 15 is Sproxton which has leapt into the table with 25 after only three in 1999.

The leading societies

The following societies rang 150 or more peals:

Derby and Gloucester & Bristol have joined the list this year and no society has been removed. The Hertford County Association remains the leading society for handbell peals, being responsible for most of the increase of Minor rung in hand. The top eight societies rang 35% of the tower bell peals, but 49% of the handbell peals, a wider ratio than the 38:42 from last year. A total of 18 societies rang more than 100 peals in 2000 (19 in 1999).

First pealers and firsts as conductor

There were 343 first pealers in 2000 (242 in 1999 - adjusted) and 37 first as conductor (24 in 1999). We congratulate all those who have contributed to these statistics, particularly where several firsts were included in one peal. This is a welcome increase particularly after the decline of recent years. We estimate that around 35 rang or conducted their first peal as part of the Queen Mother’s birthday celebrations.

Corrections to the 1999 Analysis

There are several alterations to the 1999 analysis as detailed below, primarily caused by late submission. To meet our deadlines, we have to report on the data as received by The Ringing World at the end of February. Any changes notified later are included in the following year.

All corrections relate to tower bells.

Revised totals for 1999 are: tower bells 4360, handbells 529, total 4889.

Details of the adjustments are available from the Chairman.

The Felstead Project
(joint with the Information and Communication Technology Committee)

The project over the last year has continued to be concerned primarily with completing the recording of the peals rung pre-1900 as recorded by Canon Felstead. A process is in place to incorporate a similar level of data for post-1990 peals. We have already started to accrue corrections to the data.

It is expected that we will be able to make an announcement at Liverpool regarding availability and distribution plans for a CD of all Tower Bell peal data to the end of 2000.

Call Change Peal

Finally, although not strictly part of our brief, the Committee would like to congratulate the ringers for the performance of 5040 Unrepeated Call changes at Buckland in the Moor, rung for the Devon Association on September 30th. This is only the second time this has been achieved, and the first with a single conductor. A full report appears on p.1059 of The Ringing World of October 27th 2000.

The Ringing World, May 11, 2001, pages 494 to 496