Central Council of Church Bell Ringers

Annual Report for 2017

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 11 Bullfields, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, CM21 9DB. The constitution and conduct of the Council is governed by its Rules.

2. The Council’s Trustees during 2017 were as follows:

   until 29 May
   President	Mr C F Mew
   Vice-President	Dr C D O’Mahony
   Hon Secretary	Mrs M Bone
   Hon Assistant Secretary	Mrs C N J Franklin
   Hon Treasurer	Mr A C Taylor
   from 29 May
   President	Dr C D O’Mahony
   Vice-President	Mr D Kirkcaldy
   Hon Secretary	Mrs M Bone
   Hon Assistant Secretary	Mrs C N J Franklin
   Hon Treasurer	Mr A G Smith

3. The Council’s bankers are Lloyds Bank plc, Butler Place Branch, 1 Butler Place, Westminster, London, SW1H 0PR. Its Independent Examiners are Mr J D Cheesman and Mrs W E Godden.

4. At the close of the Annual General Meeting on 29 May 2017 the Council’s membership comprised 7 Life Members, 4 Additional Members, 6 Ex-officio Members and 188 Representative Members representing 66 affiliated societies. Since then two Additional Members have retired and three Additional Members who were elected or re-elected at that meeting took office; six Representative Members resigned and five of these vacancies were filled, in one case by an Additional Member; three further vacancies were filled and one person ceased to be an Ex-officio Member. Special mention should be made of the resignation of Ian Oram (Kent County Assn 1960-78; SRCY 1978-2018; Hon Secretary 2001-09). During that annual meeting the Council received the report of the working party established in 2016 to review its rules and activities (Council Review Action Group) and approved its proposals. The Terms of Reference of one committee were amended. The President convened a group during the year to prepare new Rules and governing documents for the Council. Subject to any further changes, at the start of the 2018 Council meeting there will be 7 Life Members, 4 Additional Members, 5 Ex-officio Members and 190 Representative Members representing 66 affiliated societies. There are 10 other vacancies.

5. The Object of the Council is to promote and foster the ringing of bells for Christian prayer, worship and celebration and in furtherance thereof:

   (i) To promote awareness of and educate the general public in the ringing of church bells and the art of change ringing;

   (ii) To make available advice, assistance and information to church authorities, ringers and ringing societies and to promote good practice on all matters concerned with bells and bell ringing;

   (iii) To encourage development of the art of ringing through innovation;

   (iv) To bring together ringers to discuss matters of common interest and to represent ringers both nationally and internationally;

   (v) To encourage high standards of performance in ringing;

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

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

6. The work of the Council in pursuing this object is for the most part carried out by its sixteen committees and by working groups appointed by them. Summaries of their activities during 2017 are given in the committee reports, which appear elsewhere on the Council’s agenda.

7. The public benefits from the following areas of activity of the Council:

   (i) the promotion of public worship by the ringing of church bells;

   (ii) the preservation of the tradition and heritage of change ringing;

   (iii) the encouragement and promotion of high standards of ringing;

   (iv) the provision of financial and specialist knowledge in the support of belfry repairs and maintenance;

   (v) the provision of guidance and specialist knowledge with regard to health and safety, safeguarding, noise control, data protection, fire risk assessment and insurance matters, as they relate to ringers and ringing;

   (vi) the preparation and publication of educational and training materials.

8. The Accounts for 2017 show total funds at the year end of £409,093 of which £241,793 is in restricted funds. Income for the year totalled £42,125 (including a ‘one off’ legacy of £10,065) compared with £29,151 in 2016. The costs of the 2017 Council Meeting at £2,159 were higher than the previous year (2016 £1,829). We paid the full cost of The Ringing World supplement of £2,431 (2016 £2,191). Council Review and Action Group expenditure was £2,285 (2016 £1,052).

   The 2017 figures include further donations for the Christchurch Cathedral, New Zealand, bells restoration and the Kilifi project.

   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.

9. It is confirmed that the Council’s assets, together with the expected income for 2018, are available and are likely to be adequate to fulfil the objects of the Council in that year.

10. Reserves policy:

    (i) General Fund - the balance on the General Fund is invested to produce income which, together with member societies’ affiliation fees, provides sufficient funds to support the work and activities of the Council. The balance also facilitates cash flow and enables the development of new projects and initiatives.

    (ii) Education Courses - the balance provides cash flow to enable the Education Committee to run various training courses, in general the costs are recouped from attendees.

    (iii) Bell Restoration Fund - the balance is fully allocated to bell restoration projects and paid on satisfactory completion of the work. Grants are made in proportion to the types of applications received and in accordance with priorities agreed by the Council and reviewed annually.

    (iv) Fred Dukes International Bell Fund - Grants from the Fred Dukes International Bell Fund are made in accordance with the terms of Mr Dukes’ legacy. Grants are awarded from the interest on the legacy and reviewed annually.

    (v) Publications Fund - the balance represents the stock of publications held and a cash balance to facilitate the production of new titles and the reprinting of existing publications.

    (vi) Library Fund - the balance represents the value of the library, which is maintained for use by council members and affiliated societies.

11. Funds are invested in low risk investments and bank accounts. The need for regular income from investments is considered important to support the work of the Council.

12. No significant fund-raising activity has been carried out during the year.

13. The Council had no employees during the year. All of its work is carried out on a voluntary basis.

MRS M BONE
Honorary Secretary

April 2018

Central Council of Church Bell Ringers

Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017

1. Basis of accounting

The accounts have been prepared under the historic cost convention and in accordance with applicable accounting standards and the Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting by Charities.

2. Accounting policies

The accounts have been drawn up in accordance with the going concern, accruals, consistency and prudence concepts.

• 2.1 Incoming resources

  Interest is accounted for when receivable. Donations, grants and legacies are accounted for as soon as the Council is notified of the legal entitlement and the amount due.

  2.2 Resources expended

  Expenditure is included on an accruals basis. Grants are accounted for when paid over.

3. Consistency

The accounts are prepared on a consistent basis with the previous year and in accordance with the accounting policies.

4. Funds

The General Fund is unrestricted and includes designated funds raised and held for a particular purpose.

The Education Courses Fund and Publications Fund are unrestricted designated funds.

The Bell Restoration Fund, the Fred Dukes International Bell Fund and the Library Fund are maintained for restricted purposes.

5. Transfers between funds

No amounts have been transferred between funds.

6. Tangible assets and intangible assets

The major tangible assets of the Council are the Investments in National Savings Income Bonds and the Library Collection. The Library Collection is valued at a replacement cost of £95,000. The revaluation was undertaken by Roger Barnes of Church Green Books as at 31 December 2014. The policy is to revalue the collection every five years. It is being depreciated for accounting purposes at 2% on the reducing balance per annum. An asset register is maintained for other tangible assets. The policy is to treat assets of an individual cost up to £1,000 as fully depreciated in the year of purchase.

The major intangible asset of the Council is the copyright of Dove’s Guide.

7. Interest receivable

The interest was received from:

8. Donations and grants received

• 8.1 Christchurch, New Zealand

  Donations received in respect of Christchurch Cathedral, New Zealand, bells restoration following the damage caused by the earthquake to the City of Christchurch are included in the Bell Restoration Fund as a restricted item and, together with the related gift aid, amount to £500. The total amount of the donations received to date is £15,994. A grant payment of £10,000 was made in 2013.

  8.2 Kilifi, Kenya

  Donations have been received in respect of Kilifi, Kenya, for ropes and a training project. These are included in the Bell Restoration Fund as a restricted item and, together with the related gift aid, amounted to £1,047 in 2017 bring the total available before expenditure to £3,501. Expenditure in 2017 on air fares, visas and UK visiting expenses was £3,145 leaving a balance available of £356.

  8.3 RM Kilby Legacy

  Other donations to the General Fund amounted to £10,065. This was a legacy left from the will of the late Robert Kilby, with a condition that a peal of Stedman Caters, organised by the Central Council, be rung each year.

9. Committee expenses

These were as follows:

10. Grants paid

During the year, the Fred Dukes International Bell Fund awarded one grant totalling £900. No grants were paid.

During the year, the Bell Restoration Fund awarded thirty one grants. Ten grants were paid.

11. Charitable commitments

There were unfulfilled charitable commitments at 31st December 2017 in respect of four grants totalling £5,600 awarded but not yet paid by the Fred Dukes International Bell Fund, and thirty one grants of £26,675 awarded but not yet paid by the Bell Restoration Fund. There is also a charitable commitment to Christchurch Cathedral New Zealand bells restoration in respect of the balance of donations received but not yet paid amounting to £5,994 and, similarly, £356 in respect of Kilifi.

12. Publications fund

Storage and distribution cost of £2,500 was paid to a Council member.

13. Payments to trustees

There were no payments to Trustees.

14. Emoluments of employees

The Council had no employees during the year.

CENTRAL COUNCIL OF CHURCH BELLRINGERS

Registered Charity Number 270036

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2017

The Notes to the Accounts appear on page 16

CENTRAL COUNCIL OF CHURCH BELLRINGERS

Registered Charity Number 270036

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2017

Report of the Stewards of the Carter Ringing Machine Collection

Another very quiet year. We had only one request for a demonstration, this time at Taylor’s in Loughborough who had an open day in July. In preparation for this we had a brief maintenance session the preceding week, but the machine really needed more attention than time permitted and the demonstration was not very successful, though visitors were pleased to hear the bells being rung, even though the machine had a tendency to jam.

For this year we have already had one demonstration, at the Henry Johnson Anniversary Feast in Birmingham. For this we had the machine home for a more detailed overhaul. The jamming problem was resolved, and although there is a minor problem which does result in the method drifting away at times, it was able to run several plain courses of Stedman Cinques for the attendees. We hope to be able to resolve the outstanding problem before the demonstrations planned for Lancaster in May.

Report of the Steward of the Rolls of Honour

The original Great War Memorial Book and World War II Memorial Book are usually kept in their display case at St Paul’s Cathedral along with the new Great War Roll of Honour. However, all three books have been removed whilst the major bell restoration project is in progress. The display case is securely stored in another area of the Cathedral during this period. Once again, the Great War books had been out of the case for several months having been taken to Great War commemorations of ringers who died including the filming at the start of the “Ringing Remembers” campaign. The books are in good condition.

The original Great War Book records the names of 1207 fallen ringers. Research has continued to discover names of ringers who were not originally recorded; the new Great War Book records 176 names, 24 being added during the year. The writer of the new book, Tim Noad, continues to add these names. The WWII Book records 300 names.

During the past year extensive research has been carried out by David Willis of Braunton (and Central Council Biographies Committee) into newspaper archives which have revealed that there are many bell ringers who died during both the Great War and WWII whose names have not been previously remembered. I am currently researching these further with a view to having these included at a future date; this is likely to add well over 100 names to the Great War Roll and more than 30 names to the WWII Roll.

“Rolls of Honour” have continued to be published monthly in The Ringing World, and I am grateful to the Editor, Robert Lewis, Will Bosworth and compositor, Chris Caryer, for their help. I am very grateful for the huge amount of help with family history research from I have received from Yvonne Cairns of Jesmond, Kathryn Pearce of Bradoc, Beverly Faber of Stamford CT and David Willis of Braunton and acknowledge the assistance from Michael Day of Bath and David Underdown of Putney. These Rolls of Honour give details of the ringers who fell in the following month a century ago. All articles included many photographs of individuals, graves and memorials and were published as follows:

• March 24th 2017, pp.271-274, giving details of the 28 who fell during the period 1st April 1917 to 21st April 1917

  March 31st 2017, pp.294-297, giving details of the 26 who fell during the period 22nd April 1917 to 30th April 1917

  April 28th 2017, pp.391-393, giving details of the 27 who fell during the period 1st May 1917 to 9th May 1917

  May 5th 2017, pp.456-458, giving details of the 20 who fell during the period 10th May 1917 to 31st May 1917

  May 26th 2017, pp.532-533, giving details of the 15 who fell during the period 1st June 1917 to 11th June 1917

  June 2nd 2017, pp.553-554, giving details of the 18 who fell during the period 12th June 1917 to 30th June 1917

  June 23rd 2017, pp.623-624, giving details of the 16 who fell during the period 1st July 1917 to 17th July 1917

  June 30th 2017, pp.646-647, giving details of the 15 who fell during the period 18th July 1917 to 31st July 1917

  July 21st 2017, pp.719-722, giving details of the 30 who fell during the period 1st August 1917 to 16th August 1917

  July 28th 2017, pp.743-745, giving details of the 27 who fell during the period 17th August 1917 to 31st August 1917

  August 25th 2017, pp.838-839, giving details of the 16 who fell during the period 1st September 1917 to 19th September 1917

  September 1st 2017, pp.862-864, giving details of the 21 who fell during the period 20th September 1917 to 30th September 1917

  September 29th 2017, pp.962-965, giving details of the 26 who fell during the period 1st October 1917 to 13th October 1917

  October 6th 2017, pp.985-987, giving details of the 26 who fell during the period 14th October 1917 to 31st October 1917

  October 27th 2017, pp.1060-1062, giving details of the 27 who fell during the period 1st November 1917 to 20th November 1917

  November 3rd 2017, pp.1084-1086, giving details of the 24 who fell during the period 21st November 1917 to 30th November 1917

  December 1st 2017, pp.1184-1187, giving details of the 26 who fell during December 1917

  December 22nd / 29th 2017, p.1283, giving details of the 6 who fell during January 1918

  January 26th 2018, pp.78-79, giving details of the 7 who fell during February 1918

  March 2nd 2018, p.200, giving details of the 4 who fell during the period 1st March to 20th March 1918

  March 9th 2018, pp.223-226, giving details of the 21 who fell during the period 21st March to 22nd March 1918

  March 16th 2018, pp.251-254, giving details of the 25 who fell during the period 23rd March to 27th March 1918

  March 23rd 2018, pp.277-279, giving details of the 12 who fell during the period 28th March to 31st March 1918

It is hoped these will continue over the coming months and right through to the last recorded ringer casualty who died on 12th March 1921 from wounds received in action. There have been other articles by local ringers concentrating on “their” ringer or ringers and I am very pleased to see this.

Contact has been made with all towers that the fallen ringers came from and I am very pleased to report that the majority have been commemorated with ringing on or close to the centenary anniversary of their death. You will have seen many of these on BellBoard and, of course, reported in The Ringing World. I am MOST grateful to all who support this ringing and to those Guilds and associations that coordinate these efforts. I am keeping a record of commemorative ringing that has been done which has ranged from tolling a single bell, a special touch on a practice night to quarter peals and peals.

In connection with the website, Doug Davis has been undertaking updates and corrections and Andrew Hall has enabled the links to the Commonwealth War Grave Commission website Cemetery details links to work once again - I am most grateful for their help. The website continues to generate a number of contacts and it is good that this information can be accurately and rapidly updated.

As always I am grateful to ringers and others for supplying information that enables us to remember those who gave their all.

ALAN REGIN

Report of the Stewards of the Dove Database

2017 was probably the busiest year to date for the Dove Stewards. We made 893 updates to the information that we show against a “Dove entry” and 2111 updates to the information held in the prototype-National Bell Register (pNBR), the latter representing an 33% increase on the number of changes made during 2016.

The number of Dove entries, and the changes that occurred during this period, are summarised as follows.

We list 9 rings for the first time (including Ypres, the first ring of bells in Belgium) but no longer list 4 others (namely Cleator Moor, Cumbria; Nairn, Druim Campanile, Scotland; Newton, Cambs; and Woolfardisworthy East, Devon). We have been notified of 10 augmentations, 1 reduction (namely Stanstead, Suffolk), 8 rings that are no longer unringable, and 14 rings that are now unringable.

We thank all who have notified us of changes; David Sloman is once again our leading contributor, having provided almost 50% of the pNBR updates.

We are pleased to report significant progress by Richard Smith and his team in developing a replacement solution for Dove using up-to-date technology. We expect the Dove website to be sharing a server with BellBoard in early 2018, after which focus will switch to developing a new Dove database.

We are delighted to welcome Doug Davis and Tim Pett as new Dove Stewards and wish them well in getting themselves up to speed as they prepare to take over from the existing stewards. We extend our grateful thanks to John Baldwin who has very kindly agreed to remain as Dove Master until the new Dove database has taken over from the existing one.

Administrative Committee

Since the 2017 Council meeting the Committee has met twice in London in October and March. Advance nominations for committees, agreed in 2016, were implemented for the 2017 meeting. Insufficient nominations were received for the elected positions on the Administrative Committee. Maureen Frost acted as chairman of and contact for Ringing Centres. Robert Wood, chairman of the Committee for Redundant Bells, resigned as a Council member in January 2018 and has not yet been replaced as chairman; Helen Webb has acted as the contact. Members were again updated on the recent annual conference and plans of the Association of Ringing Teachers. The Chairman of the Ringing World Ltd has reported on the future of the journal. The arrangements for the 2018 Council meeting, organised by a small working group with the active involvement of members of the Lancashire Association, were discussed and agreed. Those committee reports received in good time were circulated to the elected members of the Administrative Committee for advance review. Papers for the meeting will again be circulated electronically to those Council members with email (see below under Council Finances).

Reform of the Council: The Edinburgh meeting received the report of the Council Review Action Group and approved its proposals. During the year the President sought expressions of interest from Council members and other ringers to join a “shadow Executive”, to be appointed as workgroup “leads” and to join workgroups. A new structure, consisting of the Executive and workgroups, with the existing committees re-organised into these by subject, was prepared. An “Away Day” for the shadow Executive was held at Harrow in October to discuss strategy; a further meeting was held at Royston in March 2018. The President convened a small group to produce revised Rules (CRAG proposal F); another group was established to work on a descriptive framework for ringing (CRAG proposal H). The President has reported regularly on these initiatives by email to members and by articles in The Ringing World.

Other matters considered by the Committee included:

Council Finances: The General Fund for the current year (2017) and next year (2018) was reviewed at both meetings, considering income levels and planned expenditure. Committees prepared programmes of activity and expenditure plans to May 2018. If the new Rules are adopted the workgroups will be expected to prepare budgets for the remainder of the year as well as multi-year forward plans. In view of the continued deficit the Administrative Committee agreed that the papers for the annual meeting should not be produced as a supplement to The Ringing World but be circulated electronically with sufficient printed copies available at the meeting.

Church Buildings Council & Historic England: The regular meeting was held on 25 July. Sir Tony Baldry, Chair of CBC, had addressed the Open Meeting at the 2017 Council meeting and responded to questions from members. There was a useful exchange of views on diocesan strategic buildings reviews, changes to HLF places of worship grants and on bells in closed or closing churches. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 17 July 2018. The 2017 DAC bell advisers’ conference was held in Lincoln in June; the 2018 conference will be held in Leicester on Friday 22 June.

Ecclesiastical Insurance Group (EIG): Council’s regular liaison with Ecclesiastical Insurance Group continues. Meetings are arranged through the Tower Stewardship Committee. In 2017 this took place on 13th April, and the 2018 meeting is scheduled for 27th April. The liaison meeting discusses items of mutual interest, including health & safety, risk assessment and mitigation, ringing-related insurance claims, elements of insurance cover and the like. This ongoing liaison provides an excellent channel for ensuring that bellringing continues to be a safe and enjoyable activity for all.

Public Relations Committee

We welcomed Mike Bale, Vicki Chapman, Neal Dodge and Sue Hall to the Committee in 2017 and are grateful to them for their contributions to our work. Michael Orme stood down from the Committee, but continues his valuable work for us liaising with the BBC, particularly about Bells on Sunday.

We generally aim to prioritise publicity for two major events each year, but it is often the unexpected and unplanned-for events that create the most work. In 2017 such events included an offer of help from the Government in recruiting new ringers to mark the centenary of the Armistice at the end of the First World War. This has resulted in our major ongoing project, Ringing Remembers, aiming to recruit 1400 new ringers by 11 November 2018 to remember and honour those who died in that war. Prior to this we put a lot of effort into focus groups and proposals for Armistice100, including liaison with another group asking for ringing to be linked to their “Battle’s Over” project. We were also involved with BBC Music Day on 15 June, with 280 towers around the world taking part. Our President talked to Simon Mayo on Radio 2 as well as teaching BBC 6 Music’s Sean Keaveny how to handle a bell, which led to a 15 minute feature on BBC 6 Music’s breakfast show. The BBC Director General also talked about ringing on Radio 2’s Steve Wright show.

Planned Events for 2017

The two key events we focused on during 2017, apart from our successful PR Matters Conference in February and BBC Music Day, were Children in Need (17 November) and the Queen and Prince Philip’s 70th wedding anniversary (20 November). Both events were very close together but both were very well marked by ringers everywhere with much local publicity.

Children in Need

We put a lot of effort into Children in Need, after meeting one of the BBC producers at our PR Matters Conference early in the year. The BBC led us to believe that they would be amenable to having the Charmborough Ring in the foyer of Broadcasting House on the day, that they would assist us in gaining significant local radio coverage, as well as other exposure, and that there was a possibility of at least a mention during the main evening programme itself. Unfortunately almost none of this actually happened in the end, but fortunately ringers are much more organised than the BBC and played a great rôle in ringing lots of Pudsey methods and raising money. Although it is hard to say with any accuracy we believe ringers will have raised in excess of £10,000. Also we have follow-up as Blue Peter might be interested in collaborating on something with the National Youth Competition this year, so we are liaising with both of them on this.

Queen’s Platinum Wedding Anniversary

We encouraged widespread ringing for the event, including an article in The Ringing World on learning appropriately named methods. We sent to The Palace a record of all 345 special performances (55 peals, 216 quarters and 74 other) involving around 2000 ringers.

More general projects
Completed and ongoing work:

• We had success in terms of getting some stories into national press, including Julie McDonnell and Dennis Brock, taking considerable planning and effort on our part.

• We respond to regular Learn to Ring website enquiries. To help us with this we continue to use the list of nominated individuals for each territorial society affiliated to the Council of those who will receive enquiries from those wishing to learn to ring. These individuals will ensure that those enquiring are passed on to suitable active towers where they will be welcome and well taught. We also work with ART to help find good homes for new learners.

• We produced a suite of PowerPoint presentations to be downloaded for use when talking to people about ringing, based in part on excellent ART productions and involving a virtual team mainly from outside CC membership.

• We have produced new flags, banners & flyers as well as a leaflet on Engaging with the Public for ringing generally and for the Council in particular. You will see some of these at the May meeting.

• We continue to contribute significantly to the development of the new website and help with its ongoing evolution.

• We are in regular contact with PR Officers for affiliated societies to tell them of forthcoming PR opportunities and about the Council’s work.

• We have continued to distribute quantities of the Learn to Ring Leaflet on request.

• We continue our successful relationship with the BBC over Bells on Sunday and are also in other discussions with the BBC and Premier Christian Radio.

• We remain active in social media, ensuring that as much news as possible about the Council, and our Committee’s work, is spread in this way for the wider engagement especially of the younger ringing community. We still have much more to do here and would value help.

The future

Several of our members have been working with the new Communications and Marketing Working Group to be created at the May meeting and our future work will be carried on in that forum.

International Reports

Australia and New Zealand

Our steady increase in both membership and towers continues. We have a pleasing number of new-tower projects at various stages of completion. Notable among the towers to start ringing during the past year is the Holy Family Church at Lindfield, in the northern part of Sydney. This is a light five (2-3-1). This new facility, together with the enormous enthusiasm of Fr Colin Blayney, the local priest who is also a ringer, has produced over 30 new ringers - mostly quite young and all highly motivated. I was very impressed at a recent service ring that Colin managed to keep ringing until 30 seconds before the service was due to start, and still had time to don his clerical attire and start the service on time. Such vitality and enthusiasm are catching!

We remain in a healthy position financially. Jenny Murphy’s bequest, and other donations and bequests that have followed, allow us to continue to assist both training events and hardware projects. New in the last twelve months have been 12-bell practices; this initiative of Jim Woolford is aimed at assisting those wishing to gain experience with 12 bells by gathering the more experienced 12-bell ringers from across ANZAB territory. The next of these is in Brisbane in March 2018.

We’ve seen a growth in the number of mini-rings too; in North Island of New Zealand there’s a new mini-ring in Hamilton and the 6 in Wellington has been augmented to an 8; in Australia, further mini-rings are expected soon in Melbourne (in time for the up-coming festival) and Brisbane. Adam Beer’s “alphabet” mini-ring has recently moved from Perth to the rural town of West Wyalong in NSW (as has Adam!) A number of ringers gathered there to ring in the New Year on the suitably-decorated mini-ring (see photo).

Adam Beer decorating the Alphabet mini-ring to see in the New Year

The ANZAB festival for 2018 is to be held in Melbourne from 8th to 11th June, but with some additional pre-festival ringing from 5th June. Please see our website https://anzab.org.au/ for more details and for on-line registration. We hope as usual to welcome a good number of overseas visitors.

Central European Association

The CEA is pleased to report that it has enjoyed a successful and active 2017. We have welcomed some new ringers to the Association - some are students studying in The Netherlands and others who are working in Europe. As a result our membership remains healthy.

The Association AGM weekend was held in May and was well attended by ringers from The Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK and Germany. Everyone enjoyed a few days of excellent ringing as well as enjoying the usual excellent Dordrecht hospitality including customary Port and ‘session wine’!! Several good peals of Surprise Major were rung during the course of the weekend and general practice ringing carried on well into the evening.

One of the highlights of the year was Thirza de Kok’s first peal at ’t Klockhuys in Dordrecht in November. Thirza learnt to ring at Dordrecht and she is also our youngest ringer. She has made fantastic progress and so for her first peal she requested something quite ambitious - 8 Spliced Surprise Major! She rang extremely well and the peal was duly scored - see photo below. We all congratulate her on her fantastic achievement. Here’s to the next one Thirza!

Thirza’s first peal. L-R Margaret Gamble, Paul de Kok, Nicola Bright, Martin Bright, Thirza de Kok, Clive Smith, Mike Trimm, Alan Regin

It has been very exciting to see the Ypres project develop and come to fruition. Several CEA members were present at the dedication ceremony in October and we look forward to more ringing at Ypres in the coming year.

Dordrecht continues to be a popular peal venue for visiting bands and ’t Klockhuys has been proud to host many visiting ringers from all over the UK who from all accounts have enjoyed the bells and hospitality in equal measures. Of course of special note was the successful attempt by one band to ring 9 peals in a single day in October. A spectacular feat!

If you are living in Europe and would like to get involved with the CEA then please make contact as below. We would be very pleased to hear from you.

South Africa

South Africa is still a target for visiting ringers and peal tours and most of them are willing to assist us in practising and ringing some of the more advanced skills that we no longer have a critical mass of ringers to achieve on our own. Bob Cater’s band rang the first quarter on the bells at St. Peter’s School in 2016, and Alan Regin’s team were permitted to ring the first peal on the bells at Fourways Gardens during February 2017. The latter band created some protest from local residents during their peal at Cape Town but, conversely, did enable our own Cameron Mitchell to score her first peal at Parktown. More recently, Janet Archibald from London brought a team of ringers to this country and they also scored several peals as well as joining Parktown ringers for a couple of practice nights.

We lost one member in 2017 due to a terminal illness, Nick Twynham, who had been a long-time member of both the Transvaal Society and the South African Guild. Nick usually attended AGMs at our various ringing centres and was well-known to most of our members, although his health problems prevented him playing a very active rôle in later years. His funeral was held at Parktown on 24th July, the bells being rung “open” in celebration of his life by request of Randa, his widow.

The SA Guild held its AGM at Cape Town Cathedral in December; Simon Milliken has been nominated as Master and Dick Holmes will take over as Treasurer, while Nola Mitchell remains as Secretary. The Guild’s website will be updated in due course.

RICHARD ROBERTS

North American Guild of Change Ringers

During 2017, the North American Guild of Change Ringers continued to grow and now has approximately 600 members. Although the new tower being built at Nashotah, in Wisconsin, has been put on hold, we are optimistic that it will be completed in 2018. A new handbell group was formed in White Haven, Florida and has already scored several quarter peals. Peal ringing continues to produce several new firsts including first as conductor. Visiting bands also rang a number of peals in 2017. A peal to mark the 50th anniversary of the first all American peal band was rung by the Whitechapel Guild, Washington, DC.

We were saddened by the death of Tom Miller, our long standing Membership Secretary, in March and he has been greatly missed. Paul Windels, one of our Founder Members, died on his way to ring for Kent School’s graduation.

Regular events on the calendar have continued to provide excellent ringing opportunities around the Guild, including celebrating the 30th anniversary of the bells in Little Rock during the 7 Towers Festival. A very successful AGM was held in Toronto in September. Our 2018 AGM will be held in Hendersonville, NC. on September 28. Please plan a visit to North America and visit some of our towers and participate in one of our ringing events. www.nagcr.org for more details.

Zimbabwe Guild

I cannot talk about ringing in Zimbabwe without mentioning firstly economic and political changes during the year. Although the country officially used the US$ as its currency, none could be drawn from banks and “bond notes” were introduced. Even these were scarce and the only medium of exchange was electronic banking which, for small amounts attracted charges of up to 50%! The industrial index of the stock exchange increased by 270% in the period between May and October, leading to fears of another period of hyperinflation.

Then on the evening of 14 November 2017 elements of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces seized control of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and key areas of the city in order to deal with the “criminals” around President Mugabe who were responsible for the socio-economic problems of Zimbabwe. On 19 November, ZANU-PF removed Mugabe as party leader, replacing him with Mnangagwa. Eventually Robert Mugabe resigned the presidency and Mnangagwa was sworn in as President on 24 November 2017. This was one of the most peaceful “coups” ever with very little violence from either the military or the public.

What we hope this means for ringing is a more stable economy and that as a result that jobs will be created which will in-turn minimise job hunting in other towns and thus keep the ringers and future ringers in one town or city.

Two general meetings were held during the year, one in Harare and one in Kwekwe. On both occasions ringers made the effort to undertake the 3 hour journey to help support and develop ringing in Zimbabwe.

During the year there were no changes to the band in Kwekwe and due to work loads, ringing was on special occasions only.

In Harare the band participated in the BBC music day but shortly after that had to say good-bye to Roger and Fiona Thomson who, after a lifetime in Zimbabwe, left for economic and family reasons to settle in the UK. We were lucky to replace them with 2 learners, 1 of whom now resides about 2 hours from the city. As a result the band has decided that, for 2018, ringing for service is more important than our Saturday practice, which was often only rounds on 4 bells. Learners are to be taught on an individual basis to suit the pupil and learner, and special ringing sessions will be arranged for visitors as we really do enjoy having the chance to develop all our skills.

Publications Committee

Two major new titles were published. The first of them On This Day commissioned by us from the author, Bill Butler, was first made available at the Council meeting in Edinburgh. The second Manual Of Belfry Maintenance, received from the Towers and Belfries Committee, was published in July. Both are high quality books produced by Classic Printers (Crowland) Ltd and both have sold well. In addition Rules and Decisions of the Council (2016) was produced to be handed out at the Council meeting.

Seven titles were reprinted: The Beginners Handbook, Ringing Circles, Standard Eight Surprise Major, Kaleidoscope Ringing, Manual Of Belfry Maintenance, One per Learner, and Method Leaflets, and in addition more Badges were produced. The last three items are part of the Sherbourne Teaching Aids range.

Nineteen titles remain available for download free of charge: Triples and Major for Beginners, Learning Methods, Method Splicing - Practical Hints, Understanding Place Notation, Conducting Stedman, Tower Captain’s Handbook, One way to Teach Bell Handling, Teaching Beyond Bell Handling, Getting it Right - Guidance for Officers of Ringing Societies, CC Rules and Decisions (2013), Giants of the Exercise Vol 2, A J Pitman Biography, Collection of Plain Minor Methods, Treble Dodging Minor Methods, Handbook of Composition, Collection of Stedman Compositions, Collection of Grandsire Compositions, Collection of Ten Bell Compositions, and Collection of Twelve Bell Compositions; and 382 downloads were made by 206 people during the year.

Our best sellers were: New Ringer’s Book, Ringing Circles, Teaching Tips, Manual Of Belfry Maintenance, On This Day, and the whole Sherbourne Teaching Aids range.

No appropriate opportunity to charge for downloads using the new Central Council website has yet arisen. We continue to keep a close eye on the possible use of “print on demand” but have not yet had occasion to test it.

Three Committee meetings were held during the year, and the usual large number of telephone and e-mail conversations took place. Bulk discounts were offered in March and advertisements were again placed in a number of Association reports.

Considerable effort has been made to help facilitate the process of Council reform and to respond to requests for information. This is expected to continue and we await decisions with interest.

The income from sales rose to £17,200 from £10,200, largely due to sales of Sherbourne Teaching Aids, On This Day, and Manual Of Belfry Maintenance; and income exceeded expenditure by £2,800. The value of stock held rose to £6,500 and at year end the total cash available had increased by £2,400 to £19,260. The fund remains well able to finance any likely future work. The popularity of PayPal transactions again rose and PayPal accounted for about 50% of all sales. Discounts are now available for bulk orders using PayPal as well as for those using BACS and cash payments.

Derek Jones was again closely involved in a consultative capacity, and we thank him for his contributions.

Stocklist at December 31st 2017

Towers & Belfries Committee

The past year has seen some of our projects finally come to fruition. In April we held a one day seminar on Bell Frame Recording. This was arranged by Alan Frost at Wellesbourne and was led by Chris Pickford with assistance from John Eisel. The morning topics covered theory, what should be recorded and how it should be recorded. Nick Molyneux, from Historic England, was on hand to explain when a “statement of significance” was required and how this could be covered. The afternoon was split between two local churches in practical sessions, and ended with a short discussion on the day’s content. We were extremely fortunate to have the services of two of the most well respected experts in this field to share some of their experience with us.

Chris Pickford

In the summer our Manual of Belfry Maintenance was completed and sent to the Publications Committee; after final proof reading it was printed and has been generally very well received by ringers. We are indebted to all those who have assisted in the research and publication of the Manual.

Work on tower movement by Gordon Breeze is still ongoing; this is an enormous piece of work but it is hoped that the end result will be worthwhile. When complete one should be able to predict the influence that a bell or ring of bells has on a tower. It is, however, already clear that there is a weakness in the calculations of the previous work that has been undertaken on this subject.

Members of the Committee have, in addition, written short documents on a variety of subjects that can be used as a reference for ringers in the future. These can be found on our section of the CCCBR website and cover such things as tower lighting and access. We have continued to submit snippets to The Ringing World under the general heading When did you last do it.

Looking to the future, work has started on producing a set of Contract Procedure Notes; this is a subject that overlaps with both the work of this Committee and that of the Bell Restoration Committee. We are always able to arrange maintenance courses for local Guilds and Associations, and this is something we will be more proactive in doing in the future.

During the year enquiries have been received from a number of individual towers; the majority of these have been answered without the need for an inspection to be carried out.

As a Committee we have met three times during the year and a large number of us were present in various capacities at the Church Buildings Council (CBC) Diocesan Bell Advisors’ conference held at Lincoln this year. We were also all represented at the CCCBR liaison meeting with the CBC in London. It is always good to have new people joining us in our work, this is important as it will allow the bells to be rung by future generations.

Tower Stewardship Committee

The Tower Stewardship Committee has had a good year providing help and support to the ringing community, helping steer a path though the minefields of regulations affecting the operation of the bell tower.

As usual, safeguarding played a major part in our work. We are indebted to Chris Mew for guiding us though the subject. A number of items have caused us concern, and Chris has been able to interpret the regulations for us. Chris has held a number of discussions with the CofE safeguarding team on the subject.

We have also received several enquiries regarding insurance, health and safety and environmental issues. Assistance has been offered (and well received) to a number of churches on these subjects. While, as far as we know, there have not been major changes to regulations, we often have situations where church officials appear to bring their own interpretations to these regulations. A number of times we have seen ringers asking for help on various subjects, using social media. We have been able to point them to the various guides and publications on the CC website. This underlines the perception by the CC that ringers don’t think of us in the first instance when looking for help.

The complaints helpline is working well. Several of the enquiries were from non-ringers looking for help in how to complain about clock chimes, but a re-wording of the CC website has reduced this type of enquiry. Help and support have been offered to several churches who are dealing with complaints.

One subject that has generated a large number of enquiries is the forthcoming implementation of the General Data Protection Regulations. Our President, Chris O’Mahony, together with help from Helen Phillips, has put together an interim guidance note on the subject (published on the CC website and circulated to all society secretaries). A further update will be published shortly.

The usual liaison meeting has been held with Ecclesiastical Insurance and the Church Buildings Council. The Committee has also considered the Taylor Report on the Sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals. If this report were to be implemented, it would change the way dioceses give advice to churches, and there may well be opportunities to change the way the Council gives advice to the dioceses and their DACs.

The Committee acknowledges the proposed changes to the Council, following the recommendations of the CRAG report, and will support the new organisation wherever possible.

Bell Restoration Committee

2017 has been another busy year, especially as we have a vacancy on the Committee. Despite a mailing to all Council members following the Edinburgh meeting, this vacancy remains unfilled.

John Barnes and Ken Davenport are due to stand down at the Lancaster meeting and are prepared to be re-elected.

The future is somewhat uncertain but the Committee as a whole has offered its services to the Stewardship and Management Workgroup.

• We have taken over the production of jigsaws from Stella Bianco and a new jigsaw depicting the Ypres bells (see below) will be available in time for the 2018 Council meeting.

  The new jigsaw

• The 2018 Ringing World calendar was sponsored by the Committee and features towers that have recently received a grant from CC BRF.

• A total of 31 grants were offered to UK towers and to one overseas. One grant from the 2015 allocation has been paid and 4 projects remain uncompleted. 4 grants have been paid from the 2017 allocation.

• Committee members attended three dedications during 2017 - St Mary Magdalene Taunton (brand new ring), Whitestaunton (augmentation and restoration of a previously unringable 5) and Combe Raleigh (augmentation from 3 to 6 and restoration).

• Contact with parishes remains busy with 19 new parish contacts and 20+ follow ups. Support for ongoing projects continues.

  Additionally there have been 19 requests for assistance with sources of funding of which only 8 completed the questionnaire required for a search. It is interesting that many enquiries are as a result of internet searches.

• New Guidance Notes have been issued and others updated. These should now be easier to find on the CCCBR website.

• The Committee has discussed its Terms of Reference and recommend that the upper limit for grants is raised to £2,000. The recovery of grants allocated to churches that subsequently closed was felt too difficult to administer.

• We will be organising a seminar on Bell Restoration at the Lancaster Council meeting - all are welcome to attend, whether Council members or not.

Ian Oram will be standing down from Council and as its longest serving member will be sorely missed. He has been a member of the Bell Restoration Committee since its inception and we have all valued his hard work and sense of fairness. We are delighted that he is prepared to continue as a consultant to the Committee.

Committee for Redundant Bells

The Committee met once in 2017 and other business was carried out using email and Facebook.

As at December 2017 the Committee had 39 open cases which it was keeping under review.

The Committee has established contact with the Churches Conservation Trust and developed a protocol for management of its bells. Discussion with the Trust and development of the protocol are ongoing.

Development of a prioritisation tool continues: refinement and further reviews are to be completed.

There have been no calls on the Bells Rescue Fund during the year. The Committee, as Trustees, recommended to Council in 2017 that the Fund be closed down. At the Administrative Committee meeting in October 2017, it was agreed that the balance of the Fund be transferred to the Council Bell Restoration Fund. Closure of the accounts is in progress.

The Committee is now operating under the aegis of the Stewardship and Management Work Group led by Alison Hodge.

The members of the Committee wish to thank Robert Wood, who is no longer a member of Council, for his contribution as a member, and for his commitment and directions as Chair of the Committee for the past three years.

Education Committee

Introduction As we said in Edinburgh, the Committee made a significant change during 2017. After a period of assessment we agreed to go ahead with a limited number of activities where we thought we could add value. Other activities and plans have been dropped. We have moved into collaboration with ART.

Highlights of the past year

Education Column Currently the third series of The Education Column is being published in The Ringing World. At the expected rate of publication, the final article of this series will appear around the end of June 2018. There has been an enthusiastic response to these articles, and the Board of The Ringing World is currently considering publishing the first three series in booklet form later this year. The articles also become available in PDF format on the CC website a little while after each series is completed. It is hoped to continue the series, and anyone with suggestions or requests for topics should contact David Smith.

Handling posters We have continued to promote the sale of the A3 illustrated handling posters this year. After emailing an advert to all the guilds and associations, numerous requests for them were received and the response from those who bought them was most appreciative. Their enthusiastic reception indicates that this is a really worthwhile venture.

Leadership Workshop - Inspiring Ringers for the Future - The leadership workshop was produced as a joint venture between ART and the Central Council Education Committee. The topics covered in the 3 sessions are as follows, with plenty of time allowed for discussion and interaction.

1. Leadership skills

2. Recruitment and retention

3. Stakeholders and practical matters [such as safeguarding]

The workshop was run for the first time in October in Stretham in Cambridgeshire and was extremely well received.

Conference run jointly with ART. This two-day event consisted of the ART AGM and conference on Saturday 3 March 2018 followed on the Sunday by a full-day conference on simulators which was organised by the Education Committee. This was pitched at giving people at three different levels of experience the opportunity to talk to developers and try different systems on various dumb bells set up in the venue. The aim was for delegates to go away with new ideas to help their teaching and to know where they can go for more detailed support and advice.

On a weekend affected considerably by weather, it was pleasing that most of the delegates managed to attend though a few were unable to make the conference, and some key presenters and helpers were also missing. Despite this the day went very well, and the initial feedback was extremely positive.

Plans The Committee has been looking at some other ideas and if progressed, these will be included in the oral update at Lancaster.

Ringing Centres Committee

A key task of the Ringing Centres Committee is to survey known Ringing Centres and issue certificates to those which are recognised.

The survey has been updated and redesigned. We think it is now simpler to complete, easier to evaluate and effective at gathering information.

Ringing centres have certain features in common but they are increasingly diverse. We have learned that some long established Centres are struggling or have closed, some are thriving, others will continue to flourish because they are changing the way they work and what they offer. At the same time simulators are being installed in towers that do not aspire to be ringing centres and new ringing centres are still emerging. The situation is very fluid and difficult to monitor.

Some centres have adopted less traditional pathways to achievement - embracing ideas from the Ringing Practice Toolkit and the Association of Ringing Teachers.

There is no set pattern for a ringing centre and enthusiasm is crucial but the Committee, aware that some set-ups are more successful than others, is keen to encourage good governance and sound practice.

The advance of technology races on which both presents problems and solves them. A failing sensor can spoil a session but tablets are superseding video cameras, for example.

Likewise “Bell Ringing Centres” on Facebook has become an important, and fast-growing, means of communication where members can swap experiences, seek advice, pass on information, promote events and share concerns. Posts will typically be seen by 80 people within a few hours - and many more after a few days. It can be a lively and effective forum but monitoring it demands much in terms of the Admin’s time.

The next edition of Training Times is due out in early summer, as usual.

Ringing Trends Committee

The entire Committee resigned in 2016 and there have so far been no volunteers to continue the work.

Compositions Committee

The key work of the Committee is to maintain and update the web collection of peal and quarter peal compositions and encouraging new submissions from a wide range of contributors. Many thanks to all our contributors for their wide variety of compositions.

The readily accessible websites are a very valuable resource for conductors. The compositions range from relatively easy to highly complex on all numbers of bells, so there are compositions for all requirements. Over 115 peal compositions and over 60 quarter peals were uploaded to the website in the last twelve months. We also published 2018 date touches in The Ringing World.

Our particular thanks go to Richard Allton and Don Morrison for their work as compositions are submitted in a number of formats from spreadsheets to written paper and these have to be carefully collated and checked for accuracy and truth. The web collection is backed up on the CCCBR Web Services account on a daily basis.

The easy access of online compositions and the emergence of other composition web sites, e.g. complib, means there now appears to be little demand for printed books or compositions to be published in The Ringing World. It is difficult to justify the work required to produce and publish new books of compositions.

The best 1,280 website by Stephen Beckingham is a useful resource for composers looking to get the most runs out of methods for quarter peals. However, there seems to be little scope for simpler compositions of standard methods these days as most of the obvious combinations have already been discovered or generated. Breakthroughs in composition tend to be discussed on ringing theory chat lists, reducing the necessity for detailed reviews in The Ringing World, although we are perfectly happy to review compositions as required.

The Committee would like to welcome Andrew Johnson to the Committee. Andrew has recently produced a series of three-part compositions of Stedman Triples which will be an interesting addition to the repertoire.

Finally, to reiterate, we very much welcome submissions of new peal, quarter peal and special length compositions and these should be sent to compositions@cccbr.org.uk.

Information and Communications Technology Committee

Following the launch of the new website in February 2017, work has continued throughout the past year to refine and update it. A couple of key changes/enhancements this year have been:

• Migration to the Microsoft Azure platform as our hosting provider

  • Microsoft donate $5,000 per year of Azure services to non-profit organisations, so this has helped reduce our ongoing costs

• Integration between the Central Council website and our Facebook page, ensuring all news items are immediately posted to Facebook (as well as to our Twitter feed)

• Further development of the database and dynamic elements that support our membership listings, Rolls of Honour and Peal Records

• Provision of a booking system for the Lancaster 2018 Annual Meeting.

In addition to the above, some members of the various committees (notably PR) and the President have been making use of the self-publishing features of the Wordpress system and adding content themselves without the ICT Committee being involved. A great start, but certainly an area that needs to grow as we move forward.

Aside from the main website, there were a couple of other important pieces of web-related work carried out this year:

• Dove - the Dove website has now been migrated away from the Central Council’s web server and is now running on the BellBoard server managed by Richard Smith. The changeover was sufficiently smooth that it probably went totally unnoticed by the vast majority of users, however, it represents the culmination of a significant amount of work by Richard and a group of developers and reviewers, with great support from the Dove Stewards. Development work will continue during this year, however, it will still be mainly ‘behind the scenes’

• Ringing Remembers/Armistice 100 - a new website was developed by Andrew Hall solely to inform non-ringers about the campaign and allow them to register their interest in learning to ring.

Things may well be set to change at Lancaster in May, but going forward there are still a number of ICT-related projects on the horizon in addition to any requirements we are currently unaware of:

• Further investigation into the Microsoft Office 365 services available to us, and how they could be used by the Council

• Replacement of the Dove iOS app (work in progress)

• Further solidifying of the Digital Asset Protection project.

A huge Thank You must be given to all members of the ICT Committee for yet another year of hard work and progress.

Methods Committee

Anticipating its replacement by the new Standards Technology and Taxonomy workgroup, the Methods Committee has not taken on any new work this year. In particular, following CRAG proposal (H) passed at the Council Meeting in Edinburgh, the Committee has stopped its work on reforms to the Central Council Decisions and is not proposing any changes this year.

The Committee’s Method Collections have been maintained, and we again thank Tony Smith for doing this work. These collections are recognised as an important service that the Council provides to the wider ringing community.

Peals Records Committee

The Peals Analysis

We have recorded a total of 4694 peals rung in 2017 and published in The Ringing World up to February 23rd this year, of which 3856 were on tower bells, 837 on handbells and 1 on a simulator. The revised total for 2016 is 4913 (4033 t/b & 880 h/b), an increase of 38 over that published in the last year’s report. Full details are included in the methods table that accompanies this report. The figures for the last five years are shown below

The Yorkshire Association is again the leading society with 384 peals, 103 more than the second place Oxford D.G. with 281, the difference having increased somewhat this year. The leading society for handbell peals in 2017 was the Oxford D.G. with 124, while second place Chester D.G. rang 84; again the difference has increased this year. Fifteen affiliated societies rang 100 or more peals in 2016, one more than in 2016 but still two fewer than 2015. Please see separate tables for details of peals rung for each society and by method / method type.

There are a number of peals known to have been rung last year but not yet published in The Ringing World including some from the first half of the year. We would encourage the organisers and conductors of peals to submit their peals for publication promptly, and then ensure that they are printed as expected.

Record peals

There were three record peal rung in 2017, all on tower bells. The record peals are detailed in the Records table below.

Peals not complying with the Decisions on Peal Ringing

There were no peals rung in 2017 and submitted to BellBoard that failed to comply with the CC Decisions on Peal Ringing as amended at the CCCBR meeting in 2017.

Leading Towers

Ten or more peals were rung in the following 66 towers in 2017 (71 in 2016).

There were also 24 handbell venues where 10 or more peals were rung in 2017 (28 in 2016).

First pealers and firsts as conductor

109 ringers rang their first peals in 2017, but only 106 of these had their peals published in The Ringing World up to Feb 23rd. This is a rather worryingly low number compared to the hundreds of first pealers in previous years, but is at least an increase on the 98 recorded in 2016. The number of firsts as conductor has dropped dramatically from 34 in 2016 to only 20 in 2017 (of which only 18 had their peals published in The Ringing World up to Feb 24th). These figures tend to confirm the view expressed last year that the number of active change ringers is declining year on year.

Corrections to the 2016 Analysis

There are several alterations to the 2016 Analysis owing to late publication which are detailed below. Corrections relate to tower bells except where specified.

The amended methods analysis for 2016 is shown in the 2017 methods table, which forms part of this report. Revised totals for 2016 are: tower bells 4033, handbells 880, total 4913.

The Felstead Project

During the year the work of maintaining the accuracy of the Felstead database has continued. The number of previously unrecorded peals added through John Eisel continuing to search a number of eighteenth and nineteenth century newspapers as they become available on line has dropped to 27. There are almost certainly others still to be discovered by searching through local newspapers not available online; the searches have also resulted in 14 corrections being made. Details supplied by other ringers have resulted in a further 10 peals being added and corrections being made to some 79 others - mainly by comparison with association records. Alan Glover has once again been very helpful in answering a number of queries by reference to materials in the Library; this has enabled a number of corrections to be made and the Committee is grateful to all who have in any way contributed to the accuracy of the database. Andrew Craddock continues to be responsible for all the data for post-1989 peals and downloads the data regularly from The Ringing World and BellBoard websites; the Committee wishes to thank him for doing this important work.

First peals in methods rung on Tower Bells.
Please note that there are two peals in new methods (North Bank and Pickleback SM) recorded on BellBoard but not yet published in The Ringing World and which are therefore not listed below.
January
4	5024	Winter Jasmine Delight Major	Yorks A
5	5084	Reading Abbey Surprise Major	Dorset CA
7	5184	Capricorn Alliance Royal	Bath & Wells DA
9	5152	Brancepeth Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
12	5074	Hampden Surprise Major	Dorset CA
12	5040	Bidean Nam Bian Delight Royal	Devonshire G
18	5120	Greenfinch Surprise Major	Yorks A
19	5071	Spitfire Surprise Major	Dorset CA
19	5040	Lochnagar Surprise Royal	Devonshire G
21	5024	Ryton Delight Major	Lincoln DG
22	5120	Brock Bottom Surprise Major	Non
24	5056	Mountains of Jupiter Surprise Major	V Evesham S
25	5040	Patrington Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
26	5079	Lysander Surprise Major	Dorset CA
27	5056	Brandon Hill Delight Major	UBSCR
30	5024	Ware Delight Major	St James G
31	5000	Fetter Lane Surprise Royal	St James G
31	5152	Zechariah Delight Major	V Evesham S
February
1	5152	Wathaurong Surprise Major	S&N DG
2	5077	Fairey Battle Surprise Major	Dorset CA
2	5056	Candlemas Delight Major	Amersham G
3	5040	Godings Bay Surprise Royal	Peterboro DG
4	5088	Boynton Surprise Major	Devons Soc
4	5184	Nicholson Treble Place Caters	Sussex CA
4	5100	Hemingbrough Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
6	5088	God’s Acre Delight Major	Amersham G
8	5184	Mosman Park Delight Major	S&N DG
9	5079	Gladiator Surprise Major	Dorset CA
9	5024	Mark Delight Major	Bath & Wells DA
12	5056	Valise Surprise Major	Suffolk G
15	5024	Snowdrop Delight Major	Yorks A
17	5056	Wycombe Delight Major	Amersham G
18	5152	Ratby Delight Major	Sproxton S
19	5088	Ghost Surprise Major	Bath & Wells DA
20	5040	Hollinside Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
20	5060	London No.34 Alliance Royal	St James G
22	5088	LXV Delight Major	Amersham G
22	5040	Blaydon Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
25	5040	Clowne Delight Royal	Non
28	5120	Lent Rise Delight Major	Amersham G
March
2	5082	Swordfish Surprise Major	Dorset CA
2	5040	Ben Vane Surprise Royal	Devonshire G
6	5024	Garlick Hill Delight Major	St James G
7	5056	Zwickau Surprise Major	Yorks A
10	5040	Pity Me Surprise Minor	D&N
10	5050	Earl of St Germans Surprise Major	Devonshire G
10	5012	Roscoff Alliance Major	G&B DA
13	5104	Nu.Q™ Alliance Maximus	Volition
14	5152	Antigua Delight Major	Lancs A
16	5052	Earl of Radnor Surprise Major	Dorset CA
16	5040	Slioch Surprise Royal	Devonshire G
18	5040	SONNOS Surprise Maximus	Non
18	5040	Julie McDonnell Bob Major	Kent CA
19	5032	My Ding-a-Ling Alliance Major	Bath & Wells DA
22	5088	Dunnock Surprise Major	Yorks A
22	5120	Boveney Delight Major	Amersham G
22	5010	Frampton Marsh Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
24	5040	Bedford Alliance Major	S&N DG
25	5088	Emily Charlotte Surprise Major	G&B DA
26	5010	Illston Alliance Major	S&N DG
27	5152	Hitchin Delight Major	St James G
28	5040	Rotherby Surprise Royal	S&N DG
29	5152	Old Market Surprise Major	G&B DA
29	5010	Beamish Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
April
1	5184	Hursley Surprise Maximus	W&P DG
1	5040	Northampton Alliance Royal	S&N DG
6	5072	Hurricane Surprise Major	Dorset CA
7	5120	Alternative Surprise Major	Middx & London DG
9	5120	Joy Delight Major	ANZAB
9	5152	Nemo Surprise Major	S Blaise S
13	5051	Earl Bathurst Surprise Major	Dorset CA
14	5088	Penarth Surprise Major	Suffolk G
14	5184	Xit Surprise Major	Suffolk G
18	5088	Knackers Knowle Surprise Major	Devonshire G
19	5184	Chaffinch Surprise Major	Yorks A
19	5152	Primrose Delight Major	Amersham G
19	5040	Tanfield Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
20	5080	Defiant Surprise Major	Dorset CA
20	5040	Ben Lui Surprise Royal	Devonshire G
24	5184	Big Monk Surprise Major	V Evesham S
24	5000	Julie McDonnell Surprise Royal	Yorks A
24	5152	St George’s Delight Major	St James G
24	5112	Landmark Alliance Royal	Lundy IS
26	5040	Hartlepool Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
May
2	5088	Kelham Surprise Major	S&N DG
2	5152	Malvern Hills Surprise Major	E meets W
3	5088	Darcy Delight Major	Yorks A
4	5075	No. 5075 Wellington Surprise Major	Dorset CA
4	5760	Half-Sharp’s Delight Minor	Barrow & D S
6	5024	Chopwell Surprise Major	Lincoln DG
8	5024	Hoddesdon Surprise Major	St James G
11	5152	Polden Hills Surprise Major	Bath & Wells DA
17	5120	Blue Tit Surprise Major	Yorks A
18	5083	Bath Abbey Surprise Major	Dorset CA
18	5058	Felmersham Delight Major	S&N DG
20	5100	Hedon Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
23	5004	Xanthicus Alliance Royal	S&N DG
26	5040	Weston-by-Welland Bob Doubles	Peterboro DG
28	5040	Yarwell Delight Minor	Peterboro DG
29	5024	Ladymead Surprise Major	G&B DA
30	5152	Dowgate Surprise Major	St James G
31	5152	Urmston Delight Major	Lincoln DG
June
2	5120	Monarch’s Way Delight Major	Bath & Wells DA
2	5040	Zone Point Delight Royal	Peterboro DG
3	5088	Corbridge Delight Major	Lincoln DG
3	5056	Malvern Priory Alliance Royal	S&N DG
4	5040	Brighouse Alliance Major	Yorks A
7	5184	Meadow Cranesbill Delight Major	Yorks A
9	5088	Verney Delight Major	Amersham G
12	5088	Arkell’s Delight Major	G&B DA
13	5024	Trudoxhill Delight Major	Bath & Wells DA
14	5100	Hughenden Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
15	5152	Pendleton Surprise Major	Lancs A
19	5024	Scargill House Surprise Major	Coventry DG
19	5088	Aviemore Delight Major	St James G
20	5088	Brown Windsor Delight Major	Bath & Wells DA
27	5104	Underbank Alliance Royal	S&N DG
28	5124	Zeal Hill Alliance Major	S&N DG
30	5088	Hampden Delight Major	Amersham G
July
1	5088	Watercress Line Surprise Major	Guildford DG
1	5184	Launceston Castle Delight Major	G&B DA
1	5088	Roos Delight Major	Bev & Dist S
4	5184	Upgate Surprise Major	S&N DG
5	5100	Shotley Bridge Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
9	5152	Dordrecht Surprise Major	S Thomas S
11	5024	Timsbury Bottom Delight Major	Devonshire G
12	5040	Riding Mill Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
13	5022	Millom Alliance Major	Dorset CA
16	5088	King’s Lynn Festival Delight Major	St James G
17	5130	Faringdon Alliance Major	G&B DA
19	5024	Great Spotted Woodpecker Surprise Major	Yorks A
19	5040	Denmisch Surprise Royal	Devons Soc
28	5152	Red Kite Surprise Major	G&B DA
30	5088	Newton Abbot Delight Major	Bath & Wells DA
30	5024	Rasputin Delight Major	G&B DA
31	5096	Passchendaele Alliance Major	Bath & Wells DA
31	5088	Passchendaele Surprise Major	Ely DA
August
1	5088	Pilckem Ridge Surprise Major	W&P DG
1	5130	Hemingford Grey Alliance Major	Around R
7	5040	Gokyo Ri Surprise Royal	Devonshire G
9	5024	Haltwhistle Surprise Major	Lincoln DG
11	5088	Peregrine Falcon Surprise Major	G&B DA
16	5024	Fielden Bob Major	Suffolk G
16	5088	Farncombe Delight Major	Amersham G
16	5088	Stocksfield Delight Major	Lincoln DG
20	5160	Cocking Alliance Major	Bath & Wells DA
22	5088	Garlick Hill Surprise Major	St James G
22	5024	Peterlord Little Surprise Royal	S&N DG
24	5184	Brendon Hills Surprise Major	Bath & Wells DA
24	5012	Fulney Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
27	5040	Jarl Surprise Royal	Lancs A
September
2	5100	Ryton Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
6	5120	Coal Tit Surprise Major	Yorks A
6	5152	Prudhoe Delight Major	Lincoln DG
10	5024	Pons Fractus Surprise Major	Yorks A
10	5080	Jiggery-Pokery Alliance Major	Bath & Wells DA
12	5152	Vishnu Delight Major	V Evesham S
13	5024	Arlecdon Surprise Major	Lincoln DG
16	5100	Greenhead Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
20	5152	Menin Road Ridge Surprise Major	W&P DG
20	5120	Pied Wagtail Surprise Major	Yorks A
20	5152	Slaley Surprise Major	Lincoln DG
20	5124	Dukestown Alliance Major	S&N DG
21	5088	Xenodocheionology Surprise Major	Dorset CA
24	5088	Barbourne Delight Major	Non
26	5040	Horsegate Alliance Royal	S&N DG
27	5152	Magpie Surprise Major	Yorks A
October
3	5024	Quingentesimus Surprise Major	Yorks A
12	5088	Buckland Dinham Surprise Major	Bath & Wells DA
13	5056	Buzzard Surprise Major	G&B DA
16	5024	Bushey Heath Surprise Major	St James G
18	5152	Tynemouth Surprise Major	Lincoln DG
18	5096	Kingstown Alliance Major	S&N DG
19	5136	Fanglemcmangledandrum Alliance Major	Bath & Wells DA
20	5096	Jamestown Alliance Major	S&N DG S Blaise S
24	5004	Chapelgate Alliance Royal	S&N DG
25	5088	Greenhead Delight Major	Lincoln DG
25	5152	Michaelmas Daisy Delight Major	Yorks A
25	5012	Clitheroe Alliance Major	Lancs A
26	5040	Beinn Dearg Delight Royal	Devonshire G
November
2	5088	It-ta-mayka-no-seeeen-sa! Alliance Major	Bath & Wells DA
3	5004	Silvergate Alliance Royal	Peterboro DG
9	5040	Khazi Alliance Major	Bath & Wells DA
11	5040	Radio Leicester Golden Anniversary Surprise Maximus	Leicester DG
15	5152	Robin Redbreast Surprise Major	Yorks A
19	5184	Yogi Bear Surprise Major	Bath & Wells DA
22	5010	Corbridge Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
23	5160	Luciphistication Alliance Major	Bath & Wells DA
27	5088	Searight Delight Major	Amersham G
28	5100	Kettle Alliance Major	Coventry DG
28	5040	Walkington Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
28	5040	Newthorpe Delight Royal	S&N DG
29	5040	Prudhoe Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
30	5040	St Andrew Alliance Royal	Lancs A
December
1	5040	Highamferrers Surprise Royal	Peterboro DG
1	5055	Yorkshire Alliance Royal	Lancs A
5	5088	Xirdalan Surprise Major	Peterboro DG
5	5120	Westeros Delight Major	Non
7	5100	Noel Alliance Major	Bath & Wells DA
8	5088	Goblin Combe Surprise Major	G&B DA
8	5088	Haddington Hill Delight Major	Amersham G
13	5152	Lintzford Surprise Major	Lincoln DG
19	5088	Yabba Dabba Doo! Surprise Major	Devonshire G
20	5184	Nihonium Surprise Major	Yorks A
20	5088	Billingborough Treble Place Major	Lincoln DG
21	5040	G.J.Churchward Surprise Royal	Bath & Wells DA
23	5152	G.J.Churchward Surprise Major	Bath & Wells DA
26	5152	Jolly Roger’s Delight Major	Devonshire G
27	5088	Oakworth Surprise Major	Oxford DG
27	5100	Stoke Poges Alliance Major	Lincoln DG
28	5148	Myrmica Alliance Major	Dorset CA
30	5069	IKB Surprise Major	Worcs & Dists
First peals in methods on Handbells
January
12	5040	Wragby Delight Minor	W&P DG
31	5056	Ashton-under-Lyne Surprise Major	Hereford DG
February
5	5152	President Delight Major	Lincoln DG
7	5056	Bottesford Surprise Major	Hereford DG
12	5040	Wyville Surprise Royal	Lincoln DG
14	5056	Dereham Surprise Major	Hereford DG
14	5056	Christchurch Surprise Major	Hereford DG
16	5040	Charlwood Delight Minor	W&P DG
March
7	5152	Erdington Surprise Major	Hereford DG
14	5152	Fluorine Surprise Major	Hereford DG
April
2	5056	Guinness Delight Major	Lincoln DG
11	5152	Grantchester Surprise Major	Hereford DG
18	5056	Harpenden Surprise Major	Hereford DG
23	5040	Ventongimps Delight Royal	Lincoln DG
27	5040	Neasden Delight Minor	W&P DG
May
2	5152	Iridium Surprise Major	Hereford DG
7	5040	A’Chailleach Delight Royal	W&P DG
14	5040	Ecclefechan Delight Royal	Lincoln DG
21	5040	Golden Wedding Delight Royal	Lincoln DG
23	5058	Johannesburg Surprise Major	Hereford DG
June
11	5040	Xenophon Delight Royal	W&P DG
18	5040	Quaffed Delight Royal	Lincoln DG
20	5056	Kinver Surprise Major	Hereford DG
25	5040	Meldreth Village Delight Royal	Lincoln DG
26	5088	Smallbrook Surprise Maximus	G St Cuileain
27	5056	Langley Surprise Major	Hereford DG
July
12	5040	Abigail Delight Maximus	Oxford DG
14	5040	Wild Raven Delight Royal	G St Cuileain
16	5040	Regnum Diutissime Delight Royal	W&P DG
17	5042	Bow Lane Surprise Maximus	G St Cuileain
18	5152	Meldreth Surprise Major	Hereford DG
August
8	5056	Nicaragua Surprise Major	Hereford DG
13	5040	Llanbadarn Fawr Delight Royal	Lincoln DG
22	5120	Oswaldtwistle Surprise Major	Hereford DG
27	5056	Sumorsaete Ealle Delight Major	Lincoln DG
29	5184	Palgrave Surprise Major	Hereford DG
September
3	5040	Westhawe Delight Royal	W&P DG
10	5056	Ian’s Delight Major	Lincoln DG
12	5056	Quernmore Surprise Major	Hereford DG
26	5152	Ross-on-Wye Surprise Major	Hereford DG
October
4	5088	Frog Island Surprise Maximus	Oxford DG
8	5040	Bretton Delight Royal	Lincoln DG
9	5088	Roaring Meg Surprise Maximus	G St Cuileain
15	5040	Coalville Delight Royal	Lincoln DG
22	5040	Jenner Delight Royal	Lincoln DG
24	5120	Samarium Surprise Major	Hereford DG
31	5120	Truro Surprise Major	Hereford DG
November
7	5152	Upchurch Surprise Major	Hereford DG
8	5086	Cassiobury Surprise Maximus	Oxford DG
14	5056	Velindre Surprise Major	Hereford DG
21	5120	Welshpool Surprise Major	Hereford DG
22	5088	Platinum Surprise Maximus	Oxford DG
26	5040	Sgurr Na Lapaich Delight Royal	W&P DG
27	5120	Xeranthemum Surprise Major	Hereford DG
28	5152	Yarkhill Surprise Major	Hereford DG
29	5184	Laburnham Road Surprise Maximus	Oxford DG
December
12	5152	Zverinogolovskoye Surprise Major	Hereford DG
Record Peals on Towerbells
June
3	20064	Spliced Surprise Maximus	ASCY
September
23	10360	Nova Delight Royal	SRCY
October
25	25056	Bristol Surprise Maximus	ASCY

Analysis of Peals by Society

2016 2017	TOWER														Tower total	HAND									Hand total	SIMULATOR	Simulator total	Society total
Society	4	5	5/6	6	7	7/8	8	9	10	11	11/12	12	14	16		5/6	6	7	8	9	10	11	11/12	12		10
Ancient Society of College Youths	0	2	0	13	14	0	57	17	26	6	2	35	0	0	172	0	1	0	6	2	5	6	0	1	21	0	0	193
Australia & New Zealand Association	0	0	0	3	2	0	8	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	15
Barrow & District Society	0	2	0	8	1	0	7	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19
Bath & Wells Diocesan Association	0	5	0	48	3	0	106	0	21	1	0	12	0	0	196	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	198
Bedfordshire Association	0	1	0	15	1	0	15	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	39	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	40
Beverley & District Society	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	5
Bristol University Society	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Cambridge University Guild	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8
Carlisle Diocesan Guild	0	0	0	2	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6
Chester Diocesan Guild	0	0	0	7	4	0	20	0	2	2	0	1	0	0	36	0	22	0	37	0	23	0	0	2	84	0	0	120
Coventry Diocesan Guild	0	5	0	23	0	0	35	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	69	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	70
Derby Diocesan Association	0	0	0	8	6	0	17	2	8	2	0	6	1	0	50	0	0	0	11	0	5	0	0	0	16	0	0	66
Devonshire Guild	0	0	0	55	1	0	103	1	34	1	0	11	0	0	206	0	2	0	9	0	9	0	0	3	23	0	0	229
Dorset County Association	0	0	0	6	0	0	28	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	34	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	34
Durham & Newcastle Diocesan Association	0	0	0	7	1	0	23	0	3	0	0	1	0	0	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	35
Durham University Society	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
East Grinstead & District Guild	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Ely Diocesan Association	0	1	0	17	1	0	55	2	2	0	0	1	0	0	79	0	0	0	25	1	15	0	0	1	42	0	0	121
Essex Association	0	3	0	32	2	0	24	2	5	0	0	0	0	0	68	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	68
Gloucester & Bristol Diocesan Association	0	9	0	27	6	0	89	4	5	2	0	6	0	0	148	0	8	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	0	157
Guildford Diocesan Guild	0	1	0	2	6	0	17	2	13	4	0	3	0	0	48	0	1	0	13	0	2	0	0	0	16	0	0	64
Hereford Diocesan Guild	0	4	0	8	2	0	21	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	36	0	0	0	26	0	2	0	0	0	28	0	0	64
Hertford County Association	0	2	0	6	3	0	10	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	24	0	11	0	21	0	6	0	0	1	39	0	0	63
Irish Association	0	0	0	7	1	0	6	0	2	1	0	1	0	0	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	18
Kent County Association	0	5	0	35	8	0	61	1	19	0	0	0	0	0	129	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	129
Ladies’ Guild	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Lancashire Association	0	4	0	13	4	0	63	1	20	1	0	0	0	0	106	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	106
Leeds University Society	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Leicester Diocesan Guild	0	0	0	10	1	0	19	2	4	0	0	2	0	0	38	0	5	0	5	0	3	0	0	0	13	0	0	51
Lichfield & Walsall Archdeaconries Society	0	1	0	4	2	0	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	20
Lincoln Diocesan Guild	1	7	2	22	1	0	58	0	7	0	0	3	0	0	101	0	10	0	8	0	16	0	0	0	34	0	0	135
Liverpool Universities Society	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2
Llandaff & Monmouth Diocesan Association	0	2	0	6	4	0	5	3	3	4	0	0	0	0	27	0	3	0	11	0	4	0	0	0	18	0	0	45
London University Society	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	6
Middlesex County Association & London Diocesan Guild	0	2	1	4	6	0	13	6	4	0	0	2	0	0	38	0	0	0	25	0	4	0	0	1	30	0	0	68
North American Guild	0	0	0	4	4	0	8	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	18	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	23
North Staffordshire Association	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
North Wales Association	0	0	0	3	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6
Norwich Diocesan Association	0	0	0	21	1	0	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	32
Oxford Diocesan Guild	0	1	0	42	8	0	72	4	22	0	0	8	0	0	157	0	0	0	36	1	42	0	0	45	124	0	0	281
Oxford Society	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	10	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	12
Oxford University Society	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Peterborough Diocesan Guild	0	7	0	12	0	0	19	1	11	0	0	1	0	0	51	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	51
Salisbury Diocesan Guild	0	6	0	6	4	0	22	1	1	0	0	3	0	0	43	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	43
Scottish Association	0	0	1	11	0	1	16	0	4	0	0	3	0	0	36	0	2	0	6	0	3	0	0	0	11	0	0	47
Shropshire Association	0	2	0	12	1	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22
Society of Royal Cumberland Youths	0	1	0	7	0	0	52	0	15	2	0	14	0	0	91	0	8	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	12	0	0	103
Southwell & Nottingham Diocesan Guild	0	2	1	57	3	0	60	6	24	0	0	9	0	0	162	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	164
St David’s Diocesan Guild	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
St Martin’s Guild for the Diocese of Birmingham	0	0	0	2	7	0	3	1	2	4	2	17	0	1	39	0	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0	0	49
Suffolk Guild	0	9	0	27	1	0	54	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	93	0	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	8	0	0	101
Surrey Association	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Sussex County Association	0	2	0	7	5	0	12	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	28	0	3	0	17	0	15	0	0	1	36	0	0	64
Swansea & Brecon Diocesan Guild	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Truro Diocesan Guild	0	2	0	1	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8
Winchester & Portsmouth Diocesan Guild	0	3	0	18	6	0	63	1	11	0	0	5	0	0	107	1	23	0	30	0	15	0	0	0	69	0	0	176
Worcestershire & Districts Association	0	2	0	8	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14
Yorkshire Association	0	1	0	76	3	0	165	5	41	5	1	20	0	0	317	0	8	0	49	1	9	0	0	0	67	0	0	384
Sub-total - Affiliated	1	95	5	713	131	1	1455	83	326	39	6	169	1	1	3026	1	121	10	353	6	178	6	0	55	730	0	0	3756
Non Association	0	2	0	22	10	0	84	15	46	31	3	34	0	0	247	0	4	1	11	0	4	0	0	3	23	0	0	270
Non-Affiliated	0	10	0	132	4	1	325	20	60	10	0	21	0	0	583	0	11	0	38	1	15	1	1	17	84	1	1	668
Totals	1	107	5	867	145	2	1864	118	432	80	9	224	1	1	3856	1	136	11	402	7	197	7	1	75	837	1	1	4694

Analysis of Peals by method and change on year

	TOWER			HAND			TOTAL
	2017	2016	+/-	2017	2016	+/-	2017	2016	+/-
Sixteen	1	2	-1	0	0	0	1	2	-1
Fourteen	1	2	-1	0	0	0	1	2	-1
Maximus
Spliced S	26	19	7	11	18	-7	37	37	0
Spliced Treble Dodging	9	17	-8	5	5	0	14	22	-8
Other Spliced	20	21	-1	1	2	-1	21	23	-2
Bristol Surprise	51	58	-7	11	11	0	62	69	-6
Cambridge Surprise	54	62	-8	10	1	9	64	63	1
Yorkshire Surprise	35	41	-6	3	4	-1	38	45	-7
Other Single Surprise	25	25	0	22	8	14	47	33	14
Other	4	4	0	12	11	1	16	15	1
Total	224	247	-23	75	60	15	299	307	-7
Cinques/Maximus	9	10	-1	1	0	1	10	10	0
Cinques
Stedman	73	68	5	7	10	-3	80	78	2
Other	7	10	-3	0	0	0	7	10	-3
Total	80	78	2	7	10	-3	87	88	-1
Royal
Spliced Surprise	45	47	-2	13	12	1	58	59	-1
Other Spliced	10	8	2	7	12	-5	17	20	-3
Kent Treble Bob Royal	0	0	0	24	16	8	24	16	8
Cambridge Surprise	77	66	11	47	24	23	124	90	34
Yorkshire Surprise	53	63	-10	16	15	1	69	78	-9
Bristol Surprise	43	53	-10	9	8	1	52	61	-9
London No.3 Surprise	48	36	12	7	1	6	55	37	18
Lincolnshire Surprise	11	11	0	16	13	3	27	24	3
Swindon Surprise	17	24	-7	1	3	-2	18	27	-9
Other Surprise	90*	89	1	13	20	-7	103	109	-6
Single Delight	21	20	1	23	3	20	44	23	21
Other	18	27	-9	21	12	9	39	39	0
Total	343	444	-11	197	139	58	630	583	47
Caters/Royal	0	4	-4	0	0	0	0	4	-4
Caters
Grandsire	54	62	-8	3	3	0	57	65	-8
Stedman	60	54	6	4	1	3	64	55	9
Other	4	5	-1	0	0	0	4	5	-1
Total	118	121	-3	7	4	3	125	125	0
Major
Spliced Surprise	327	299	28	69	71	-2	396	370	26
Other Spliced	18	18	0	9	14	-5	27	32	-5
Bristol Surprise	189	196	-7	29	25	4	218	221	-3
Yorkshire Surprise	147	178	-31	46	55	-9	193	233	-40
Cambridge Surprise	107	101	6	34	35	-1	141	136	5
London Surprise	55	61	-6	8	12	-4	63	73	-10
Lincolnshire Surprise	32	39	-7	14	23	-9	46	62	-16
Superlative Surprise	48	51	-3	13	11	2	61	62	-1
Lessness Surprise	44	46	-2	5	4	1	49	50	-1
Rutland Surprise	22	26	-4	5	10	-5	27	36	-9
Glasgow Surprise	18	20	-2	0	0	0	18	20	-2
Uxbridge Surprise	12	15	-3	3	4	-1	15	19	-4
Pudsey Surprise	19	14	5	8	7	1	27	21	6
Cornwall Surprise	12	18	-6	2	1	1	14	19	-5
Dereham Surprise	12	10	2	1	0	1	13	10	3
Cassiobury Surprise	11	10	1	1	0	1	12	10	2
Other Surprise	485	520	-35	28	26	2	513	546	-33
Single Delight	184	149	35	7	5	2	191	154	37
Plain Bob	21	33	-12	55	61	-6	76	94	-18
Double Norwich Court Bob	23	39	-16	13	8	5	36	47	-11
Kent Treble Bob	3	1	2	36	43	-7	39	44	-5
Other	75	84	-9	16	14	2	91	98	-7
Total	1864	1928	-64	402	429	-27	2266	2357	-91
Triples/Major	2	1	1	0	0	0	2	1	1
Triples
Stedman	66	74	-8	11	17	-6	77	91	-14
Grandsire	55	47	8	0	3	-3	55	50	5
Plain Bob	16	20	-4	0	0	0	16	20	-4
Other	8	9	-1	0	0	0	8	9	-1
Total	145	150	-5	11	20	-9	156	170	-14
Minor
Spliced surprise	159	172	-13	5	12	-7	164	184	-20
Spliced other	35	23	12	5	3	2	40	26	14
8+ Methods Surprise	63	48	15	2	17	-15	65	65	0
Other	15	10	5	12	11	1	27	21	6
7 Methods Surprise	327	398	-71	16	33	-17	343	431	-88
Other	109	88	21	11	26	-15	120	114	6
2-6 Methods Surprise	19	25	-6	2	2	0	21	27	-6
Other	63	53	10	36	65	-29	99	118	-19
Plain Bob Minor	19	33	-14	26	27	-1	45	60	-15
Cambridge Surprise	43	44	-1	5	8	-3	48	52	-4
Other Surprise	8	16	-8	11	1	10	19	17	2
Other	7	4	3	5	4	1	12	8	4
Total	867	914	-47	136	209	-73	1003	1123	-120
Doubles/Minor	5	4	1	1	1	0	6	5	1
Doubles
2+ Methods	89	98	-9	0	5	-5	89	103	-14
Grandsire	9	4	5	0	0	0	9	4	5
Stedman	5	11	-6	0	0	0	5	11	-6
Other	4	9	-5	0	1	-1	4	10	-6
Total	107	122	-15	0	6	-6	107	128	-21
Minimus/Doubles	0	1	-1	0	0	0	0	1	-1
Minimus	1	5	-4	0	2	0	1	7	-6
Total	3857*	4033	-176	837	880	-43	4694	4913	-219

The new President and Vice-President at Edinburgh (photo by Robert Lewis)

Biographies Committee

The Committee met in Edinburgh in May and in Milton Keynes in October. Anne Anthony stood down in April, and Bobbie May and Deborah Thorley stood down in May. No new members were elected.

There are over 950 biographic records on the website. We would like to thank Chris Rogers and Chris Kippin, both of whom contributed records. There is a backlog of around 30 records not yet written, and the aim to have archival paper copies of all records hasn’t yet been achieved.

Working with the Steward of the Rolls we have added 187 names to the Rolls of Honour, based mainly on research from newspapers and The Ringing World.

Bill Butler continued to produce Prolific Peal Ringers articles for The Ringing World, although no longer a consultant to the Committee, but having reached number 60 he wishes to retire from the task, and we thank him for his work.

We continue to hold basic information, photos, press items, etc on current and former Council members - either on paper or digitally.

The comprehensive record of ringing societies still exists as a draft web page but has not progressed. We continued research on the history of Council committees. About a third of those that existed have so far been documented. We discussed with the ICT Committee how information about both ringing societies and Council committees could be linked to the records of ringers who represented them or served on them respectively, but we have not yet progressed to implementation.

We produced a critical review of our ongoing work and future aspirations, which has been passed to the nominated leader of the History & Archive workgroup that will succeed the Committee.

Plans for 2018 include:

• Completing the advice on biographical/ historical research, and making it available from our web pages;

• Organising a workshop in Lancaster during the Council weekend.

Ongoing work and future aspirations passed to the History & Archive workgroup include:

• Ongoing production of biographic records - both recent ringers and to broaden the historical record of former ringers;

• Providing archival hard copy of on-line records;

• Augmenting historic records with additional information where available;

• Working with ICT Committee to develop and improve the management of biographic information;

• Developing online submission and access to biographic information about ringers;

• Seeking links with the wider world of social and family history research;

• Working with others interested in ringing history, or researching the history of their societies or local ringers.

We are grateful to all those who have helped us by providing information.

Members and former members of the Council who died in 2017 are:

• Jill M Staniforth (née Poole), Ladies Guild 1951-1981, attended 22 meetings, died 7 January 2017.

• Freda Cannon, Ladies Guild 1984-2008, attended 20 meetings, died 14 January 2017.

• Eric Naylor, Bath & Wells Diocesan Association 1967-1987, attended 19 meetings, died 27 January 2017.

• Norman Arthur Johnson, Durham & Newcastle Diocesan Association 1984-1999, attended 12 meetings, died 31 January 2017.

• Ruth Margaret Foreman, Middlesex County Association & London Diocesan Guild 1966-1969, attended 2 meetings, died 19 February 2017.

• Brian Maurice Buswell, Southwell Diocesan Guild 1956-1966, attended 7 meetings, died 26 February 2017.

• Christopher Charles Roberts, Chester Diocesan Guild 1981-1994, attended 12 meetings, died 7 March 2017.

• Philip Malcolm James Gray, New South Wales Association 1957-1962, Australia & New Zealand Association 1962-1996, attended 33 meetings, died 10 April 2017.

• Geoffrey Richard Drew, Honorary 1970-1983, Norwich Diocesan Association 1999-2005, attended 13 meetings, died 15 April 2017.

• John Graham Gipson, Ely Diocesan Association 1957-1984, attended 23 meetings, died 18 June 2017.

• John Keith Smith, Midland Counties Guild 1975-1978, attended 3 meetings, died 13 November 2017.

• A James Phillips, Ancient Society of College Youths 1993-1999, attended 5 meetings, died 1 December 2017.

• Malcolm Paul Phipps, Derby Diocesan Association 1963-1969 and 1972-1978, attended 12 meetings, died 17 December 2017.

A former member whose death became known during 2017 is:

• Kenneth George Brown, Suffolk Guild 1957-1960, attended 1 meeting, died 12 April 2016.

Library Committee

2017 saw a modest reduction in the use of the Library resources with twenty-seven items borrowed and sixty-three queries dealt with by sending scans or written replies, by our library steward, Alan Glover.

In 2017 the CC Library Committee purchased another original manuscript by JA Trollope. Within six months this had been scanned and was on the CC website, for all to view. My thanks go to Paul Johnson and Alan Glover for making this happen.

The Whiting Society continues its invaluable work of publishing early ringing texts online, and we have been pleased to help by supplying some of the originals for them to scan.

The CC Library now holds the archive records of The Ringing Foundation. We are grateful to Colin Chapman and Ian Self for adding to our archive of annual reports and to George Pipe and Mark Gardener for donating various Association badges.

The routine binding and repair work had increased in 2017 with the imminent retirement of our bookbinders, Les and Brenda Stallard; more valuable items are stored in clam-shell boxes for protection and new additional shelving in the Library has been purchased.

Paul Johnson reports we have now sold all the original DVDs of ringing magazines, apart from the latest edition (Ringing World 1971-2000). We are now selling copies of Bell News and pre-1970 Ringing Worlds by the volume or year. Further early volumes of Bell News continue to be added to the Library’s Online Publications webpage.

John Eisel has completed the last edition in book form of Order and Disorder 1840-1845, with important supplements of earlier material, and this should be available at the CC meeting 2018 in Lancaster. Thank you to Sue Marsden for despatching previous volumes of Order and Disorder books. There is an increasing amount of material from 1846 and it is intended to make this available in electronic form in due course as it is impracticable to publish it in hard copy.

The “Friends of the Central Council Library” saw a slight increase in life membership subscriptions and a new Honorary Life Member, George Pipe. John Eisel kindly wrote an interesting essay to accompany the newsletter entitled Ring out the Age. Without the Friends of the CC Library we would be unable to fund publishing projects or acquire new and rare books. For the fifth year the Library Committee has waived the CC grant. Thank you to Ian Self, for being our Treasurer and managing the Friends Scheme with Linda.

From the CRAG report there was no clear rôle for the Library Steward. This has been of great concern throughout the year, with a lot of uncertainty. The Library will come under the remit of the Historical and Archive workgroup led by Doug Hird. I hope a structure will be found within the new workgroup which will allow the Friends of the CC Library, many of whom are the regular users of the Library, to continue and a degree of financial independence to be maintained, with enough volunteers to be available for the tedious but necessary work of sales, distribution and accounting which our current operation requires.

I wish the new workgroup well.

I would like to thank Alan Glover, Paul Johnson, Sue Marsden and Ian Self for their support throughout 2017/18.

New Framework - Status Report as at April 15th 2018.

As reported in status updates in The Ringing World (January 26th and March 2nd 2018), developing a new descriptive framework to replace the current CC Decisions (per CRAG Proposal H) has been a very challenging undertaking and has taken longer than hoped. The elements of the CRAG remit (‘simple’, ‘permissive’ and ‘maintain the historical record’) often came into conflict with one another, and there are various different ways in which such a framework can be structured and organized. There are also different mindsets with which the task can be approached (e.g. a framework geared towards mathematical / technical users, vs. one geared towards ‘ordinary ringers’). Finally, because of method ringing’s rich and varied scope, it’s very difficult to create a succinct and unambiguous set of terminology that covers all possible scenarios. The team working on the new framework has exchanged thousands of messages and spent hundreds of hours on the project.

Despite the challenges, we believe we are close to having a draft framework that appropriately balances the various development criteria. We hope to begin a ringing-community-wide consultation on the new framework in early May, and expect that this will run for 2-4 months, depending on the amount of feedback received and the number of iterations of new versions needed.

Since the new framework won’t be complete in time for consideration at the May meeting, the transition motion with the reform proposals includes adopting the existing Decisions as part of the new CC rulebook. CRAG intended the new framework to be the responsibility of the Executive, and under the proposed new CC rules, the Executive would be able to implement the framework before the 2019 meeting, once a full consultation has been completed. This would be subject to the ‘call-in’ provision governing Executive decisions deemed to require further debate.

The key features of the new framework were covered in The Ringing World article of March 2nd (pages 198-199). The latest version of the framework can be viewed at https://cccbr.github.io/method_ringing_framework. The framework website includes both the material intended to become the formal framework (Sections 3-9, excluding explanatory material that is revealed by clicking on the ‘+’ buttons), as well as other ancillary material (such as a description of place notation) that is intended to be maintained by the CC’s technical workgroup.

Members of the team developing the new framework will be pleased to answer any questions and discuss any points that attendees would like to raise during the CC weekend in Lancaster.

TIM BARNES (on behalf of the task group)

Central Council Meeting Papers, April 27, 2018