The annual meeting was held at Andover on July 3rd and was attended by over 60 members and friends representing seven of the eight districts of the Guild. At the general meeting presided over by the Master (Mr. G. Williams), the chairman of the Andover District (Rev. A. S. Gidlow), welcomed the gathering and expressed his pleasure in meeting them. The Master was supported by Mr. F. W. Rogers (hon. general secretary) and Mr. W. Linter (hon. treasurer).
The accounts and balance sheets as printed in the annual report were unanimously adopted, and the treasurer thanked the district secretaries for their valuable work in collecting the subscriptions.
To meet the increased cost of maintaining the Guild's activities and to retain its financial stability it was decided to increase the annual subscription of ringing members from 2s. to 3s. to operate from January 1st, 1949.
Election of officers resulted as follows: Master, Mr. G. Williams; hon. general secretary, Mr. F. W. Rogers; hon. general treasurer, Mr. W. Linter; hon. auditor, Mr. G. Smith; recorder of peals, Mr. A. V. Davis.
It was decided to adopt a war memorial scheme, and a sub-committee was appointed, consisting of the officers and district secretaries to examine various proposals from all districts and to report to next annual meeting. One scheme that was suggested was to increase the peal at Portsmouth Cathedral to ten in conjunction with any assistance that might he agreed upon by the Cathedral and/or civic authorities. The general secretary said he would approach the Provost and see if he was sympathetic to such a scheme if the Guild decided to adopt it, and possibly provide one of the two new bells.
The next annual meeting was arranged to be held at Southampton on July 2nd, 1949.
It was pointed out that next year would he the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Guild, and it was agreed to hold a meeting at Basingstoke (where it was founded) on June 25th. The foundation date was June 26th, 1879.
Tea was served after the Guild service was held in the Parish Church. Various rings of bells around Andover were available to members during the day.
The Ringing World No. 1947, July 30th, 1948, page 321