Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky
The flying cloud, the frosty light
The year is dying in the night
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
– Alfred Lord Tennyson – Ring Out Wild Bells (1850)
A Message from the Guild President
Many of you will have seen out the old and welcomed in the new with the ringing of bells. With this and the ringing out of the Christian message of hope joy and peace at Christmas time it has been a busy couple of weeks for ringers. Thank you to all.
Throughout our lives we will encounter new experiences, new opportunities for change, new people to encounter and new places to visit. For ringers it may be a new learner to our tower, a returning ringer, a visiting ringer or a new ring of bells to experience – ‘a tower grab.’ We will experience change in our lives and the challenge of change. Over the past year we have seen the revision of our Guild Rules and a change to the format of the Striking Competition amongst other things.
Following what was a very successful Novice Striking Competition we have changed the format of these competitions to build on this success. There will now be four competitions, the Novice Competition in July, the Call Change Competiton (am) followed by the 6 Bell Competition (pm) in June and a return to holding the 8 Bell Competition in the morning of the Guild AGM in May.
As with the LEBRF Open Day and Guild Festival these Striking Competitions will rotate around the Branches. By making this change it will enable the use of more suitable venues and bells. Do have a look on the website to see when your Branch will be the host. The details of the venue for this year will be sent to members shortly. The updated rules can also be found on the website and please do get practising now for this year’s competitions.
I have tried to get around the Guild as much as possible, not easy with family commitments to work round. Recently I was able to join both the Mere Branch and the combined Calne and Devizes Branch Carol Services where I received a very warm welcome. Both events were well attended, with ringing for all levels beforehand, some wonderful singing, ending with seasonal refreshments and much chatter. Some Branch AGM’s have already taken place which Vicki, Kathryn or I have attended. Thank you for your warm welcomes and delicious teas. It has been very encouraging listening as you have looked back over the past year and to hear of your plans for the future and the readiness of new faces coming forward to take on roles within the Branch. We look forward to joining more Branch AGM’s in January.
As I write this Guild Peal Week is still in progress but congratulations to all those who have rung a peal to date as recorded on Bellboard. Special congratulations to Ester and Ben, two of the Guild’s Young Ringers who rang their first peal at Bradford Peverill, also Tim Filtness who rang his first peal at Piddlehinton and to Robert McCrane who rang his first of Yorkshire S. Major at Bishop’s Cannings. There will be others, congratulations to them.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to or supported the ringing of bells throughout the Guild in 2025. With a good number of new members recruited let’s build on this momentum to ensure the Guild continues to flourish and the bells ring out even more in 2026.
With very best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year. Enjoy your ringing.
Pat Davidson
