Shropshire Association of Church Bellringers

The centenary year striking competition was held at Upton Magna on a sunny but windy day. Twelve bands representing seven towers participated. Seven bands rang call changes and five bands rang a method. A splendid tea, supplied by various members of the committee and others, was laid out in the Upton Magna Village Hall and was available throughout the competition. Sue Dancey masterminded the afternoon, and thanks to her organisational skills all went according to plan.

Bill Deason was the judge once again. Before giving the score for each band Bill explained his marking scheme. The most common comment from Bill was that the ringing had minor rhythm errors.

The Ernest Willcox Cup for the fewest faults was presented to Gill Glover for the Shrewsbury ‘A’ band.

Brian Rothera collected the Call Change Trophy for the Oswestry ‘B’ band.

The Charles Allmand Memorial Shield for the highest placed tower which had not won a trophy in the preceding two competitions, was presented to Mandie Lee for the Bicton band.

The second Association peal of 2026 has been rung at Sutton Maddock.

Congratulations to Liz Holloway for ringing her first quarter peal, at Worthen.

Congratulations to Karen Turner for ringing her first quarter peal, at Albrighton.

The first Association peal of this centenary year has been rung at Beckbury.

Congratulations to Matthew Leak for ringing his first quarter peal, at Oswestry.

The Association has lost one of its most longstanding members, with the passing of Margaret Rowley, who died on Christmas Day, aged 93.

Margaret was tower captain at Holy Trinity church, Dawley from 2004 until her retirement in 2020. She had taken over that role from her husband, Ted, after he died but she began her ringing life at Malinslee church, a mile or so away. This was in the early 1950s and when the couple married they moved to a house just a stone's throw from Dawley church. Here they raised 4 daughters, 3 of whom learned to ring. Margaret stayed in that house, and kept her connection to Holy Trinity, for over 70 years. She had an unflappable temperament in the ringing room, and will be much missed.

Margaret's funeral will be on Monday 16th February at 1.30pm at Telford crematorium.

The Shropshire Association’s 2026 AGM was held at Meole Brace. Prior to the meetings there was ringing, led by Nik Galton, followed by a service of thanksgiving. The service was led by the Archdeacon of Salop, The Venerable Nick Watson, and the organists were Dr Derry Bertenshaw and Patrick Braven-Giles. Jet Pariera-Jenks read Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Ring Out Wild Bells, and Paul Lewis read the reading from scripture. Nick Watson led the meeting, assisted by Tony Freemont.

The following were elected as new members of the Association: Ryan Hayes (Bicton); Joe Dymond, Helen Gordon, John Gordon, Ryan Hartley, Nathan Hickman (all Ellesmere); Natalie Grimmette (High Ercall); Judith Bennett, Victoria Mackworth, Mark Talbot (Market Drayton); Ruth Rawson (Lilleshall); Jane Boulton (St Martins); Laura Barrance, Yuna Hoskison, Harvey Jones, Arthur O’Hara, Duncan Smalley (Shrewsbury, Meole Brace); Olivia Brewin (Shrewsbury, St Chad); Amanda Ellis, Amy Grimes, Anya Kinnair, Liv Kinnair (Telford, Dawley); Paul Caddick (Tong); Pauline Hember (Whitchurch).

Long service awards (25 or 50 years of paid subscription to the Association) were made to Jad Bienek, Brian Cope, Paul Roberts, Edwina Smart, Chris Yates and Judy Yates, and Gill Glover.

The changes to the Association’s Bell Restoration Fund Rules were approved.

David Beckwith gave the Treasurer’s report. The balance in the General Fund was £3939.75, and the balance in the Bell Restoration Fund (BRF) was £47,699.45. A grant from the BRF had been made to Shifnal. Expenses from the General Fund had included Report/Handbook printing, attendance at the Central Council AGM, website subscription, Central Council affiliation fee and insurance. The external examination of the accounts was still to be carried out. David thanked Biff Patterson for her work in handling the membership subscriptions.

Gill Glover described the various training events held during the year, including a New Members’ Meeting, four regular training mornings, several Young Ringers’ meetings, a Tower Leaders’ Forum and an ART training day led by Paul Lewis.
Gill gave a brief description of the items held in the Association library and archive (including a set of handbells), inviting anyone who knew of items of interest to the Association to get in touch with her.
Sue Dancey gave the Social Secretary’s report on behalf of Vicki Sivess. The social events in 2026 would be the Centenary Dinner in May and a Ceilidh in October.
Paul Lewis reported on the CCCBR AGM and the Ringing World AGM held at Sheffield, which he attended as the Association’s Central Council Representative. Paul mentioned that the 2026 CCCBR AGM would be held in Rugby and the 2027 AGM would be held in the Burton-on-Trent/Uttoxeter area.
Biff Patterson reported that 2025 was a good year for the Lichfield Diocesan Mobile Belfry, consolidating the financial growth of the last two years and making the future ever more secure. The Mobile Belfry had been present at nine events during 2025, including three multi-day events.

Gill Glover was awarded the St Alkmund’s cannons for all her hard work for the Association during 2025. Tony Freemont also presented Gill with a gift voucher.

Elections for the Committee were held. There were no changes to the membership of the committee for 2026/2027. Nik Galton agreed to be the Association’s second Central Council representative.

Andrew Gordon agreed to restart the 100 Club. Due to the length of time it takes to change signatories on bank accounts, Gill Glover said that she and the other two signatories would continue signing the cheques for the moment.

Michael Carding went through the dates of events during 2026 to celebrate the centenary of the Association. Biff mentioned that calendars were available for members.

Paul Lewis talked about the Central Council’s application for UNESCO Intangible Heritage status for English call change and change ringing. A show of hands indicated that those present werein favour of Paul signing the petition on behalf of the SACBR. Jan Snowball asked whether the committee would consider moving the AGM to April, taking into account the poor weather in January. Abdrew Gordon reported that he will be seeking sponsorship for a charity climb of Snowdon, to raise funds for various charities including the SACBR’s BRF.

The raffle, with prizes of wine, chocolate, olive oil, and cakes, raised £145 for the BRF. The winners of prizes are John MacClean, Andrew Gordon, Madeline Harris, Will Lander, Alan Glover, Jad Bienek, David Beckwith, Kathy Fitchew, Cordelia Warr, Kathryn Greaves, Jacqui Barden, and Natalie Grimmette.

The next quarterly meeting will be held on Saturday 18th April 2026, at Shifnal, and the next AGM is scheduled to be held on 9th January 2027.

Thanks go to all those who made this meeting a success, especially Ann and John Peppiatt for their sterling work in the kitchen.