Site last updated 15 March 2024

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Welcome

The Shropshire Association covers the towers in the Salop Archdeaconry of the Lichfield Diocese, and is roughly the area north of the River Severn, from near Wolverhampton in the southeast to Selattyn in the northwest. The rest of Shropshire is in the Hereford Diocese.

If you would like to know more about bellringing click here www.cccbr.org.uk/bellringing/what-is-bell-ringing/.

If you like to learn to ring please contact our secretary [ ], or go along to a tower near you on a practice night.

Information about the towers in the Association, practice nights and Association events, and much else, can be found by following the links on the left or below.

Next Association events:

Wednesday 20 March - Wednesday morning practice, 10:00am - 12:30pm at Meole Brace
Saturday 13 April 2024 - Practice, Quarterly Meeting 7:00pm - 9:00pm at Hinstock

New Members' Meeting

All new (and newish) members of the Association were invited to get together at Edgmond to meet other new members and the Association committee. The meeting/practice was directed by Gill Glover, with a lot of help from our hosts, Paul Lewis, Mark Adams and Rob Davis. The towers represented at the practice included Bicton, Dawley, High Ercall, Market Drayton, Meole Brace, Shrewsbury, and Wellington. Ringers came with a variety of ringing experiences, from having started to learn recently to being able to ring Plain Bob Doubles on an inside bell. Those who needed a bit of extra assistance were helped by experienced ringers. Several of the learners remarked how nice the bells are, and how well they were able to manage them. The ringing included rounds and call changes on six and eight bells, Plain Hunt, Plain Bob Doubles, and Grandsire Triples (for the helpers).

Members who had been elected at the 2024 AGM were able to collect their New Member packs. Tea, coffee and delightful baked goods were available throughout the morning. Jad Bienek kindly brought the Association’s box of Books for Ringers was available for perusal, and some books were available for purchase.

It was great to hear a lot of happy chatter and laughter, not to mention happy eating! Thanks go to all those who helped make this event so enjoyable.

Gill Glover, Madeline Harris
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Andy Harris

It is with great sadness we must let you know of the death of Andy Harris on Thursday 15th February, a longstanding ringer at Oswestry. His father, mother and sister rang here too. Andy was just 57.

Seven of us rang a half-muffled QP of Plain Bob Triples with his sister on Sunday 18th February at Oswestry, and three of our ringers rang a handbell QP of Plain Bob Minor on Monday 19th in his memory. A quarter peal of 4 Spliced Surprise Major was also rung remembering Andy at St Chad’s, Shrewsbury, on the 18th February.

Tony Freemont
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March Newsletter - with amended sort code

The March Newsletter can be read and downloaded here. This version includes to correct sort code for the 100Club account.

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Wednesday Morning Practice - 20 March

The next Wednesday morning practice is scheduled for Wednesday 20 March, at Meole Brace from 10:00am to 12:30pm.

Please let Gill Glover [ ] know if you are planning to attend, so that she can make sure that there are enough ringers to make this a viable practice.

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Belfry Upkeep

The Stewardship & Management Workgroup of the Central Council are pleased to announce Belfry Upkeep, an online document aimed at the Steeple Keeper – the person responsible for keeping the bells in order.

The aims of the document are:

The document can be found at https://belfryupkeep.cccbr.org.uk

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Safeguarding Training

The Church of England has been working on an updated framework for Safeguarding training within the church. Dave Bassford (CCCBR Safeguarding Officer) and The Ringing World have given the Shropshire Association permission to include on this website an article written by Dave and appearing in the 21 January 2022 issue of The Ringing World.

In this article Dave explains that all ringers must take the Basic Awareness training (formerly C0). This is free, done online, takes about an hour to complete, and must be renewed every three years.

The Lichfield Diocese requires Tower Captains and those ringers in a role which involves work with children, young people or adults at risk, to also take the Foundation training (formerly C1), but not the Leadership training.

The trainings can be accessed by going to https://safeguardingtraining.cofeportal.org/.

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"Calling It Round"

The Central Council has issued a new publication focused on the first steps in calling and conducting from any bell. The publication has been written by Bryn Marie Reinstadler and is free and available at
https://callingitround.cccbr.org.uk/

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Carbon Dioxide Monitors

We are now in receipt of 2 NDIR Carbon Dioxide monitors that are available for loan to Association members. CO2 monitoring is not about our current return to ringing (which is predicated on low virus levels in the community and high uptake of a good vaccine which protects against currently circulating variants) but it will help us make an informed choice on how we can continue to ring if/when coronavirus levels rise into autumn and winter.

Further information can be found at: https://cccbr.org.uk/coronavirus/carbon-dioxide-monitoring-whilst-ringing/

Please contact Matt Lawrence if you would like to borrow a monitor. [ ].

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Raising Funds for the Mobile Belfry

Because of the pandemic the Lichfield Diocesan Mobile Belfry has not been hired so no funds have been raised. The insurance of the Mobile Belfry still has to be paid and it is a significant amount of money. The three Associations which own the Mobile Belfry each donated £200 in 2020 to help fund the cost, but it would be helpful to have another source of income. To this end you can raise funds for the Mobile Belfry by making purchases through smile.amazon.

You must login to amazon via smile.amazon.co.uk, rather than directly through amazon.co.uk. You will then be able to choose the charity you want to benefit from your eligible purchases. Choose Lichfield Diocesan Mobile Belfry. Then shop as usual. Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible items to the charity of your choice.

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About the Central Council

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers has issued three documents about its work, volunteering with the Central Council, and what it means to be a Central Council Representative.

Those documents can be read and downloaded here:
What's the point of the Central Council.pdf,
Volunteering with the Central Council.pdf,
What does being a Central Council Rep mean?

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Index of YouTube Videos

The Central Council has put together a list of training webinars and videos which have been recorded and posted on YouTube.

https://cccbr.org.uk/youtube-index/

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Safeguarding Guide from the Central Council

In The Ringing World of 13 September 2019 Chris Mew wrote a review of the current situation regarding ringers and Safeguarding. That article can be read and downloaded here.

The Stewardship and Management Workgroup of the Central Council has produced a document relating to Safeguarding for Bellringers. The document can be found here.

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Support Your Association with SACBR Clothing

We can now offer members a range of items embroidered with the SACBR logo. These are embroidered to order: contact Biff Patterson [ ] for details or to place an order.

COLOUR
The background colour for ‘corporate’ events is burgundy (as shown) but feel free to choose a different background for personal use. Check availability but navy or black are obvious options.

PRICES
Polo shirts, as worn by those manning the Lichfield Diocesan Mobile Belfry at Newport Show, £15. Biff has one lady-fit medium in stock. If you would normally buy small, this is for you.
Sweat shirts £17.50 Rugby shirts £25.
If you supply a garment it can be embroidered for a cost of £6.

SIZING – READ CAREFULLY PLEASE
The polo shirts are pure cotton, wash very well, BUT are skimpy. Biff suggests going up one or even two sizes on what you would normally select. Available in standard rectangular shape (men or unisex), quite long in the body; or lady-fit, which is shorter and more shaped. Choose from M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL.
Sweat shirts are only available unisex: S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL.
Rugby shirts are available in men’s or women’s: S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL.

SACBR Logo on maroon shirt LDMB at Newport Show

Photos by Biff Patterson, Edric Broom

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Books For Bellringers

Are you looking for some practical, written help for yourself or your tower but don’t know what is out there? If so, Books for Bellringers may be what you need. It is a small collection of books aimed mostly at beginners but with some material for those learning methods. Towers can borrow the collection for a period of up to two months so that everyone has a chance to see what they might find useful. Individuals or towers can order copies of the books using the details in the catalogue supplied.

If you would like to borrow the collection please contact me at: or telephone 01939 291014.

Jad Bienek
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Tower Access Guidance Notes

The Towers and Belfries Committee of the Central Council has produced some guidance notes on the various ways we access towers. The notes cover the condition of stairs and ladders; handholds; lighting; doorways and trap doors; and some potential hazards.

The notes can be found at, and downloaded from, https://cccbr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/stairways.pdf

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Committee Meeting

The next Association committee meeting will be held on Sunday, 16 June 2024.

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