The Ely Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers (Ely DA)

Membership Management

The 2024 Ely DA Annual General Meeting agreed that the association should introduce an on-line system for membership management and we have chosen to use membermojo (https://membermojo.co.uk/).


From early November, members will (assuming we have an email address for them) start to receive emails from membermojo on our behalf, and they will be directed to the https://membermojo.co.uk/ web site for some membership matters. Please don’t be surprised or concerned by these emails - this note is intended to help confirm their authenticity.


We are doing this mainly to help District Membership Secretaries with the time consuming task of managing our membership lists and collecting subscriptions. The system also provides services for members, including automated subscription reminders, on-line payments, access to view and update the information we hold about you, a directory of members, and improved ways of keeping you up-to-date with news and events.


We hope that members will use the new system, and in particular pay their subscriptions on-line, because this will make life much easier for our membership secretaries. However members won’t have to interact with the new system if they don’t want to and will still be able to pay subscriptions to their district as they always have.


More information about all this will be available in November once the system is launched. In the meantime, if you have any questions please contact your District Membership Secretary or email membership@elyda.org.uk.

Association News

Ely DA Jigsaw Puzzel

Well in time for Christmas, the eagerly awaited Ely DA Jigsaw puzzle has arrived! This timeless puzzle will make a wonderful gift for any family member whether they are a ringer or not, and is exclusively available by emailing stepjigsaw@gmail.com and filling in the order form. Payment by bank transfer. Puzzles are available to collect in person from Stretham REC (Sat mornings 10-1.15, or Tues evenings 7.30-9pm) or can be mailed to you (£4 per puzzle). When they're gone, they're gone!.


Price £25 (plus P&P if required).

All profits go towards Stretham Ringing Education Centre, which has been providing ringing training to anyone who wants it since 2015, and provides almost 500 handling lessons, plus over 50 Learning the Ropes level 2 and 3 practice opportunities per year. Learners from all over the Association have used its facilities. The STEP appeal aims to provide two training bells and make the ringing room warmer.

Michael B Davies

We are sorry to report that Mike Davies from Histon died on 20 September after a long illness.  He was the Ely District's  CCCBR representative for many years and wrote a biography of Albert J Pitman, the well-known composer. His funeral will be on 16th October at 2.30pm at Histon.

Exhibition: Bellringing in Cambridge

The exhibition is running from Monday 16 September until Saturday 12 October in Michaelhouse cafe on Trinity St, just a few doors down from Great St Mary's. The exhibition is free. It celebrates the tercentenary of the Society of Cambridge Youths, bellringers at Great St Mary’s since 1724. It explains church bellringing in general so is of interest to non-ringers too, but in particular it talks about the Society’s activities over the last 300 years. You will see a huge variety of faces (some familiar!) and documents telling the story of the ringers, including eminent townspeople and those proficient in the ‘art’, how they developed not just their ringing but the lucrative business of touting their skills in exchange for money. At one stage a ringer could earn the equivalent of £6k a year! Also did you know that the bells were not routinely rung for Sunday services until 1928? Visit the exhibition and find out more! 

Central Council of Church Bell Ringers meeting report

Lynne Hughes, one of the Association's representatives to the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR) has written a useful report about the CCCBR meeting in Exeter over the weekend of 7th and 8th September 2024. 

Suffolk Guild NW District Open Day

Just over the border, our neighbours in the North West District of the the Suffolk Guild are having an open day on Saturday 28 September with about 30 towers open across the district to raise money to overhaul the bells at Drinkstone. Further details on the guild What;s On page, or here.

General Committee Meeting, 20 July

Bob Cox (Ely DA Chair) has produces some notes of the discussions at the 20 July meeting of the Association General Committee. These notes were originally posted to the Association Facebook Page.

RWNYC, 6 July 2024

Ely DA Young Ringers had two teams competing in the 6 bell Call Changes section of the Ringing World National Youth Competition held in London. We were delighted to come joint 3rd (Bengal Fen Tigers) and joint 8th (Siberian Fen Tigers), a demonstration of increase in skill, and in numbers of young ringers wanting to take part. Thanks to all the young ringers for their dedication and concentration, and their parents for supporting them, not only in getting them to London on the day, but also to the preceding practices held during the four months running up to the big day. As well as competing first thing at St James Garlickhythe, the squad were able to grab the wonderful and imposing bells at Bow, and some of our squad ventured to ring round the back end bells, including the tenor! Other towers were St Lawrence Jewry, Cripplegate, Foster Lane, and St Magnus London Bridge. A busy but rewarding day!

Draft AGM Minutes 2024

The Draft Minuites from the 2024 AGM held at Swavesey are now available. These may yet require further correction and will be formally approved at the 2025 AGM.


12 bell practice

The Association holds 12-bell practices at Great St Mary's(12) whenever there's a 5th Saturday in the month. This next happens on 31 August from 18:30-20:00. These are great opportunities to try ringing on 12 bells if you don't already, or to expand your abilities if you do. Everyone will at least get to ring rounds or call changes. Depending on the abilities of those present these practices will also involve opportunities to ring method, including Grandsire, Cambridge and Stedman.

Central Council of Church Bell Ringers

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers is the representative body for all who ring bells in the English tradition with rope and wheel. Two important issues are currently under discussion:

Affiliation fee consultation: the Central Council are considering arrangements for increasing the fee paid by associations that are affiliated to the council.  The fee is currently 20p per member and the proposal is to increase it to 40p more-or-less immediately and to continue to increase the fee up to 2030 until it reaches £1 per affiliated member. For Ely DA members this fee is paid by the association from Association membership fees.

Nominations for CCCBR Trustee: the council need to appoint a new Ordinary Trustee to join the Executive. This is an exciting opportunity to help shape ringing for the future and have an impact over the coming years.  Trustees will be able to help form policies and strategic direction for the Central Council and ringing generally. You don’t have to be an existing CCCBR member to become a trustee, and ringing ability is irrelevant - the council needs you opinion, enthusiasm and action! Nominations must be received by the CCCBR secretary no later than 27th July 2024.

Association Facebook Page

As well as the Facebook Groups run by each District, the Association has a  Facebook page at 

https://www.facebook.com/elyda.bellringers/

This is intended as a more formal communication channel than the groups for our members and the general public. It will carry announcements of, and reports about, most or all association, district and RATS (incl. Young Ringers) events and so act as a sort of ‘newsletter’ for the association. If you are a Facebook user then please take a look and click the ‘Follow” button so that you will be alerted to new posts.

Posting access to this Page can be made available to Association and District officers involved in organising events to simplify making announcements - see the Facebook Page policy for more information.

Cambridge Folk Festival

As part of the celebration of the 300th Anniversary of the founding of the Society of Cambridge Youths, they will be making a debut appearance at the Cambridge Folk Festival, 25-28 July. Using the Charmborough Ring and Handbells they will give visitors an experience of ringing on tower bells, a chance to have a go themselves and to participate in handbell workshops.

Ely DA Peal Week

Sue Marsden (Association Peal Secretary) writes:

I am proposing to hold an Ely DA Peal week from Saturday 26th October to Sunday November 3rd. The emphasis will be on 'Firsts' - First peal, first inside, first on 8, first as conductor etc, though not exclusively so - if you just fancy ringing a peal of something you are familiar with, that is fine as well.

If you would like to take part, then please do contact me (as peals_at_elyda.org.uk) or one of your District Ringing Masters, stating any prefered dates and methods. I will also need a number of experienced ringers to support this, so please let me know if you are available for any peals this week. I also need conductors! I will be contacting those who have called peals recently, but please don't wait to be asked. I also need suitable towers, so if you are a tower captain and your tower would be available, please also let me know.(If you would like to ring a peal but this week is not possible for you, then an alternative date could be arranged)

In the past, Peal Week was a very successful event, and I would like to re-establish this event in my final year as Peal Secretary.


[In this context,  peal is a non-stop sequence of a minimum of 5,000 changes where each sequence is different and (on seven or more bells) cannot be repeated. This takes around three hours to ring and is the bell ringers’ equivalent of a marathon, requiring concentration and stamina to complete the peal]

Ely DA AGM and inter-district striking competition 2024

The Association's 2024 AGM was held on Saturday 4 May at Swavesey by kind invitation of the Ely District. Prior to the meeting there was ringing at Rampton , Willingham and  Swavesey. 

Further details of the meeting will be available in due course,  but highlights include:

The association inter-district striking competition was held at at Over on the same day.  All four districts entered a team and the judge was Brian Meads from Coggeshall in Essex. Brian commented that the bells were quite difficult to ring well, with long and stretchy ropes making the front bells particularly tricky to handle. In summary he said that none of the bands were outstanding but there were no major clashes in the ringing, and the faults were evenly scattered. Team 1 (Huntigdon) test piece was well rung especially by the treble and tenor ringers. Team 2 (Wisbech) struggled and the ringing was more irregular. It improved durig the test piece. Team 3 (Ely) was similar to team 2 with a slightly better rhythm. Team 4 (Cambridge) was more uneven but there were no method mistakes.

Results. 1st Huntingdon 53 faults. 2nd Ely 83 faults, 3rd Wisbech 85 faults. 4th Cambridge 110 faults.

Bob Cox (Association Chairman) presenting the E. H. Mastin Trophy to Alban Forster (conductor of the striking competition winning band)

Annual Report

The Association's Annual Report for 2023 (and handbook for 2024) has been published. One printed copy is on its way to all ringing towers, as are printed copies for all members who requested one. An electronic copy of the report will be distributed through the Districts in due course.

Landbeach now a 6!

Landbeach ringers are pleased to announce that Landbeach is now a six! The new two trebles from Eijsbouts are a perfect tonal match for our 500 year old tenor and 1929 Taylor 3, 4 & 5. Visitors welcome at practice night, now Weds, 7-8:30pm and service ringing, 9:30am. On the second Weds of the month we go to Horningsea. See you soon! Preferably let us know before coming, just in case there has been an alteration.

Stretham Tower Enhancement Project 

The Stretham Tower Enhancement Project (STEP) aims to keep the tradition of bell ringing alive in Stretham with the installation of a glass screen for the ringing room, some much needed maintenance and the installation of two ‘Training Bells.

Home to the Association's Ringing Education Centre, the bells  of St James' church at Stretham have been ringing out across the village since the 18th century and they now require significant maintenance. At the same time, the installation of two new Training Bells (these are easy to ring model bells which make their noise via a computer) will provide a tremendous aid to safe and enjoyable teaching, especially of children. The installation of a full-height glass screen across the top of the ringing room balcony in St will transform the experience of ringing there from freezing endurance to one of pleasant light comfort!

Follow the progress of the project on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/StrethamBells and keep up-to-date with progress on raising the needed £45,000 on their JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/page/stretham-step1710494742422. 

Association 10 ad 12 bell practices

As well as events organised locally by the Districts, the Association itself organises events including practices on 10 and 12 bells. These are often on fifth Fridays or Saturday in any month that has them, but sometimes have to be moved. For 2024, these practices will be:

Unless mentioned otherwise these practices are open to anyone who can handle a bell independently and everyone will at least get to ring rounds or call changes. Depending on the abilities of those present these practices will also involve opportunities to ring method, including Grandsire, Cambridge and Stedman.

For any questions or enquiries about ay of this please contact the Association Ringing Master as rm@elyda.org.uk.

Society of Cambridge Youths 300th Aniversary

The Society of Cambridge Youths are celebrating their foundation 300 years ago in 1724 and the tercentenary of the first peal by the Society, rung at Great St Mary's, Cambridge on 5th November 1725. The first proposal for a diocesan association was made by the gentleman bellfounder Gervas Holmes in 1882. Although by then better known as a member of the Cambridge University Guild, his membership of the Cambridge Youths began while he was a student in 1856. The founding meeting of the Association was held at Cambridge in 1897 and presided over by the vicar of Great St Mary's.

For the 300th Celebrations, the society has published the full towerbell peal records for the Cambridge Youths and Great St Mary's on BellBoard. To date there have been seven peals rung jointly for the Ely Diocesan Association and the Cambridge Youths. The first was in 1951 and the most recent in 1994. Four were at Great St Mary's, one at Little Shelford, and the other two at Shoreditch and St Mary, Redcliffe. The EDA itself has rung a further 51 peals at Great St Mary's. The first was in 1905, and the most recent was on the 4th January this year.

In order to recognise the past and present connections with the Ely Diocesan Association, the Society would be delighted if any members were able to attend the celebration dinner, which will be held in the Great Hall of Trinity College, Cambridge on Saturday 21st September 2024. We will be publishing details of further activities via the Cambridge Youths website. There is also a book, Foolish Youths and Substantial Rewards: a History of Ringing in Cambridge, available for pre-order through the Ringing World shop for delivery in September.

On-line membership management

The Association’s Administration Sub-committee is investigating the idea of on-line membership management for the Association. See On-line membership management for more details.

Someone from the  Sub-committee plans to be at every Annual District Meeting in January 2024 to talk briefly about this and to take the views of members. In addition, everyone is welcome to comment directly by emailing webmaster@elyda.org.uk. 

The sub-committee have a list of features that they would like to see available in any system adopted by the Association.

Wendy Piercy

We are sorry to pass on the sad news that Wendy Piercy died 0n 20 September. Wendy lived just outside the association boundary in Eaton Socon, but used to ring regularly in the Huntingdon District and was a member of the Ely DA.

Peterborough Diocesan Guild 100th anniversary

In 2024 the Peterborough Diocesan Guild will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of its creation. During the year a number of events are being planned, there will be some aims and challenges for members to aspire to, and merchandise for sale. 

The events are taking place one in each month, and usually on the second weekend, mostly Saturdays.  The full list of events is available of their website at https://pdg.org.uk/pdg-100. A list of the merchandise available for the anniversary can be found at https://pdg.org.uk/pdg-100/centenary-year-merchandise. 

Association Events

There are a number of semi-regular Association  events which will be of interest to the wider membership:

Advertise your tower open day with the Ely DA banner

If you are organising an open day at your tower or having a presence at local fetes or other events, the Association Mobile Demonstration Bell, Display Stand, Hand-out Leaflets and Advertising Banner are excellent ways of attracting attention and making people more aware of ringing and its benefits.  

The mobile demonstration bell, display stands and banner are available to borrow. More information here.