Branch News

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Contents

For training news & events please check out the Branch Ringing School and Training News pages.

New Year's Day Ringing & Refreshments

Advance Warning!

Cholsey will host the 2025 New Year Ringing & Refreshments on Wednesday, 1st January 2025, from 10:30AM to 12:30PM. All members are very welcome!

ONB Skittles & Supper Evening

The branch Skittles & Supper Evening will be held in Wallingford Sports and Social Club on Saturday, 9th November 2024.

Soft drinks will be provided, but please remember to bring your own alcohol.

Please send names and food choices to Mandy Winters (and pay online) NO LATER THAN Sunday 27th October (see the poster for contact details).

All proceeds to branch bell restoration projects.

ONB Committee Meeting (Sunday 6th October)

A Committee Meeting will be held online (by Zoom) at 7.30pm on Sunday, 6th October 2024.

Every tower within the Branch is invited to send a member to represent them.

Cholsey ringers local outing (5th October)

Jenny Jeskins of Cholsey has asked me to let you know that the Cholsey ringers are having a local outing on Saturday 5th October.

Starting at 10.00am, they are visiting Chalgrove, Benson, Dorchester and Warborough. If anyone would like to go on the outing, please contact Jenny Jeskins .

Bellringers Songs of Praise (8th Sept)

John Hibbert is organising a Bellringers’ Songs of Praise service at St. Mary’s, East Ilsley on Sunday 8th September at 6.00pm.

ONB 6-bell Striking Competition

The branch striking competition was hosted on the morning of Saturday 15th June by Radley. The running order was:

  1. Cholsey
  2. Radley
  3. Blewbury
  4. North Moreton
  5. Wantage
  6. Wallingford
  7. Abingdon
  8. Youth Team

This year we had a record 8 teams participating in the branch striking competition. These were drawn from seven tower teams and an excellent and very spirited youth team, complete with their own identity bibs! The new format of a Saturday morning with refreshments, but without the addition of a formal annual meeting, seems to be universally popular. I think this is how we will continue in future years.

The judges Jo and Jonathan Cresshull arrived early with their black labrador puppy Evie, who seemed to be quite at home with the proceedings! No doubt Evie will be very used to the sound of bells during the coming years. After ringing up and a plain course of Grandsire, Jo and Jonathan seemed satisfied that they knew the bells and settled themselves out of sight behind the organ to mark the teams.

Without exception, each team displayed a sense of pre performance nerves, and perhaps it is just as well that we aren’t so nervous about our Sunday service ringing! I won’t go into detail about each team here, except to say how delighted I was to see all of the teams throwing themselves into the competition and having a fun time.

Wantage team captain accepting the trophy.

Congratulations to the Wantage team, who once again demonstrated that focusing on accurate striking pays dividends.

Refreshments in the church hall.

The church hall provided the perfect venue for socialising and enjoying the outstanding running buffet provided by Daphne and her team. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day so enjoyable. I know that at least one team is already practising for next year, and it would be great to see 8 or even more teams entering next year!

Old North Berks Branch Outing & Barbecue (6th July)

Many thanks to everyone who attended the ringing outing on Saturday and also to those who attended the BBQ. Both events were enjoyable and good fun.

Also, it was a time to say a very big thank you to Naomi and Stuart Gibson for hosting the BBQ for the last time at their house which they have done for the last twenty years !

In addition, thanks must go also to Philip and Janette Roberts for organising the ringing outing. This was their swan song too. However, we now have a vacancy for an organiser(s) of the annual ringing outing - please don’t be shy !

There will be more to come about next year’s arrangements in due course - a time to do things a little differently perhaps. The BBQ will still take place but may well become a lunchtime and afternoon event. Similarly, the outing may well become a separate event and move to another date.

10:00 - 11:00 MORETON IN MARSH St David 8 (10-0-14) T
11:15 - 12:00 BROADWELL St Paul 6 (6-0-4)
12:15 - 13:30 LUNCH - The Bell, Stow on the Wold
13:30 - 14:30 STOW ON THE WOLD St Edmund 8 (27-2-4) T
14:45 - 15:30 GREAT RISSINGTON St John the Baptist 6 (11-1-3) T GF
16:15 - 17:15 BROADWELL St Peter and St Paul (plus tea) 8 (15-2-12) T GF

Yes, there are two Broadwell villages/towers)!

Old North Berks Branch Mini Outing (24th April)

Please see the schedule (below and in poster above) for the outing on Saturday April 24th.

10:00-10:45 Drayton St Leonard 6 (6-0-19)
11:15-11:45 Warborough 8 (10-0-14)
12:00-13:45 LUNCH - The George Hotel, Dorchester on Thames
Please park at the hotel or at the car park by the bridge upon entering Dorchester NOT outside the abbey.
14:00 - 14:45 Dorchester Abbey 8 (16-2-11)

Stallpits Mini Ring (16th June)

As part of the Goring Gap Festival the Stallpits Mini Ring will be in the Rectory Garden, High Street, Goring, RG8 9AG, on Sunday 16th June from 10.30 to 12.30. If you fancy a “grab” please come along.

Ring & Ride (6th April)

Charles and Lindsay have arranged a Ring and Ride event in April. It is not intended to be a mad dash, timings should be generous but there will be a schedule to adhere to.

The ride will start and finish in Hungerford, taking in approx 30 miles and visiting four different towers.

If this sounds like fun you can find more information on the Event poster (pdf).

Branch Annual General Meeting

The meeting minutes (pdf) are now available.

This year we held our first face to face AGM since 2019, following a new format now that the branch striking competition is being held as a separate event in June:

10.00 - 10.45 am General ringing in Long Wittenham
11.00 - 11.45 am General ringing in North Moreton
12.00 pm AGM in North Moreton Village Hall
1.00 pm Lunch and social time in North Moreton Village Hall

February Committee Meeting (18th February)

The February Committee Meeting was held online at 7.30pm on Sunday, 18th February.

The meeting minutes (pdf) are now available.

Please note that this meeting was originally scheduled for the following Sunday.

Extraordinary General Meeting of the Old North Berks Branch

The meeting minutes (pdf) are now available. The minutes of all branch meetings are available from the Minutes page.

An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Old North Berks Branch was held on Sunday, 14th January 2024 at which a proposal to increase the Annual Subscription to the Guild and Branch to £15 was accepted .

This equates to £10 to the Guild (of which £3 is given to the Branch) and £2.50 to go to branch restoration projects. The remaining £2.50 will be used to make donations of £20 to church PCCs to contribute to heating and lighting costs, which have been incurred at branch events other than those held on the usual practice night.

Therefore the annual subscription for Guild and Branch membership will be £15 per member from January 2024 until further notice.

Subscriptions are now due and need to be paid by your tower secretary or treasurer to Stuart Gibson by the end of March latest.

New Year's Day Ringing & Refreshments

Drayton hosted the Old North Berks Branch New Year Ringing & Refreshments on Monday, 1st January 2024, from 10:30AM to 12:30PM.

Page last updated: 24th September 2024.