Ringing Forums

But that is only £40 a week. Sounds cheap.

I don't argue with any of that.

Good news then. That approach might not only keep buildings open but do a lot to further ringing with a closer integration of buildings and local communities.

If I had seen that I had forgotten. So thank you. So going back to the start of the thread, 350 churches at risk is not too much of a worry (but perhaps depending on which ones are in the 350). I think we must be fearing that things might be worse, or much worse. I think the Big Worry must be that once things start to go they might gather momentum, become an accepted norm, and could be devastating. Perhaps not. I am good at catastrophising, if nothing much else.

Thank you. That is helpful. What I am struggling with, with this on other aspects of ringing, is getting much of a feeling for where we are going. Extent and time scales of closures still seems to be far from clear. It will probably differ in different parts of the country but might be anything from not much worse that is has been over recent years through significant to catastrophic. Chrystal ball anyone?

Tungsten bulbs used to be ok. Just had to plug them into the socket.

I don't ring peals but I think it matters for the quality of ringing. Looking back in old reports a lot of ringers rang relatively few peals and usually in simple methods. We seem to have lost that. Ringing lots of quarters helps, particularly on lower numbers, but I think you need peal ringing to get a proper grip of ringing, particularly on higher numbers. Using the two-course rule (you need two courses to settle in a touch) works ok for qps on eight but you are only just warming up in S Max.
I also worry that we are now starting to lose qp ringing. I recon most quality method ringing is now being done by retired folk who have been ringing for decades.
Because change has been so slow it tends to not get noticed. I am sure there are towers where the locals think that they are doing ok, perhaps meeting at least six on a Sunday morning and generally ringing some decent Doubles, but go back a few decades and it was perhaps a tower full with S Maj being rung, and the bells going up and down in rounds.
As far as tower bell peal ringing goes the numbers of peals rung might be holding up but the numbers of peal ringers is now in sharp decline. Whatever you do don't look at the PealBase bar charts if you want to carry on thinking that everything is ok, particularly the numbers of first pealers on tower bells..
I think that the decline in peal ringing has been driven by the unbalanced age demographic of learners but that seems to be a bit of a taboo, so I won't mention it.

There is a lot of cultural stuff in there:
Some method ringing bands having low regard to the quality of striking, particularly on relation the the rise and fall;
Ringers reluctant to fork put a few quid for The Comic;
Peal ringing in decline;
Recognition of the disintegration of the tower-based model of organisation (I regularly ring in three different diocese and don't belong anywhere).

The underlying challenge here is how do you change culture. Personally I have given up and just go with the flow, what little there is flowing at the mo. Of course others might well have some idea on how to bring about change in culture and behaviour. Need to get a bit of a shift on with it though. The water has almost run down the plug-hole.

How many churches with rings of bells are Grade II listed? How many churches with rings of bells are not listed at all?

I agree. The slow rate of closure over the next few years might make us complacent. Rather like with the railways once closure becomes normalised the rate of closure could be rapid.

Can we go back to the "if" in my first post. Are we talking Worcestershire? Any geographical clues from the photos; source or content?

Is his estimate of 350 churches at risk of closure realistic?

I was thinking that David might have restored the bells...

No idea really but if we are talking Worcestershire then David Beacham is a possibility.

Thank you for compiling the list. Just a couple of oddments: The "St Martin's Guild" is now just that, the rest of the title has been removed (to the best of my knowledge and belief).
I thought that The Martley Guild had been formally wound up some time ago but the Martley village web site seems to think it is still running, so not sure.

http://www.martley.org.uk/?page_id=795

I think that things have been relatively static for many decades. It would be interesting to hear from Guilds and Associations that have undergone significant restructuring and modifications to the way they operate to accommodate the changes that continue to take place around them. I know of a couple of high-profile and much quoted examples. There must be more.

Nothing that I can see. All looks a bit vague...
... anybody on here there?

After an hour or an hour and a half practice fabric face-coverings are definitely soggy, in my limited experience. I have been to a few practices where I have worn a face covering, woolly hat and three top layers, including a fleece.
At one session I felt that my body and head were getting a bit too warm but my extremities were too cold. I think there might have been a risk of cracking, or mini-thunderstorms, at the interfaces.

I have just finished a first read through the book. Top job. Every ringer should have one.

At a quick initial read it looks like the exercise exemption relates to the setting and not the act of exercising.

gyms and exercise facilities (including dance studios)

Have I missed something?