News

• January 23rd 2020   Registration is now available for the Spring Training Day which takes place based in Cirencester on 14 March. This year the meeting venue is Cirencester College which is a change from previous years. Also if you take along your own cup then the tea and coffee will be free. Courses on offer range from Elementary to Plain Bob Minor plus an additional one for young ringers. The closing date is 2 March. Online registration is available here. Alternatively full course details and an application form are available to download and print.
• January 8th 2020   The next practice for the G & B Youth Team is on Saturday 25 January, meet at 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start, kindly hosted by Dursley in the Wotton under Edge Branch. Advance Notice: the meeting next month will likely be on 29 February, venue to be announced.
• January 8th 2020   On Saturday 18 January will be held the first practice for the Foundation Youth Team. Starting at 2pm, it is being hosted by Minety in the Swindon Branch (SN16 9PT). Ringing will finish at 4pm.
  This practice is aimed at those young ringers aged under 19 on 31 August 2020 who can handle a bell to rounds without assistance on 6 bells or more. The practice which is going to be managed by Bridget Lazenby and Kay Hodges will cater to eligible young ringers of the G&B regardless of whether or not they have previously been involved in the main G&B Youth Team. There will be opportunities for young ringers to ring Rounds and Call Changes, Plain Hunting and Plain Bob up to Minor.
• November 14th 2019   On Saturday 9 November the young ringers in the Association attended a Training Day organised by Ian Bucknell. There were 33 students, divided into 6 groups, and they tackled everything from Rounds to 8 spliced. A full report with pictures is available here.
• November 4th 2019   The G&B Firsts Fortnight and Peal & Quarter Peal Festival finished (nominally) on Sunday 3 November. Firsts Fortnight celebrates anything which someone has done for the first time. The achievements are entered into the list by a Branch Officer and appear on this page.
  Peal and Quarter Peal performances should be submitted to Bellboard in the usual way but first linked to the G&B 2019 P&QPF Bellboard event. Once logged on, click on 'Link Perfs', then add a new performance and enter the details as normal. At the completion of the festival all the performances will be submitted for publication together.
• October 5th 2019   The Association's Insurance Policy document has been updated following renewal of the insurance.
• September 30th 2019   The latest edition of Swindon Branch's quarterly newsletter Belfry View is now on this site. It includes amongst other things reports on a re-visit to Rodbourne Cheney after a long absence, Lydiard Millicent's tercentenary and supermodels at Lydiard Tregoze! There is also a list of peals and quarters and details about the forthcoming AGM.
• July 9th 2019   The Ringing World National Youth Contest took place in Liverpool on Saturday 6 July. The G&B Team, despite a lack of experience, were placed 5th out of the 24 teams who entered. The overall winners were a band representing Oxford DG. The band and the rest of the group made full use of the ringing opportunities available. A full report with photos is available here.
• July 5th 2019   The latest edition of Strike Note, the quarterly Chippenham Branch Newsletter, is now available on the site. This issue includes reports on the Ring and Ramble, Skittles Evening and the Branch business meeting as well as the usual reports and peal / quarter peal lists.
• April 23rd 2019   Further items have been uploaded to the website. Everyone having an obituary or simply recorded as having passed away in any Annual Report back to 1898 is now listed on the site. This includes the 'Toll of the Great War' list in the 1920 Report plus some additions as shown in the Central Council Roll of Honour.
• April 13th 2019   The unapproved minutes of the recent Association AGM are availablehere