Hello everyone

It was a bumper district practice at Stoke St Milborough on Saturday 20 June!

For those interested, Ashley Smith provided a demonstration of the Stoke St Milborough ringing simulator.  His eager students were then able to ring plain hunt, plain bob doubles, a course of Yorkshire Surprise Major and two leads of Glasgow Surprise Major on the simulator before the start of the district practice on open bells.

Twenty-three of us attended the practice on the 8 bells of St Milburga, Stoke St Milborough, led by Ringing Master, Mark Gilham.


It was great to see not only a good turnout of Stoke St Milborough ringers but ringers from across the district, all keen to catchup with friends and make the most of the practice in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere.

We practiced quite a variety of methods that were requested:

• Call changes on 8
• Plain Bob Triples
• Superlative Surprise Major
• Grandsire Triples
• Yorkshire Surprise Major
• Stedman Triples
• Bristol Surprise Major

Part-way through the practice we took a break for tea and cake, followed by a brief business meeting. Julie Quinn of Cuckfield was proposed as a non-resident life member by Paul Wells and seconded by Mark Gilham.  Penny Bellis of Stoke St Milborough was proposed as a member by Ashley Smith and seconded by Sue Rees.  Paul Cross of Ludlow was proposed as a member by Tim Hughes and seconded by Rosie Marshall.  Julie, Penny and Paul’s election was agreed unanimously.

Michael Carding provided an overview of Shropshire Association Centenary events over the coming months, including the Centenary Service at St Chad’s, Shrewsbury in July, walking tour and mobile belfry in August, and open towers in September.  Details of events will be available on the Shropshire Association of Church Bellringers website.

Mark Gilham then provided a brief summary of future Church Stretton District events, including the Guild Competition Day on 18 July, the Ringing Festival (‘RingFest 2026’) on 15 August and the District Outing to Shropshire and North Wales on 12 September.

Ringing resumed after the meeting, although there was plenty of cake to keep everyone fortified!

We do hope you’ll join us for RingFest 2026 which will be at St John’s, Bishop’s Castle, on Saturday 15 August, 10.30am ’til 4.30pm.  We’d like bands from across the district to showcase their ringing in a non-competitive way, either on St John’s tower bells, on the ‘Peals on Wheels’ mini-ring or both.  Is your band short of a ringer short of a few ringers for the RingFest?  No problem – borrow some ringers on the day.

Best wishes

Neil


Neil Pirie
Church Stretton District Secretary
Hereford Diocesan Guild of Bellringers

07970 276580
[email protected]


Website: www.hdgb.org
Follow the Church Stretton District on WhatsApp and Facebook.

Contact us through this website or through our social media channels to find out more...

Another appearance for a Shropshire tower on Bells on Sunday! This time, Morville near Bridgnorth was featured on Sunday 31 May 2026 with an excerpt from a recent quarter peal of Nailstone Surprise Major.

Click here to listen to the full recording

We are pleased to report that Radio 4 has today broadcast the bells of St Mary the Virgin in Bromfield, Shropshire. The original recording was made by Ashley Smith on the fourth Sunday of January during the usual monthly ringing ahead of the 11:15 service. The extract you can hear was taken from a touch of Cambridge Surprise Minor which involved the regular Sunday service band members. Bromfield is only the fourth Shropshire church to feature on Bells on Sunday since recordings went digital in 2014, the others being Shrewsbury St Chad's, Hodnet and Stoke St Milborough.

Click here to listen to the recording through BBC Sounds

The anniversary to mark 140 years since the formation of the Hereford Guild of Bellringers fell on 2 March 2026. During the day, ringers throughout the Guild area assembled to ring out in celebrations of this event.

Members and regular visitors to Stoke St Milborough rang a quarter peal of 1440 changes of Cambridge Surprise Minor in the morning at St Milburga's. In the evening, we reassembled with other members of the local band and friends to ring multiple touches of 140 changes at St Mary the Virgin in Bromfield. Some of the performances included notable 'Firsts' for certain ringers and everyone had an enjoyable time trying out some unusual compositions and combinations of methods

You can view our performances below by clicking through the gallery and they are all entered into the dedicated event page on Bellboard here 

On Monday 23 February 2026, eight ringers from the Shropshire area rang for an hour at Stoke St Milborough in honour of St Milburga, whose feast day is today.

Our ringing included a plain course (224 changes) of St Milburga of Wenlock Surprise Major, the method having been devised in 2025 and previously rung at Much Wenlock. This was the first time most of the ringers had rung the method. 

Click this link to view the performance on Bellboard

You can also listen to a short excerpt of the ringing below or by clicking this link to Youtube

224 changes of St Milburga of Wenlock Surprise Major shown as a circular pattern, created by generating a radial graph in Microsoft Excel.

It can be viewed here on Complib in standard layout.

Stoke St Milborough bell ringers have made their first contribution to the Hereford Guild's aim of achieving 140 Firsts over the course of its 140th anniversary year. With a band made up of regular participants in our Wednesday morning advanced 8-bell practice, we rang Pudsey Surprise Major at Morville, a first in method for Jenny Ferguson and a first of turning in the tenor to a Major method for Ashley Smith.

You can view this and all of the other achievements in the 140 Firsts initiative here on Bellboard: ​

Hereford Diocesan Guild — 140 'Firsts'

At Stoke St Milborough, we will be very happy to help ringers of all levels throughout the Guild to achieve a first during the year ahead. Our bells are very available for performances and we have ringers who will happily participate in Quarter Peals and Peals both here and anywhere else where we can be of assistance. So if you have an ambition to tick off your own First this year, don't hesitate to contact us if you think we might be able to help you achieve it.

Recorded on Wednesday 31 December at our weekly advanced 8-bell practice. 

Happy New Year to all our regular ringers and followers! 
​