Here are the ringers of  St. Mary’s in THORNBOROUGH who rang the 5 bells from 9.30 to 10 o’clock and started the whole event.  Much later in the day, at the church of St. Lawrence with its 6 bells was WESTON UNDERWOOD who rang from 6.30 – 7pm.

Here are the happy bands for LECKHAMPSTEAD and St. Edmund’s at MAIDS MORETON

Here is a list of some of the towers and their times. It all started in THORNBOROUGH with St. Mary’s 5 bells at 9.30 – 10 o’clock. Then SHALSTONE St. Edward the Confessor with 5 bells 10.15-1045. Then STOWE’s Assumption Church with 6 bells from 10 o’clock -1030. The Assumption at LILLINGSTONE LOVELL 1045-11-15 with 5 bells. LECKHAMPSTEAD rang 11.15-11.45 at The Assumption church with 5 bells. St. Edmund’s 6 bells at MAIDS MORETON from 11 o’clock-11.30. BRADWELL’S St.Lawrence with 6 bells ringing from 12.30-1 o’clock. All Saints at LOUGHTON with 6 bells 12.45-1.15. SHENLEY’S St.Mary’s 6 bells 1 o’clock-1.30. St. Mary’s 8 bells at GREAT BRICKHILL who rang 2 o’clock -2.30. MILTON KEYNES Village rang 3.30-3.45 at All Saints with 8 bells. NEWPORT PAGNELL 4.15-4.45 at SS Peter & Paul with 8 bells.  St. Firmin’s 6 bells from 4.30-5 o’clock at NORTH CRAWLEY. The church of St. Laud at SHERINGTON rang 5 bells from 5 o’clock-5.30. EMBERTON’s All Saints with 6 bells from 5.15-5.45. WESTON UNDERWOOD rang from St.Lawrence and its 6 bells from 6.30-7 o’clock. And near the end of the day came STOKE GOLDINGTON who rang from 7 – 7.30 the 6 bells at St. Peters.

What a day.  WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT –  Well done to you all.

 This is the description of how the RforE Challenge of the ‘Rolling Ring’ was successfully rung throughout the day by the NORTH BUCKS Branch of the Oxford Guild

Thirty three towers from the North Bucks Branch of the Oxford Diocese Guild of Church Bell Ringers rang out for St George’s as part of the rolling ring challenge. The day begin at Thornborough the branches only steel ring of 5 bells, the day’s main organiser Linda was the first ringer to pull off at 9.30am and the ringers completed 30 minutes of ringing.

15 minutes later the bells in Buckingham could be heard. As the ringers at Thornborough stood their bells the visitors to the National Trust’s Capability Brown Gardens at Stowe had an extra special treat when the bells at the local parish church rang out prompty at 10 o’clock. So the pattern was set, the beautiful bells at Shallstone were next to ring and oh what a beautiful ring of 5 they are. The bells at Lillingstone Lovell were next followed by some special ringing at Maids Moreton, where the branches newest recruits who joined following the very successful New Year Open Day rang the bells, well done to each one of them!

Leckhamstead and Beachampton followed before the sound of Church bells reached the new town of Milton Keynes, known more for its roundabouts and concrete cows than its church bells. Never the less there are numerous ancient churches within Milton Keynes and the rolling ring weaved its way around them incorporating the surrounding villages as it headed east towards the M1: Bradwell, Loughton, Shenley Church End, Whaddon, Newton Longville, Calverton (following a wedding that took place within the church),Great Brickhill, Downs Barn (the newest and lightest ring of 8 bells in the branch), Simpson, Woughton-on-the Green, Wavendon, Milton Keynes Village and Great Linford.

Finally the sound of bells crossed the busy M1 to Newport Pagnell the home of iconic Aston Martin Works for more than 60 years before travelling on through North Crawley, Chicheley, Sherington, Emberton (where the Mayoress of Milton Keynes paid the ringers a visit), Clifton Reynes, Lavendon before reaching Olney, the home of the famous pancake race.

While noone is quite certain how the world famous Pancake Race at Olney started a couple of the stories are linked to the church bells: One story tells of a harassed housewife, hearing the shriving bell, dashing to the Church still clutching her frying pan containing a pancake. Another tells that the gift of pancakes may have been a bribe to the Ringer, or Sexton that he might ring the bell sooner; for ringing the bell signalled the beginning of the day’s holiday and enjoyment, no less than to summon the people to the service at which they would be shriven of their sins before the long Lenten feast.

After Olney the wave of sound turned back west travelling through Weston Underwood, Tryingham, Stoke Goldington before arriving at Hanslope. Hanslope’s historic tower can be seen from miles around, indeed if you are lucky enough to climb the tower on a clear day, you can see all the way to the Dunstable Downs. The day’s ringing ended at 7.45pm but in true bell ringing style the ringers retired to the local pub for a celebratory drink!

What a tremendous achievement WELL DONE to All the Wonderful Ringers

The sound of bells rang out across ENGLAND as part of the celebrations for ST.GEORGES’S DAY.  It was greeted with delight by so many and coverage of events by Regional Radio Stations and local newspapers with interviews are testament to the growing interest of a wider audience. There were towers that had ‘open day’ at some cities that proved very popular with the public. Then there was the challenge of  the ‘Rolling Ring’ where an entire Branch rolled out a ribbon of ringing across their area from early in the day to the early evening.  This was taken up by ten branches across the country and at the end of the day all declaring it a success and some even saying it was the best day’s ringing they had ever had.  All ages rang including Primary School children in West Sussex. From our magnificent cathedrals to delightful village churches.  What a day, what a day for ‘change ringing’ and long may it last.  THANK YOU ALL

In 1996, two ringers Roy Threadgold and Jenny now Hastings who at that time both lived in WETHERSFIELD in Essex were part of a band that rang their first peal on St. George’s Day at FINCHINGFIELD also in Essex.  50 years on the two ringers have been united to celebrate another ST.GEORGE’S DAY this time not only at Finchingfield but also Wethersfield and BRAINTREE. Here is the delightful village of Finchingfield with the church in the background where they were joined by others who all helped them celebrate this re union by ringing together on the same day – St. George’s Day 2016.

One of the many towers that joined in the Tewkesbury Branch ‘Rolling Ring’ challenge ringing out for ST.GEORGE’S DAY was the tower in the village of ASHCHURCH in Gloucestershire.  It was a great day of celebrations as not only the 8 bells of St. Nicholas rang out but the St. George’s Day was rounded off by a supper held in the village hall.  The ringing band are seen below.

The village of RIPPLE though strictly speaking in Worcestershire rings with the bells of TEWKESBURY and its church – St. Mary joined in the ‘Rolling Ring’ with its 6 bells. It is considered to be the largest medieval church in Worcestershire and was deemed by Simon Jenkins to be one of the 1000 best churches in England.  Below is the band that rang out from this tower and they obviously had a great day with every age having a go.

Throughout the day last Saturday the TEWKESBURY Branch rang across Northern Gloucestershire as part of getting England ringing for ST.GEORGE’S Day and what a success the day became.  It started in the morning at TEWKESBURY ABBEY and spread out right across the countryside. This magnificent building is the second largest parish church in England and has the largest Norman tower in existence housing the 13 bells, a suitable starting point for this special ringing challenge.  The ribbon of ringing rang on into the early hours of the evening but all declared it a successful day. And here are the happy band.

The Southern Branch of the DERBYSHIRE Association took up the challenge of the ‘Rolling Ring’ and a ribbon of ringing around their part of the county rang out as all the towers took part.  It was a great day with the ringers delighted at such an achievement and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Here is a great photo of the church of St. Michael & All Angels in STANTON BY DALE whose 8 bells took part in the morning session.

Church towers around BATH took part in ringing out for ST.GEORGE’S DAY. All Saints in Corston, Holy Trinity in Newton St Loe, St. Julian the Hospitaller in Wellow, Christ Church in Bath whose bells had been silent for some years, and magnificent Bath Abbey with its 10 great bells, all adding to the celebrations of the day.