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pdgcbr.bsky.social
PDGCBR
@pdgcbr.bsky.social
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Local charity providing information & support to members and friends of the Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers. Covering towers and ringing in Northamptonshire, Rutland and Peterborough.
www.pdg.org.uk
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pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The regular Thursday quarter peal group rounded off the current organisation with a quarter of Stedman Triples at Woodford. It's an excellent but tricky method and it was Andrew's first as conductor.
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Northamptonshire
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The tower and spire of Woodford church stands out against a blue sky. The photo is taken from the shadow of houses and we're also looking down the slope to the church. There are railings between the road and the churchyard. The tower is of local stone and is quite plain, we can see 3 stages. There is a small window in the second stage and a set of louvres in the 3rd stage. There is a carved parrapet and pinnacels on each corner before the spire continues upwards. There are 2 lights in the octagonal spire. The spire is about the same colour, a reddish grey, as the tower itself. We can't see the church, it is hidden by the trees and house to the left of the tower.
November 28, 2025 at 5:08 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Tower of the Day
Gayton has a ring of 6 bells, which are rung from the ground floor. The heaviest bell weighs 684 kg. Three bells date from 1726, then one each from 1727, 1821 & 1931. There is no regular practice night; they are rung occasionally
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Tower #Northamptonshire
Photo: John Salmon We are looking at the church from the East end. In front of us is the chancel and 2 side aisles, with a pitched roof to the central element and a 5 light window. On either side are the side aisles, which appear to be unsymmetrical, with the right hand side being wider and a more shallow pitched sloping roof than the right. The tower is at the far end of the church. We can see an edge of a window just over the roof line and an upper stage, with 2 louvres before the pinnacles and crenelations. The whole church is of am ironstone, with the varied colour of stone that usually displays. The sky is blue, but there are bare branches on the tree to the left of the tower, suggesting early spring. The photograph is taken from under a tree, as we are ins shadow, as are the gravestones immediately in front of us.
November 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Tower of the Day
Fotheringhay church is an ornate building that was once larger. There are 6 bells, the oldest of which is from 1595. The heaviest bell weighs 529 kg. Practice is Friday, in rotation with other towers in the benefice.
#Tower #Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Nothamptonshire
Photo by Simon Pearce A stunning black and white image. Fotheringhay church stands in a field, against a sky with the sun peeking out from behind a cloud. The church is highly distinctive, with the lantern on top of the tower. We can't see a lot of details of the church, with the light behind it, but there is a hint of light coming through windows. In an aerial view, we can see the church sat in the green church yard with fields beyond. From here it's possible to see how the octogon sits on top of the square tower and how truncated the church is, with no chancel, someone's thrown up a wall with some big old buttresses.
November 26, 2025 at 9:17 PM
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Recent Ringing
Congratulations to the band at Marston St Lawrence that rang a quarter peal to celebrate Mick Scott's 80th, rung by 2 daughters and a grandson. It was Conor's first quarter, Lisa's first on an inside bell and Richard's first as conductor
#Bells
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In this picture of Marston St Lawrence, taken by Chris Droffats, the photo is taken from the West end. We are looking at the 4 light west window, in the west end wall. The is a side aisle with a square headed window in the end to the left. It looks like the nave is slightly higher than the chancel and the tower is beyond. It is off a mottled stone, a mix of cream and shades of brown. There is a neatly tended churchyard and a row of grave markers.
November 25, 2025 at 9:27 PM
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Recent Ringing
The regular Thursday night band rang a quarter peal of Plain Bob Major at Long Buckby. It was Andrew's first quarter peal on 8 bells.
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Northamptonshire
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Long Buckby church stands behind a line of pollarded trees, looking like green lollipops. The tower is square and of a coarse cut ruddy stone, with paler more finely cut stone for the corners of the tower and window mouldings. The tower looks quite rough hewn. There's a black circular dial clock on one face, a crenelated parapet and a tall, white flagpole. glimpsed through the trees is a modern extension to the side of the tower, but we can see very little of the church itself. The sky is blue with a few puffs of white cloud.
November 25, 2025 at 8:56 PM
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Recent Ringing
In the first peal of 2 rung on Saturday, a band rang at Market Deeping. They wished a speedy recovery to one of their ringing colleagues who has an injured shoulder - too much ringing perchance?
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Lincolnshire
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In a photo from the church listing on A Church Near You, this is an aerial shot of the church at Market Deeping. The church is in the sun and the stone is a light cream. For a change, we can see the roof, looking a lot like lead (but might be a plastic these days). The tower is square and tall, topped with a crenelated parapet and a tiny little turret top that must be barely visible from the ground.
November 25, 2025 at 8:41 PM
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Recent Ringing
A peal in a method called Uppingham was rung at Uppingham. There are lots of methods named after places and it can be fun to ring them at the place they are named for.
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Rutland
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Uppingham church is hemmed in by buildings and trees, making it very difficult to get a good view of it. This is taken from almost the base of the tower, looking up at it. The tower is of a ruddy stone, and is square with corner buttresses. It is topped with a slender spire which is piercing the bright blue sky. Photo by Judith Osborne
November 25, 2025 at 8:25 PM
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Recent Ringing
There was a peal at Weldon at the weekend, of a method called Zelah Surprise Major.
Recently I said there wasn't a lot of ringing at Weldon, seems I may have been wrong!
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Northamptonshire
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Weldon church is built of a very pale, finely cut stone. There are lots of crenenlations. The tower is to the left, then there's a nave and side aisle to the right and a small porch on this side and the chancel at the far right, all of which have crenelations along their roof lines. The tower, in contrast has a plan parapet and just plain pinnacles around a wooden lantern thingy on the top. There are a lot of grave markers and the sky is mostly light grey clouds, with the odd splashes of blue. It feels like early evening.
November 24, 2025 at 6:47 PM
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Recent Ringing
A peal was rung at Maidwell. It was in 7 methods. Part of me thinks there should be a word with the initial letters, but I'm at a 4 and no more.
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Northamptonshire
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Maidwell church, pictured in winter, as the trees are bare. The tower is quite squat and almost butch. Fairly simple in construction, with a rough stone finish, it's not elegant or refined. There's a door in the West end, a pair of windows above, there's clock and a pair of louvres.
November 20, 2025 at 9:38 PM
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Recent Ringing
There was a quarter peal of Little Bob Major at Irthlingborough. It was rung in memory of "Bill" (Victor Gooch) brother of Ben, who does after a long battle with Dementia.
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Northamptonshire
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Photo from Church website: https://nenecrossings.org.uk/our-churches/ This is an odd looking church. You can't see it easily from here, but the tower is almost detached, with just a low passageway connecting the church and tower. It was originally home to a college of monks. The tower and church are of mixed stone construction, with ironstone giving the distinctive reddish colouring. The octagon is supposed to have been used as a navigational beacon for crossing the Nene. We see the tower poking above evergreens trees which mostly obscure the church from this vantage point. The tower had a set of louvres visible then the octagon and a short lead roofed turret topping the thing off. The sky of blue and the grass of the churchyard is neatly trimmed.
November 20, 2025 at 9:26 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The bells at Weldon were rung for a quarter peal of Plain Bob Triples by a band ringing at a number of tower across the area. We hope they enjoyed their visit.
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Northamptonshire
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Weldon church is built of a very pale, finely cut stone. There are lots of crenenlations. The tower is to the left, then there's a nave and side aisle to the right and a small porch on this side and the chancel at the far right, all of which have crenelations along their roof lines. The tower, in contrast has a plan parapet and just plain pinnacles around a wooden lantern thingy on the top. There are a lot of grave markers and the sky is mostly light grey clouds, with the odd splashes of blue. It feels like early evening.
November 20, 2025 at 9:14 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
A band rang quarters at a number of towers on Wednesday. Grandsire Triples was rung on the impressive eight at Titchmarsh.
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Northamptonshire
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This is one of my favourite views. Titchmarsh chuch stands on the edge of a field, the tower facing us. The tower stands very tall, with 4 stages and a very tall set of pinnacles to top it off. The lower stage has a door and ornate carving on either side. There's then a fine window before a blind window in the 3rd stage. The 4th stage has a large set of louvres before there is more ornate carving on the parapet and pinnacles. The who is if a clean cut pale stone. We see the roofs of the village beyond the church and several large yewtrees on either side. In spring there are sheep in the field. In this picture the grass is cropped, although it does look like there have been moles.
November 20, 2025 at 9:08 PM
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Recent Ringing
A peal was rung at Tpwcester at the weekend. It was of Stedman (the very best of methods).
It was the 250th peal that Ann & John have rung together. Congratulations to them both.
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Towcester #northamptonshire
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Towcester, an ironstone tower with some limestone banding either side of the West window. The tower is partially obscured by the large evergreen bushes in the vicarage garden. The tower has 4 stages, a clock in the 3rd and the louvres in the 4th. There are crenelations. The church is behind the tower, the north aisle is partially visible. The sky is a uniform grey and it looks a bit chilly.
November 19, 2025 at 8:51 PM
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Saturday sees Towcester and Northampton branches holding their meetings.
Towcester start at Wicken at 10:30, with a the option of a lunch at the local pub. Then Northampton branch are at Abington from 2:30. All welcome!

#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing #Events
November 19, 2025 at 8:36 PM
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Recent Ringing
The bells at Greetham were reinstalled earlier in the year. They were rung for Armistice day, which is appropriate as the bells were installed in 1923 as the village war memorial.
#Bells #BellRinging
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Framed by trees and against a entreating sky we see Greetham church. The tower is square with a broached spire. The church consists of a nave with side aisle and a chancel. The pitch of the nave is very much shallower than the chancel, which we can see is tiled. The tower has a roof line that is much higher and sharply pitched. It is all of a creamy stone
November 16, 2025 at 3:24 PM
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Recent Ringing
The bells at Wadenhoe were put through their paces this week, ringing a peal in 42 different methods, all of a group called 3rds place delight minor - sounds delightful!
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing
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This is an unusual church. The tower is to the right, the body of the church is to the left and away from us. We can see 2 faces of the tower. In 3 stages, it dates from the 12thC. The tower has an unusual pitched roof and there are only a few small windows in tower's west face. In the lower stage of the North face of the tower we can see 3 blind arches of an arcade. Of the church we can see the North side aisle and porch above wich is a short clerestory of 3 bays. The church is of a brown/grey rubble stone. The church is set on top of a slope and we can see the fields of Northamptonshire spread out beyond the church. There are trees framing the church on either side of our view and the sky is an almost cloudless blue. The grass in front of us is closely mown and slightly parched. The image makes me think of a hot August.
November 16, 2025 at 2:28 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The Thursday evening quarter peal band rang a method called Netherseale at Spratton this week.It was the first in the method for Pam, Liz & David. Well done to all 3.
#Bells #BellRinging #Ringing
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Spratton church is pictured with the tower towards us and the church mostly hidden. The tower is square, decorated and topped with a spire. The tower has 3 stages, the lowest has a door that's partly hidden and 3 blind arches broad above the door. The next stage has a complete band of blind arcade and a blue clock with gold numerals on the 2 faces we can see. The third stage has the louvres and blind arches to each side. There is then a crenelated parapet before the spire extends to the top of the image. The majority of the tower is from ironstone in a range of red/brown. The parapet and spire are in a greyer coloured stone. The sky is a mixed blue with fine cloud in ornate patterns. The church is bracketed by trees on either side, in full leaf.
November 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Peterborough hold their 8 bell practice at St. Castor on friday evening.
Saturday morning Wellingborough hold their surprise practice at Earls Barton, then Bozeat in the afternoon.
Daventry and Culworth are at Byfield & Chacombe before joining at Cropredy (Oxon) in the evening.
#Bells #BellRinging
November 13, 2025 at 6:33 PM
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Recent Ringing
It's been a busy weekend at Pattishall, after the quarter on Friday, a peal was rung on Saturday. It was the first peal on major on the bells that were augmented in 2023.
#Bells #BellRinging
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We're looking at the West end of Pattishall church. It is above us, in a raised churchyard, with a grassy churchyard on a rising slope. The West end comprises a tower and 2 side aisles visible. A sandstone construction with ironstone facings lit by a setting sun, it is golden. The tower consists of 3 stages, the lower having a door and dual lancet window. The mid section has the clock (~7:50 by the way). The upper section has an opening divided into 2 louvres. There's then a small space before the top of the tower. The sky is a clear blue of a summer evening.
November 9, 2025 at 9:21 PM
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Recent Ringing
The bells of Great Doddington rang out over the weekend for the wedding of Daniel Hill & Lucy Francis. Congratulations to both of them. A peal was rung after the ceremony.
#Bells #BellRinging
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Great Doddington tower is peering at us from between two large yews, as if it is shy! The tower is quite plain and rustic. It is square and has heavy corner buttresses. There's a hint of a more ornate doorway showing over some gravestone. The tower is plain and built of a coarse cut grey stone. The church is behind, we can see the window of a side aisle and some windows in a nave wall above the side aisle roof. The sky is a watery blue but the sun is currently shining. Picture from the PCC website
November 9, 2025 at 9:10 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
A peal was rung at Stanwick in a new method, named for Remembrance day, Ode Of Remembrance Treble Place Minor. The bells were half muffled, where a leather pad is placed on half the clapper resulting in a haunting echo effect.
#Bells #BellRinging
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Against clear blue background, the octagonal spire of Stanwick pierces the sky. The spire is central to the image, with an decorated porch facing us, there is 1 large window of the nave is visible before the remainder of the church is hidden by a large bush at the right of the image. A large tree is to the left of the image, standing out clearly against the clear sky. The sun is to the right of the photographer and the church is in full sun. Photo by Chris Droffats
November 9, 2025 at 8:50 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
Rothwell have 12 bells, that provide different combinations that can be rung. The chose to ring a quarter peal for Remembrance day on the minor eight, add the effect of half muffling and that must have sounded very mournful.
#Bells #BellRinging
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Against a deep blue sky, with white puffy clouds, we see Rothwell's tower. This is mostly ironstone, with some banding in different shades of cream to russet. The tower has 4 levels. The lowest has the door and 4/5 sets of columns & arches carved into it. The second is banded, but plain. The third has the clock and a window (the ringing room) and the 4th has the double louvres. There are pinnacles on the corners of the tower and a flag pole/weather vane thing sticking up from the middle of the tower. The tower is viewed up a slope and appears to be leaning away from us. The remainder of the church is hidden from view by a wall and bushes to the right and by trees to the left.
November 9, 2025 at 8:34 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The Cathedral band rang a quarter peal of Grandsire Caters for Evensong service on Remembrance Sunday. The bells were half muffled, which involves a leather pad on half the clapper, creating a haunting strike and echo effect.
#Bells #BellRinging
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Image is of Peterborough Cathedral. A broad frontage with 3 arches and 2 towers either side. Ornately carved and with a projecting porch in the lower portion of the middle arch. The green in front is not very evident. The sky is a deep blue and there are just a few wisps of cloud. The sun is shining and there are deep shadows in the arches.
November 9, 2025 at 8:19 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Tomorrow your church's bells might sound different. They're not broken, they may be half muffled. This is where a leather pad is put on one side of the clapper, so that there is a bright note followed by a dulled, muffled note. It is a haunting sound, used for acts of mourning.
#Bells #BellRinging
A swathe of poppies, taken from the installation of the Tower of London, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, from 2014
November 8, 2025 at 9:51 PM
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Recent Ringing
A quarter peal was rung at Pattishall on Friday. This was of 8 different methods, all mixed up (in an organised way, it's not a complete free-for-all!). The method set is called the Standard Eight and has been so 100+ years.
#Bells #BellRinging
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We're looking at the West end of Pattishall church. It is above us, in a raised churchyard, with a grassy churchyard on a rising slope. The West end comprises a tower and 2 side aisles visible. A sandstone construction with ironstone facings lit by a setting sun, it is golden. The tower consists of 3 stages, the lower having a door and dual lancet window. The mid section has the clock (~7:50 by the way). The upper section has an opening divided into 2 louvres. There's then a small space before the top of the tower. The sky is a clear blue of a summer evening.
November 8, 2025 at 9:09 PM