The Gloucester & Bristol Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers
Contents
Welcome
Learning to ring with the Stroud Branch
Stroud Branch Committee
Branch Towers
Contact

Welcome

Welcome to the Stroud Branch of the G&B. Whether you are interested in taking up ringing, or a visitor coming to the area, I hope that you will find what you are looking for in these pages.

We are fortunate to live in a wonderful, beautiful part of the country and have inherited some excellent bells with a proud history. We have enormous fun ringing the bells for church services, in celebrations and on practice nights – and look forward to sharing it with you.

June 2024


Learning to ring with the Stroud Branch

Bell ringing is a wonderful activity, and we are very keen to share it with new people. We have learners all over the Branch, ranging in age from 10 to 75.

Learning to ring involves 3 phases.

  1. Bell handling: This is learning how to pull the rope in a comfortable and safe manner, to set the bell spinning. We teach this on a one to one basis, in small groups arranged for the purpose, so that you feel relaxed and confident.
  2. Ringing in groups: Still with an individual teacher by your side, we help you to master ringing with other people. With time this evolves into independent ringing, and opens up the prospect of...
  3. Lifelong learning: One of the wonderful things about ringing is that you can take it as far as you like. Many people get great satisfaction from simple ringing with their local band. Others take the complexity of ringing to great heights: there is always another challenge to excite you.

To find out more, contact our Branch Learning Coordinator, Sue Pouncey on 07866 487 911 or click here

She will discuss with you the details of when, where and with whom to get started. We have training towers all over the Stroud Valleys area.

You can be assured of a friendly welcome!


Stroud Branch Committee
Chairman
David Pouncey


I returned to ringing aged over 50 (having tried a bit as a teenager). I love it on many levels: friendly social contact, physical activity, making a beautiful sound, always having something new to learn, maintaining historical machinery. Most of all, I love helping people to have fun together whilst continuing a centuries old English tradition.
David Pouncey
Becca Coleman Secretary
Becca Coleman


I started learning in Cambridgeshire in 1975 with a band who were all teenage learners. There was a 12 year break before being encouraged to return after moving to Stroud in 1993. Mostly I rang on Sunday mornings only until giving up teaching full-time in 2020.
Ringing Master
Phil Taylor


I learnt to ring at Tewkesbury Abbey at the age of 10, the fifth generation of my family to do so. As well as actually ringing, I enjoy maintaining bells, and had plenty of opportunity to help out from a young age.
I continued ringing whilst at university in Bath, where I helped hang a new ring of 6 and enjoyed teaching a new band. Since moving to the Stroud area I have been doing lots of ringing and teaching (both new and not-sp-new ringers).
Phil Taylor
Sue Pouncey Assistant Ringing Master - Training
Sue Pouncey


I took up ringing 12 years ago and have never looked back. My passion is sharing this enjoyment with others, and particularly teaching people of all ages to ring.
Management Committee Representative
Jenni Judson


Jenni Judson
Lisa Pacey Treasurer
Lisa Pacey


I began ringing 2008 when I lived in Bovey Tracey, on the eastern edge of Dartmoor in Devon. As a Devon ringer I only rang Devon Call-Changes until I left the area. In 2019 I moved to King’s Stanley and started to learn to ring Methods.


Contact
To email the Stroud Branch click here