Chair's Chat October 2025

Dear Ringers,

I don’t know about you, but I have been on the steady slope towards Christmas since July, but now is the time it begins to build up speed! As we gear ourselves up for concerts and the influx of requests for teams (from people who then wonder why we can’t find a team at short notice!), a Christmas together event is a lovely way to get together with other local teams. Maybe you could use the opportunity to try out one of the recipes from Lammas!

Thinking back to August, it was lovely to have such a large contingent of ringers from the South East Region represented at National Residential Ringing Week. It was a fabulous week with music to enjoy ringing as well as music which challenged all of us!

The South East Region Bell Orchestra meets for audition day and the first rehearsal of this season at the end of November. There are still a few spaces left, so if you are interested, please get in touch with Keith (keith@acorncottage.org.uk).

We have a number of events planned for next year, including more workshops on ringing 4-in-hand, 12 bell music and new ringers alongside some of our more traditional rallies. We try to spread the rallies around the region with different teams hosting them – if there isn’t one in your area, then why not see if you can find us a venue to use? We will help you with everything else!

Accompanying this newsletter, you will find the form for our annual free Birthday Rally. Winkfield St Mary deserve a medal for hosting this yet again, however we have another team who have not only offered to host in 2027 but have already put in the provisional booking for a hall! It’s never to early to think ahead for these things. You will also see from the diary that the AGM Rally will be at Newbury, somewhere we haven’t been for quite a while, so it will be lovely to be back in that part of the region.

Hopefully you will hot have missed details of the National Skills Day (which is the National Rally in a slightly different format) and the International Symposium. Don’t forget, if you are not able to attend the Symposium, your bells can still go. Thank you to those that have been in touch to offer their bells – please drop me an email if you are able to offer your bells for us to use (remembering that if you are going, you will need bells to ring for the massed ringing!).

Yours,

Helen

HELENLSECKER@GMAIL.COM