The working group has completed it's task and submitted a report and recommendations to the Central Council for Church Bellringers.   This website is minimally maintained as an archive and a benchmark to measure future progress.


 

Encouragement to conduct

When I learned to ring as a teenager in Buckinghamshire, I was one of the better ringers at my home tower and was greatly encouraged to call touches and help teach learners there. At university (Cambridge) there was a good mix of male and female undergraduate ringers, but my recollection would be that most of the conducting was by male ringers. Female ringers did call touches a bit at practice night especially if they had already done some conducting before arriving in Cambridge, but I don't remember anyone encouraging me to do so, or there being any particular encouragement for people to learn conducting. Some of the female ringers called peals and quarters, but not me. There was plenty of good ringing and encouragement for all to learn new methods and male and female ringers were all included in peals and quarters based on ability and interest in participating.

After university I had a break from ringing for a few years and when we moved to a 12 bell tower in the south east, I don't think I have ever been asked to call a touch of anything, and despite saying I would be interested in calling eg call changes on 12, I don't think I was ever asked to.

I now do not ring much at all and I don't feel any particular urge to start ringing regularly again.