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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
June 12, 2026 at 5:40 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The ringers on the canal boat "Intrepid" continued their voyage southwards with quarter peals at Fotheringhay, Cotterstock, Thrapston, Islip, Woodford & Wellingborough.
There was a first minor as conductor and first in Norwich for Jess
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
Cotterstock church is viewed form across a filed, with several fine cows in the middleground. The church tower is to the left, then a short nave and side aisle and a much larger and finer chancel. The nave has a much shallower pitch and slightly higher walls than the chancel. So it all looks a bit like it's been bodged together. The tower and nave are of a creamy course cut stone, while the porch and chancel are of a slightly lighter colour, but that could just be the finer cutting making the walls appear smoother. The sky is massed grey/white clouds. 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. By Bearas - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=130460281 Wellingborough church is facing us, the tower towards us. This face of the church is built from ironstone, until the second stage, where it is of alternating layers of ironstone and a greyer stone, then the final stage of the tower is all if this grey stone with a grey tower on top. The side aisles are also in a mixture of coliurs, maybe reflecting construction periods. The tower has a door with deeply carved pillars and arches and a small rose window above. IN the second stage is a pale blue round clock and the 3rd stage has the 2 pairs of louvres. The spire has a single set of lights. There are sizeable bushes to either side of us, and the sky is mostly blue. Taken from alongside the chancel this is the side of Woodford church you don't see from the road. The chancel appears raised, as we're on a falling slope. There's a 3 light window in the east wall, and 2 windows of different sizes in the south side of the chancel. The nave has a lower pitched roof and a side aisle, with large windows on the ends and side. the tower stands at the west end We can see the louvres and the broached spire, with a large light and corner pinnacles. The church is a lot less hemmed in from this side. The church is of a cream stone, glowing golden in the sun. The grass is green and slightly tufty. The sky is a clear blue and the trees bare. One of the bright winter days. Photo by sunchild57 on instagram
May 22, 2026 at 4:19 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
There was a peal at Wadenhoe of 31 treble dodging minor methods. Most of the methods were named after places and included Cogenhoe & Patishall, both in Northants.
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
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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.
May 22, 2026 at 4:00 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
A peal was rung to celebrate the life of Ronald Kenton, whose funeral was held in Kettering, the church he had worshiped in for over 50 years.
Bells rang for the service
#Bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
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Against a blue sky with a band of light cloud, we see the spire at Kettering. In this light it appears grey in colour, but the West face we are looking at is in shade. There is a doorway and a large 5 light window. Then a small lancet window and a clock. There are then 3 lancet windows before we reach the top of the tower section. There are octagonal pinnacles on each corner. The spire is also octagonal, with stone blobs on each corner. There are 3 lights of decreasing size in alternate faces of the spire. It's tall and quite hard to get far enough away to fit in the image. In front of the church is a set of stone steps and a gravel drive. There are trees on either side
May 20, 2026 at 8:08 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The ringers on the canal boat "Intrepid" continued their voyage with quarter peals at Wansford and Yarwell. Wansford are the lightest bells in the diocese.
#bells #BellRinging #Cambridgeshire
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Against a blue sky with just a few puffy white clouds stands Wansfoed church. There's a tower of 3 stages and a broached spire at the right, with a nave (with clerestory & side aisle) and a chancel. These are slight obscured by the bare leaved tree that stands this side of the churchyard wall. The church is of a grey/cream stone and it appears finely cut.
May 20, 2026 at 7:59 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
A peal was rung at Daventry of a method called Xantha. It was first rung in 1995 and is useful for people needing an X method to complete the alphabet. Xantha seems to be a variation of the name Xanthe.
#bells #Bellringing #northamptonshire
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May 20, 2026 at 7:37 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
A peal was rung at Earl's Barton. The band rang a method named after the place itself. It was rung on Bell Sunday, the sunday nearest St Dunstan's day, the patron saint of bells and their ringers.
#bells #Bellringing #northamptonshire
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May 20, 2026 at 7:30 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
On Sunday the band at Higham Ferrers rang a quarter peal of Plain Bob Minir. It was conducted by Nigel, it was his first quarter peal in charge. Well done.
#bells #Bellringing #northamptonshire
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May 20, 2026 at 7:18 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The bells at Peterborough St Mary's were rung on Sunday morning to a quarter peal by a ban who are partaking of a holiday on the canal boat "Intrepid". Where will they go in a week of boats and bells?
#bells #Bellringing #Peterborough #Canals
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A modern church in light brown brick against a blue sky, just a few puffy white clouds. The church has a tower and about 2/3rds of the way up a set of lighter bands in brick, where the louvres are. To the left of the tower is the church entrance, with a high canopy over it. In front is a road and some cones and to the right what appears to be 2 people working, maybe dealing with the bushes that are between the church and the road, they have a green piece of machinery that I can't identify!
May 20, 2026 at 7:13 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
A band rang a quarter peal of Cambridge Surprise minor at Fotheringhay.
#bells #Bellringing #northamptonshire
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May 18, 2026 at 6:35 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The bells at Irthlingborough were rung to a peal at the weekend. They rang a method called Quirkiness, we hope it was sufficiently quirky to be interesting but not so quirky as to be difficult!
#bells #BellRinging #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.
May 18, 2026 at 5:26 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The bells at Peterborough St Mary rang out for the Wedding Blessing celebration of Jason & Rob Wilson-Powis. Congratulations to them both. In a tradition for picking apt methods, the band rang Wedding Day doubles.
#bells #bellringing #Peterborough
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A modern church in light brown brick against a blue sky, just a few puffy white clouds. The church has a tower and about 2/3rds of the way up a set of lighter bands in brick, where the louvres are. To the left of the tower is the church entrance, with a high canopy over it. In front is a road and some cones and to the right what appears to be 2 people working, maybe dealing with the bushes that are between the church and the road, they have a green piece of machinery that I can't identify!
May 18, 2026 at 5:21 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The was a peal at Raunds. The band rang a new method and named it Hargrave Surprise Major. Hargrave is a village about 4 miles from Raunds.
It was Tom's 200th peal.
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
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Photo by Melanie Plumley. Raunds tower is an ornate item. In this view, we can see 4 layers of the sandstone tower, and the broached spire above. The lower later is fairly plain, The second layer has vertical columns dividing the wall into 4, with lancet tops. The 3rd layer is similar, but in 5 sections and shorter and has a window in the middle section.
May 18, 2026 at 4:49 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
Rothwell has 12 bells, arranged musically to give a ring of 10, or a light ring of 8 bells. The peal on Friday was on the light 8. They rang Corby Surprise Major and remembered Owen Battye on his funeral day.
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
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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.
May 18, 2026 at 4:35 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The Peterborough St Mary's band rang for Ascension Day and rang Ascension Day Doubles.
#bells #BellRinging #Peterborough
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A modern church in light brown brick against a blue sky, just a few puffy white clouds. The church has a tower and about 2/3rds of the way up a set of lighter bands in brick, where the louvres are. To the left of the tower is the church entrance, with a high canopy over it. In front is a road and some cones and to the right what appears to be 2 people working, maybe dealing with the bushes that are between the church and the road, they have a green piece of machinery that I can't identify!
May 15, 2026 at 5:59 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
The bells at Arthingworth were rung for a quarter peal of Cambridge Surprise Minor. They marked the 100th anniversary of Eric Morecombe's birth.
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
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May 15, 2026 at 5:53 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
There was a quarter peal at Guilsborough of Grandsire Doubles. It was Dan's first quarter peal away from the tenor.
They wished Stevie Wonder a happy 76th birthday.
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
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May 14, 2026 at 7:47 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
Ringers love a project and this band are working their way up in the number of major methods in a peal. At Kettering they rang 16 different methods. It was the most number of methods for Helena, Julie & James.
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
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Against a blue sky with a band of light cloud, we see the spire t Kettering. In this light it appears grey in colour, but the West face we are looking at is in shade. There is a doorway and a large 5 light window. Then a small lancet window and a clock. There are then 3 lancet windows before we reach the top of the tower section. There are octagonal pinnacles on each corner. The spire is also octagonal, with stone blobs on each corner. There are 3 lights of decreasing size in alternate faces of the spire. It's tall and quit hard to get far enough away to fit in the image. In front of the church is a set if stone steps and a gravel drive. There are trees on either side
May 14, 2026 at 7:32 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Tower of the Day
Higham Ferres has a tall spire that is home to a pair of Peregrine falcons and a ring of 10 bells. They seem to coexist quite happily. The bells were made to 10 in 2014, with the addition of the 2 lightest bells. The rest date from 1611 to 1892.
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
The church looks low, but only because the spire is so tall. The nave & clerestory are visible, in local sandstone with ironstone banding. 2 large windows are visible in the nave wall. Above, the tower is extended by the spire, with is buttressed at its base and has 3 sets of lights moving up to the top. The sky is almost entirely blue and the tree visible to the right has bare branches.
May 12, 2026 at 3:46 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Tower of the Day
Helmdon has a ring of 6 bells in that short little tower. The heaviest bell weighs 523 kg. All 6 bells have different casting dates, ranging from 1679 to 1951. Practice night is Wednesday, rotating round the benefice.
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
Helmdon tower barely sticks up much above the nave in this view. The chancel has a large 4 light window and a pitched tiled roof. There are different window styles and heights, suggesting several stages of building activity. The nave has a side aisle and 4 sets of windows in the wall above. There is a porch protruding from the side aisle. The tower is at the far end, and all we can see is the louvres and the crenelated parrapet. Them chuch is of mixed stone in creams/greys. The grass in the chutchyard is neatly cut and there is a shadow of a tree on the grass in front of us, the photographer is standing under it. The sky is a mistly blue with cloud bubbling up
May 11, 2026 at 5:47 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
In celebration of Sr David Attenborough's 100th birthday, the band at Peterborough St Mary (who always have an apt method) rang a quarter peal of Century Little Bob Triples. It was Clara's first on the tenor, drumming behind.
#bells #Bellringing
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A modern church in light brown brick against a blue sky, just a few puffy white clouds. The church has a tower and about 2/3rds of the way up a set of lighter bands in brick, where the louvres are. To the left of the tower is the church entrance, with a high canopy over it. In front is a road and some cones and to the right what appears to be 2 people working, maybe dealing with the bushes that are between the church and the road, they have a green piece of machinery that I can't identify!
May 11, 2026 at 5:01 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Tower of the Day
Hellidon has a ring of 5 bells, which are rung from the ground floor. The heaviest weighs 417 kg. The back four bells were cast by Hugh Watts in 1615 & 1635, with the treble added in 1993. There is a practice at 10 am on a Tuesday morning.
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
Hellidon church appears to hunker low to the ground. The tower is at the West end and the left of the image. It is square with robust corner buttresses. There is a hexagonal black closk with gold numerals on this side of the tower. The loures are small and the tower is topped with a crenelated parrapet. The church has a pitched tiled roof and just a porch jutting out on this side. The chancel is lower and narrower than the nave. The whole is os a mixed, rustic, construction, mainly of a grey stone with some ironstone, especially in the nave. The churchyard is neatly tended and there are trees all around, includeing a few leaves and branches in the top of the image. The sky is a cloudy grey, there is just a patch of blue sky over the chancel.
May 10, 2026 at 5:01 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Tower of the Day
Haselbech has a ring of 8 bells, rung from the ground floor. bells 4 & 5 were cast in 1621, the remaining bells in 1930. The heaviest bell weighs 767 kg. There is no regular practice night, but the bells are regularly rung for peals and quarters
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
We're looking at the church from the West end, with the tower facing us. It has 4 stages, with a door in the lower section and a window dissecting both stage 1 and 2. The third stage is small and contains the clock, while the 4th is the tallest, and has the louvres. The tower is topped by crenelations. The lower stages and the church are a mixed ironstone, while the upper stages of the tower are a paler, cleaner cut stone. There's a large evergreen tree to the right and the sky is mostly white clouds, with the blue peeping through in places.
May 9, 2026 at 7:31 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
This is impressive. A peal was rung at Waddenhoe in 178 different methods. Usually the conductor tells the other ringers the methods as they come along. This time it was rung without any reminders at all. 🤯
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
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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.
May 9, 2026 at 5:39 PM
pdgcbr.bsky.social
Recent Ringing
A band rang a peal at Orlingbury. It was in 45 treble bob minor methods. Almost all are named after places, there's just a few that could be beers; Francis Genius, Kentish and Woodcock's Victory, for example!
#bells #BellRinging #northamptonshire
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Orlingbury is a cruciform church, with a central tower. We see the church from the east end, the nave towards us, porch and transept to the right. There's a large tracery window on the East end. There's a window, porch and window before the transept. The tower stands tall in the centre, with a clock and then tall louvres before a crenelated top and tall pinnacles. The church is ironstone with cream stone facings and tracery. The sky is cloudy, and the grass is green. There is a clump of bright yellow daffs in the middle of the image. Photo by David Rose
May 8, 2026 at 4:45 PM