https://www.ringingforums.org/categories/7/running-a-tower/feed.rss Wed, 10 Jun 2026 05:53:13 Z RUNNING A TOWER - Ringing Forums en https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/424/birds-nesting-in-towers-and-bell-chambers Sat, 25 May 2024 19:49:17 Z Richard Norman 424@/discussions What are others views of encouraging birds to nest in towers, steeples and specifically bell chambers? I have a bad experience in one steeple where it could not be secured from their entry and we had mainly crows and pigeons nesting such that we had to clear out the nests (sticks) and other nesting... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/394/contact-details-for-tower-correspondents Thu, 07 Mar 2024 09:45:06 Z Alison Hodge 394@/discussions Tower contact details are now 'conveniently' available on line, often in more than one place. For example ringing society websites, church websites, individual ringing band websites, some social media, as well as the traditional annual printed reports, and their pdf equivalents. When attempting to... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/48/new-peal-boards Mon, 17 Jul 2023 14:39:04 Z Alison Hodge 48@/discussions Does anyone know of people who make typical (probably) wooden peal boards and signwriters please (not machine produced lettering). Putting up a new peal board in a CofE church is included in List B of the Faculty Rules so requires the Archdeacon's permission. Does anyone have experience of getting... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/291/drying-units-for-ropes Sat, 22 Apr 2023 09:10:40 Z Alison Hodge 291@/discussions Has anyone tried a commercially sourced drying unit to keep bell ropes drier and hence less stiff? Small domestic pods are available from Lakeland and other commercial suppliers. https://www.lakeland.co.uk/53211/dry-soon-drying-pod Larger cabinets are also available for industrial / commercial use... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/275/running-a-tower Fri, 10 Mar 2023 09:09:18 Z James Kirkcaldy 275@/discussions A new on-line document called 'Running a Tower' is now available. This on-line document is aimed at the person responsible for running a tower whether that be an established tower captain, one new to the job or one considering the role. The document aims to describe the statutory and legal... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/270/tower-handbook-by-john-harrison Sat, 04 Mar 2023 11:09:00 Z Alison Hodge 270@/discussions Does anyone have a spare paper copy that they could let me have of John Harrison's book called "The Tower Handbook" please? It has dark blue covers and I have only seen paper back versions. It was sold by the CCCBR and is no longer in print. Condition irrelevant, as long as it is complete and... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/145/iknowchurch Sun, 22 Jan 2023 12:47:54 Z John Harrison 145@/discussions Does anyone have experience of ringers being asked to use iKnowChurch? https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/107/wedding-ringing-charges Sat, 29 Oct 2022 10:24:28 Z Alison Hodge 107@/discussions ... a perennial question, what are the fees being charged for wedding ringing in your towers please? https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/166/gdpr-for-ringing-records-library-archive Sun, 25 Sep 2022 22:57:42 Z Steph Pendlebury 166@/discussions Does anyone know (or have a policy for) how long to keep records of attendance at association / guild / district / branch practices? I'm talking about the notebook that people sign at practices / meetings / events. For Sussex (SCACR), these are currently stored in our Library, which of course has... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/180/poached-ringers Wed, 07 Sep 2022 12:59:45 Z Oliver Lee 180@/discussions dear all, I'm not sure if anyone has ever been in a situation like this but I am unfortunately in the sad position of having no regular ringing at my home tower due to the fact that most of the previous band now ring at another tower, this started about a year ago when our tower became ill but... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/136/safeguarding-on-ringing-outings-etc Thu, 11 Aug 2022 15:22:09 Z Alison Hodge 136@/discussions The safeguarding advice on the CCCBR website talks of the training for a Tower captain and for ringers. The requirements seem simple and logical for members of the local band in their "home tower", with the ringing being led by the local Tower Captain - the ringers are trained to the Basic level... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/99/insurance-when-ringing Mon, 18 Apr 2022 09:00:52 Z Alison Hodge 99@/discussions Do we as ringers know what insurance cover we have when ringing? Do you know what cover is provided or what restrictions there may be in the church policy, guild / association insurance etc? https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/93/ringing-in-holy-week-time-to-spring-clean-the-tower-but-what-ringing-for-a-funeral Sun, 17 Apr 2022 23:08:21 Z Alison Hodge 93@/discussions Normally, there is no ringing in Holy Week so ringers often take the opportunity to use the practice night time to spring clean the tower, rather than ring. Great idea! But what if there is a funeral service in Holy week for one of the local ringers and there is a request for ringing? Should... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/97/card-readers-for-tower-donations-etc Sun, 10 Apr 2022 15:09:53 Z Alison Hodge 97@/discussions Since fewer people carry cash now to make donations to tower funds, raffles etc are we losing out? Has anyone set up card readers for towers / branches / societies / the CCCBR itself? If so how, at what cost and how is it being accepted? Are cash donations still acceptable as well? https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/75/environment-and-conditions-in-bell-towers Sun, 13 Mar 2022 22:39:57 Z Alison Hodge 75@/discussions These comments follow the discussion started under "keeping churches open" about the environment and conditions in towers, and how they should be maintained and checked. I suggest that there are 2 slightly separable issues in this - - the environment in the church and ringing room ie where the... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/63/strobing-caused-by-lights-and-sallies Wed, 19 Jan 2022 10:27:42 Z Alison Hodge 63@/discussions This has been asked elsewhere so I am reposting here. 'Has anyone experienced a strobing effect with stripy sallies and bright overhead lights? Just had new bright lights fitted and concerned that if it is a real strobe effect it could have implications.' This phenomenon is probably what we... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/21/bell-muffles-for-remembrance-sunday-funerals-etc Sat, 06 Nov 2021 11:45:45 Z Alison Hodge 21@/discussions Remembrance Sunday is about a month away. Hopefully, this year more towers will be able to ring in the "normal" way. Having needed to find and fit the muffles for a funeral at a local tower this week, i have come across a few styles of bell muffles. What fixings do steeple keepers use that... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/30/roller-coaster Sat, 06 Nov 2021 11:14:34 Z Stella Bianco 30@/discussions Please remind me what this is? As a call change band, we ring a lot of fun exercises on practice night. https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/24/bats-in-the-belfry Fri, 05 Nov 2021 17:54:11 Z Alison Hodge 24@/discussions Here is an event that may be of interest if you wish to know more about bats in your tower. Bats and Church Building Works Q&A Wednesday 20 October 1300 via Zoom, hosted by the Bats in Churches project Bats can be found in thousands of churches across England and they are protected by law. What... https://www.ringingforums.org/discussion/25/tower-security Sun, 17 Oct 2021 10:39:10 Z Alison Hodge 25@/discussions The tragic murder a few days ago of an MP, this time in a church building, will prompt ringers to think about the security of churches where we ring. Some suggestions of points to consider are available on the CCCBR website ...