Welcome to another edition of the LDG Newsletter, and a huge thank you once again to Rebecca Banner for putting it all together in such an attractive and informative format. Thanks also to Rebecca and the Banner family for the outstanding work they have been doing on the Guild web site. If you haven’t done already, I urge you to visit the web site. It’s now attractive and informative and has good, searchable information on the towers within the Guild.

Since the end of April, I’ve had 2 lots of major surgery. How unlucky is that? This has curtailed my ringing activity somewhat, but I’ve still been able to get out and about around the Guild and take part in a whole variety of Guild events. I’ve been to several Guild and district meetings and it has been pleasing to see the increasing numbers of people attending, with lots of younger ringers present.

For the past couple of years I’ve been acting as a tour guide at the Taylor bell foundry and it’s been really rewarding meeting lots of ringers and non-ringers who are interested in the heritage and process of bell manufacture. If you haven’t yet had a tour of the bell foundry, I’d really encourage you to visit. There’s lots of building work going off at the moment and the new John Taylor visitor experience is on track to open in the summer next year.

Loughborough Carillon celebrated its 100^th birthday on July 22^nd. An event was held in Queens Park, Loughborough and several organisations, including John Taylor (Bell Founders) and the Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust had stands. It was nice to see lots of familiar faces visiting. As part of the event, a service was held and a carillon recital was given which included the premier of a new piece of music, especially composed for the event.

At the beginning of September I attended my very first Central Council of Church Bell Ringers’ annual meeting. This year it was held in Ipswich and the format included one day of training sessions (open to all), the meeting day, a couple of social events, Service ringing and a seminar. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of work that the CCCBR does, particularly within the themed work groups. A report of the meeting is included within this newsletter.

In September, the very first “Loughborough Bell Festival” was held and lots of Guild members took part. Thank you to everyone who came along to ring. A report of the event is given within this newsletter.

It was nice to see the LDG Ringing Course start up again after a few years absence as a result of the COVID disruption. The education committee worked hard to deliver an excellent course and lots of great progress was made by the students over the course of the weekend. A huge thank you to all those involved in the organisation and helping on the groups. I look forward to more ringing courses, either full weekends or targeted one day events, in the future.

I was very pleased to be able to represent the Guild in the Robert B Smith 12 bell competition, held recently at Birmingham Cathedral. Whilst we didn’t retain the trophy, we produced a very nice piece of competition ringing and had a thoroughly enjoyable day out. There was a lot of cross over between teams, with members of the LDG band also appearing in the Society of Royal Cumberland Youths’ (Midlands), Melbourne and scratch bands.

The Leicestershire Foundry Foxes (our young ringers’ group) have had a rest over the summer following their competition adventures in York. Their meetings have just restarted and I look forward to seeing more youngsters joining the group. Several of the Foxes had GCSE and A level or equivalent exams this year. Very best wishes to all those who are embarking on University education or new careers, and I look forward to hearing of their new adventures. The next Young Ringers’ Competition is due to be held in London in 2024 and the Foxes are already looking forward to it.

Thank you for all the support that you’ve given me over the past four years. It has been an honour to serve as President, and I look forward to handing over the role in January as my term of office comes to an end. I will also pass on the tin of Brasso, kindly gifted by Mark Pendery, as the Presidents’ Badge of Office needs very frequent polishing!

Sally Brown