FirstPeal2015 was a year long initiative to mark a special year for ringing. It has three aims:
- As many ringers as possible to ring their first peal during the year.
- A lot of special ringing to mark the anniversary, on or near 2nd May.
- A concerted publicity effort to tell the public about the heritage, skills and cultural importance of bellringing. [read more on firstpeal2015.org]
Winchester and Portsmouth Guild is VERY proud of our 29 members who have, at the time of writing, rung their First Peal in 2015.
The News As It Broke….
A Weekend of Firsts in The Christchurch and Southampton District (Feb 2015) March 5, 2015 - The last weekend of February saw a busy weekend of ringing at the Western end of the Christchurch and Southampton District including several important firsts. The weekend began with a pleasant quarter peal of Grandsire Doubles on the recently rehung five at Hinton Admiral on Friday evening. This was a first of Grandsire Doubles for … Continue reading A Weekend of Firsts in The Christchurch and Southampton District (Feb 2015)
Congratulations Graham Hounslow and Mike Martin – First Peals 5th June 2015 June 5, 2015 - Graham (Fawley) and Mike (until recently also a Fawley ringer) both scored their first peal at the first attempt on Friday 5th June at Fawley. The target across the whole ringing community is for 300 First Pealers to be successful during 2015, to mark the 300th anniversary of the first recorded peal. Peals in C&S … Continue reading Congratulations Graham Hounslow and Mike Martin – First Peals 5th June 2015
Master’s Message October 2015 October 21, 2015 - Dear All, I hope you’ve all had a good summer break and are now settled back into enjoying your regular ringing once again. There are many special occasions that we celebrate with our ringing and we’ve just seen H.M. Queen Elizabeth become our country’s longest reigning monarch. A good deal of ringing took place and … Continue reading Master’s Message October 2015 Congratulations Lexi Skeldon – FirstPeal2015 November 15, 2015 - Viv Nobbs writes: Another Guild First Pealer. Congratulations Lexi Skeldon, Brading Ringer, Isle of Wight.
Performances for the Remembrance Weekend, and FirstPeal2015 Congratulations November 17, 2015 - Congratulations to Judith for ringing your First Peal at the Town Church, Gurnsey.
A sneak preview of Guild Events in 2016 November 21, 2015 - Viv Nobbs shared this at the Guild Exec Meeting on Nov 1st 2015 2016 “Firsts Fortnight” for the Guild. 1st March – 15th March 2016. Please ask your District to consider choosing appropriate categories e.g. first quarter peal, first visit to another tower, first touch called. This gives a specific aim for a ringer and … Continue reading A sneak preview of Guild Events in 2016
Brilliant FirstPeal2015 achievement by the Southampton University Guild! November 23, 2015 - Daniel Graham reports from Southampton: Huge well done to Jon, Clare and Peter on ringing their first peal today! Excellent work, another fantastic achievement for SUGCR! Southampton University Guild Southampton, Hampshire The Ascension, Bitterne Park Sunday, 22 November 2015 in 2h36 (3–1–0 in E♭) 5040 Plain Bob Minor Seven different extents 1 Kristian D Scudamore 2 Peter … Continue reading Brilliant FirstPeal2015 achievement by the Southampton University Guild!
Congratulations Andrea Falk – FirstPeal2015 – And Angela M Athawes – 300th Peal November 25, 2015 - Distances are no barrier to Andrea Falk – despite living in Canada, she is a fairly regular visitor to Winchester and Portsmouth Guild for practices and Quarter Peals, as she doggedly adds to her method ringing skills. So I am delighted to report that she has scored her First Peal with us. Angela Athawes scored her … Continue reading Congratulations Andrea Falk – FirstPeal2015 – And Angela M Athawes – 300th Peal
FirstPeal2015 Target Exceeded with a Month Still To Go November 29, 2015 - Salisbury Guild have contributed the 300th First Pealer in fine style – the 4 first pealers in the band at Wylye became numbers 300, 301, 302 and 303 in this year’s list of First Pealers on Pealbase . The CCCBR Public Relations Committee first dreamed up the initiativre as a way of marking the 300th Anniversary … Continue reading FirstPeal2015 Target Exceeded with a Month Still To Go Congratulations Charlotte Dollery – FirstPeal2015 on the Isle of Wight Aug 22nd November 29, 2015 - Rather belated congratulations to Charlotte who contributed to the Winchester and Portsmouth FirstPeal2015 efforts back in August. When’s the Second Peal then Charlotte? From Bellboard Winchester & Portsmouth Diocesan Guild Newchurch, Isle of Wight All Saints Saturday, 22 August 2015 in 2hrs 35mins (7–0–19 in B♭) 5040 Doubles (7m/V/p) 720 each of Stedman, St Simon’s, … Continue reading Congratulations Charlotte Dollery – FirstPeal2015 on the Isle of Wight Aug 22nd First Ever Local Band Rings a Peal on Alderney – 3 Firstpeal2015! December 17, 2015 - Tuesday December the 15th was the 70th anniversary of Homecoming on Alderney. During WWII Alderney was evacuated and was occupied by the Germans. On 15th December 1945 some of the residents returned, and began to rebuild the island. [watch news item about Homecoming] It has always been a day of celebration on Alderney, and to mark the 70th … Continue reading First Ever Local Band Rings a Peal on Alderney – 3 Firstpeal2015!
FirstPeal2015 Update – Angels and Targets December 18, 2015 - A new list has appeared – this time, of who the FirstPeal2015 “Angels” are. The top Angel is Simon Edwards, who has rung with no fewer than 14 people in their First Peal, at least 4 of those being scored for Winchester and Portsmouth Guild. Second Equal is Angie Jasper (with 9). Angie is based in … Continue reading FirstPeal2015 Update – Angels and Targets
Congratulations on your First Peal Olivia Palmer (Guernsey) December 18, 2015 - Winchester & Portsmouth Diocesan Guild Guernsey, CI Ste Marguerite du la Foret Thursday, 17 December 2015 in 2hrs 46min 5040 Plain Bob Minor 1 Olivia Palmer 2 Helen M McGregor 3 Sue Park 4 Jane Le Conte 5 Duncan Loweth (C) 6 Paul Lawrence First peal – 1 Photo and Iformation taken from Bellboard
Congratulations to Three First Pealers at Upton Grey – Rebecca Webb, Steve Lutener and Richard Webb December 18, 2015 - Roy LeMarechal writes: The peal was arranged by Michael Church. The ringers are all from St Michael’s Basingstoke. Michael arranged the peal as he and the first pealers were keen to get in on “FirstPeal2015“. The Initial plan was to ring Plain Bob Minor but Rebecca was keen to ring her first peal with her husband … Continue reading Congratulations to Three First Pealers at Upton Grey – Rebecca Webb, Steve Lutener and Richard Webb
Channel Islands Storm into the lead with 14 days to go December 18, 2015 - Thanks to Tony Smith for creating this league Table of how many FirstPeal2015 ringers each District has scored – outstanding work, all those who have contributed to this massive effort! And what is it about Island Life? These totals are very interesting when you compare the sizes of the Districts! Channel Islands District 7 Alton … Continue reading Channel Islands Storm into the lead with 14 days to go
Following the success of Firstpeal2015, What next? CCCBR PR Committee member Matthew Sorell currently consulting December 20, 2015 - Matthew Sorell is a member of the CCCBR Public Relations Committee, which was behind the FirstPeal2015 project this year. He posted on Bellringers* this morning asking for feedback on an idea for 2016. *Bellringers is a 2500+ strong international Facebook group which welcomes new ringers. This item is reproduced with Matthew’s permission – the normal protocol … Continue reading Following the success of Firstpeal2015, What next? CCCBR PR Committee member Matthew Sorell currently consulting
Congratulations Donald Hughes – First Peal December 20, 2015 - Helen McGregor reports from Alderney: In addition to our spectacular peal of Bob Triples last Tuesday the Alderney band are equally proud of Donald Hughes.Athough rung in Scotland for ODG this was set up for Donald to ring a peal in 2015. Donald is a stalwart of the Alderney band, tower sec, liaises with vicar, organises … Continue reading Congratulations Donald Hughes – First Peal
Congratulations Darren Westmore – FirstPeal2015 (Shorwell, Isle of Wight) December 22, 2015 - Winchester & Portsmouth Diocesan Guild Shorwell, Isle of Wight St Peter Sunday, 20 December 2015 in 2hrs 33mins (9–0–5 in G) 5040 Doubles (7m/V) 6 extents each of St Osmund, St Nicholas, St Simon, April Day, Plain Bob, Reverse St Bartholomew, Grandsire 1 Toby Arkless 2 Graham A Nobbs 3 Kieran Downer (C) 4 Revd Barry M Downer 5 Stephen … Continue reading Congratulations Darren Westmore – FirstPeal2015 (Shorwell, Isle of Wight)
BBC Radio Norfolk Programme – “How Norwich taught the world to ring” December 31, 2015 - Viv Nobbs Reports: Happy New Year everyone! So “What gives ringers the buzz?”!!! This program will be a great piece of listening, I’m sure (starts about 3 minutes in) and offers quite an insight to the”First Recorded Peal” – in Norwich.I’m enjoying listening to the start of the article now with my second cup of tea … Continue reading BBC Radio Norfolk Programme – “How Norwich taught the world to ring”
First Peal Congratulations to Roland Bristow December 31, 2015 - Bruce Purvis Reports: Roland has been ringing at Highclere for about three years, scored his first quarter in August 2014, and only 2 more quarters before scoring his first Peal on New Year’s Eve. He is a gentleman of mature years, so his attainment is the more remarkable. He will be elected a full member at … Continue reading First Peal Congratulations to Roland Bristow
FirstPeal2015 reflections January 23, 2016 - This week’s Ringing World leads with a comprehensive report on FirstPeal2015 – the target smashed, a last minute rush of First Pealers, and our Guild coming out with a respectable total. 2015 was surely the year where Peal Ringing became Cool, there were more First Pealers than in any year since 1991. My hope is that … Continue reading FirstPeal2015 reflections
From first pull to first peal. (Ramblings of a mature ringer!) by Roland Bristow February 3, 2016 - “Come bell ringing. You might enjoy it”, said my friend Paul Sims. It wasn’t the first time I had heard it and I knew it wouldn’t be the last if I didn’t do something about it. So it was on August 13th 2013 that I found myself climbing up the stone staircase to the ringing … Continue reading From first pull to first peal. (Ramblings of a mature ringer!) by Roland Bristow 
WP Guild Peal Festival – June 2016 May 10, 2016 - Peals offer us a great opportunity to try a different method, ring in a different tower maybe, stretch our own ringing ability a little and have some really good time with our friends. Please consider ringing a peal or two for our Guild Festival. Edd Colliss our Peal recorder said: “190 peals rung for … Continue reading WP Guild Peal Festival – June 2016 
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