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This page is designed to help editors and producers of regional ringing newsletters.
You can reprint any of the content here in online publications or in print. We ask for an attribution that it came from The Ringing World, plus any other details (e.g. author or photographer) noted on specific items below. You can decide on the exact wording - if you want to be more enthusiastic about encouraging your readers to subscribe to the Comic, please do!
If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions about any of the content below, you can email the editor.
October 2025
The Ringing World 2026 Calendar
Our 2026 calendar has fantastic photographs of spires, sunsets and vistas around the world, including Wales, Ireland and the USA. You can download some images below to use in your newsletter.
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Front cover (Download)
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Montage picture (Download)
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Single photo (Download) (Please also credit photographer Nicholas Sturgess) |
Back cover (includes details of all featured towers) (Download)
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If one of our calendar photos this year was in your local area and you want to help us with local publicity or contacts, please get in touch!
An Inspiring Image
This image by Jane Lynch featured as a Ringing World 'Image of the Week' in September. The Yorkshire Tykes are the Yorkshire Association's youth ringing group and are a force to be reckoned with! They went on an outing to Liverpool and rang at both heavy rings of twelve in the city centre: the 41cwt Pier Head, and Liverpool Cathedral, the heaviest ring of bells in the world at a whopping 82cwt! Even more impressive, Jane reports that several of the young Tykes had a go at ringing the Cathedral tenor - it's big enough to scare off plenty of fully-grown-up ringers! The Ringing World is looking forward to seeing all the youth teams from around the country square up to the Tykes at the 2026 Ringing World National Youth Contest, which will be held in Nottingham in July. It's the best day in the ringing calendar!
If you've taken a fun, inspiring, interesting or beautiful photo connected with ringing, do share it with the Ringing World and you might see it in print soon!
Doubles of the Month
Each week we print a short article which focuses on a monthly doubles method, principle, variation or call. Here's a sample: in June we featured Kennington Doubles, a simple doubles variation, and it gave us an excuse to talk about ringing Plain Bob Doubles by the treble. You can use the text or images as you like.
Suggested files if you are creating your newsletter with Microsoft Word:
- Text only (Word document)
- Diagram One: Plain Course of Bob Doubles with treble passing places highlighted (PNG format)
- Diagram Two: Reverse Canterbury Bob (PNG format)
Other formats
(A note on file formats: It's best to use the EPS or PDF versions if you can, or lay out the individual diagrams and text in your own newsletter as above. The full JPG file is likely to come out a little 'fuzzy' in print - but it should work OK as a last resort.)
- PDF of text and diagrams as printed in RW
- EPS of text and diagrams as printed in RW
- JPG of text and diagrams as printed in RW
- Diagram One: Plain Course of Bob Doubles with treble passing places highlighted (PDF format)
- Diagram Two: Reverse Canterbury Bob (PDF format)
The Little Blue Ringing Book
Our exciting book release this autumn is The Little Blue Ringing Book - a useful reference for every ringer and every tower. Fitting in our book series between the 'green book' and the 'purple book', it covers methods ranging in difficulty from Plain Bob Doubles to Little Bob Major - it’s packed with interesting and enjoyable methods which are less complicated than Stedman or surprise minor. See more detail at https://www.ringingworld.co.uk/purchase/shop/the-little-blue-ringing-book.html and order from the online shop: https://shop.ringingworld.co.uk.
Christmas merchandise order form and insert
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Please help us sell our Christmas merchandise! This includes the 2026 calendar and diary, a new teatowel design, our new educational blue book, and a range of Christmas cards. If you'd like to email out a copy of the publicity poster as a PDF file (download), thank you! (Subscribers received copies of these in the 3rd Oct issue of the RW.) The paper order form is also available here, but we prefer people to use the online shop if possible - they will get the best prices, quickest delivery and the full range of items!
There is an earlier volume in this series: The Little Green Ringing Book.
And there is a later volume in this series: The Little Purple Ringing Book.
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| See the contents page |
A trusty pocket guide for developing bellringers, as you explore the world of change-ringing. Having rung your first method, it will help you consolidate and learn more. It is packed with methods ranging in difficulty from Plain Bob Doubles to Little Bob Major, as well as doubles variations and advanced call changes.
It will provide you with tips, ideas and answers to your questions, and help you to call your first touches and ring on more bells. It’s packed with interesting and enjoyable methods which are less complicated than Stedman or surprise minor.
If you want to progress to ringing advanced methods, it will give you all the building blocks.
In the same series, for learners from their first lessons is The Little Green Ringing Book, and for more experienced ringers is The Little Purple Ringing Book.
Available in three sizes (all content identical apart from size)
A6 - pocket - 148mm x 105mm
A5 - bookshelf - 210mm x 148mm
A4 - large print - 297mm x 210mm
To order, go to the Ringing World shop.
A Social History of Bell Ringing in the Stroud Valleys
By Ian Bucknell
(Self published - not published by The Ringing World)
On Their Shoulders We Stand and Ring is a richly researched social history of bell ringing in the Stroud Valleys, written by lifelong ringer and local historian Ian D. Bucknell.
From the earliest parish records to the present day, the book traces over three centuries of ringing, exploring how church towers across the Five Valleys became centres of community life, continuity, and change. With a focus on Painswick, Stroud, Bisley, Minchinhampton and surrounding villages, Ian uncovers stories of colourful local characters, great bands of ringers, wartime silence, post-war revival, and the endurance of tradition in a modern world.
The narrative is enriched by extensive archival research, oral history, and personal recollections, set alongside photographs, maps, and illustrations. Along the way, the book highlights not only the technical achievements of ringers, but also their social bonds, youthful enthusiasm, rivalries, and acts of remembrance, showing how ringing has always been about people as much as bells.
Written during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when towers fell silent, this work is both a tribute to the past and a celebration of the generations who ensured that the bells of the Stroud Valleys still ring today. It will appeal to bell ringers everywhere, local historians, and anyone interested in the living traditions of English parish life.
See the contents pages
"The over-riding reason why the author has found so much to say is that the study is based on the people who make up the community of ringers – rather than on towers and performances alone. That makes a huge difference. The title of the book – perhaps not immediately self-explanatory – expresses the idea that, as ringers, we owe a great deal to our forebears from whom we have inherited many of our bells and our ringing traditions. This links the past, the present and the future. Thus, this book explores the social history of ringing through time."
- Chris Pickford
See Chris's full review.
Order today at the RW shop.
The Ringing World is available in print and electronic form.
The main portal to read the RW is through our extraordinary website, BellBoard.
To order a paper copy, contact the office.
A new issue is published every week. The worldwide ringing community are proud to have a weekly magazine recording their heritage.
Every issue contains a mix of material about the world of ringing - news, stories, photographs, performance reports, and feature articles about history, learning, theory and community.
We print a number of special issues every year with themes including young ringing, student ringing, regional focus, and an annual Christmas special bumper issue.
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| RWNYC 2023 | Student ringing 2024 | Christmas special 2022 | Lincolnshire special |
Look on BellBoard for other issues available to read for free. You can also purchase individual issues electronically for just a few pounds, or buy a subscription.
We depend on contributions from the ringing public. A great way to get a free copy of a RW is to submit something for publication!
We hope you'll subscribe to support our work recording the story of ringing and keeping the worldwide community of bellringers together.