Established January 17th 1881

 John Davidge (right) receiving the 10-bell Striking Competition cup on behalf
of the victorious East Berks & South Bucks Branch team from chief judge Stephen Stanford.

Full results

Welcome to the home page of the Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers (ODG). The ODG is a territorial society representing bell ringers in the English counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, which together comprise the Diocese of Oxford. The ODG has in excess of 2000 members, the highest total of any Society which is affiliated to the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. The annual subscription rate is currently £5.50 for both resident and non-resident members, due on the 1st January each year.

The Annual Report for 2005 is available from the Report Editor, price £5 including postage. Cheques should be made payable to The Oxford Diocesan Guild. An A5 booklet listing all current tower correspondents and practice nights can be sent free as an email attachment (Word document) from the Report Editor.

Peals rung for the Guild should be sent to the Peal Secretary with the fee. From Jan 1^st 2007 this is 40p per ringer.

A CD 'Gazetteer of the Bell Towers in the Oxford Diocese' can be bought from Bobbie May.

News

Ringing Day – May 5th 2008 (See change to Route 1 swapping Shinfield and Swallowfield)

Ringing at Shinfield on May 5th.
I have now talked to the Highways department and can offer one further crumb. The sign at Three Mile Cross at the bottom of Church Lane says 'closed' but there is passage for buses. The Highways dept. tell me that it is not illegal to go up a road that is 'closed' but that users should approach with caution as there is only two-way traffic control not involving Church Lane but for the users of the old Basingstoke Road only. Early-comers should be all right to use the diversion routes on to the A 327 but people arriving for a ring at Shinfield after about 10.00 might get caught up in the road closure which is due to take place at 10.20 in the Hyde End Road (B 3349) and the traffic monitoring on the A 327 between about 10.40 and 11.00 to let the runners through. This is the best I can offer! I would urge all people intending to come to Shinfield to park on the side of the road opposite the church to avoid a total snarl-up of people trying to get in at both ends of Church Lane. There will be a hot drink waiting for ringers with perseverence.
Bobbie May ( Tower Captain )

Notice and papers for the AGM to be held at Woodstock on 17^th May 2008

Steeple Aston Course – Nov 1st 2008

Eight-bell Striking Competition – May 5^th 2008

Central Council's Framework for Ringing Training

Diary of Guild events for 2008

Technical note from the Towers & Belfries sub-committee on correcting oddstruckness

Sermon preached by the Rt Rev Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham, at the Guild Festival service

Celebrating Her Majesty’s 80th Birthday in the Oxford Diocese

Download this file to update you tower profile for the final version of the Guild CD

Guild 125th anniversary

Commemorative ringing for the 125th anniversary

Exhibition Material: Arranging an exhibition or open day? There are lots of suitable pictures available to download and print from the Central Council web site. Exhibition stands which are free-standing, triple-fold and comprise six panels 600mm wide by 1 metre high are available for loan from the Guild PRO, Peter Davies (pro@odg.org.uk). They are contained in carrying bags and are easily transported by car.

Central Council statement on Child Protection

ODG Child Protection documents - Ringers' Guide - summary (Nov 05), Ringers' Guide - forms (Nov 05)

Also see the Diocesan guidelines which now draw everything together in one volume, and can be found by linking to the Diocesan web-site and searching under Child Protection.

ODG statistics Updated 9 March 2003

The ODG operates two bell funds, the Oxford Diocesan Bell Fund and the Guild Restoration Fund, to help towers in the Diocese with restoration projects.

Download Gift Aid forms for the Oxford Diocesan Bell Fund or the Guild Restoration Fund

Download the ODG leaflet on Recruitment and Retention

The ODG offers advice to churches about the condition of their tower, bells and fittings through the
Towers & Belfries sub-committee.

Guild Library Catalogue (version dated 7^th April 2007)

Current ODG officers and their terms of reference.

There are 15 branches in the Guild. Click here for a list of the branches and a map of their locations within the Diocese. Clicking on the branch name will provide more information about the towers in that branch including Ordnance Survey grid references, practice nights and Sunday service ringing times where they are known. Some branches have their own web sites. Links to these are given after the branch name.

There is also a printable map of every tower in the Diocese with 3 or more bells.

There are many more ringing related links on Roger Bailey's Ringing Resources page

You may be interested in articles on bell-ringing at the national and international level. These can be found
at the Ringing World Web site.

This page's Web-Counter says that you are visitor number to this page.

Please send any corrections or additions to the Website Manager