Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers (2024)

07/07/2024

GREAT BELLS OF THE BRITISH ISLES
We are pleased to announce an addition to the scope of the towers listed in Dove. Readers of the printed version will be familiar with the list of "Notable Bells of the British Isles" in the appendices, specifically all those over 40 cwt. The towers that hold these bells have now been incorporated into the web version and can be found here: https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/bells?geo_region=1&bell_weight=40&bell_weight_cmp=%3E%3D&pagesize=200&order=weight&order_dir=desc . There are currently 150 bells given in this list, headed up by the Olympic Bell in Queen Elizabeth Park, Stratford at almost 451 cwt. From this list, readers will also be able to see what other bells accompany these significant bourdons, such as quarter bells in clock chimes, or lighter bells in diatonic chimes, or whether the bells are simply hanging alone.

05/07/2024

Subject to faculty and fund-raising it is hoped to improve and augment the ring of eight bells at Bingham, Nottinghamshire. We are donating four bells to replace the poor sounding17th & 18th Century tenor bells.

28/05/2024

Subject to faculty and fund-raising it is hoped to augment the ring of three at Misterton, Nottinghamshire to a ring of six. We have offered to donate three bells: They are from Rochdale, St Chad (former treble to be 1of 6); Twyford, Hampshire (former 4th to be 2 of 6) and Over Kellet, Lancashire (former tenor to be 3 of 6).

12/05/2024

NEW MAPPING FUNCTIONALITY ANNOUNCED!

Dove now has improved mapping functionality, allowing tenor weights and BellBoard performance totals to be presented on maps using colour.

To view tenor weights on a map, go to the tower listing (applying any search criteria you want), and choose Map showing tenor weights. Blue towers are the lightest and pink the heaviest, with green, yellow, orange and red used for intermediate weights.

To view BellBoard performance totals on map, go to the tower search page on BellBoard, and search for the type of performances you are interested in (e.g. all peals, or quarter peals in the last five years), and follow the link to plot a map or view a list of them on the Dove website.

27/03/2024

Dove Stewards, Dickon Love and Tim Jackson are attending the DAC Bell Advisor Conference in Liverpool today. Watch this space!

06/03/2024

Did you know Dove's Guide is the world's largest database of...church toilets!

Having this information easily accessible reduces anxiety for some ringers and gives people confidence to ring at more towers and accept offers to ring in peals/quarters than they otherwise would have.

Check towers you are familiar with on the Guide today and let us know if a toilet is present either through the website contact form or email [email protected]

25/02/2024

The funeral details for David Cawley have been announced for Wed 13 March at Canterbury Cathedral. The link for donations is https://www.love2donate.co.uk/inmemory/identify_name.php?bc=799.

13/02/2024

Have you checked our entry for your local tower recently?
We rely on being informed of any changes to keep the guide up to date.
Please contact us via the website or just email [email protected] if you notice any errors or omissions.

06/02/2024

We are sorry to report the passing of the Revd DAVID L CAWLEY of Canterbury who died in the morning of 6 February, aged 79, following a battle with cancer. David was a well known authoritative bell historian who for decades was a member of the Bells Committee of (what is now) the Church Buildings Council, a consultant to various dioceses, and the driving force behind many bell restoration and conservation projects. Over the years he has helped in the compilation of many of the lists in the printed editions of Dove and he wrote a number of the articles. He has been a key source of guidance throughout that time and a particular friend to those in the current and wider Dove Teams. He will be truly missed.

27/01/2024

Three members of the Dove team visiting St Olave's church in York, the home tower of Ron Dove, the founder of Dove's Guide.

03/12/2023

DOVE FOUNDRY FOCUS for Nov 2023
Projects marked as complete in the month.

TEDBURN ST MARY, Devon, S Mary V
All bells lifted and bearings cleaned/replaced as necessary. Clappers & crown staples of front five restored. New bell pad for 2nd bell.
(John Taylor & Co) (Pictured, credit Roger Cornfoot)

WELLAND, Worcs, S James
Clappers, crown staples, rope roller boxes and sliders completely restored.
(John Taylor & Co)

INGLEBY GREENHOW, N Yorks, S Andrew
Clappers rebushed, new bell belts, pulleys and repaint carried out. Local contractor (Pinnacle) used with Whites of Appleton.
(Whites of Appleton)

HOLCOMBE BURNELL, Devon, S John Bapt
Steel frame beam end dug out from tower wall and replacement spliced in to ensure structural integrity of the frame.
(John Taylor & Co)

CROPTHORNE, Worcs, S Michael
Clappers annealed, clappers and crown staples restored.
(John Taylor & Co)

LAKENHEATH, Suffolk, S Mary
Exisiting cast iron tenor headstock fitted with new gudgeons and bearings; rope roller box refurbished; tenor bell rehung.
(John Taylor & Co)

CORFE MULLEN, Dorset, S Hubert
Broken gudgeon on the 2nd bell repaired.
(Nicholson Engineering Ltd)

LEIGHTERTON, Glos, S Andrew
Service bell rehung on a new hardwood headstock with trigger action clapper for chiming.
(John Taylor & Co)

DRAYTON, Norfolk, S Margaret
The six bells were quarter turned with assistance from local ringers.
(John Taylor & Co)

DROXFORD, Hants, S Mary & All Saints
Clapper repairs to tenor.
(Whites of Appleton)

26/11/2023

Welcoming Kye Leaver to the Dove Team

We are pleased to announce that KYE LEAVER has joined the Dove Team as a Dove Clerk. Kye, already a keen researcher for Dove, is from Sussex and is currently studying horology at college. He is already making good progress in processing entries in our backlog of frames updates as the more observant will notice from recent updates.

07/10/2023

DOVE FOUNDRY FOCUS for Sept 2023
Projects marked as complete in the month.

ALBRIGHTON, Shrops, S Mary Magd
Clappers and roller boxes overhauled.
(Blyth & Co)

HARDWICKE, Glos, S Nicholas
New gudgeons and bearings fitted.
(John Taylor & Co)

LTYHAM, Lancs, S Peter RC
New tenor headstock fitted; new gudgeons, bearings, and rehang for #3, #4, and tenor.
(John Taylor & Co)

ST ANNES ON THE SEA, Lancs, S Anne
Bells cleaned, tuned and rehung on new fittings, augmented to 10 and the frame extended. Also the existing front four replaced with newly cast bells, the existing bells going to the Keltek Trust.
(John Taylor & Co) (Pictured, photo from church FB page)

GREAT HORMEAD, Herts, S Nicholas
Ringing chamber relocated to the ground floor with new rope guide and some bells re-roped.
(John Taylor & Co)

NUNNEY, Som, All Saints
Bells retuned and augmented to 8.
(Matthew Higby & Co)

DONERAILE, Cork, Ireland, S Mary
Bells tuned and rehung with new fittings. Bell frame cleaned and painted/treated and upper tier secured to the tower walls.
(Matthew Higby & Co)

BROMHAM, Wilts, S Nicholas
Heavy overhaul; underpinning of frame; installation of new ringing chamber ceiling; sound proofing.
(Nicholson Engineering Ltd)

HORSHAM, W Sussex, S Mary V
4th bell recast by Taylors. New cast bell has been hung and rung.
(Whites of Appleton)

TURKDEAN, Glos, All Saints
Bells restored; cracked bell welded; bells rehung dead. Fitted with electromagnetic hammers.
(Whites of Appleton)

29/09/2023

*Bell hanging types, tubular bell lengths, menu of truss and layout types*

Dove now displays how individual bells are hung. This is found in the bells table for each tower where this information is known. The abbreviations are FC (full-circle in the style used for English change ringing), S (swing chiming), D (hung dead unable to swing), U (not hung).

For tubular chimes, we now also show the length of each tube, where known.

Finally, we have set up pages to allow the reader to browse truss types and layout types, although we still recommend that reference is made to Chris Pickford’s book Bellframes, A practical guide to inspection and recording when contributing updates.

04/09/2023

DOVE FOUNDRY FOCUS for Aug 2023
Projects marked as complete in the month.

AYLESHAM, Norf, S Michael
Seven cracked bells were welded by Soundweld. All ten bells were tuned and rehung in the existing frame. The ringing fittings were all significantly overhauled.
(Nicholson Engineering Ltd)

GUISELEY, W Yorks, S Oswald K&M
New hardwood rope rollers, sliders & runner boards were provided.
(John Taylor & Co)

WALTERSTONE, Herefs, S Mary
The 2 bells in west end turret were conserved and rehung with new traditional fittings, the larger bell for swing chiming, the smaller for chiming by electro-magnetic hammer.
(John Taylor & Co)

CHICAGO, Illinois, USA, Mitchell Tower, University of Chicago
Old ring of ten hung "dead" in a new galvanised steel frame for automatic chiming. New ring of ten bells installed with new bell frame all new fittings. Sound control installed.
(John Taylor & Co) Pictured (church: Isabella Scott, belfry: Nathan Evans)

ABBOTS RIPTON, Cambs, S Andrew
Electro-magnetic chiming hammers were fitted and a programmable unit was manufactured and installed.
(John Taylor & Co)

BURTON HASTINGS, Warwicks, S Botolph
Augmented from five to six. The bell frame was extended and ringing fittings were provided.
(John Taylor & Co)

SEDGEFIELD, Dur, S Edmund
Repairs made to the rotten frame.
(White's of Appleton)

01/08/2023

Dove Foundry Focus for July 2023
Projects marked as complete in the month.

Appleton le Moors, North Yorkshire, Christ Church
Ellacombe chiming components restored/replaced
(Whites of Appleton)

Houghton St Giles, Norfolk, S Giles
Formerly hung for full circle ringing, bells hung dead with electro magnetic hammers with 2 & 3 tuned
(Whites of Appleton)

Caversham, Berkshire, S Peter
Variable sound control installed
(John Taylor & Co)

Bettisfield, Wrexham, Clwyd, Wales, S John Bapt
Frame strengthened with maintenance work to fittings
(John Taylor & Co)

Stoodleigh, Devon, S Margaret
Treble welded, retuned and rehung for ringing
(John Taylor & Co)

Salter Street, West Midlands, S Patrick
Automatic chiming system manufactured and fitted
(John Taylor & Co)

Kington Langley, Wiltshire, S Peter
Bell rehung on new fittings for swing-chiming
(Whites of Appleton)

Hanmer, Wrexham, Clwyd, Wales, S Chad
Major restoration in which the cast iron “H” frames were cleaned and rebuilt on galvanised steel RSJs. The bells were tuned and given all new fittings and electromagnetic chiming hammers and rehung in rebuilt frame.
(John Taylor & Co)

Stowmarket, Suffolk, S Peter & S Mary
Restored and augmented to 10, original 4th welded, original 1 and 3 replaced (pictured by Sumitsurai, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94633791)
Nicholson Engineering Ltd)

Stroud, Gloucestershire, S Laurence
New circular rope guide manufactured and fitted
(John Taylor & Co)

28/01/2023

'Derelict' rings and 'No regular ringing'

We have made the decision to stop using the ill defined term 'derelict'. In each case such rings are also marked as 'unringable', which is considered sufficient.

Similarly, we have decided to stop noting 'No regular ringing' as we do not receive sufficient numbers of updates to maintain this as a reliable reference. We continue to show practice night information (where advised), temporary pauses in ringing, and other more definitive ringing statuses.

03/12/2022

MAJOR UPDATE IN THE WAY FRAMES ARE RECORDED

We have introduced improvements to the way frames are recorded in Dove.

Frames will now be described in terms of a base frame number with frame extensions described after a decimal point 1, 1.1, 1.2, etc.

We have introduced a new field showing the RESULTANT LAYOUT once a frame has been extended, so we now clearly show the difference between the local layout of an extension and the way it affects the layout of the complete ring.

We are moving to a new definition of INDEPENDENT FRAMES. These were originally defined as two or more physically detached frames. We'll now only treat frames as independent if they are logically separate, i.e. in separate bell collections. We still have a programme of data cleansing to do to ensure consistency in the application of these definitions, but it will see a reduction in the use of frame numbers such as 1A, 1B, etc.

Where there may be bells in a frame that are additional to the main ring, these now appear in italics when frame contents are listed.

With these, and a lot of other smaller changes to ensure that those maintaining the data do not break logic rules, we are now able to address the backlog of frame updates that need to be applied, as well as run the data cleansing exercises to bring the quality of the frames data up to the standards we have achieved with rings and bells. This will still take a few months to work through.

26/08/2022

WELCOMING NEAL DODGE TO THE DOVE TEAM
We are pleased to announce that Neal has joined the Dove Team and has already been busy analysing and effecting updates. Neal is well known in ringing circles, is the Public Relations Officer for the Suffolk Guild, and has a sharp knowledge of bells, towers and their history. In particular, he is embarking on the queue of updates to bell frames that we allowed to build while the development work in this area was progressed. Good to have Neal on board!

03/04/2022

Frames information in the Dove Bell Register

We have now completed the major phase of transferring the bellframe information from the former Dove database into the new database such that we can now maintain this information. It now possible to search on frame components and layouts, as well as makers and materials from the new frames search page.

We are embarking on a programme of cleansing the frames data as we have discovered some inconsistencies and we have a backlog of a year's worth of amendments that need to be processed. We thank contributors for your patience with these updates. We also have data on frames listed for preservation by the Church Buildings Council that do not contain rings of bells which will be incorporated at some point in the future.

24/03/2022

It is with much sadness that we announce the death of the Rev'd Dr John Baldwin on the evening of 23rd March 2022. John succeeded Ron Dove in taking on the collection and maintenance of information on rings of bells, and was the first to digitise it just after the 1982 edition was published. This led to the first website appearing in 1998 and the extension of the scope to include details on individual bells and frames. John continued to lead the team as Dove Master until his retirement in 2017, although he continued to take a valuable active role until the database was transferred to its present form in 2020. Our thoughts are with his widow, Beryl, and children, Judith and Sid at this distressing time.

29/01/2022

We are very pleased to welcome our newest member of the Dove Team. Lewis Benfield from Leicestershire, has joined as a Dove Clerk to help analyse and update Dove with some of the many updates we are gratefully receiving.

24/11/2021

The team has received a fair few emailed updates in the past 24 hours. Thank you for these and please bear with us while we process them do keep them coming though!

23/11/2021

In February we announced an agreement reached between the Church Buildings Council (CBC) of the Church of England, and the Central Council, concerning the future collection and maintenance of data on bells and bellframes in its jurisdiction. Following months of considerable effort to bring together data on all known CofE places with bells, coupled with further development to accommodate these data, we have now released access to the wider Dove Bell Register to the public. The default searches still focus on full-circle rings, but it is now possible to widen this to CofE chimes, tubular chimes, hemispherical chimes and clock chimes. The number of bell collections has increased from 7,163 to 16,761, and the number of bells from 47,399 to 61,560. The new coverage statistics may be viewed here: https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/stats.php. There is no pretence that these details are all complete or fully accurate, but rather that this is just the first stage to refine and improve the DBR’s accuracy now that it is available for public viewing. Additions and amendments are as always gratefully received. For the first time we are showing collections of 1 and 2 bells hung for full-circle ringing. Please note that inclusion here does not imply that they are ringable, and given that they are likely to receive less attention than the higher number rings, appropriate caution should be taken if they are ever visited.

In further development, we have introduced the ability to search for rings of bells by the same founder, optionally cast within a specified number of years of each other, the ability to sort rings by the age of the newest or oldest bell, and a new summary page giving the output of a particular founder which can be viewed by clicking on their name.

01/10/2021

Customised tower selections

A new function has been introduced to allow you to select individual towers to appear in a search list or a map. If, for example, you want to map out the towers on your tower outing, follow the following steps:

1. Select one of the towers.
2. Click on "List nearest towers" to produce a list that includes the towers on your outing.
3. Use the check boxes to select the outing towers.
4. Click "Restrict to selection".
5. Use the various links to either plot on a map or download the list.

This function now replaces the "Favourites" function, which has now been discontinued.

04/09/2021

One of the features in Dove's Guide is the "Favourites" feature. Do you use this feature, and if so, how, or for what outcome? We'd be grateful for some feedback in the comments area below. Thank you.

12/07/2021

Two new ways of viewing the results of a tower search are now available.
1. View a summary of rings by region (pictured here).
https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/rings-by-region.php?ring_type=english
2. View by the number of bells and presence of semitone bells.
https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/rings-by-bells.php?ring_type=english&ringable=&semitones

07/06/2021

Dove extended to include Carillons of the British Isles

We are pleased to announce that Dove's Guide has been extended to include all carillons in the British Isles. To lead on this work, we were pleased to welcome Scott Orr into the Dove team. Scott is Secretary of the British Carillon Society and an accomplished carillonneur, although has now turned his hand to full-circle ringing. For the purposes of Dove, we are using the World Carillon Federation definition of a carillon as being "a musical instrument composed of at least 23 tuned bronze bells which are played from a baton keyboard. Instruments built before 1940 and composed of between 15 and 22 bells may be designated as 'historical carillons".

The default view in Dove is for full-circle rings, but you can extend the search to carillons by changing the selection from "Full-circle" to either "Carillons" or "All" in the drop down box in the Tower search page.

Pictured here is the carillon of Our Lady of the Rosary, Saltley, Birmingham, courtesy of the BCS.

30/03/2021

We are pleased to announce that work to capture and display information on bell restoration projects has now been built into the new Dove system. This is an area that was outstanding when the bulk of the data management moved to the new system from the old. In the past 3 months we have had to use a manual process to keep project information up to date, so there should be an overall improvement in this service to readers. While there is little new data, the work has allowed us to connect projects with overhaul flags, and forms the basis of an audit trail in the history of a tower or ring of bells. Here is a picture from the most recently completed project: Rodmell, restored by Blyth & Co. Congratulations to Michael Royalton-Kisch and all involved there.

15/03/2021

Where a place has rings or other collections of bells in different towers, or where a ring of bells is known by a particular title, such as The Royal Jubilee Bells or The Bells of Congress, Dove can now display this information in the header bar of the relevant rings. We are also able to start capturing the christened or popular names of bells which is currently only visible by hovering the cursor over the bell number, but will in due course feature more overtly. Canterbury Cathedral is a good example of both of these new features. While these functions have only been released today, the associated data will take some time to be uploaded. https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?tower=12513

Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers