Warwick – WUBRS

The Warwick University Bell-Ringing Society has become…

The Walsgrave Society of Change ringers! Please visit the following pages to discover more:

The Warwick University Bell-Ringing Society has been established for many years as a fun and friendly environment for student ringers to learn and grow. Sadly, though, it has been suffering recently with a low membership and transport issues, culminating in the recent decision by the Students Union that it could no longer be a recognised society, due to a lack of members. This, coupled with a loss of any easy means of transport to our home tower of Honiley, was a sore blow.

However, not to be deterred, a group of student and graduate members of the former society is seeking out pastures new, in a move from our much-loved Honiley to the tower of St Mary the Virgin in Walsgrave. The tower did not previously have a regular band, though nearby ringers had been contributing for Sundays and weddings, and the Reverend was delighted with the prospect of having the bells ring out all the more regularly.

Leaving Honiley was a difficult decision, but ultimately a necessary one, as we could no longer procure a means of easy transport to the tower from campus. We are all excited about setting up the regular Walsgrave practice, which will fall on a Monday evening between 7:30 and 9:00pm, and be open to all. We hope to continue to attract a student presence from Warwick, and maybe even to reach out to Coventry University. We have also gained a learner from the local community in Walsgrave and hope to encourage more.

As well as forming a regular band of ringers for Walsgrave church within the Coventry Guild, we wish to establish ourselves as a dedicated society – the Walsgrave Society of Change Ringers. We officially agreed to disband WUBRS and form this new society at practice on 16th February, voting in a committee of four members – Victor Smith as tower captain, David Lacy as ringing master, Andrew White as steeple keeper, and Amy Collins as secretary. We hope that this society can be an encouraging place for novices and experts to learn, develop and grow alike, and we intend to do the former Warwick University society proud by it.