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The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR) is an organisation representing ringers of church bells in the English style. Within England (where the vast majority of English-style rings are) most towers will be affiliated through local organisations.
Contents
Origins
English style ringing had developed from the seventeenth century onwards. Swinging bells were converted to full circle ringing by rope and wheel and then augmented to more bells. From Fabian Stedman's time, ringers had sought to vary the simple ringing of rounds by using increasingly complex patterns. In 1891, Sir Arthur P. Heywood proposed the creation of an organisation to codify and support this ringing; this organisation became the CCCBR.
Membership
Individual members do not belong to the CCCBR; it consists of 65 affiliated organisations representing parts of the British Isles and territorial organisations throughout the world. Affiliated organisations send representatives, who serve for a three-year term. The council may itself elect both members and life members for past services to ringing.
Committees
The work of the CCCBR is performed through committees. Most of these committees are concerned with the normal minutiae of an organisation: administration, various records/archives. One committee, methods, is concerned with defining and recording methods and principles. It lays down the criteria for accepting peals, including quarter and half peals. Most towers accept its findings as binding.
The Ringing World
The Ringing World is a weekly journal devoted entirely to tower and hand bell ringing published by the Central Council. It records notable ringing performances, carries features on bells, change ringing, bell towers and ringers, it is a conduit for correspondence, and advertises ringing events and publishes obituaries. It was first published in 1911 from Guildford as a weekly periodical to report ringing news and details of peals and quarter peals rung around the world. It is the "journal of record for performances" in ringing, and peals must be published in it.
Its founder and first editor was John Sparkes Goldsmith, who was born, at Southover, Lewes, on 13 January 1878 and died on 1 June 1942. In 2011, celebrations of the 100 year anniversary of the magazine were held in Derbyshire and Westminster Abbey.
In 2016 readers of the magazine wrote to insist that bell ringing was "an art and a sport", as demonstrated by regular "striking competitions." It was suggested that classification of change ringing as a sport by Sport England could save it from becoming obsolete. But the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers opposed the move, suggesting that it would jeopardise its relationship with church bodies, since bell ringing should be seen as part of Christian worship, not exercise. The council's president, Chris Mew, said: "Where is the glamour of the sports field and where are the David Beckhams of the belfry?"