Whetstone Bellringers

21/04/2026

**Change of plan. Last minute cancellation, no QP this Saturday after all. **

~On the morning of Saturday 25th April we are due to have a quarter peal at Whetstone, a 45 minute challenge, during the summer months we stick to the shorter ringing and avoid the 3hr peals.~

~Good luck to T and friends.~

09/04/2026

What a lovely busy practice again last night, bonus visiting ringers from the wider Leicester area, occasional visitors who made it this week, as well as a good turnout of regulars. 3 of the older teen/young adult age group even decided to run to us from Narborough!! 19 in total!

All the extra help meant we could put a strong band around those getting to grips with plain hunt in new positions and inside to plain bob doubles. We were also able to ring Cambridge minor for one of the more progressed young ringers, and a couple of courses of Stedman Doubles for adult novices. Not forgetting of course the call changes for 1 youngster and some rounds for the youngest and newest ringer present who I think is in year 4

We then finished with a lovely plain course of Bob Major which was a nice treat we don't get very often.

Many thanks to all the supporters!

05/04/2026

Happy Easter all.

Was a busy morning for local ringers. With Narborough 6️⃣🔔 having their service earlier than normal at the same time as Whetstone 8️⃣🔔 half of the Whetstone regulars who usually do both couldn't be in 2 places at once, so half of the Cosby 6️⃣🔔 crew came to help at Whetstone, then went to ring for their service too, while 3 of the Whetstone regulars went to help Willoughby Waterleys 5️⃣🔔 who were ringing at the same time as Cosby. The other WW ringers had already rung at Countesthorpe 8️⃣🔔 first!

The message threads to sort coverage over the last week were fun! 📋📨💬🗨

While ringing locally is a thriving and growing activity, we clearly could always use more hands (literally!). So if anyone local is interested in learning please do get in touch.

We do all support each other so if you'd like to learn to for your local village tower rather than Whetstone we can ether train you for them or pass you on to the local contact depending if the tower in question is a teaching tower. Some towers are easier to teach in than others and we at Whetstone are blessed with lovely bells and a nice teaching space which has helped support new ringers over the last few years who now ring at both Cosby and Narborough, with support from the Narborough and Cosby tower captain/teachers at our venue during their journeys.

28/03/2026

This coming Wednesday 1st April, with it being Holy Week and local Easter school break, Whetstone Ringers will be taking a night off.

We will be back as normal 7-8:30 on Wednesday 8th.

21/03/2026

Whetstone church will be hosting a visiting band for a Peal this Sunday 22nd between 2-5pm.

It will be about 3 hrs of ringing from when they start.

We wish them luck as this is a rescheduled attempt.

21/03/2026

Our ringing buddies down the road in Cosby now have their own page. ❤️🔔

https://www.facebook.com/share/18PZLbdiz3/

Group of new ringers who have joined together to create a ringing band at St Michael's & all angels Church is Cosby, Leicestershire - practice night is Monday 6.30 to 8pm

13/03/2026

What a lovely bustling practice we had on Wednesday! We were down a couple of regulars due to course and theatre commitments but then ended up with several bonus visitors who found themselves free that evening and came along for some fun.

The practice night plan was rapidly amended to include more exciting and challenging things with all these extra people .. we took all 8 bells up as we had so many ringers which gave opportunities on ringing on more bells as we typically only use 6 while we focus on core skills.

15 ringers! ❤️🔔

We rang...
Round on 8 (practicing our timing and getting used to bells we don't always ring)
Call changes on 8 (getting older teenager ringer A back into the swing of things after a 2 year break)
Plain hunt 7, I think 3 times, for various people to practice moving on from ph5
Plain Bob doubles so so many ways to support various people having a go trebling or inside or covering with a strong band on the other 5 bells.
We even managed Stedman Doubles TWICE for 2 ringers progressing in this since the September ringing course.
Then finished off with some Grandsire doubles for 1 person inside at their request, and a lovely lower in peal on 8.

We contemplated if we could get Stedman triples, but despite having 7 Stedman ringers, 2 only ringing doubles and not bobs, yet we stuck to doubles.

Very enjoyable, thanks to all who came who helped make it so fun.

If any lapsed ringers in the area want to step back in to the fun we are happy to support you remembering how to do it, drop us a message!

03/03/2026

This Wednesday 4th March our practice hosts the Leicester District guild monthly meet up, running 7-9pm, slightly longer than our regular practice.

All welcome, including local ringers who are not (yet?) in the guild.

We've also checked that Bulls Head Whetstone over the road will be OK with a ringers invasion after 🍻🔔 (no conflicting pool or darts competitive events)

Please remember to leave the few parking spots on Church Lane for those with limited mobility and kindly park in the free car park halfway to the pub instead. Or in the pub if you're going there later?

03/03/2026

We had some lovely ringing Sunday morning, thanks to our bonus grown-up ringer A whose presence opened up some extra options and also regular young ringer A who was brave and rang well on stuff that isn't comfort zone. It was a real treat to get Sunday Stedman Doubles.

15/02/2026

The annual question for towers with Wednesday practice nights... "Is there ringing practice on the week of Ash Wednesday?"
Several local towers have cancelled their practices as they have special services, however Whetstone will not be in a position to hold such service (the vicar's absence continues) so the Church Wardens have said we are OK to have practice on Wednesday 18th.

Usual Tower Captain Sarah will be away, but practice will be kept in line under the guidance of Andrew P..

Visitors craving a ringing fix are welcome as always, remember we have slightly earlier times than many ringing from 7pm-8:30pm.