Held in St Mary’s Church, Kirtlington, on Saturday 17th February 2024
Branch Calendar at-a-Glance
…to December 2023
| Date | Location | Event | Note |
| Mon 13.3.23 | All | Commonwealth Day – 10th Anniversary | |
| Mon 20.3.23 | Kirtlington | Branch Practice | 7.30 – 9pm |
| Thu 13.4.23 | Weston on-the-Green | Branch Practice | 7.30 – 9pm |
| Sat 15.4.23 | Various | Radley course | |
| Sat 15.4.23 | Bedfordshire | Branch outing | |
| Sun 23.4.23 | All | St George’s Day | |
| Sun 23.4.23 | Bletchingdon | Raising & Lowering | 2.30 – 4pm |
| Wed 3.5.23 | Piddington | Branch Practice | 7.30-9pm |
| Sat 6.5.23 | All | Coronation Ringing | |
| Sun 14.5.23 | Bell Sunday | ||
| Sat 20.5.23 | Broadwell | Guild AGM | |
| Mon 22.05.23 | Brill | Branch Practice | 7.30 – 9pm |
| Wed 7.6.23 | Middleton Stoney | Branch Practice | 7.30 – 9pm |
| Sat 8.7.23 | Christ Church | Guild Festival | |
| Tue 25.7.23 | Woodeaton | Branch Practice | 7.30 – 9pm |
| Wed 9.8.23 | Launton | Branch Practice | 7.30 – 9pm |
| Sat 2.9.23 | Tbd | Striking competition | |
| Fri 22.9.23 | Ludgershall | Branch Practice | 7.30 – 9pm |
| Tue 17.10.23 | Islip | Branch Practice | 7.30 – 9pm |
| Wed 8.11.23 | Stratton Audley | Branch Practice | 7.30 – 9pm |
| Wed 22.11.23 | Bletchingdon | Branch Practice | Doubles and Minor? |
| Wed 6.12.23 | Charlton-on-Otmoor | Branch Practice | 7.30 – 9pm |
| Mon 18.12.23 | Kirtlington | Xmas Special Practice |
Branch Practice at Weston, 2nd September 2021
A very creditable 13 ringers from five towers came to tonight’s branch practice at Weston-on-the-Green, kindly hosted by Gerald and Andy.
For many it was their first visit since the improvements had been completed to the ringing chamber ceiling and to the rope circle, if not their first visit altogether. It is now a very welcoming space and should be the location for many quarter peals in future.
We are very sorry that Mandy, Jeremy and Richard couldn’t join us, due to needing to self-isolate.
After ringing up we rang some rounds and call changes with Dinah, who is learning at Islip and who appreciated visiting another tower and meeting other ringers.
We rang several plain courses of Grandsire doubles, called by Charlie and Teresa, as well as plain hunt on five, with Andy showing that he hasn’t forgotten how to ring the three to it. Well done Andy.
Some more rounds and call changes for Dinah, then we managed to complete a plain course of Bob Minor at the third attempt, with James on treble and Willie rolling back the years taking two. Kathryn, despite strong reservations, also showed it could be done on four, Teresa on three and Charlie on five.
Finally, we attempted to ring the front five down in peal, where Andy kept behind the treble very nicely. I hope to see more of our Weston friends at Bletchingdon, Islip and Kirtlington in future!
Please don’t forget to put our next branch practice on 29th September at Middleton Stoney in your diaries. See you then!
Steve Vickars
2nd September 2021
2021 AGM Documents
The documents relevant to the 2021 Bicester Branch AGM are available on this post for download prior to the meeting at 2.30 pm Saturday 13th February 2021.
Branch Practice at Islip 7th January 2020
A very healthy 18 ringers from seven towers came to the first Branch Practice of 2020 at Islip on the 7th January, including two new recruits from Charlton, who got a number of goes at handling practice.
In charge were Richard and Jeremy our Ringing Masters, who were keen to get all eight bells going as much as possible, so we started with Plain Hunt on seven with Mandy, Andrew and Gerald from Weston and Chris and Jane from Bicester.
From there we rang a number of rounds and call changes on eight for our less experienced ringers, then a number of plain courses of Grandsire Doubles, with Judith inside and Sue covering. Gerald and Andrew had turns at ringing the 2 to these
After more rounds and call changes, we rang a touch of Grandsire Doubles, again with Judith inside and Sue covering, Faye, Jeremy and Teresa supporting.
More rounds and call changes followed, with a couple of plain courses of Plain Hunt on five, then a plain course of Plain Bob Minor for our helpers and Sue trebling, assisted by Judith.
A full practice again, with very encouraging numbers. Hope to see lots of you at the next Branch Practice at Bicester on 21st January.
Special Practice at Kirtlington 16th December 2019
Thirteen ringers from four branches came to our final Special Practice of 2019 at Kirtlington, led by Richard, our joint ringing master supported by Kathryn, Malcolm, Clare, Charles and Rachel, Ron and Jane Burgess.
We welcomed Elaine from Ludgershall for the first time to Kirtlington tower, and Jane from Bicester, returning after four decades.
After raising in peal, we rang rounds and call changes for Elaine, Fay and Jane, then an attempted touch of Stedman Triples, which we tried at a later point, getting a little further.
Next we rang a plain course of Bob Triples for Charlie inside, with some nice striking.
After some more rounds and call changes we rang a nice touch of Grandsire Triples, called by Charles, Kathryn Grant trebling.
Next up we rang a reasonably well-struck plain course of Bob Major, for Charlie to treble to. Well done, Charlie!
As Cambridge was on the billing (and quite a few of our helpers were hoping to get a chance to ring it), we attempted Cambridge Major, which unfortunately fired out after 1 and a half leads.
After some nicely struck call changes we then made a fair attempt at spliced Plain and Little Bob Major, with Charlie trebling again, getting a reasonable way through.
Our second attempt of Stedman Triples was followed by a completed touch of Grandsire Triples, called by Richard with Kathryn inside, with the practice ending in some rounds on eight.
An enjoyable Practice, with a big thank you to Richard for leading us and our helpers from near and further afield who enabled us to ring a good range of methods on 7 and 8.
A very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.
Hope to see lots of you at the first Branch Practice of 2020 at Islip on the 7th of January.
Branch Practice at Charlton 5th December 2019
Thirteen ringers came to last night’ practice at Charlton on Otmoor, including four of the Charlton team. Besides Willie Haynes el Presidente, last night’s proceedings were led by Richard and Jeremy, with Kathryn and Anne helping ring methods inside. It was good to see the Weston team out in force, as well as Sue from Islip seeking to gain trebling practice. A good number indeed, aiming to restore the sound of Charton’s fine bells to the village.
After ringing up the team rang a set of call changes on all six, effectively Plain Hunt on six, then a plain course of Bob Minor, Sue trebling. We rang sets of Plain Hunt doubles for the Charlton and Weston teams, then touches of Plain Bob Doubles and Grandsire Doubles for Sue to Treble to.
Marking the progress that the Weston team has made in the past year, we were able to ring plain courses of Bob Doubles with Mandy, Gerald and Andrew taking turns to ring treble. Andrew also enjoyed ringing the stately tenor to one of the courses. Well done to them!
More call changes followed as well touches of Grandsire Doubles and an attempted touch of Reverse Canterbury Doubles.
Thank you all for coming. Hope to see lots of you at the final Special Practice of 2019 on 16th December at Kirtlington (Cambridge Surprise Minor and St Clements Bob Minor on the menu – or whatever we can achieve), then the final Christmas social also at Kirtlington on 23rd December.
Special Practice at Weston on-the-Green 21st November 2019
Seven ringers attended this month’s special practice at Weston, including a very welcome appearance by Tony Crabtree, visiting the tower to advise on planned improvements to the ring of bells.
Proceedings were led by Jeremy Adams with support from Teresa Carter and Faye. The local Weston ringers were in attendance of course, and the ringing menu was structured around them: being Plain Hunt on 5 and plain courses of Grandsire.
We also had Barbara, a potential new recruit from Weston, come to see what ringing was about and who had a try at backstroke. She was not put off by the experience!
Our next practice is on 5th December at Charlton on Otmoor. Hope to see lots of you there!
Branch Practice 6th November 2019 at Bletchingdon
Seventeen ringers came to last night’s Branch Practice at Bletchingdon, a very encouraging number. El presidente Willie was there in good form, together with Jeremy and Richard.
We were also joined by a full Weston contingent.
For Margie we rang rounds and as our number included several keen to practice Plain Hunt, we rang several courses of Plain Hunt Doubles, followed by plain courses of Grandsire Doubles, giving Gus, Brenda, Andrew, Mandy and Gerald opportunities to ring treble, two and tenor.
We also rang some plain courses of Bob Doubles for Sue.
For Tim, Judith, Faye and Anne we rang some touches of Grandsire Doubles, including a different 80 blow touch.
Finally we rang a couple of touches of Plain Bob Minor, the first with Faye trebling, the second Sue M trebled, gaining a real sense of accomplishment.
A very full practice and great to see so many from the Branch and outside.
Hope to see lots of you at this month’s special practice in 21st November at Weston on the Green.
Special Practice at Souldern 15th October 2019
Twelve ringers attended last night’s special practice at Souldern, which has a ring of six traditional sounding bells that “go” very well after recent improvements. We gave a special welcome back to Anthony our previous Ringing Master, and Sam, as well as to Charles and Rachel from ONB branch. In charge were Richard and Jeremy, also in attendance were Teresa and Kathryn.
After ringing up we rang a touch of Grandsire Doubles called by Anthony, a touch of Bob Minor, then a touch of Stedman Doubles for Teresa and Anne, called by Charles, followed by a plain course of Kent Minor for Jeremy and Kathryn.
For Sam we rang three Plain courses of Bob Doubles then some more Bob Minor for Anne. Wishing to extend the repertoire and make use of our experienced ringers we rang a touch of Reverse Canterbury Bob Minor, a Plain course of Cambridge Minor, followed by touches of Bastow Little Bob Minor.
After another touch of Bob Minor we had a good lower in peal. A very enjoyable practice, a chance to meet up with old friends and an opportunity to make a good sound in a tower where, unfortunately there is no local team.
Hope to see lots of you at Branch Practice at Bletchingdon on 6th November.