Like most bands we are a varied bunch, ranging in age from 12 to 80. Almost anyone can learn to ring and you are very welcome to come and visit. We are affiliated to the Essex Association of Change Ringers within the Southern District.
There are various jobs that have to be done and the formal positions are filled by election at our annual general meeting and approved by our Vicar.
Who's Who?
President of the Guild
According to the old Tower Rules laid down in 1899 the president of the Guild is the incumbent, who nowadays is our Vicar, Ian Jorysz. Luckily for us Ian is an outstanding ringer and, although he does not ring on Sundays for obvious reasons, he adds greatly to our practice nights and to our band. As president he also chairs our annual general meeting.
Tower Captain
The Tower Captain is the traditional name for the person in charge of the tower, the ringers and the bells and keeps us all in order! The Ringing Master is the name sometimes used to describe the person who organise the ringing for Sunday services and weddings and runs and the training activities. This is often a separate position, especially in larger bands. However, the role of Master is combined with that of Tower Captain at St Peter’s. Beth Johnson is our Tower Captain and she learnt to ring at Romford. She is also the editor of the district newsletter, which can be found on the district web site.
Deputy Tower Captain
The Deputy Tower Captain stands in for the Tower Captain when she is not available. Our Deputy Tower Captain is Mark Robbins who started to ring in 2006 at St Peter’s and was taught by Beth. Mark also created and maintains this web site with help from the rest of the band.
Steeple Keeper
The Steeple Keeper looks after all things bell related and makes
sure all the bells are working well and are regularly serviced.
This mainly involves lots of inspection of ropes and pulleys,
tightening of errant bolts, and replacing the occasionally
broken stay. Our Steeple keeper is Paul Trueman who was past
Master of the Durham University band.
Deputy Steeple Keeper
The deputy steeple keeper essentially holds the ladder and passes tools the steeple keeper! This is currently Mark Robbins who is having fun learning the ropes!
Treasurer
The Treasurer holds the purse strings. She records all income and expenditure and submits a financial report to the PCC. Our Treasurer is Maria Jorysz.
Honorary Secretary
Our Secretary keeps all our records and takes minutes at our AGM. Our Secretary is Vic Dale who learnt to ring at Bentley and has recently celebrated 50 years since his first quarter peal.
Tower Correspondent
The Tower Correspondent is the point of contact for the association and his contact details are listed in the Associations directory. Our Tower correspondent is Vic Dale. If you would like to contact us through these web pages please have a look at our contact pages.
The Band
The rest of the St Peter's band make ringing such a fun and varied pastime. These include Maria, Alan, Katherine, Thelma, Don, Pam, Jenny, Roy, Emily, Amy, Fiona and Richard (sorry if I have missed anyone!). The picture was taken during one of our annual outings.
Visiting friends
We often welcome visitors to our practice nights but we also have some regular visiting friends from local towers who help enormously with our practices, outings and quarter peal attempts. These include Ron, John and Rowena from Bentley, Simon from Hutton, Ray from Shenfield and Roger.
