It was a Saturday in January, way back in 1881, when the Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers was founded in Oxford. Now the Guild is the largest territorial society with around 2,000 members in over 440 towers. Fifteen branches support ringing today so that bells ring out across the beautiful countryside of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

The Guild may have been formed from a desire to achieve “the encouragement of the beautiful science of change ringing and the cultivation of order, moral tone and reverence in our belfries.” But the Guild is as committed as it was to supporting the recruitment and training of ringers as well as promoting good care of bells so that all ringable towers in the Guild are rung on Sundays.