Sheffield Universities Guild of Change Ringers

The Sheffield Universities’ Guild of Change Ringers is a society of dedicated, fun-loving ringers! We always welcome new members, whether you can already ring or not and we have an experienced ART (Association of Ringing Teachers) trained team who are always willing to teach.

Every Friday we run our regular bell handling and beginners session at St Marie’s Cathedral on Norfolk Row at 20:00-21:00, dedicated to those wanting to learn to handle bells and those working on rounds and call changes. No experience or knowledge is required at all, please feel free to come along, no prior notice is needed, just bring yourself! If you want more information on what these handling sessions are like feel free to contact us using our email or Instagram attached below.

For those who are already confident in bell handling, we run our regular Sunday service ringing, which also functions as our advanced practice, at St Marie’s on Norfolk Row at 17:00-18:30. In previous years we have rung up to spliced surprise major, but cater towards any level beyond rounds and call changes. Those that already know how to handle a bell, but aren’t quite confident with rounds and call changes, are probably better suited to attend our Friday evening sessions as you’ll have less time sitting out and more time actually ringing! If in doubt feel free to contact us and we can always advise you on which evening your better of attending.

Every Sunday before service ringing we have a handbell session which typically runs from 16:00 to 17:00 at St Marie’s. Masters and complete beginners alike are both welcome! Most of our members who could ring tower bells but not handbells when joining university were introduced to and taught handbells through the society!

Throughout the year we also ring many quarter peals, usually twice a week. One on Friday’s 19:00-20:00 before the beginners session commences, and the other at a local 6 bell tower, St Mary’s Walkley, on Sunday mornings. Which our student members also commonly frequent on Monday’s for practice night followed by the pub. Do come along on Fridays and/or Sundays and we can guarantee you’ll be ringing quarters and eventually peals with us in no time!

After both Friday and Sunday sessions we almost never miss a cheeky visit to the pub, especially our local - ‘The Brown Bear’, which helpfully sits right across from St Marie’s. We also have other non-ringing socials planned throughout the year, ranging from board game socials, rock climbing, pub crawls, friendship bracelet making and more! This is done alongside our more ringing focused activities such as tower outings, NUA, quarter peal and peal tours. In 2024 we even did a mini tour of Ireland and Northern Ireland, scoring a peal and 6 quarter peals in total!

Some other ringing practices in Sheffield include:

• Monday, St Mary’s Walkley (19:30-21:00) (6 bells) or St Marie’s Catholic Cathedral (19:00-21:00) (8 bells) As previously mentioned students typically frequent St Mary’s Walkley on a Monday evening to get their 6 bell fix for the week!

• Tuesday, St John’s Ranmoor (19:30-21:00) (10 bells)

• Thursday, Sheffield Cathedral (19:30-21:00) (12 bells)

There’s also Sunday service ringing at most of these towers if you’re interested; many of our own members attend these so they’ll always be a friendly face to welcome you. We are also part of the NUA (Northern Universities Association) and take part in their annual weekend away and striking contest.

If you get lost on your way to any towers, or you have any questions, then please do drop us a message and we’ll help you out.

Please contact us via email at sugcr@sheffield.ac.uk or instagram @sheff_sugcr as we would love to hear from you!