The bell ringers’ Autumn coach outing, organised by Adam, Gavin and Leonie, took us to some relatively easy-going bells in the Reading area.

Our first stop was Caversham, a busy town on the outskirts of Reading where the bells allowed a good variety of ringing including Plain Bob, Stedman and Double Norwich. It was good to see Margaret (Waller) back ringing so well after her knee and hip replacements.

A long walk from the coach to St Giles in Reading was followed by a welcome lunch break and then on to the 6 bells of South Stoke where we rang a nice course of Cambridge Minor, with John (Church) keeping us right on the treble.

We then went back to Reading for the biggest challenge of the day on the 12 bells of St Laurance. The bells have a tenor of 23cwt but were easy to ring and most of the ringers managed rounds on 12, many for the first time. We finished with Plain Hunt on 11 with 18 year old Alex Blissett keeping a good steady beat on the tenor.

At Shiplake, our last stop, the bells were the best of the day with everyone enjoying the ringing and, of course, dinner together in the local pub afterwards. Congratulations to our organisers, especially Adam (Carpenter) who worked hard to put the day together.