The bell ringers’ autumn coach outing took 40 of us to Hertfordshire for the morning and Bedfordshire for the afternoon.

We started in Stevenage, the first of England’s ‘New Towns’ with the church a long way from the town centre. The church had excellent facilities and we were provided with refreshments throughout our visit. The bells here were easy to ring and everyone rang well from Call Changes to Bristol Major.

Our next stop in Baldock coincided with the annual ‘Balstock’ street festival to entertain our non-ringing friends. Here the bells were heavy and more difficult but our young ringers Charles, James Dunhill and James Riley enjoyed the challenge of the tenor to Grandsire Triples and Stedman Triples.

Our lunch venue in Henlow was opposite the church and aptly named ‘The Five Bells’; non-ringers could take their time whilst the ringers went off to ring.

At Clifton we enjoyed another pleasant and easy-going set of bells before our final stop in the market town of Biggleswade. These are a lovely ring of ten bells where we were able to ring Stedman Caters and Little Bob Royal.

Our younger ringers were able to ring well here with Jamie Slack ringing the treble to Bob Caters and Ellen Hayward the treble to Grandsire Caters; both for the first time. The photos below show both Jamie and Ellen outside the church at Henlow along with their parents and other ringers.

Our thanks must go to organisers John Church and Jonathan Slack for a well-planned day with excellent food, ringing and company from our members and friends.