Our home tower is St Mary Magdalen, and we also ring at St Thomas and St Ebbe's for Sunday ringing plus the odd stint at New College and SMV - we only ring during term time. See the map from the left hand menu.
| St Mary Magdalen (Mary Mag) | Tuesday 7.45pm |
| St Thomas the Martyr (St Thos) | Alternate Mondays 7.45pm |
| St Cross | No practice |
| St Mary the Virgin (SMV) | No practice |
| New College | No practice |
St Mary Magdalen
"Mary Mag" is our home tower. They are a lovely 7cwt ten (augmented in 2002), which can be rung very well and very fast if the band is on form. During term time we ring a quarter peal at 6.45, followed by a practice every Tuesday at 7.45pm until 9pm - get there before 8pm, though, as we have to close the doors. We also ring there on Sunday mornings at 10-10.30am. Out of term, the OS ring at Mary Mag for Sunday morning service, and ring peals most Tuesday evenings. Mary Mag is to be found where Cornmarket Street meets St Giles, just opposite Debenhams.
St Thomas
"St. Thos" has an excellent ring of ten (11 cwt), easy both to hear and to handle. The ring was completed in 1993 from a heavy-going ring of six. During term time we alternate between a peal attempt (odd weeks) and an OUS practice on Monday evenings, and we ring a quarter at 9am for the Sunday service. Out of term, the OS rings peals most Monday evenings, and rings after Sunday service, at 11am.
If you turn up and find that the doors are closed but we're ringing, then go to the side of the tower and look for a rope dangling out of the window. Give it a tug, and a friendly ringer will come and let you in.
St Cross
St Cross is a 10cwt ground floor ring of six, which we went to practice on occasionally.
The church is to be found, predictably, on St Cross Road, which follows on from Longwall Street (off the High Street).
The church has now been closed and so there is no ringing - please click here for more details.
St Mary The Virgin
SMV is a fine 27cwt ring of six. The front five are on plain bearings and, if it's a hot summer's day and the bearings haven't been oiled recently, bells 4 and 5 can be very difficult to ring at all. Add to this the wooden beams and staircase which are situated rather too close to some of the ropes, and the tourists who try and walk through the rope circle on their way up the tower, and this ring can prove quite a challenge. But they are definitely worth it. We ring there on alternate Sunday evenings during term at 5pm, and on May Morning, and they are also rung for special occasions by the OS. SMV is on the High Street, next to the Radcliffe Camera.
Note: There is currently no ringing at SMV as the bells are undergoing restoration work. More details here.
New College
This 20cwt ring of ten is rung on alternate Sundays at 7.30pm, but poses quite a challenge. Rather in need of some serious maintenance work (a complete recast/rehang?), they are out-of-tune and very odd-struck. Although they can be rewarding when the ringing is good, they are both hard work for the ringers and painful for the people nearby, being very loud.
