Central Council Representatives

Robert Perry

Ian Self

Hayley Young

Caroline Beckett

So who are our CCCBR representatives?

Robert Perry

Born in Winchester in 1954, my family moved to Carbis Bay in 1963 where I learned to ring at Carbis Bay in 1967. I went to school in Penzance (Humphry Davy Grammar School) followed by four years at The Queen’s College, Oxford, studying Greek and Latin literature and Ancient History

Professionally I became a Chartered Surveyor, working for Cornwall County Council for 29 years and finishing my career there as its Chief Valuer and Estate Manager

My ringing career has almost wholly been in Cornwall, but I also a member of (inter alai) The Oxford University Society of Change Ringers and The Ancient Society of College Youths. I served as TDGR Secretary from 1983 to 2020, and have been one of its Central Council Representatives since 1984. I have rung for many years at Truro Cathedral becoming Ringing Master from 2002 to 2011 and again from 2016, when I also became a Lay Canon of the cathedral and a member of its Chapter (governing body) since 2019

Away from ringing I am interested in public transport especially buses, trains and trams which have featured in many holidays, and road numbering.

Hayley Young

In my day job, I’m a Brewing Consultant and in my spare time I love driving ringing forward to enable opportunities for all members and friends of the TDGR. I am totally passionate about enabling ringing of all styles to flourish and thrive for years to come.

I am also a Central Council of Church Bell Ringers Representative for the TDGR and I am part of the Volunteer and Leadership Workgroup.

My father taught me to ring aged 9 in Gloucestershire, I have been lucky to ring wherever I have lived from Kent to Cumbria. Ringing has always formed an integral part of my life and I celebrate the fact you can ring with people of all ages and abilities, from all walks of life. Ringing is like an extended family, you’re made welcome wherever you go!

I firmly believe that all the knowledge and skill that we possess as ringers must be passed on and kept alive by the next generation.

Caroline Beckett

I learnt to ring in 1977 at a village church in Lincolnshire with a totally teenage band of ringers!  I think this would be unheard of today!  I continued my ringing at the university at York, becoming the secretary and treasurer of our very small university society at that time.  Before I left I rang my first quarter peal at the Arts Centre in York.  After a year back in Lincolnshire, and ringing at various towers I moved to Oxford which is where I learnt most of my method ringing and where there were so many opportunities to progress.  I also met Chris, my future husband in a bell tower!  In 1986 we were married and set up our home in Sandbach, Cheshire, where we stayed until we retired.  During this time I became involved with the South Branch of the Chester Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers, becoming a committee member, then the representative on the Guild Committee and also one of the two ringing masters for the South Branch.  In 2021 Chris and I moved to South Hill near Callington and we became members of the TDGR.  We ring at Callington for Sunday services but you will also find us in a number of local towers in the area during the week.

Ringing has always been my main hobby and I enjoy it for a number of reasons.  Firstly, I love the comradery amongst ringers, with the ability to join a group of ready-made friends wherever you go, where there are church bells to be rung.  This was very evident when we moved to Cornwall and also when we have rung on holiday in the UK and abroad.  I also like the fact that there is always an endless number of things to learn and experience and learning new methods and sequences definitely keep the brain working.  I also very much like ringing at new towers and have rung at over 900 across the UK, in Europe and in the USA.

I think that there is something very special about our tradition of full circle ringing and that it is important to pass on our skills to others to keep ringing alive for the future.  I want others to have as much fun and satisfaction from ringing that I do.  I look forward to representing the TDGR as a Central Council of Church Bell Ringers Representative.

Ian Self