This church bell ringing training centre, at St Peter & St Paul’s Church, Eckington, is run for the benefit of all ringers. Updated Content! read on.
The principal supporters when it was originally set up were the Derby Diocesan Association (DDA), East Derby & West Notts. Association (EDWNA) and the Sheffield Branch of the Yorkshire Association. Each of these organisations was represented on the management committee and the Centre hosted courses by them as well as its own. The Centre has also been one of the principal training towers for The Whiting Society.
In early 2026 the management committee was disbanded to relieve the centre of the need for close control. Many towers have copied the facilities of the centre over the years and operate without any oversight by others. So it was felt and agreed that the centre should act like any other ringing band albeit with years of experience gained since 2003. The centre is still available to individuals, whole bands and of course any guild or association who wish to take advantage of what we have to offer.
So the centre is still available for use by all ringers (provided at least one person in the group is an experienced ringing teacher). To make an enquiry visit our Training Request page.
New to Bell Ringing? A short video from ART that gives some idea of what you can gain from learning to ring.
The Centre uses the techniques and practices of the Integrated Teacher Training Scheme and supports the ‘Learning the Ropes’ syllabus for learners. Most teachers are members of the Association of Ringing Teachers.
If you are totally new to bell ringing and would like a taster session either contact a church near you with bells or if you don’t know of one or are local to us at Eckington make contact through this link and we will be in touch with you to ensure you get that experience.
The Eckington Bell ringers support the Royal British Legion
Between the 6th of June 2024 (D Day) and the 8th of May 2025 (V E Day), our bell ringers rang at 80 different churches to raise funds for the Royal British Legion as part of the commemoration of the 80th anniversaries of both dates. There are 79 churches with 6 or 8 bells affiliated with the Derby Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers (DDA) which were available to ring at, so these formed the bulk of the ringing and therefore our ringers travelled all across the county to achieve their objective. To get the 80th church the ringers spent a weekend in Worcestershire and rang at Holy Trinity Church in Eckington, Worcestershire on the Saturday and joined with the local ringers for Sunday service ringing. The total raised including matched funding amounted to £1,800, well done all the Eckington band!