Rules

These rules are a little dated, but we still keep the register (and the Steeple Keeper still wants paying - 20 shillings is ½ a pint of beer!).

To be observed by Ringers attached to and practising in the tower of St. Mary's Church, Cheltenham.

1. PRESIDENT. The President shall be the Rector or, when there is no Rector, the Curate-in-Charge.
2. VICE-PRESIDENT. The Vice-President shall be Mr. W. T. Pates, who shall, when he is present in the belfry and so desires, take charge of the proceedings on that occasion.
3. RINGING MASTER OR CAPTAIN. The appointment of Ringing Master or Captain is vested in the Rector or when there is no Rector, the Curate-in-Charge, and Mr. W. Dyer, of 69 Gloucester Road, Cheltenham, having been offered and accepted the position is Ringing Master or Captain. The appointment shall be reviewed annually by the Rector or Curate-in-Charge. The Ringing Master will be responsible to the Rector or Curate-in-Charge for the discharge of the duties of his office, which are to control and to maintain order in the ringing chamber, to conduct the ordinary business and to be responsible for the observance of these Rules.
4. MEMBERS OF THE COMPANY. Messrs. A. Humphris, W. Brinkworth and W. B. Harley shall on account of their long and useful service in the tower be constituted life Members of the Company. Messrs. E. E. Aston, C. Collier, W. Dyer, A. W. Handoll, S. Hayward and Mr. L. Williams shall be ordinary Members of the Company, together with any Ringer elected under Rule 5. The number of members shall not exceed twelve.
5. QUALIFICATION. Any ringer shall be eligible for nomination as a member of the Company who:-
   1. according to the register has an attendance in any one year of 80% of the times appointed for ringing:
   2. has reached such a standard of efficiency that he can, to the satisfaction of the Ringing Master, ring unaided an inside bell (other than a plain hunt bell) in at least two courses of Grandsire Triples:
   3. is not a member of another Company:
   4. has been proposed, seconded and duly elected by a majority of the members of the Company at an Annual Meeting.
6. ATTENDANCE. Any Ordinary Member of the Company who according to the Register has absented himself for more than 25%. of the times appointed for ringing in any year, except through illness or unavoidable reasonable cause, shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Company.
7. VICE-CAPTAIN. The members of the Company shall choose from among their number at each Annual Meeting one to act as Vice-Captain, who shall deputise for the Ringing Master in his absence. Except in the absence of the Ringing Master he shall hold the same status as any other Member of the Company. No ringer shall be qualified for the position unless he is a Member of the Parish Church with St. Matthew's and on the Electoral Roll thereof.
8. STEEPLE-KEEPER. A steeple-keeper from among the number of the ringers shall be appointed annually. Under the control of the Ringing Master he shall be responsible for keeping the ringing chamber, belfry and belfry steps in a clean and orderly condition, seeing that the ropes are kept in repair, oiling the bell bearings and muffling the clappers when required, and chiming the bells when they are not required for ringing. He shall be paid the sum of 20/- per annum with an addition of 1/- every time he chimes the bells for service. He shall not delegate the above mentioned duties to any other person except with the consent of the Ringing Master. In addition to these duties he shall be responsible for seeing that the rope for tolling the bell from the church floor is in its proper position, and for putting out the lights and locking the belfry door. In the absence of the steeplekeeper the Ringing Master or Vice-Captain will be responsible for the carrying out of these duties.
9. CONDUCT. The ringing chamber is part of a consecrated building and all conduct therein shall be consistent with this fact. Every person must refrain from excessive 'noise at any time, but particular attention must be paid to the need for silence from 15 minutes before the commencement of a service until the congregation has left the Church.
10. MEETINGS. The Annual Meeting shall be held as early as possible in January each year. Meetings other than Annual Meetings shall be called Special Meetings and the Ringing Master shall be bound to convene a Special Meeting if requested so to do by a two-thirds majority of the Company. Any ringer attached to the tower who has a registered attendance of 50% of times appointed for ringing according to the Register calculated for the twelve months previous to such Meeting, may attend the Annual Meeting or a Special Meeting, but such Ringer shall have no vote though he may take part in the discussion. The business of the Annual Meeting shall be to elect a Vice-Captain appoint a tower keeper, consider nominations (if any) to the Company, amend the Rules if necessary and any other business.
11. VOTING. Any proposition put before a Meeting shall be decided by a show of hands of the members of the Company in the usual way. If any Member so desires the voting shall be carried out secretly. In the event of a tie the Ringing Master shall have a second or casting vote.
12. SUNDAYS. The bells shall be rung regularly every Sunday morning for service. The belfry shall he open by 10 o'clock and ringing commenced as soon as possible thereafter. Any ringer not being present for 40 minutes out of the 60 shall not be entered on the register as having made an attendance. The Ringing Master shall not on any pretext whatever allow Sunday service ringing to develop into a practice.
    NEW YEAR'S EVE. The belfry shall be open at 11-15 p.m. and belfry door locked at 11-30. Any ringer not present shall not be entered on the Register.
    CHRISTMAS DAY. The same rules as for Sundays shall apply.
13. PRACTICES. The tower shall be open for practice every Thursday evening at 7 o'clock and remain open until 9 o' clock. Any ringer not being present for one hour out of the two hours shall not be entered on the register as having made an attendance. If there should be a service at 8 o'clock the one hour and two hours above mentioned shall read half an hour and one hour respectively. No practices shall take place during that period of the year called " Summer Time" except as hereinafter provided.
    Practices have for their primary object the proper ringing of the bells for Sunday services. The first consideration of the Ringing Master must therefore be towards the members of the Company and secondly towards other ringers who assist on Sundays. Notwithstanding this, visitors and occasional ringers shall be paid every courtesy but they shall not be allowed in the ringing chamber except with the permission of the Ringing Master.
    Youths and others shall be encouraged in every way possible to learn the art of ringing, and as far as circumstances permit, a reasonable part of the practice shall be devoted to them.
    The Ringing Master shall at practices help and encourage any ringer who desires to learn to conduct. Any ringer who has been delegated to call a touch must be obeyed without question whilst the touch is in progress.
    An invitation to a stranger or visitor to handle a rope must not be made by anyone except the Ringing Master or with his consent.
    There shall be no practice during Holy Week.
14. OPTIONAL RINGING. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these Rules, the Ringing Master shall consider any application for ringing for Sunday evening service or for continuing practices during the period of "Summer Time" or at any other time providing there are a sufficient number of ringers to warrant it. As ringing under this rule is optional no entry shall be made m the Register in respect thereof.
15. MONOPOLIZING THE BELLS. The bells shall not he monopolized for ringing quarter peals before Sunday morning service or on practice nights except with the consent of a majority of the Company. Exceptions to this rule may be made by the Ringing Master only on Easter Sunday morning, Whitsunday morning, the first Sunday morning in August and on Christmas Day. If this right is exercised no entry shall be made in the Register in respect thereof.
16. TIME. All time shall be taken from the clock in the Ringing Chamber.
17. EMOLUMENTS. Any fees received out of Church Funds shall be divided among members of the Company. The Ringing Master will not participate in such fees.
    A charge of £440 shall be made for morning or afternoon ringing on special occasions such as weddings, etc. (£550 for morning and afternoon). This shall not preclude ringers from accepting any less sum.
    Company ringers shall receive the first invitation to ring for these functions, but the Ringing Master may if a majority so desire, extend the invitation to other ringers. If a sufficient number of ringers belonging to the Company are not available the Ringing Master shall he at liberty to invite other ringers outside the Company to bring the total up to eight. The fees received for these functions shall be divided among the members of the Company and any others who assist in such ringing will participate as the Company directs.
18. FINES. Any Ringer who fails to make an attendance as prescribed in Rules 12 and 17 shall be fined 1/6 and in Rule 13 1/- for each occasion. No fine will be inflicted if the absence is on account of illness or other unavoidable cause.
    The total of fines for the year shall be pooled and the amount divided equally among the members of the Company.
19. DISMISSAL. Should any ringer misconduct himself or otherwise behave in an unseemly manner in the belfry, or for other reason which may seem sufficient to the President and Ringing Master, they may forbid him to enter the tower or to suspend him. A Ringer dismissed or suspended under this rule shall have no right to claim for any share of emoluments or other benefits accrued.
20. COMPLAINTS, ETC. Any grievance, complaint or dispute that may arise in connection with the tower or ringers must in the first instance be communicated PRIVATELY to the Ringing Master who must do his utmost to remove the cause. Failing his ability to do so he will, with the consent of the person making the complaint, put the matter before the Company for settlement; failing such settlement it shall be put before the President whose decision shall be final.
21. ILLNESS NEAR THE CHURCH. If there is any, serious illness within the immediate vicinity of the Church the Ringing Master shall, on being asked to do so by the representatives of the sick person, close the tower for ringing, and no entry shall be made in the register during the time the tower is closed under this rule.
22. CONSULTING THE COMPANY. Nothing in these rules shall prevent the Ringing Master from consulting members of the Company individually or collectively upon any matter as he thinks fit.
23. INVITATION TO HABITUAL RINGERS. Ringers who are not members of the Company who habitually attend the tower will be invited to sign a copy of these rules in token of their acquiescence in them. Such ringers shall have their names entered on the attendance register and enjoy such of the advantages as apply to them under these rules.
24. ATTENDANCE REGISTER. All attendances as provided for shall be entered in a Register to be kept by the Ringing Master and to be open to inspection by the Company. Members of the Company, as far as possible in rotation, will be delegated to assist in marking the Register and will afterwards initial the entries as correct.
25. PEAL RINGING. Quarter peals and half peals may be arranged with permission of the Ringing Master but confirmation by the President must be obtained by the Ringing Master for any continuous ringing longer than a half peal.
26. TERM "YEAR." The term "year" shall mean January 1st to December 31st inclusive.
27. LADY RINGERS. Wherever in these rules a word implies a male ringer it is to be taken to refer to the other sex should the occasion arise.

CHELTENHAM.
FEBRUARY 16th, 193?
(Date not legible, but it must be 1936, 1937 or 1938 for Wm. Dyer to be Master and Wm. Pates to still be alive.)

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Transcribed by Philip Abbey.