Front Cover: Trends in ringing – how do other voluntary activities fare in the 21st Century?
The Ringing Trends Committee of the Central Council has been surveying ringers throughout the UK. Our aim has been to quantify more rigorously some of the anecdotal stores about the numbers of ringers and the status of ringing in the 21st century. We also wish to reflect on other historical surveys and, importantly, consider the influence of societal trends that may have an impact.

KES ringing – a progress report
A group of students and staff at King Edward VI School, Stratford upon Avon have been learning to ring at Holy Trinity, Stratford, since September 2008. They have attended weekly, hour-long practice sessions after school. The students have been working their way through the Sherbourne cards, and were presented with their badges by the Headmaster.

Letters
Public money demands public accountability - Les Townsend
Great Malvern - A.J. Barnfield
CCT anniversary - John Bryant
Bells for "An Island Parish" - John Maybrey

Six weeks ‘down under’ by Sue Scotter
When I told my friends that I was off on a six-week holiday to Australia and New Zealand their comment was "Are you going to ring the Swan Bells?"

A romantic bell by Chris Hutchinson
Things seem to get a bit dull after Christmas and people try to brighten themselves up by thinking of romantic places and burying themselves in the pages of holiday brochures. I’m sure that bellringers are no different. One bright thing in our lives is our ongoing millennium pub crawl – trying to drink in a 1000 "Bell" pubs.

Ringing, by Ryan Air
There is something incredibly special about the great peninsulas that jut into the wild waters of the Atlantic in the south west of Ireland. My favourite, if I have one, is that of Dingle, with views of the Blasket Islands from Dunquin, and the very special type of currachs of that region dancing on the wandering waves.

Ringing for our patron Saint!
Readers may recall a brief account in the RW2008 p.562 where bell ringers in the Southwell & Nottingham Diocese joined in with BBC Radio Nottingham’s creative 2008 St George’s Day celebrations.

CD Review
Lost And Found 3: The Bells of Worcester Cathedral
Audio CD produced by Mark Regan 2008
11 tracks including recordings of changeringing on all the standard combinations of the fifteen ringing bells plus the clock chime (the bourdon sounds the hour) and a pastiche of the previous 1869 Taylor ring

K is for Knock-Knock by Simon Linford

Obituaries
John Carpenter, Philip Ramsey Mason, David Christopher Munday

From the E-Lists A round-up from the internet compiled by John Camp
Nabbers recorded that history had been made when an entire band simultaneously reached a total of 6,000 towers.

Thought for the week
We live in a blame culture and ringers being human are not averse to blaming others when things go wrong.