Dove’s Guide for Church Bell Ringers News https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news Recent news from the online version of Dove’s Guide (c) 2024, The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. All rights reserved. Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:03:34 Dove’s Guide for Church Bell Ringers News https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/images/smlDoveCoverImage.gif https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news The Revd David L Cawley https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/337 We are sorry to report the passing of the Revd David L Cawley of Canterbury who died in the morning of 6 February, aged 79, following a battle with cancer. David was a well known authoritative bell historian who for decades was a member of the Bells Committee of (what is now) the Church Buildings Council, a consultant to various dioceses, and the driving force behind many bell restoration and conservation projects. Over the years he has helped in the compilation of many of the lists in the printed editions of Dove and he wrote a number of the articles. He has been a key source of guidance throughout that time and a particular friend to those in the current and wider Dove Teams. He will be truly missed. Tue, 06 Feb 2024 10:26:21 +0000 Welcoming Kye Leaver to the Dove Team https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/336 We are pleased to announce that KYE LEAVER has joined the Dove Team as a Dove Clerk. Kye, already a keen researcher for Dove, is from Sussex and is currently studying horology at college. He is already making good progress in processing entries in our backlog of frames updates as the more observant will notice from recent updates. Sun, 26 Nov 2023 14:09:45 +0000 Bell hanging types, tubular bell lengths, menu of truss and layout types https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/335 Dove now displays how individual bells are <b>hung</b>. This is found in the bells table for each tower where this information is known. The abbreviations are FC (full-circle in the style used for English change ringing), S (swing chiming), D (hung dead unable to swing), U (not hung). For tubular chimes, we now also show the <b>length</b> of each tube, where known. Finally, we have set up pages to allow the reader to browse <b><a href="https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/truss-types"> truss types</a></b> and <b><a href="https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/frame-layouts"> layout types</a></b>, although we still recommend that reference is made to Chris Pickford's book <a href="https://www.whitingsociety.org.uk/old-ringing-books/pickford-bellframes.html"> Bellframes, A practical guide to inspection and recording</a> when contributing updates. Fri, 29 Sep 2023 09:31:24 +0100 Frame notes https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/334 Readers may notice mention of public "frame notes" in the updates lists. These are notes in the database pertaining to individual frames. They are not currently visible to the public, but once the relevant development is complete, it will be possible to view these. Wed, 15 Feb 2023 22:31:41 +0000 'Derelict' rings and 'No regular ringing' https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/333 We have made the decision to stop using the ill defined term 'derelict'. In each case such rings are also marked as 'unringable', which is considered sufficient. Similarly, we have decided to stop noting 'No regular ringing' as we do not receive sufficient numbers of updates to maintain this as a reliable reference. We continue to show practice night information (where advised), temporary pauses in ringing, and other more definitive ringing statuses. Sat, 28 Jan 2023 19:31:23 +0000 Major update in the way frames are recorded https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/332 We have introduced improvements to the way frames are recorded in Dove. Frames will now be described in terms of a base frame number with frame extensions described after a decimal point 1, 1.1, 1.2, etc. We have introduced a new field showing the RESULTANT LAYOUT once a frame has been extended, so we now clearly show the difference between the local layout of an extension and the way it affects the layout of the complete ring. We are moving to a new definition of INDEPENDENT FRAMES. These were originally defined as two or more physically detached frames. We'll now only treat frames as independent if they are logically separate, i.e. in separate bell collections. We still have a programme of data cleansing to do to ensure consistency in the application of these definitions, but it will see a reduction in the use of frame numbers such as 1A, 1B, etc. Where there may be bells in a frame that are additional to the main ring, these now appear in italics when frame contents are listed. With these, and a lot of other smaller changes to ensure that those maintaining the data do not break logic rules, we are now able to address the backlog of frame updates that need to be applied, as well as run the data cleansing exercises to bring the quality of the frames data up to the standards we have achieved with rings and bells. This will still take a few months to work through. Sat, 03 Dec 2022 16:37:29 +0000 Welcoming Neal Dodge to the Dove Team https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/331 We are pleased to announce that NEAL DODGE has joined the Dove Team and has already been busy analysing and effecting updates. Neal is well known in ringing circles, is the Public Relations Officer for the Suffolk Guild, and has a sharp knowledge of bells, towers and their history. In particular, he is embarking on the queue of updates to bell frames that we allowed to build while the development work in this area was progressed. Good to have Neal on board! Fri, 26 Aug 2022 19:32:31 +0100 Frames information in the Dove Bell Register https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/330 We have now completed the major phase of transferring the bellframe information from the former Dove database into the new database such that we can now maintain this information. It now possible to search on frame components and layouts, as well as makers and materials from the new <a href="https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/frames.php">frames search page</a>. We are embarking on a programme of cleansing the frames data as we have discovered some inconsistencies and we have a backlog of a year's worth of amendments that need to be processed. We thank contributors for your patience with these updates. We also have data on frames listed for preservation by the Church Buildings Council that do not contain rings of bells which will be incorporated at some point in the future. Sun, 03 Apr 2022 12:30:37 +0100 The Rev'd Dr John Baldwin https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/329 It is with much sadness that we announce the death of the Rev'd Dr John Baldwin on the evening of 23rd March 2022. John succeeded Ron Dove in taking on the collection and maintenance of information on rings of bells, and was the first to digitise it just after the 1982 edition was published. This led to the first website appearing in 1998 and the extension of the scope to include details on individual bells and frames. John continued to lead the team as Dove Master until his retirement in 2017, although he continued to take a valuable active role until the database was transferred to its present form in 2020. Our thoughts are with his widow, Beryl, and children, Judith and Sid at this distressing time. Thu, 24 Mar 2022 12:58:31 +0000 Welcoming Lewis Benfield to the Dove Team https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/328 We are very pleased to welcome our newest member of the Dove Team. Lewis Benfield from Leicestershire, has joined as a Dove Clerk to help analyse and update Dove with some of the many updates we are gratefully receiving. Sat, 29 Jan 2022 22:51:10 +0000 Dove extended to include Church of England church bells not hung for full-circle ringing https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/327 In February we <a href="https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news.php?article=315"> announced an agreement</a> reached between the Church Buildings Council (CBC) of the Church of England, and the Central Council, concerning the future collection and maintenance of data on bells and bellframes in its jurisdiction. Following months of considerable effort to bring together data on all known CofE places with bells, coupled with further development to accommodate these data, we have now released access to the wider Dove Bell Register to the public. The default searches still focus on full-circle rings, but it is now possible to widen this to CofE chimes, tubular chimes, hemispherical chimes and clock chimes. The number of bell collections has increased from 7,163 to 16,761, and the number of bells from 47,399 to 61,560. The new coverage statistics may be viewed <a href="https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/stats.php">here</a>. There is no pretence that these details are all complete or fully accurate, but rather that this is just the first stage to refine and improve the DBR's accuracy now that it is available for public viewing. Additions and amendments are as always gratefully received. For the first time we are showing collections of 1 and 2 bells hung for full-circle ringing. Please note that inclusion here does not imply that they are ringable, and given that they are likely to receive less attention than the higher number rings, appropriate caution should be taken if they are ever visited. In further development, we have introduced the ability to search for rings of bells by the same founder, optionally cast within a specified number of years of each other, the ability to sort rings by the age of the newest or oldest bell, and a new summary page giving the output of a particular founder which can be viewed by clicking on their name. Tue, 23 Nov 2021 11:35:27 +0000 The former iOS Dove App https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/326 In 2017 we announced that the iOS Dove App was no longer available. Since then, users who already had the app installed were able to use it, but with no updates possible, ir has increasingly fallen out of sync with later operating systems. The app was developed independently and the Dove Team does not have the code, nor is the original developer available. In the meantime, we have developed mobile friendly versions of the website, and in due course we may extend that to developing a new app. We also intend to launch the ability for individuals to record their own tower grabs via the website in due course. We are making this statement now as recent changes to iOS have resulted in an increase in the number of people enquiring about the app. Mon, 25 Oct 2021 16:58:55 +0100 Customised tower selections https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/325 A new function has been introduced to allow you to select individual towers to appear in a search list or a map. If, for example, you want to map out the towers on your tower outing, follow the following steps: (1) Select one of the towers; (2) Click on "List nearest towers" to produce a list that includes the towers on your outing; (3) Use the check boxes to select the outing towers; (4) Click "Restrict to selection"; (5) Use the various links to either plot on a map or download the list. This function now replaces the "Favourites" function, which has now been discontinued. Fri, 01 Oct 2021 13:53:10 +0100 OS Map links https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/324 Owing to changes made by the Ordnance Survey, we are required to modify our coding to allow OS maps to correctly appear on Dove. We do not plan to do this immediately as the work is quite extensive, so in the meantime we have removed the links to OS Maps. A further note will be published when these links are returned. Sat, 04 Sep 2021 16:43:55 +0100 Viewing rings by region and presence of semitone bells https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/323 Two new ways of viewing the results of a tower search are now available. 1. View a summary of rings by region. The <a href="rings-by-region.php?ring_type=english">summary of all rings of bells can be viewed here</a>. 2. View by the number of bells and presence of semitone bells. The <a href="rings-by-bells.php?ring_type=english&semitones">summary of all rings of bells can be viewed here</a>. Mon, 12 Jul 2021 21:35:54 +0100 Dove extended to include Carillons of the British Isles https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/322 We are pleased to announce that Dove's Guide has been extended to include all <a href="carillons.php">carillons in the British Isles</a>. To lead on this work, we were pleased to welcome <b>Scott Orr</b> into the Dove team. Scott is Secretary of the British Carillon Society and an accomplished carillonneur, although has now turned his hand to full-circle ringing. For the purposes of Dove, we are using the World Carillon Federation definition of a carillon as being <i>a musical instrument composed of at least 23 tuned bronze bells which are played from a baton keyboard. Instruments built before 1940 and composed of between 15 and 22 bells may be designated as 'historical carillons'</i>. The default view in Dove is for full-circle rings, but you can extend the search to carillons by changing the selection from 'Full-circle' to either 'Carillons' or 'All' in the drop down box in the <a href="dove.php">Tower</a> search page. Carillons also have their own icons when plotted on a map. Tue, 08 Jun 2021 00:04:29 +0100 Changes in the Dove Team https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/321 We would like to announce a couple of changes in the Dove Team. <b>Doug Davis</b> has been a Dove Steward since 2017 when he took on the role (with Tim Pett) in succession to John Baldwin. He now feels that now is the time to stand back from this role, but we are pleased that he will remain a member of the team with responsibility for looking after our support ticketing system, <i>Dove Tickets</i>. Doug was instrumental in identifying and installing this important piece of software and we are grateful for everything he has done as Dove Steward. We are pleased to welcome <b>Colin Turner</b> to the Dove Team as a Dove Clerk who will be one of the team receiving and processing updates. Colin is well known for his interest in visiting different towers, and we are pleased that he is bringing his keen fastidious knowledge with him. Mon, 24 May 2021 22:44:53 +0100 Unlinked home page change notes https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/320 Readers may be aware that <a href="news.php?id=315">one of the projects the Dove Team is embarking on</a> is the extension of the scope of Dove to cover, in the next instance, all bells within the jurisdiction of the Church of England. This has reached the stage where some public change notes are having to be published in advance of the main pages for the relevant towers. These change notes are appearing on the home page in black and currently unlinked to the newly developed pages. In due course full links will appear. Change notes relating to towers with rings of bells continue to appear in the usual way. Tue, 04 May 2021 21:57:54 +0100 Projects and overhauls brought into the new system https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/319 We are pleased to announce that work to capture and display information on <b>bell restoration projects</b> and <b>overhauls</b> has now been transitioned into the new Dove system. This is an area that was outstanding when the bulk of the data management was brought into the new system from the old. In the past 3 months we have had to use a manual process to keep this information up to date, so this represents an overall improvement in this service to readers. While there is little new data, this work has allowed us to connect projects with overhaul flags, and ultimately will form the basis of an audit trail in the history of a tower or ring of bells. Tue, 30 Mar 2021 21:15:58 +0100 Names of rings, towers and bells https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/news/318 Where a place has rings or other collections of bells in different towers, or where a ring of bells is known by a particular title such as <a href="detail.php?tower=16578">The Royal Jubilee Bells</a> or <a href="detail.php?tower=15305">The Bells of Congress</a>, Dove can now display this information in the header bar of the relevant rings. We are also able to start capturing the christened or popular names of bells which is currently only visible by hovering the cursor over the bell number, but will in due course feature more overtly. <a href="detail.php?tower=12513">Canterbury Cathedral</a> is a good example of both of these new features. While these functions have only been released today, the associated data will take some time to be uploaded. Mon, 15 Mar 2021 22:59:52 +0000