Meet the Committee
Andy Ingham
Committee Chair & Trustee
Andy joined the Manchester University Guild of Change Ringers—better known as the MUGs—in 1990, having mistakenly assumed they were one of the University's covert beer-drinking societies. In the 1990s, real ale and other drinking societies were officially banned, leading to the creation of groups such as the Tiddlywink Society. Andy says 'imagine my horror when I turned up to my first practice and discovered that the MUGs actually did ring bells as well!' Fortunately, the social side more than compensated.
Andy quickly threw himself into ringing and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of learning a completely new skill. Numerous ringing trips around the UK helped cement a lifelong love of both ringing and visiting different towers. The standard of ringing and teaching within the Guild was exceptional, making progress both enjoyable and rewarding.
After graduating, his ringing activity went through something of a lull. He rang the occasional peal, but regular practices and service ringing largely disappeared from his life. Around the turn of the millennium, however, Andy's future wife, Beth, took up a teaching post in Bolton, and he began attending practices in the area. Before long, he became Ringing Master of the Bolton Branch and became more involved with the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers (LACR). During this time, he also took on teaching roles at several towers, something that he found immensely rewarding and continue to enjoy today.
The M60 roadworks eventually put paid to regular ringing in Bolton, as travelling to practices became increasingly difficult. As a result, he joined the band at Manchester Cathedral and returned to ringing closer to home, including at Sacred Trinity, where his ringing journey had begun.
Andy's current ringing ambitions are focused on improving my ringing on ten and twelve bells. The augmentation of Manchester Cathedral to twelve bells has provided plenty of motivation, as has the success of the Manchester 12-bell team in winning the North West 12-Bell Striking Competition. No small achievement, considering they are all based at what was originally a ten-bell tower! Teaching remains one of the aspects of ringing that Andy enjoy most, which makes it a real privilege to be involved with the North West Ringing Course.
Jayden Milby
Committee Member & Trustee
Jayden learnt to ring in 2018 at Barrow in Furness in Cumbria, four years after the bells there were restored. He lives locally in Dalton in Furness and is an active band member at both Dalton, Barrow, and at towers in and around the Lake District.
He is a proud member of the Ancient Society of College Youths and the Liverpool Cathedral Guild where he rings regularly. He is also a member of the Liverpool squad for the National 12 Bell competition. He enjoys teaching handling and helped to teach the new band at Broughton in Furness as well as numerous ringers at Dalton and Barrow. Jayden also enjoys peal ringing although admits that it's probably the pub afterwards that he enjoys more.
Outside of ringing, Jayden is a Project Management Degree Apprentice at a large defence manufacturer and studies for his degree at the University of Cumbria. He is also a Trustee of a local Multi-Academy Trust, a role which he relishes.
Outside of ringing and work, he enjoys exploring new cities and cultures abroad and kayaking in the Lakes when he gets the chance. He is a football fan and supports his local team Barrow AFC as well as Preston North End, although he says the Bluebirds always take the top spot for him. He also likes going to concerts, his two favourites so far being Oasis and Paul McCartney.
John Lacy
Committee Secretary & Trustee
John learnt to ring in Lincolnshire in 1976 and was hooked
from the start ringing in two towers – Wragby and
Horncastle. As a young impressionable teenager, he was
impressed by the muscles that Horace Bennet, tower
captain at Horncastle, had developed and assumed that
was due to bellringing, so felt that lots of ringing might
help him develop similar – it was only later that he learnt Horace
was a gravedigger...
John was a student in Scotland and rang there for about 10 years before moving back to Manchester where he settled
in Didsbury and has rung at his local tower for the best part of 40 years.
Ringing for John has been all about the joy of ringing with friends and the rich social life that goes with it – NWRC for him combines immersive teaching with fun and friendship – what is not to like?
Nigel Goodship
Committee Member & Trustee
Nigel first learnt to ring at his local tower of Merstham in Surrey in 1974.
He then went to London University in 1979 (Physics), where, after attending a local practice in Kensington, he was gently told that he really needed to be re-taught rope handling and bell control from scratch, which came as a bit of a surprise. Over the next few months, he was indeed re-taught and the experience was so much better than the initial teaching, that he developed a keen interest in the teaching of ringing, and has been attempting to refine and improve the process ever since. In that time, he has taught, helped to teach, and re-taught a few hundred ringers.
Towards the end of 1980, Nigel became the Tower Captain of St Katherine's, Merstham, and taught a new band from scratch after the tower had been silent for a year. He remained Tower Captain at Merstham until he moved to Cumbria in 2013, leaving behind a strong band of 16 ringers. During that time, Nigel held various roles in the Surrey Association, including General Master, Southern District Master, and Training Officer, as well as being a CC Rep and serving on the CC Education Committee for six years.
Nigel retired from a career in software development a few years ago and now spends far too much time ringing and hence not nearly enough time self-building, gardening, fell walking and juggling.
Sue Carpenter
Committee Treasurer & Trustee
Sue learnt to ring in 2019 at Abbots Langley in Hertfordshire and took up handbell ringing with a couple of friends in 2021. Sue was a student on the course in 2022 when she was living in Kendal and has been a helper at every course since. Sue joined the committee as Treasurer and one of the Trustees in 2024.
After over 40 years working in IT developing banking systems, Sue retired in 2025 which gave her more time to ring as well as taking us some new persuits including joining her local orchestra and learning to play bridge.
David Smith
Committee Member
David leant to ring in his 20s in the UK but then had a 35 year gap, resuming ringing in Australia, where he is based in Brisbane (a 16 cwt twelve and a 7 cwt six) where he has been Treasurer, Webmaster and Ringing Master. He has held numerous roles within ANZAB including President (2015-17). He has been an ART tutor for more than ten years and helped introduce ART into Australia and New Zealand, though he has also run ART modules in North America and the UK. He wrote the Education Column series in Ringing World. He was on CRAG, which reviewed the Central Council's activities, and then served two terms on the CCCBR Executive. For the North West Ringing Course, he is on the management committee but is also tutor for the Starting Surprise topic, and generally runs some evening handling sessions.
In the real world, he is a mathematician (Trinity, Cambridge), taught for quite a few years, was the first Director of Computing at Melbourne Grammar School, then went on to set up various companies dealing with publishing, educational software, school computing support and more recently property management. He is now trying to retire and runs just one company.
As for spare time activities: he is a singer, a keen skier, was a Venturer leader and abseiling instructor, and worked as a missionary in Papua New Guinea - plus the odd bit of bellringing!
Liz Turner
Committee Member
Liz began ringing in 1995 at The Willows RC Church in Kirkham, a loud, heavy 6 in the Fylde Branch of the Lancashire Association, and she was hooked from the very first practice night! Bell ringing quickly became a family passion – she is married to fellow ringer Graham and two of their three children also ring, making it very much a shared hobby.
Her home tower is Brownedge, St Mary’s, Bamber Bridge, in the Preston Branch, a splendid Taylor’s eight, where Liz, Graham and their Son, James, keep the bells ringing weekly, welcoming both experienced ringers and learners alike. Liz enjoys going on tower outings and quarter peal days and is also involved with the ‘Lancashire Lads & Lasses’ and serves as their secretary and helps prepare the team for the annual RW National Youth Contest. Liz has rung approximately 220 quarter peals and 7 peals during her ringing career.
Now retired from the NHS, Liz keeps busy with bell ringing, knitting, crocheting, keeping up with their 5 grandchildren – and, of course, being closely involved with the North West Ringing Course.
Alli Devine
Committee Member
Originally from Nottinghamshire, Alli began learning to ring when she moved to London in 1984. Her home tower was Greenwich, where the encouragement and enthusiasm of the band helped her to ring her first quarter peal, within her first year of learning. With access to several different practice nights during the week and association branch practices most Saturdays, Alli was fortunate to have many opportunities to improve her ringing. Ringing a quarter peal before evensong became a regular part of Sunday afternoons, as did ringing before morning services at various towers, including St Clement Danes and Southwark Cathedral.
Wanting to give back some of the support she received, Alli volunteered as a helper for a ringing course organised by the Central Council Education Committee and her local association. Attending this course sparked her interest in residential ringing courses, and over the next few years, she participated in both The Central Council Course—which rotated locations every two years—and The Hereford Ringing Course, serving as both a helper and a student.
In 1995, major life changes led Alli to stop ringing, and she didn’t return to it until 2020, just before the first national lockdown. By this time, Alli was living in Liverpool and Ringing Room online kept her renewed interest alive until she could return to ringing in the tower. She began attending practices at her local tower in late 2021 and by 2022,was ringing quarter peals again and enrolled as a student at the inaugural North West Ringing Course. Alli returned as a helper in 2023, and a chance comment at the start of that course led to an invitation to join the organising committee for the following year—and, as they say, the rest is history.
Beyond the North West Ringing Course Committee, Alli also serves as a committee representative for the Liverpool Branch of the Lancashire Association and is currently the National President and Central Council Representative for The Ladies Guild. Being retired, Alli has plenty of time not only for her ringing commitments, but also for her other hobbies, which include crafting, gardening, attending the theatre and concerts.
Graham Turner
Committee Member
Graham began ringing in 1992 as a result of a call for volunteers at his local Catholic church at St. Mary’s Brownedge, Bamber Bridge. There had been no local band for at least 15 years, which was a great shame as the bells are an exceptional peal of 8 by Taylors, cast in 1927. Brownedge remains his home tower where his wife Liz and son James form the core of the band. Not a great fan of peal ringing, with only a modest 17, he much prefers to ring quarter peals with his total to date being 275, conducting approximately a quarter of those. For Graham, one of the great attractions of ringing is being able to travel anywhere and ring the local bells, he is a self-confessed tower grabbing “anorak”! Graham says that he has always believed the most important part of bellringing is ringing for Sunday services.
Graham has held many posts including Preston Branch Ringing Master, Secretary, Ringing Master of GoSA (the Catholic Association), Tower Captain/Steeple Keeper at Brownedge, Parish fabric advisory committee, and fund raiser at Parish and Association level. He has taught many beginners to handle and was the leader in the formation of two new bands at other local Catholic towers. Graham has supported local towers around Preston for over 30 years. Inspired by his son James’s early ringing career, in 2018 Graham founded and is leader of the Lancashire Lads and Lasses (3Ls) youth ringing group.
He is a founding member of the North West Ringing Course Committee, being present at its inception a few years ago.
Still working as a full-time surveyor following a successful career as a bricklayer, his other interests include pottering about at home on the smallholding, having renovated the farmhouse in 2002, vintage tractors and farm machinery, woodwork, walking in the countryside and is a proud holder of a season ticket at Preston North End Football Club.
Helen Lacy
Committee Member
Helen started ringing when she met John in her final year as a student at Dundee University and rang at most of the Scottish towers during the 5 years that they lived in Dundee and Perth.
On moving to Manchester 30 years ago, Helen joined the band at St James, Didsbury, her local tower with 6 bells and, due to work and family commitments, “marked time” with only basic methods, an occasional surprise practice and the odd attempt to ring 8 bells at a branch practice.
Helen had resigned herself to not progressing any further until she went to the NWRC “Moving from 6-8” course which gave her the confidence to get out of her ringing rut and achieve her first quarter on 8, Cambridge Surprise Major last year.
Helen says that learning new methods is definitely much harder than it was 30 years ago, but is so rewarding. Helen really loves to see the excitement and elation on the faces of students on the NWRC, especially those of a certain age, when they also realise that they can progress and start to get out of their own ringing rut.