The Leeds and District Branch encompasses a wide and diverse area including the city of Leeds, the area north as far as Birstwith and Hampsthwaite on the southern edge of the Dales, towers as far south as Horbury and Thornhill and as far west as Sherburn in Elmet and Pontefract, but not all of the towers in between!
We have 34 ringable towers with five or more bells, including one 12 bell tower (Leeds Minster) and one 10 (Pontefract, St. Giles). In addition, there are 6 towers with three or four bells, including Spofforth which has its own band. The branch also has its own ‘dumb bell’, at Chapel Allerton, and this is available to anyone in the branch (after training) for teaching and practise.
Leeds University students (LUSCR) are based at Burley and frequently join in branch events.
We hold regular monthly practices, usually on the second Saturday of the month, with our AGM in February and our striking competition in June.
We try to vary our meetings to appeal to as many people as possible, rotating around different areas of the branch, trying different times of the day and hopefully catering for different levels of ability. If there’s something you’d like to do that hasn’t been tried yet, then please let the committee know.
Everyone is welcome to join us at our meetings. If you’re not a member of the YACR, then come along and give it a try before you join. If you’d like to be kept in touch with what’s going on in the branch, then tick the box for receiving Leeds Branch notices on Membermojo.
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To see what we've been doing, have a look at our facebook page, or you can read past newsletters and previous years' minutes and reports here.
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The branch has several items available for branch members to loan:-
A pair of e-bells (see here for more infomation).
DVD - From Rounds to Ropesight (more information)
DVD - Come on! Listen to it! - A bellringers' Guide to Accurate Striking (more information)
Get in touch with the secretary if you would like to borrow any of them.
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Results of the 2026 branch striking competition
Method-ringing competition
| 1st | Leeds Minster | 2 faults | ||
| 2nd | Leeds Cathedral | 3 faults | ||
| 3rd | Chapel Allerton | 3¼ faults | ||
| 4th | Knaresborough | 3½ faults |
Call-change competition
| 1st | Seacroft/Chapel Allerton | 5 faults | ||
| 2nd | Collingham | 10¾ faults | ||
| 3rd | Pontefract | 13¼ faults | ||
| 4th | Thorner | 14½ faults | ||
| 5th | Wetherby | 16 faults |
| More details on our News page. |
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Barwick in Elmet
8th August 2026 10.00am - 12 noon
Leeds and District Branch
Saturday 8th August
East Ardsley
5th September 2026 10.00am - 12noon
Leeds and District Branch
Saturday 5th September
11th July 2026
Leeds and District Branch
The Leeds Branch Sunday Service Band Striking Competition this year was held on 11th July at Thorner. A selection of delicious cakes and hot and cold drinks were served by
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8th November 2025
Leeds and District Branch
Read about the Leeds Branch 150th celebrations here
Read More
14th June 2025
Leeds and District Branch
Results of the 2025 branch striking competition