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Whilst it would be true to say that the inaugural
meeting took place on 26th August 1996, this might give the impression that East
Dales Ringing Group was suddenly conjured from thin air or on a whim, which was
certainly not the case. Our origins stem from ten years earlier when Paul Irving
was approached by Peter Bowman, Robin McQueen, Colin Slator and Steve Worwood
and asked whether he would be interested in teaching them to ring, based at High
Batts Nature Reserve, Ripon. By 1989, three of the original group had aquired
their C permits (on the Tees Ringing Course and strong links have been
maintained with the Tees Ringing Group ever since) and in the early 1990s, Peter
Wright and Jill Warwick had joined the informal team.
Regular visits to Spurn and the Tees Rining Course resulted in new friendships with Ian Crowther, Robin Ward, Steve Willis and Jim Pewtress. Valuable experience was gained with cannon netting, resulting in several members becoming highley experienced in this field. Permission was received to ring at several sites and the original informal group of friends now consisted of three A permit holders and thus potentially three different ringing stocks being used, in some cases all at the same sites. After some considerable discussion, advice from the BTO and other ringers, we decided to take the plunge and in late 1996 formed an official group. We wanted the name to convey our area and comply with 'the rules', hence the name East Dales which roughly covers our area of activity. Most of the original founders are still members and some of those that have left still occasionally ring with us. The membership has grown with both full and associate membership, there are some who are wanting additional ringing experience and currently there are three actively training and all contribute to the continued success of EDRG in many ways.
Geographically, the Group's area, as defined to the BTO, is as follows:
In the west from Settle south on the A65 to Gargrave , south to Broughton , south-west along the A56 to Earby, along minor roads to Carleton (near Skipton), south to Cononley , north-east to Low Bradley and Draughton , east along the A59 to Fewston , follow the 10k square boundary to Jack Hill , east along 10K square boundary through Lindley Wood to North Rigton and Kirk Deighton (including Wetherby), north along 10K square boundary to Arkendale , north up the A1 past Ripon to Carthorpe , west to High Ellington , north-west on A6108 through East Witton to Middleham , south-west along minor road to Kettlewell , south on B6160 to Skirfare Bridge , up south side of Littondale to Arncliffe , over the top to Malham and back to Settle.