Glasgow

There is no dedicated university tower in Glasgow but we welcome students of all abilities from any of our 7 universities. In recent years we have had ringers join us from the University of Glasgow, the University of Strathclyde, and the University of the West of Scotland to name a few.

We practice at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral (NOT Glasgow Cathedral!) which is located at 300 Great Western Road (G4 9JB). Being in the West End, the tower is perfectly situated to anyone attending or living at the University of Glasgow, and our fantastic public transport make it easy to attend from anywhere within the city. It’s a 5 minute walk to both Kelvinbridge and St. George’s Cross subway stations, and a 15 minute walk to Charing Cross for National Rail services. There’s also plenty of buses on Great Western Road, which are free for anyone 21 and under!

St. Mary’s has 10 bells and a very active band with a good number of younger ringers. All are welcome at our regular practices on Tuesday evenings, from 19:30-21:15. For beginners or those less confident there is a learners practice from 19:00-19:30 where there is more of a focus on bell handling, rounds, and call changes. During regular practices we ring anything from rounds on 6 through to Stedman Caters and Surprise Royal. Once a month we also hold ‘split-practices’ with a dedicated 6 bell practice on the Monday and an advanced 10 bell practice on the Tuesday. We often go to the pub after practice which is a great place to have a chat. We ring for two services on Sundays: 10:30-11:00, and 17:45-18:30.

The SACR is a very tight-knit association so there are plenty of opportunities to travel across the country to ring at some of our other towers. There are rotating monthly 10-bell practices held at Glasgow, Edinburgh (St. Cuthbert’s) and Inverness for more advanced ringers, and our tri-annual meetings jump across the country from Aberdeen to Dumfries and anywhere in between. Inveraray Bell Tower also holds regular events which are attended primarily by Glasgow and Inverness ringers - the tower has the heaviest 10 bells in Scotland and the second heaviest 10 in the world!