Bob Winstanley remembered

Branch News 2Bob was born in the Wirral, and learned to ring whilst at University in Oxford around 1956. After graduation, he found work with Lever Bros. in Port Sunlight, and returned to the Wirral, where he was a member of the band at Eastham until 1968, apart from a spell working for Boots in Nottingham between 1961 and 1964.

In 1968, he took up a new job with Boots, and settled in Melbourne, Derbyshire, where he was instrumental in forming a new local band. As well as teaching new ringers at Melbourne – Ian Roulstone was a notable pupil – Bob rang a lot of quarters with the locals there, and also regularly rang Thursday evening peals with Gordon Halls.

In 1982, a new job with EDS took him to Milton Keynes, where he joined the Loughton and Shenley ringers.  Following his retirement, he rang quarters frequently with the Chiltern mid-week group.

He rang 131 peals in all, mostly during his time at Melbourne, but including one for the Whiting Society in 2000.   Bob was an active member of the Whiting Society for over thirty years.

It is a shame that his final years were blighted by Parkinson’s, which caused him to give up skiing and painting, as well as ringing.

Bob was a quiet, unassuming man: a true gentleman and a model of courtesy who never shouted or made a fuss, but was always a competent ringer and teacher.