Strike Notes 78

The new version of Strike Notes is now on the web site. This contains items of news about the Southern & Central Districts and is complied by Elizabeth Heaton.

In this issue:

Strictly Come Ringing

Tower Stewardship

Bess of Hardwick

First Quarter Peals

Outdoor Ringing

Aunt Sally

Forthcoming Events

No ringing at Sawley for a while

Sawley currently have the builders in the tower for the next few weeks. This means that no ringing can take place. If you are thinking of visiting, please check they have finished the work...

October meeting & 8 Bell Competition

It was great to see six teams enter the eight bell competition today.  Judges Peter McCoy (right) and Chris Bennett (left) commented that all the ringing was of a good standard & gave the results below - well done Peak District - how about entering 2 teams next year! 

Photo on right: Peter (left) presenting the eight bell trophy to Richard Taylor (Peak Ringing Master)  (right).

DDA 8 bell results

Result	Team	Method	Faults	Peal Speed	Ringing position
Winners	Peak District	Double Norwich CB Major	34	3h2	4th
2nd	Southern District A	Yorkshire S Major	40 1/2	3h28	1st
3rd	Chesterfield District A	Cambridge S Major	54	3h6	3rd
4th	Southern District B	Kent TB Major	78 1/2	3h16	5th
5th	Chesterfield District B	Plain B Triples	83	3h11	2nd
6th	Central District	Grandsire Triples	85 1/2	3h11	6th

A touch of Kent TB Royal was rung on the Association handbells after the excellent tea. After the results, a brief meeting occurred. Highlights include the shortest ever BRF update - Brian almost got a standing ovation! He stated that he had been asked to keep it brief, nothing had happened since the last meeting, so he had nothing to report!

Graham, our Treasurer, had received a request to increase our public liability insurance to £5m (from £2m). This would cost an extra £150, so will be done from next year. He also stated that cover exists for the following locations: UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Northern Ireland 

The Annual Dinner is currently being arrange for 21st February 2009 at the Mackworth Hotel, Derby. Tickets would be available in the New Year and cost "several pounds" (as they had not yet worked out the price!).

The 2009 AGM is being held in the Peak District. Current thoughts are to have the meeting at Youlgreave, with ringing at Ashover, Darley Dale and Elton.

The General Committee are also after a volunteer to arrange the 6 bell striking contests in May. If you are interested, please contact the General Secretary.

WWWorthington Memorial Trophy Results

Clarke Walters judged the results of the competition to be:

1st Nottingham 39 faults (rung 4th, peal speed 3h19) 2nd Leicester 46 faults (rung 3rd, peal speed 3h17) 3rd Derbyshire 49 faults (rung 1st, peal speed 3h13) 4th Liverpool 57 faults (rung 2nd, peal speed 3h01) 5th Coventry 58 faults (rung 5th, peal speed 3h19)

The afternoons ringing was recorded and I hope it will be on the Internet soon. Check the competition web site for details.

Ringing Road Show

Quite a number of Derbyshire people attended the Road Show in Stoneleigh last week. Despite the rain - we really enjoyed ourselves. As well as all the exhibitors and attractions, it was a chance to meet up with many friends, some I had not seen for 15 years (makes me feel old!).

On Saturday, a sponsored handbell peal was rung in 4 hours 59, raising £400 for the Ringing Foundation. People paid to suggest an extent to be rung, which was drawn out of the hat during the ringing and called out to the band. My extent was number 17 (a method called Castleton) & I listened to the ringing, being greeted by Philip Earis saying "this is your extent!".

If you can get a chance to go to the next one, which maybe in 2 years time, do go. There is something of everyone, even non ringers!

For more photos, visit the Ringing World Blog - where you might even see me looking at the new ring for Clifton, Nottinghamshire. The treble of the six bells has recently been cast in Ilkeston!

Photos on this page from Roger.

6 bell competition rule change

Following this months General Committee meeting, the 6 bell striking competition rules have changed.  This is mainly a rationalisation of the rules to make them simpler to understand.

The only minor change is that teams in the Arthur Ashby Cup (Call Change) are not permitted to ring more than 6 rows of rounds after the first change - see rule 16.

The new rules are located on the web site by following the 'Annual Report' | 'Striking Contests' links.

Changes to Association towers

At the Association General Committee on Tuesday, it was decided to review towers that were included in the Association, but were no longer in the Derby Diocese. In consultation with the towers concerned, the following towers will no longer be listed in the Annual Report:

Dore, Norton, and Taxal.

The following towers currently have members and will still be included in the Annual Report:

Tutbury, Beighton and Mayfield.

[Update: After discussion, Marchington will also be included in the report.]

W. W. Worthington Memorial Trophy

A quick reminder that the WWWorthington Memorial Trophy is being held at Derby Cathedral on 20th September. Full details, including details of the teams and judge, are listed on the website.

New 8 for Derbyshire?

Derbyshire's newest 8 are in - for this month only!

As mentioned in April, The Willoughby Campanile has been setup in Whaley Hall for people to try. Further information about the project, please contact Father Jamie via the Community of the King of Love website.

If you would like a ring - you had better hurry - they are only there until the end of August!

Derby Cathedral Bell Ringers’ Open Day

For many years now the Derby Cathedral ringers have held tower open days with the aim of interesting the general public in the art of ringing and also in the hope of gaining a few recruits. Visitors have always been able to ascend the tower, read snippets about the bells, see bell ringing demonstrations, see the bells themselves and admire the splendid views from the top of the tower, which is the second highest west tower in the country. They have also been able to try their hand at ringing a few backstrokes – and this year they could even buy a CD with a video of themselves ringing to have as a souvenir.

In addition to all this the Ringing Master, John Heaton, had recently spent much time and effort in converting the room below the ringing chamber into a room for visitors to learn about ringing. There were computers for people to try their striking skills on; there was a lot of information about simple methods and a model bell which could be used to demonstrate what happens when a bell rings full circle. This gave visitors background information before they climbed more steps and went into the ringing chamber to see the ringers in action.

Another innovation this year was the spectacle of handbell ringing taking place outside the Cathedral tower. In the morning a peal of Plain Bob Major was rung and during the afternoon two quarter peals of Plain Bob Minor were rung. There were notices to discourage anyone from speaking to the ringers, stating that the ringers needed to concentrate very hard on what they were doing. Fortunately there were no disruptions and all the handbell ringing was successful. The weather could not have been kinder; there was warm sunshine all day with just a slight breeze. It was perfect both for sitting to ring handbells and for admiring the views for those who had made it to the top of the tower. And some of the visitors even showed an interest in learning to ring....

Pat Halls

Derby Diocesan AssociationDerby, DerbysOutside the entrance to Derby CathedralSaturday, 26 July 2008 in 2h19 (13)5056 Plain Bob MajorComposed by: C K Lewis1-2 Anthony P Cotton3-4 Christian M Peckham5-6 Patricia A M Halls7-8 Simon Humphrey (C)Part of the bellringers tower open day, to welcome Cameron James Edward Peckham, first son of Rachael & Christian, born 20th July 2008. First in public by all, rung outside the West entrance of the Cathedral.

Outside the entrance to Derby Cathedral26 July 20081320 Plain Bob Minor1-2 Sally Bramson3-4 Pat Halls 5-6 Alec Humphrey (C) Outside the entrance to Derby Cathedral26 July 20081260 Plain Bob Minor1-2 Sally Bramson3-4 Pat Halls 5-6 Alec Humphrey (C) Photo by Roger

Arthur Ashby Cup 2008

The judge for the 2008 Arthur Ashby Cup was Alec Humphrey from Derby. Seven teams compeated and Overseale were judged the winners. This year, the competition was held at Denby as it was thought that 12 teams ringing at Horsley would be too much!

Arthur Ashby Cup Results

Place	Team	Faults	Points	Ringing order
1st	Overseale	21	219	6
2nd	Ashford in the Water	25	215	4
3rd	Etwall	29	211	1
4th	Old Brampton	31	209	5
5th	Hartington	39	201	3
6th	Derby Cathedral	44	196	6
7th	Stanton in Peak	57	183	7

[Photo: Mary Venables collecting the cup, 10 years after Overseale first won.]

Horsley Cup Results 2008

The Judge for the 2008 Horsley Cup was Andrew Higson from Loughborough, assisted by Jennie Paul. Five teams compeated and Derby Cathedral were judged the winners. I've recorded some of the ringing, and will put this on the Internet when I work out how to do it!

[Photo: The Derby Cathedral Band]

Horsley Cup Results

Place	Team	Faults	Method	Ringing order
1st	Derby Cathedral	27	Cambridge S Minor	3
2nd	Tideswell	29	Oxford Treble Bob Minor	4
3rd	Darley Dale	37	Oxford Treble Bob Minor	1
4th	Mugginton	43	Plain Bob Doubles	5
5th	Staveley	63	Oxford Treble Bob Minor	2

[Photo: John collecting the cup form Andrew Higson]

A marvelous tea was consumed, with the 'costco cake' making another appearance!

2008 Tewkesbury Shield

The Derby band came 3rd in this years Tewkesbury Shield competition, after last years win... The full results were: 1st - Gloucester and Bristol (27.5 faults) 2nd - Oxford Diocesan Guild (28.5 faults) 3rd - Derby Diocesan Assn. (34.5 faults) 4th - The Oxford Society (38.5 faults) 5th - University of London Society (46.5 faults) 6th - Worcestershire and Districts Assn. (50.25 faults) 7th - Coventry Cathedral Society (87 faults) 8th - Hereford Diocesan Guild (121 faults) Well done to (clockwise from bottom right) Duncan Walker, David Marshall, Pat Halls, Pam Timms, Simon Melen, Christian Peckham, Simon Humphrey, Tim Peverett, Richard Taylor, John Heaton.

Restoration of ten tubular bells at Riddings

The following article has recently been published in the Ringing World by Anne Westman: Before I moved to Riddings (near Alfreton, in Derbyshire) almost four years ago, I had never come across any tubular bells, despite being a ringer for over 30 years! I quickly discovered there were ten such bells in the tower at St. James, Riddings. Unfortunately, it was obvious that these were in a fairly poor condition. The PCC agreed that funds must be raised to restore these to a safe and ringable condition, and Nicholson Engineering Ltd were contacted. Andrew Nicholson’s report confirmed our suspicions that the bells were in a very poor, more or less derelict, condition. They are a chime of ten tubular bells by Harrington & Latham of Coventry, and are the only ring of ten Harrington’s bells in Derbyshire. Fund raising began in earnest in early 2005. Riddings is not a wealthy parish and funds were to be raised independently of normal church fund raising. However, support for the project, both from within the village, and further afield, was overwhelming and soon the bank account started to fill up. Many hours were spent completing grant application forms and we were successful in obtaining five grants; from The Foundation for Sport and the Arts, Amber Valley Housing, Derby Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers, The Sharpe Trust (link currently not working!) and The Garfield Weston Foundation. We also organised a concert with the South Yorkshire Police Male Voice Choir, and organised many raffles, tombolas etc. A collection box in the local post office proved a good source of income too (it helps that the author owns said post office). In fact this box is so successful it has been left in place to raise funds for general church expenses. Eventually, sufficient funds were raised for the order to be placed. The bells were removed, with the help of volunteer labour, in the first week of January 2008, and taken to the works of Nicholson Engineering in Dorset. The bells, along with almost all new fittings, were returned at the beginning of March to be re-hung, again with volunteer assistance. The installation was finally completed on Monday 10th March, in time for a service of re-dedication to take place on Thursday 13th March. The bells are now chimed from a brand new oak chiming frame with ten mini sallies. There is a great improvement in the sound quality, and they are much easier to ring, and, most important of all, they are now safe and not likely to fall on any unsuspecting members of the congregation! We can now look forward to hearing bells in Riddings every Sunday morning.

2008 AGM

Well, the 2008 AGM has been and gone. Having lots of towers open leading up to the meeting drew in the crowds, as can be seen from Derby Cathedral above. After the service, a wonderful tea had been prepared by the Cathedral Ringers... ...which included a sponge cake: The main meeting followed after the food, Pat Halls (right) took the chair and aided by Jane Boden (General Secretary). The new Annual Report was adopted and proposed rule changes defeated. The majority of officers were re-elected, with vacancies for one (of three) vice presidents and Public Relations Officer. It was pleasing to see many new members being elected to the Association. General Ringing (and I assume the pub) rounded off the days events... Don't know when the next event is? Find out here!

Bonsall unringable

During the AGM today, one of the bell consultants, Mike Banks, announced that the 3rd (cast in 1656) at Bonsall has cracked. This may have been caused by the ellacombe hammer (which was used whilst the bells were unringable for around 100 years) hitting this bell. The bell is off to Soundweld, then Taylors Eayre and Smith and should be back this summer.

Fancy a month of Bell Ringing?

The Community of the King of Love in Whaley Bridge are having a month of bell ringing! I think they are putting The Willoughby Campanile into the conference room. They plan to build a tower in the next 18 months to have a real ring of bells, with a tenor about 20cwt. At the moment their largest bell weighs around 10 hundred weight in B Flat and last April it was rehung in new fittings, it will soon have a new clapper with a wooden flight. They also have 12 bells hung dead; the oldest of these was cast in 1400 and are looking at having these retuned. "Why not come and bring your friends, and ring on the bells, or use the hall for a base to go and ring at other towers. Stay as long as you like, either in the Week or Weekends." More details here.

Wedding Ringing

It was suggested that the web site should include information for couples celebrating their happy day and wanted the bells ringing, but didn't know how to arrange them. Now people can read about what happens and contact someone if they are having trouble. I'm glad that Ian Sterritt will provide this service for Derbyshire.

2008 Events

This years Association events are now posted on the web site. Using a Google calendar, it puts the next event at the top. If you use Google calendars, then you can import the events into your calendar. Also, using the little arrow on the top right, you can select the districts you're interested in. Let me know if you love or hate it? If there are events you are hosting in the area, please let me know so I can add them too.

AGM Saturday 12th April

DDA AGM - Saturday 12th April 2008 Afternoon ringing:

	1pm - 1.45pm	2pm - 2.45pm	3pm - 3.50pm	4pm - 5.10pm
Route 1	West Hallam	Ockbrook	St Peters, Derby / St Lukes, Derby	Derby Cathedral
Route 2	Breaston
Route 3		Ticknall

Followed by Service, Tea and Meeting in the Cathedral. Evening ringing continues at the Cathedral. Numbers for tea to the General Secretary by Wednesday 9th April. All Welcome

The ringers of Darley Dale...

Last December, the magazine country living produced an article about Darley Dale. With the consent of the magazine, I have now put a copy on the web site. At the time Pat Halls said "In the January 2008 edition of the magazine Country Living, there is a feature on the ringers and bells of Darley Dale. It shows ringing in a very positive light and makes interesting reading. I am very grateful to Richard Taylor and to all the Darley Dale ringers for their co-operation in helping to produce this article."

New bell consultant reports

Over the last year, the bell consultants have completed many visits to towers. Six reports are now listed on the web site. Breadsall - General inspection Riddings - advice about these tubular bells Sandiacre - advice on remodelling the currently unringable bells Shirland - currently unringable with a fractured frame Whaley Bridge - advice for a proposed new ring of bells Youlgreave - new sound control

Photos

You may have noticed on the home page that there is a slide show of Assoication towers instead of the picture of Derby Cathedral that has been there since year dot. If you click on this photo, you will be taken to the album where you can see higher resolution photos, do exciting things with maps, comment on the photo, etc. Do I have a photo of your tower? No, well take one & email me it!

6 bell striking contest rules

Quick note to say that the rules of the 6 bell striking competitions have had two small updates. Simply, these changes clarify that there are really two competitions & removes the complicated rule as to how many teams a tower can enter. New rule: Towers may enter more than one team in each contest. Old rule: Towers may enter more than one team, but the number of different ringers in the teams should be greater than four times the number of teams. For example, to enter 2 teams at least 9 ringers should be involved; to enter 3 teams at least 13 ringers should be involved.

Competitions

I've spent a bit of time updating the web site with details of the striking contests that members ring at. The details are reached by clicking on Performances from the home page. There are a number of details missing (especially with the W.W.Worthington), so please email me with any corrections. Competitions listed: Association contests: Arthur Ashby Cup | Horsley Cup | District 8 Bell National contests: National Twelve-Bell Striking Contest | Tewkesbury Shield | W.W.Worthington Cup

Temporary unringable!

Following the last post, Old Brampton's bells are out of action until the end of February. The floor between the ringing chamber and belfry is being replaced, and some minor work is being done on the bells. Monday evening practices will be held on the Norris dumbbell at Sue and Andrew's House. UPDATE: Old Brampton have had the work done and are ringing again...

Two Derbyshire unringables

Noticed last night when looking at my copy of Towerbase that two Derbyshire towers are currently unringable. Details of Chelmorton and Shirland are on Dove. This brings the total to three of Derbyshire unringables with 5 or more bells, the other being Sandiacre. UPDATE: Church Greasley should also be on the list - they have not been rung for 3 years due to cracks in the tower.

Ringing Roadshow 2008

Advanced warning of the Ringing Roadshow in September. It's not very far from Derbyshire, so why not make an effort to attend?
View Larger Map

Peak District Striking Heats...

... are now on the 15th March at Eyam (not the 22nd as published in the Annual Report).

New Strike Notes

Just updated the web site with two issues of Strike Notes, the Central & Southern Newsletters. Sorry there was a delay putting these up.