DDA Summer Meeting 7th July 2012

We started with ringing at Brackenfield; an interesting church where the ringing chamber (GF) is cleverly concealed behind the organ pipes. Methods included Cambridge, Oxford TB, Norwich Surprise, Stedman and Grandsire. Joshua (7) rang his first rounds on tower bells – well done Joshua! Then on to Ashover. Again Richard Taylor; Assoc Ringing Master kept us all in order and maximised the ringing time available. Methods included Cambridge and Yorkshire S Royal. Joshua rang his first rounds on ten tower bells! Ashover was our venue for a Service, Ringers’ Tea, meeting, more ringing.

The Service:

I the Lord of Sea and sky mmm ...

Presentation: as reported in Strike Notes (Issue 87); 27 Quarter Peals and a Peal had been rung for the tenth anniversary of the death of Gordon Halls. Alec Humphrey had compiled these ringing records into a display book, which was presented to Pat Halls in the Service. During the Tea, the book was made available for interested parties to view.

John Hawes read the Old Testament Lesson: the last verses from the Book of Job; a story of woe but with a blessed ending.

The Tea: Cakes – Carrot cake, Raspberry Cream Scones, Lemon cake, Lemon Drizzle cake, Chocolate and  Chocolate Fudge cake, Ginger Cake, Victoria Sandwich, Apple and Cranberry sponge, Mince Tartlett etc “all made by the lady ringers of Ashover, Brackenfield and North Wingfield”. This was in addition to the savoury course – wow!

The Meeting:

New members were welcomed to the Association from Horsley and North Wingfield.

2 reasons  to be proud of your Association:

       The National Youth Striking Competition, held at St Paul’s Birmingham. Gill Hughes reported that the DDA team had come 2nd in the Call Change category, and  3rd overall out of 15 Teams. Rosemary and Emily Hall stood up in the meeting and thanked the DDA for funding and supporting the Team.

       The National 12 Bell Striking Competition. Tim Peverett told us that the Melbourne Team attained 2nd place in this prestigious competition! Tim thanked everyone who had helped out on the day. An Internet link had enabled 100 people around the world to listen to the competition ringing live, and a further 600 have logged in to listen since.

Education Committee: dates are being considered for a training session for The Ringing Foundation Integrated Teacher Training Scheme. See Ringing Foundation Website for more info on the scheme.

Report on Central Council meeting, Chester by Pat Halls. This was an interesting one... agreement that simulated peals are to be recorded (in a different way to standard peals), and a lapsed readership survey of the RW  - most lapsed for reasons other than not enjoying it. If you have any ideas for RW write to them!

After a vote of thanks by Paul Lynch we rang again, then adjourned ...