The 35th 12 bell competition saw 9 teams travelling down to Crediton in Exeter. Coming
2nd in their eliminator, Melbourne had high hopes of doing well. Some of the team travelled down the day before, whilst three cars left their homes between 4.30am & 5.15am to avoid the dreaded M5 car park. We need not have worried - the motorway was clear & those travelling on the day arrived to an empty car park by 8.20am.
Bacon butties started off the days refreshments in the
Boniface Centre next to the church. This was the location for one bar, whilst the second bar was outside in the lower rectory garden. The rumour was that they had 77 barrels of beer, so hoped not to run dry!
Melbourne had a good draw at 11am - ringing third, in between Cambridge & Leeds.
This year was different from others in that none of the bands had been allowed to practice at the host tower. The four judges (chief judge Maggie Whiteley with Chris Kippin, Paul Mounsey and Claire Roulstone) had a sound feed from the tower which was turned off for the 15 minute practice and then turned on again when the signal was given.
After ringing, we ate lunch and found our campsite nearby to put up our tent. We could just hear Exeter ringing!
The results followed Evensong, for which the church was packed.
Results:
| Team | Rang | Peal speed | Mark |
|---|
| 1st | Birmingham | 8th | 3h29 | 88% |
| 2nd | Society of Royal Cumberland Youths | 9th | 3h42 | 84% |
| 3rd | Ancient Society of College Youths | 5th | 3h31 | 79% |
| 4th | York | 1st | 3h25 | 78% |
| 5th | Exeter | 6th | 3h30 | 77% |
| 6th | Melbourne | 3rd | 3h19 | 74% |
| 7th | St Martin-in-the-Fields | 7th | 3h53 | 68% |
| 8th | Cambridge | 2nd | 3h31 | 67% |
| 9th | Leeds | 4th | 3h15 | 60% |
Not a bad result for Melbourne, a tad on the brisk side, but the judges said our ringing sparkled! Only seven teams have ever won the competition (out of the 61 teams that have entered over the years). The top four teams had all won before (16, 3, 4 and 2 times respectively), then the local band, then us!
It was then off to the bar to find some refreshment (I think one bar ran out of beer!), then to Weatherspoons with some of the band for a meal, before making our way to the campsite which was also home to some of the Cambridge band. More refreshment followed from their barrel, whilst the children were put to bed, before the cold summer night also drove us to our beds.
Sunday saw games of football & top trumps whilst the tents were taken down and we made our way home.
More information on the
12 bell website.
