Issue 29, May 2003

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News, Information and Trivia for Ringers in the Derby & Ilkeston Districts

Musical Notes – 2

For those of you who may have been slightly nonplussed by all those tadpoles dancing on telegraph wires last month, here is an interpretation. Each is supposed to be a musical sequence - some more so than others - which you may wish to include in some of your call-change arrangements. Incidentally I don’t know who has dreamt these names up, but if you find a sequence that appeals to you and doesn’t seem to be named, why not name it and let us know so that we can have a go at it?

* This was also described as Whittingtons, but on every other number of bells that consists of 1 & 2 followed by the odd numbers in descending order, then the even numbers in ascending order, so on ten it is 12975346810. Using the same rule gives 125346 on six, which is what I have always known as Whittingtons.

When I learnt to ring at Sawley I was introduced to four musical changes on six;

The observant will notice that 2nds and 3rds are the same with 2 & 3 switched, and 4ths & 5ths are the same with 4 & 5 over ** To achieve the right effect musically this needs to be badly struck on 13456, not on 23456 of a six.

Reversing the odd numbers from Queens gives Kings, but does anyone know the name of the row produced by reversing the even numbers instead (135642 on six)? Has anyone else tried ringing it?

Alec Humphrey

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The St Peters Ringers and Supporters Club Outing

This took place as usual on the first Saturday in May and was centred around north East Leicestershire. There were memorable moments for all, beginning with our assembly at Plumtree, where everyone succeeded in making a good start to the day before moving on to Long Clawson whose bells, like those at Ashbourne, are rung from the chancel crossing and have no rope guides. A difficulty with one of the bells during the raise deterred a few of the band from ringing, but Matt, Sheila, Pat and despite some trepidation, Lauren, coped well with them.

Lunch was planned to be a picnic and Sproxston (pronounced Sprosun) churchyard was as good a spot as could be found, with plenty of opportunity to take in the scenery and to explore it afoot. Unfortunately, five minutes after the appointed time we were still locked out, but a quick drive into the village, where almost the first house proved to be the local contact's home elicited the response "Didn't I tell you where to find the key?". And of course he had, but in the intervening four weeks, I had forgotten all about it. The next tower was Saltby a pleasant easy going ten - no problem with keys here because the church is always open. Then on to Croxton Kerrial (pronounced to rhyme with Sproxton) where we were joined by Pat who had been ringing in a significant peal in the morning, and finally to Denton where the bells had been newly refurbished and were manned by a new band. The final port of call was the Harrington Arms at Thulston. We had eaten there the previous year and were so impressed that we wanted to return, and there we were joined by Roger, Philip, Ann, Gill and Frances, who had not been able to take part in our peregrinations. At the conclusion it was agreed that we must do it again next year.

Alec Humphrey

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Special Quarter at Boston (Lincs)

It is 10 years since a few Belper ringers and friends went to Dublin for four days. Irene organised that trip and every year since then a group of us have spent the four days at the end of Easter week ringing, eating and drinking in some coastal area. We have been to Bridlington, Bournemouth, Weston Super Mare and Lowestoft to name a few.

This year we were based at Wells next the Sea and enjoyed some excellent beer, food and weather as well as ringing. It has been our tradition to try and do something special on the Sunday, our final day. We usually ring for service at the local tower and then set off for our special treat which is often the chance to ring at somewhere a bit different or famous. We have rung at a few Cathedrals and Abbeys and this year we chose to make the ascent (200 steps) of Boston Stump.

We had realised fairly early on in the planning that the Sunday of our return would be a year to the day since Gordon's death and for Pat, who was joining us this year, it would be a particularly difficult day. We decided together that we would like to mark this day with a quarter peal. Permission was given by Boston to ring a quarter before the St George's Day service for the Scouts and Guides. Grandsire Caters was chosen and we were warned by Boston Tower Captain to allow 10 minutes to climb the stairs! We were met on the day by John Collett who gave up his afternoon to sit with us. He made us very welcome and showed us the views from the tower before the quarter commenced.

A fairly uneventful quarter was scored. We all felt privileged to have rung in it.

Gill Hughes

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Fifty Years On

Lis Bowden (nee Grime) learned to ring at Breadsall in the early 1950s. Her father was the Vicar of Breadsall at that time. Ringing did not come easily to Lis - her hands bled so much that at first she used to wear gloves to ring!

She rang her first peal at Breadsall (which at that time had only six bells) on May 2nd 1953, the other ringers being John Harrison, David Gebbett, Mark Hatch, Alan Taylor and Rodney Harrison. The peal was of Grandsire and Plain Bob Doubles - and the average age of the band was 15 years 9 months! It was the first peal for four members of the band! Lis rang the tenor because at that time she could not plain hunt.

Since then, Lis has gone on to much greater things - she was the first person ever to ring 3000 peals on tower bells (with none in hand) and at the present time she has rung over 3600 peals and is still going strong, in spite of a major operation about four years ago. She has rung peals in very prestigious places, such as St Paul's Cathedral in London. Her peals have included extremely challenging methods on all numbers of bells.

On May 3rd Lis returned to Breadsall to ring a peal for the 50th anniversary of her first one. This peal included her younger son, Nick, who was ringing his 13th peal. Nick is not a keen peal ringer, but he is an enthusiastic 'tower-grabber' and is very knowledgeable about bells in general. He helped in the compilation of the recent edition of Dove's Guide to Bells.

Details of the anniversary peal are:

Pat Halls

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A Welcome in the Tower?

How welcoming is your tower? Those hardy souls who traipse from tower to tower grabbing twenty or thirty in a day know from experience that they range from the welcoming, warm and well-kept (how's that for alliteration), to the cold, cobweb-festooned and forbidding (I couldn't manage another "c" with the right nuance).

If we want people to ring at our towers - and here I include our own bands - surely we should attempt to make ourselves feel as comfortable, within reason, as we would in our own homes. So just how welcoming, not only socially, but also environmentally, is your tower?

Alec Humphrey

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Tower Open Day - Saturday June 21st 2003

Would you like to enjoy a good day out, driving through some of Derbyshire's most spectacular scenery and enjoying ringing on a wide variety of bells? You have the chance to do both on Saturday June 21st, when 30 towers will be open to ringers of all capabilities.

For a day ticket costing £15 you can ring at every tower. If you only want to ring at a few of them, you pay £1 for each one, except for the two new towers at Stanton in Peak and Brackenfield, where the charge is £5 each if you do not have a day ticket.

Do come and try ringing on bells of all numbers from 3 to 10!
The full programme will be in the next edition of Strike Notes.

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Winning the Cup

Were you disappointed with your results in the recent striking competition heats?
The Education Committee have organised 2 courses at the Gordon Halls Ringing Centre at Eckington to help you on your way towards winning or at least improving your performance in either the Arthur Ashby Cup or the Horsley Cup. John Heaton is running two sessions at Eckington on Saturday 7th June. The emphasis of the course will be on improving listening skills which in turn will improve striking. This will be done through tapes and ringing on the simulator. The morning session 10.00-12.30 will look at rounds and call changes and the afternoon session 2.00-4.30 will be for method ringing. Topics covered will be leading, ringing over different sized bells, dodging, making places, the rhythm of ringing and recognition of some of the more musical changes. Come along and lend an ear.

Book your place by contacting Gill Hughes, Education Committee Secretary, 01773 823115.

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Go to Derby Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers