10 Bell Practice St Marychurch
Sometimes our mid-week practices are not quite so well attended but this one most certainly was. Good use of the 10 bells was made throughout the evening and a wide range of experience was catered for – from those trying 10 bell ringing for the first time to more advanced methods. There was plenty of rounds and call changes, Plain Hunt Caters and a touch of Grandsire Caters but we were delighted to achieve a course of Stedman Caters. A method that has gained popularity in our branch is Cloister Caters which is also sometimes called Bastow. Several people had not come across it before and discovered a very useful way of getting to grips with 10 bell ringing.
It was great to see so many branch members enjoying our bells. Thankyou to everyone for your support.
Plain hunt training day
Although not an official branch event, branch members were involved in an effort to help ringers move from call changes to method ringing. It was organised by Robert Law at Ilsington and the 4 "students" came from the moorland area. It was led by Martin Mansley who started with a started with a short Theory session which included the use of a couple of visual aids. Then it was up to the tower and it soon became obvious that most of the ringers were not new to method ringing and progress was fairly quick. The biggest difference from Call Changes is changing on both strokes and learning not to concentrate too long on the bell you are following. It might seem obvious but old habits certainly die hard!
By the time we paused for a coffee break all had been able to ring twice and some had progressed to ringing the treble to Bob Doubles. A bit more theory concentrated on ways of finding your way from 5ths place to leading. Back up the tower and more practice when several of the "Students" managed the treble to a 120 of Bob Doubles. We also included some Grandsire Doubles as well. By mid-day the helpers were beginning to flag a little and the prospect of a pub lunch was very inviting. The Carpenter's Arms was an ideal spot situated a stone's throw from the church gate. A very convivial hour was spent over an excellent meal before a number of the ringers departed to ring in a 2 tower striking competition. Very many thanks to Robert for organising and to all the helpers for their hard work. What a joy to meet such enthusiastic learners. You may well meet them at branch towers as the get more practice with method ringing. This course is certainly worth repeating and could well be a model for other towers to try as we continue to see our new recruits progressing with their ringing.
Bovey Tracey Ringer finds fame in the Ringing World
Sarah McIntyre is a "Ring for the King" recruit who rings at Bovey Tracey (among other places). In the real world she is an Illustrator who specialises in Children's books. One day she produced a slightly mischievous depiction of a Bovey practice – this went down so well with the Bovey ringers that it appeared on the front cover of the Ringing World.
She has also collaborated with the RW to produce some Christmas Cards which can be obtained from https://www.ringingworld.co.uk/purchase/shop/christmas-cards.html
Congratulations to her and we look forward to more from her in the future.
