Kent Young Ringers Inter-District Striking Contest March 2025
Wall to wall sunshine provided the backdrop to a fabulous afternoon with:
- 24 youngsters aged 10 – 23
- 4 District teams from the Canterbury, Lewisham, Rochester and Tonbridge Districts plus one “scratch” band made up of youngsters who represent the Association in other contests
- 15 accompanying adults
- 4 towers to ring at during the afternoon (an interesting logistical challenge for the organiser!!!). The young ringers rang at 2 towers (taken from Ightham, Kemsing and Seal Chart) as well as ringing their test piece at Otford
- 1 judge
- A delicious tea in the hall at St Bartholomew’s Church, Otford
The District teams all rang Call Changes and the “scratch” band was challenged to ring a method, so they chose P B Doubles
This was a great afternoon with a very high standard of ringing from our youngsters as shown in the results:
1st place: 93% Canterbury
2nd place: 88% Rochester
3rd place: 87% Tonbridge
4th place 85% Scratch band
5th place 73% Lewisham
Many thanks to:
Emma and Phil Jarvis who acted as stewards for the afternoon
Stan Jenner who presented all teams with their certificates and the winning team with the Trophy
Adam Moore, for judging the contest so efficiently, while getting steadily colder in a corner in the churchyard
ALL the young ringers for taking part.
A few extra facts:
The youngest ringer was 10 years old and rang the treble for the Canterbury District. He only started learning to ring last summer.
The youngest tenor ringer was 11 years old and rang for the Tonbridge District..
The oldest ringer was 23 years old and rang for the Lewisham District.
The Canterbury team had the highest average age: 18 years 5 months.
The Tonbridge team had the lowest average age: 13 years 10 months, with all ringers aged 18 years and under.
The judge at work