A huge “well done” to those who took part this year.. 23 youngsters competed in teams from the Canterbury, Lewisham, Rochester and Tonbridge Districts. A big thank you also to our judges, Simon Edwards and Molly Smith.
David Cawley came along to present the trophy which he has donated to the Association to encourage young ringers; very many thanks to him.
We continued the afternoon with ringing at St Mary’s Ashford and then 10 of us adjourned for pizza before trekking home!
Another great day for young ringers in Kent, summed up in the (edited version) judges’ comments below. District co-ordinators and I have the full version, in which Simon kindly included hints for improvement:
Firstly, thank you to Jen and Doug for inviting us to judge this afternoon. We enjoyed listening to some very high-quality ringing, which all teams can be very proud of. We were particularly impressed with how consistently the tenor and treble bells were rung during the afternoon – they are vital for setting and maintaining a speed and rhythm, and this was achieved throughout; well done. The leading was also consistently good throughout the afternoon; it is the hardest thing to get right, and the easiest thing to spot when it is not right; nice work!
We had a quick ring on the bells before the competition, and found them to be a very pretty little six, easy to handle and tuneful. We do need to return and finish our touch of Grandsire though! The tea and snacks were also greatly appreciated!
In terms of how we judged; we awarded one mark for a clip, and two marks for a bad row (i.e. more than one clip per row). The average of our two scores gave us the final result. You will be pleased to know we agreed on all the teams’ placings, and our comments largely aligned with each other – nice and simple! We also gave a “Five Star” award for each team for something we particularly liked about each piece, and one comment for improvement below.
Team One (Tonbridge) – 26 faults (1st place). 5* Award – Sparkling Tittums!
This was a super start to the afternoon, and set a high benchmark. The treble and tenor were particularly excellent, and worked well together. The Tittums, in the words of Sweds, were Sparkling!
Overall, an excellent start to the afternoon, at a standard which many a Sunday service band would be proud to attain.
Team Two (Rochester) – 36 faults (2nd place). 5* Award – Consistent Leading!
After an unsettled start, you soon found your stride and worked well as a team. The middle of the piece was super, but you unsettled again towards the end. The leading was consistently accurate, and this helped maintain a good structure for the piece. Most faults incurred were minor, and quickly corrected. A very enjoyable piece of ringing, which just needed polishing to upgrade it from “Good” to “Excellent”.
Team Three (Lewisham) – 80 faults (4th place). 5* Award – Perseverance!
We felt this was an excellent effort from an inexperienced band, and were impressed with how you held your nerve to finish. The treble and tenor ringers must take enormous credit for how well they kept their place throughout, setting a good rhythm.
Again, the faults were not serious – mostly clips rather than crunches – but frequent. You settled back and finished on a real high!
A very good effort with which you can be very pleased.
Team Four (Canterbury) – 52 faults (3rd place). 5* Award – Most Adventurous!
An interesting end to the day, as the treble was called away from lead for the first time! We both enjoyed listening to the backrounds, which were well struck and made for some nice variety! This bit, and the sections around the start and finish, seemed to be most accurate, where the bells were in familiar positions. Well done to the tenor ringer who kept their place; this is so important, as a variable tenor speed makes it impossible to attain any sort of rhythm; once you got towards the end, this enabled the band to settle back for a good finish.
A worthy end to the afternoon, and it was great to finish on a positive note!