Dear all,
Happy Easter! And welcome to the beginning of the summer months in your Lewisham District. Here’s the latest news…
April Practice Plus Business Meeting – Saturday April 13th
The next District Event is an open Practice plus Business Meeting at St Luke’s, Bromley Common on Saturday 13th April. Access to the church will be through the side door on Southlands Road; please note that this road is One Way so you can only drive into it coming from the main A21. There are plenty of parking bays in Southlands Road and the other roads around the church, but a few of them have Red Route or other restrictions at odd times – most of them should be free to use on a Saturday but please check the notices carefully when you park! There will be toilets available in the church. All are welcome, timings are as follows:
3.30 open general ringing
4.30 business meeting in the church (tea & coffee will be available)
5.00 more ringing
6.00 close
Please notify any significant items of AOB to the Chairman in advance, and likewise please send any nominations for membership that haven’t already been completed online to Rupert. Here’s the agenda for the Business Meeting:
- Note of attendance and apologies for absence
- Remembrance of any members lost since the last meeting
- Approval of the minutes of the last meeting at St Mary Cray, and any matters arising
- Election of new members
- Ratification of the new Competition Rules (see below and attached)
- County Rep update
- 120 club draw (see below)
- Any Other Business
There’s a nice micropub as well as several other food and drink venues in Chatterton Road just around the corner from the church if anyone is thirsty afterwards!
Bells, Beer and Curry night
Thank you to all those who supported the Big Night Out in London on the 9th March – we had no less than 30 (!) up the tower at one point at Spitalfields, with 19 making it to the end of the night in the curry house. There was some really good ringing up to Bristol and Spliced Major – and the touch of Stedman Triples was definitely the highlight! Thank you for all the kind words and messages we’ve received from those who came and enjoyed themselves – sounds like it’s something we should definitely look at doing again in the future. Many thanks also to Alan Regin for making the bells available to us and making all the local arrangements, and to Fraser Storie for letting us in on the night (and running up and down the stairs a good few times to escort us all in and out!)
120 Club
Thanks to all those who have already bought their 120 club number(s) for 2024-5. The draw at Bromley Common will be the first of the new Club year – the administrators tell us that sales are looking strong but there are still a few numbers left, so if you haven’t got yours yet then please either email or see them at Bromley Common. The 120 club does a great job of fundraising for the Bell Restoration Fund, and Liz and Pete put a lot of work into it for us – it only costs a tenner per share and you have to be in it to win it!
District Competitions
The Call Change and Method Striking Competitions will both be held on the back six at Crayford on the afternoon of Saturday 11th May, starting at 2pm with the draw for both contests.
In conjunction with the other officers, we’ve taken the opportunity to tidy up the rules a little bit this year – the revised version is here. Hopefully, the changes are only admin “tweaks” to reflect what actually happens now anyway, and we’ll be presenting them for formal ratification at the April Business Meeting. If you do have any strong views on any of the changes though, please let either us or the Chairman know before the meeting.
Deadline for entries to either competition is mid-day on Sunday 5th May – to submit your entry, just email or message us on the contact details as below.
Firsts and Footnotes – from March
Lots of ringing in remembrance this month. More quarters were rung in memory of Mary Andrews at Meopham, Farnborough and Eltham, along with a District Officers’ quarter at Bexley and yet another rung immediately before her funeral service, also at Bexley. We were very sorry to hear of the death of Len Dumper at the age of 84 – Len had been a long-standing and loyal member of the Lewisham District as part of both the Eltham and Chislehurst bands, and a quarter peal was rung at Eltham in his memory. A very special quarter was arranged by the Sidcup ringers for, and rung in the presence of, local band member Guy Morgan who is currently receiving hospice care. And finally, a quarter was rung at Ash-by-Wrotham celebrating the life of Raymond John Derry who used to ring there.
On a happier note – congratulations to Frank Cottee who rang his first quarter peal, tenoring behind to Grandsire Doubles at Ash. Happy Birthday to Olive Mercer (90), celebrated with a quarter at Sidcup, and to Debra Say (definitely not 90!) with one at Farnborough. A very happy Diamond Wedding Anniversary to St Mary Cray parishioners Rosemary & Tony Lathey, marked with a quarter peal rung 60 years to the day after their wedding in the same church. That quarter was Peter Norwood’s 50th, and also his most methods (five). Peter Oates, Daniel Oates and Svetlana Sokolava rang their first quarter of Beverley Surprise Minor, and Ann Saunders and Dave Gyles rang their first of March Doubles. Ian Mills circled the tower to quarters at St Mary Cray, as did Debra Say and Terry Barnard at Farnborough – congratulations to all of them!
That’s all
You can contact us any time by email . We hope to see you at Bromley Common, or elsewhere, very soon.