Dear all,
Welcome to the latest news from your Lewisham District….
January District Practice and Business Meeting
We had a great turnout for the first District event of the year with up to 30 members at St Mary Cray – thank you for supporting! Draft minutes of the Business meeting are here, with thanks to Lana for taking over the District Secretary role. Three new members were elected at the meeting – a warm welcome to them! – and a busy morning’s ringing saw success at all levels from Plain Hunt to Surprise Minor with pretty much everything in between.
District Communication
To reiterate what we said at the St Mary Cray business meeting – since the publication of the quarterly Newsletter was paused last year, this monthly email update is about the only way in which we can keep communication links going within the District, other than at our physical meetings and practices. Urgent items will occasionally be sent outside the monthly Updates, but they use the same email distribution list. Please can we ask you to check with your local ringers to make sure they’re getting these emails, and if they’re not then please speak to Rupert and ask him to add them to the list.
Upcoming events & calendar
Next event is an open District practice at Farnborough on Saturday 10th February, 1030 – 1230. There are several nice pubs around the church if anyone is thirsty or fancies a spot of lunch after the ringing! This is the first District event at Farnborough since their augmentation to eight during the pandemic, so please do come and join us – these bells the lightest ring in the District and they are very easy to ring.
On Saturday 9th March we’ve got a special “Bells, Beer and Curry” evening planned in London – we would really like as many people to join us as possible. Spitalfields church has one of the finest rings of eight in the country. Afterwards it’s just a short walk to the Pride of Spitalfields – one of the best pubs in London – and then on to one of the famous Brick Lane curry houses for anyone who wants to. It should be a fantastic evening as we start to emerge from the cold winter months – ringing starts at 4.30pm, please come if you can. Full details and information on how to sign up for the curry will follow in the March update.
The final 2024 calendar of Events is attached – please make sure all your ringers have a copy, and ideally print it out and pin it on to the tower noticeboard too!
Advance notice that both the Call Change and Method Striking Competitions will be held at Crayford on the afternoon of Saturday 11th May – details to follow, but please start thinking about whether your tower will be able to enter a band for either or both.
On the afternoon of Saturday 15th June, there’s an open invitation to ring a quarter peal at Lewisham during a fundraising event for the restoration of their bells. This will take place after the District Practice which finishes at 12.30pm – if you’d like to ring in the quarter then please let Julia know by email at .
And finally – a date for your diary if you fancy a day out. On Saturday 22nd June, the County inter-District Striking Competition will be held as part of a Festival of Ringing at Quex Park (near Margate), with a Barbecue to follow – more details when we get them. Please come and support the Lewisham District band in the competition, and enjoy the unique Quex experience!
Firsts and Footnotes – from January
Congratulations on “first in the method” quarter peals to:
Charlotte Elvers – Little Bob Major at Farnborough
Becca Hardy and Philippa Rooke – 5-Spliced Surprise Major at Bromley
Ann Saunders, Nigel Pointer and David Gyles – Birthday Doubles at Crayford
Steph Runting – Yorkshire Surprise Major at Bromley
Daniel Oates rang his first quarter of Surprise Minor inside, Cambridge at Eltham, while Nigel and Jim Hardy completed their 500th quarter peal together. Congratulations to Stephanie Runting who rang her first peal on ten, Cambridge Royal at Maidstone. And James Croft, David Maynard and Tom Hinks (conductor) all rang 41-Spliced Surprise Minor methods in hand for the first time with a peal in Bromley – those three sound as if they could become quite promising ringers one day, let’s hope they stick at it and keep practising😊.
Congratulations to James and Charlotte Wilkins on the birth of Finlay, a grandson for Nick. A quarter of Bob Minor was rung with best wishes to the Bishop of Richborough as he visited Bickley for a confirmation service for the last time before his retirement, while quarters were rung at Farnborough in memory of local parishioner Geoffrey Parson, and at both Farnborough and Chelsfield in memory of local ringer Anne Taylor. And last but not least, “Happy Birthdays” to Steph (23), to Eltham bells (100) and to Rupert Cheeseman, Jenny Croft, Jeremy Clitheroe and Tom Hinks (all more than 23 but less than 100).
That’s all
You can contact us any time by email . We hope to see you at Farnborough, or elsewhere, very soon.
Best wishes
Ruth & Nigel