The start of the school holidays tends to mark a slight lull in ringing activities. It is a time of year where families tend to go on holidays and for some bands, August is a month where it is difficult to sustain a worthwhile practice.
Many of you may have seen or heard of the passing of two former Association Chairmen, Tim Wraight of St Margaret’s, Rainham and Dr Donald Niblett of St Stephen’s, Canterbury.
Tim was the Tower Captain at Rainham for many years, and I will always be indebted to him as it was Tim who taught me to handle a bell. He was well-known throughout the Association and further afield through his involvement with the Faraday Guild and the Royal Naval Guild of Bellringers. As well as holding the position of Chairman between 1987 and 1990, Tim was also the Honorary General Secretary of the KCACR between 1995 and 2000.
Donald was one of our Vice-Presidents, elected in 1996. He was also Chairman between 1996 and 1999 and held the position of Honorary Peal Secretary between 1976 and 1996. Donald was also Tower Captain at Canterbury Cathedral for 14 years and Tower Secretary there for 4 years. Donald was a significant member of the KCACR for many years, particularly within the Canterbury District.
Our thoughts are with Tim’s family and Donald’s family at this time.
The weekend of the 5th July saw around 300 Young Ringers descend upon Birmingham, together with many cricket supporters who were attending a Test Match at Edgbaston and hoards of Black Sabbath fans wanting to see what turned to be Ozzy Osbourne’s final public appearance in their final show.
Nevertheless, the St Martin’s Guild tackled the logistical nightmare of getting all the teams to the correct contest towers admirably as well as organising additional ringing around Birmingham for all of the teams which included ringing on the 16 bells of St Martin’s in the Bullring.
The Kent Young Ringers set off on Friday afternoon and stayed overnight in Solihull before taking part in the events of the Ringing World National Youth Contest. This year, for the first time, we entered the 8-bell Method Ringing category which was held at Edgbaston. I think that nerves got the better of some of the team and we were disappointed with our final position when the results were announced at St Martin’s in the Bullring. However, it was a memorable day for all and I know that our team will be able build on what they achieved this year as we start to think about next year’s RWNYC in Nottingham.
Everything is almost in place for the forthcoming Ringing Discovery Day at St Margaret’s, Rochester on Saturday 2nd August. As well as an opportunity to have a go at ringing, visitors will get a chance to see ringers in action, experience handbell ringing and try out a mini-ring. I am extremely grateful to those who have offered their help for the day, it has been this level of help that has made all the additional activities possible.
I mentioned that there will be opportunities to follow this up with further training sessions arranged for the following Saturday and for dates in September and October. Until yesterday, I had enough help for all of these but I need to put out a plea to those who have undertaken the M1 course. One on the trainers who has offered to help has a hand injury which means that they will be unable to do any rope work that day. I would be extremely grateful if somebody who has undertaken an ART M1 course could come and help at Rochester Cathedral on Saturday 9th September. I am running 2 sessions that day, one in the morning (10:00 – 12:30 ) and one in the afternoon (2:00 – 4:30). Please do contact me on if you are able to help for one or both of those sessions.
Finally, a final word on competitions, please do remember that the Association 6-Bell Striking Competitions will be taking place on Saturday 27th September at St Margaret’s, Barming. The 6-Bell Method Ringing Competition will be taking place in the morning, with the draw at 9:45am. The 6-Bell Call-Change Competition will be taking place in the afternoon with the draw at 2:00pm. As with last year, this will be an open competition with a maximum of 10 teams able to participate and each team will need to ring 10 minutes of call-changes.
Whilst the Method Competition entries are determined by the Districts, please do consider taking part in the Call Change Competition.
Neil Jones
KCACR Chairman