I am writing this in the week following the Association’s 8-Bell Striking Competition. This took place last Saturday at St Pater and St Paul, Bromley. The church has a superb ring of 8 bells and proved a perfect venue for contest. The test piece was a touch of Double Norwich Court Bob Major.
All six Districts were participating on what was to be one of the hottest days of the year. A gazebo in the churchyard provided shade for our two judges, Stuart Aitken and Clare Le Marie, from the Guildford Diocesan Guild. I think that it is fair to say that the teams did not make the judges task easy, as the final scores demonstrate:
1 Lewisham 98%
2 Ashford 97%
3 Tonbridge 96%
4 Rochester 94%
5 Maidstone 91%
6 Canterbury 89%
As can be seen from the results, the standard of ringing was extremely high and there were very few striking errors. Congratulations go to the Lewisham District, who are now in possession of the trophy but, as you can see from the results, it was an extremely close call and the competition could easily have been won by another District.
I would like to thank Tom Hinks, the Tower Captain at Bromley, and the Bromley ringers for making us so welcome on the day, including putting fans in the ringing chamber to make it feel less like ringing in a sauna. I am grateful also to the Lewisham District committee for their help in making the arrangements for the competition.
Next year, the competition is due to be held in the Maidstone District and more details will be announced nearer the time.
Talking of competitions, I am sure that some of our members may well be heading to St Mary Redcliffe. Bristol, to listen to the ringing in the National 12-Bell Striking Contest. This event probably represents the pinnacle of high quality ringing and, even you are unable to attend, it is worth listening to some of the clips of the ringing that will be available on social media platforms following the contest. Whilst ringing 12 bells is something that not all of us aspire to, it is always good to be mindful of the standard of the ringing that emanates from our tower.
It is definitely the competition season as 9 of the Kent Young Ringers are heading up to Birmingham at the beginning of July to participate in the Ringing World National Youth Contest (RWNYC). This year, the contest will be based a St Martin’s in the Bullring, which has a ring of 16 bells. As well as having an opportunity to ring here, our Young Ringers will also be visiting some other towers in the Birmingham area as well as participating in one of 5 different categories in the contest.
37 teams are entering this year and this contest will be bringing in ringers from all over the country. If previous contests are anything to go by, it will be an amazing experience for our Young Ringers.
Coming up in August is the Ringing Discovery Day at St Margaret’s, Rochester, running between 10:00am and 4:00pm. We are trying to raise the profile of ringing by opening the tower at the church and allowing the public to come in, take a look and have a go.
I have had plenty of offers of help for the day and would like to thank all those who have contacted me with offers of help. I will be in touch with you shortly.
I would like to put out another plea to you all. If you have any ringing ephemera or artefacts that you are happy to lend for the day, please could you let me know. I am particularly looking for photos, model bells, books etc. They would be displayed on tables that would be stewarded.
I am also arranging some training mornings at Rochester Cathedral. There are two on the 9th August, one in the morning and one in the afternoon where anybody who has shown an interest in learning to ring will have a chance to have some 1:1 teaching on the bells as an introduction to the training process. I am looking for a couple more people to help with these sessions.
After that, I have arranged for more teaching sessions on the following Saturday mornings: 13th September, 27th September, 11th October, 25th October. All of these will be running between 10:00 and 12:30 and I am still looking for some additional help with the training.
These are ideal for those who have taken the ART M1 training course and are looking for teaching opportunities and help to lead towards your accreditation. Please do contact me on if you are able to help or have any questions.
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