Nobody could have failed to miss the installation of the Most Reverend Dame Sarah Mullally as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury last week. As a way of marking this, Rona Joiner came up with the idea of getting a ladies band together to ring at Canterbury Cathedral to mark this groundbreaking event.
After some head-scratching and a little arm-twisting, Rona was able to get a 12-bell band together to ring for this occasion. Liaising with Canterbury Cathedral, it was agreed that the band would ring for Evensong on Palm Sunday when the new Archbishop would be in attendance.
Not all of the band regularly ring on 12 bells so a practice quarter peal was arranged at Benenden as well as an opportunity to join the Canterbury Cathedral Company of Change Ringers for a practice at the Cathedral in order to help the band ready themselves for this momentous occasion.
It is not often that an all-ladies band get together to ring a peal or quarter peal on 12 bells so we contacted the media to promote this event and many of you may have seen or heard about it in the local news over the last few days.
I am delighted to say that the band successfully scored the quarter peal at the Cathedral. Congratulations to them all for their success, especially to Cathryn Hills who conducted it and to Rona for arranging it. It is certainly a very noteworthy first for the KCACR. Click here for the full details.
The Association AGM takes place next week on Monday 6th April. Hosted by the Ashford District, the AGM will be at St Mildred’s, Tenterden. As is customary, there will be a service at 12:00 and the AGM, held in the church, will begin at 2:00pm. More details, including the towers that will be open that day are on the KCACR website.
Both Joanne Pohl, our Honorary General Secretary, and I are standing down from our positions this year. I would like to thank Joanne for her hard work during her term as Honorary General Secretary. She has been an excellent person to work with and brought in some very useful ideas and developments to the way that the General Committee works. Joanne was also a tremendous help in seeking the publicity for the Ladies Band and getting the media interested.
My thanks also go to the other members of the General Committee as I step down from my role as Chairman. I have really welcomed the support of our General Committee and it has certainly made my role easier. Unbeknownst when I took on the role of chair of the KCACR, it has also stood me in good stead as I now take on the leadership of the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART) and guide it through an exciting time in ringing as the Central Council introduce the Ringing 2030 project ideas. ART will need to play an important role in this as we look to recruit and train more ringers.
On the subject of training, there is an ART M1 Bell Handling Training Day on Saturday 6th June at Westgate-on-Sea. The M1 course is aimed at those who would like to get involved in teaching people to ring. It is the first stage in the process to become an Accredited ART Teacher. After attending the course, the attendees are encouraged to with mentors. These are usually experienced teachers who, where possible, have already undertaken an M1 course and will be able to support the attendee with teaching new ringers. Finally, the attendee is assessed by an ART Assessor to ascertain whether or not they are deemed ready for ART Accreditation.
There is a time limit of 2 years for this to be achieved in. Anybody over the age of 14 can attend the course (although under-18s will require parental consent and ART Accreditation and membership is only open to those who are aged 16 or over). If you, or anybody that you know, is interested in attending this course, please click here to book a place. The KCACR will refund the cost of attending the course following confirmation of attendance. ART requires that all attendees should have sufficiently good bell control to be able to inspire confidence in others and an ability to comfortably raise and lower a bell.
I mentioned in my previous Words from the Chair about the seminar on leadership that we have organised for tower captains, budding tower captains and those who are, or hope to be running the ringing at their tower, district or elsewhere as well as for those who are just curious to find out more about elements of leadership. It is going to be held at St John the Baptist, Bredgar, ME9 8EX on Saturday 9th May between 2.00pm and 5:30pm.
This will provide a range of discussions and input on subjects related to leadership in ringing; for example, what may need to be considered when running a practice and will provide an opportunity to share ideas with others in a similar role. There will be no charge for the event but a donation towards the use of the church and refreshments would be appreciated. If you are interested in attending, please let me know via
I look forward to seeing many of you next week at the AGM at Tenterden.
Neil Jones
KCACR Chairman