I will start with a huge thank you to the Canterbury District and, in particular, the Canterbury Cathedral Company of Change Ringers for their efforts and help in making the arrangements for the recent KCACR Evensong. There were well over 50 attendees at the service and several more came to join in the open ringing prior to the service, ably managed by Canterbury District Ringing Master, Stuart Palin.
For those who were less inclined to ring, there was a fine spread of light refreshments to accompany the tea and coffee on offer as well as an opportunity to look at some of the Association’s latest library acquisitions, namely the ringing records of the late David Cawley and Vernon Benning. These personal records included many personal touches such as the heraldry doodled and detailed notes in David’s books and the postcards and photos in Vernon’s, many dating back to the 1940s and 1950s.
Sadly, I heard of the death of David Manger on the 16th November. David was twice Chairman of the Association, firstly between 1981 and 1984 and then between 2006 and 2009. He was elected a Vice-President of the Association at the end of his second term as Chairman in 2009 in recognition of the service that he had given the KCACR. There will be a Memorial Service for David at St Mary’s, Frittenden, at 12:00 on Friday 6th December following a private cremation attended by his family beforehand.
There are more ART courses in the offing. Sue Bassett, our Training Officer, has arranged for an M1 course to take place at Staplehurst on Saturday 1st March, starting at 9.00. In addition, there is an M2C course, also at Staplehurst, on Saturday 29th March.
As I have said before, the M1 course is aimed at those who want to learn how to teach bell handling. However, it is also very useful for those who already teach beginners how to handle a bell as it provides a range of resources and tips that even experienced teachers may not have considered as well as an opportunity to reflect on one’s own teaching style. There is more information about the M1 course here: https://bellringing.org/about-teaching/teaching-modules/bell-handling/
The M2C course is aimed towards those who are looking for ideas on how to get their ringers beyond ringing plain hunt and into method ringing. For some ringers, this can be quite a challenging step and this course provides ideas and resources on ways to help overcome this challenge. There is more information about the M2C course here: https://bellringing.org/about-teaching/teaching-modules/early-method-ringing/
There is no requirement to have taken the M1 course in order to participate in the M2C course.
Both courses must be booked online via this link: https://events.bellringing.org/en/ .It is worth pointing out that there are limited places on the courses so do sign up soon! The KCACR will refund the course fee for members. Please contact Sue Bassett or myself if you would like further details.
I am looking at ways in which we can introduce the Ringing 2030 initiative into the KCACR over the next few years. Without any action, the ringing scene here in Kent in 2035 will be significantly poorer than it currently is. To that end, I have started to look at how we can work with the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers on how, with their support and co-operation, we could work on a project together within the Association that would be of benefit to us and enable the CCCBR to try out some of their proposals with a real organisation. I am hoping that I will be able to say more in a future post.
Whilst on the subject of Ringing 2030, one of the things that the CCCBR has already done is to look at how bellringing is perceived and branded. They have really tried to investigate how ringing could be made more attractive to younger people and how to make younger people more aware that ringing exists. One of the things that has come out of this are T-shirts, and with Christmas approaching, you may find that here is a potential gift for another ringer. More details are available here: https://cccbr.org.uk/2024/11/08/bellringing-t-shirts-and-pull-up-banners-for-sale/
Finally, as I mentioned last month, it is customary that the post of Chairman is held for only 3 years and I need to advise you that my term of office as Chairman will come to an end at the next AGM in April 2025 and the Association will need to elect a successor. Should you be interested in finding out more about the role, either for yourself or for somebody else that you know, please do contact me for further information.
Neil Jones
KCACR Chairman