After an initial postponement, due to a clash of events, the competition was rather hastily rescheduled for 21st September, at Islip. Kathryn Grant offered to host the BBQ in her garden, which is very close to the church.
Steady rain from early morning threatened to put the dampers on proceedings, literally. However, by around 3pm the rain had stopped, the clouds started clearing and the sun came out. By 6pm there was hardly a cloud in the sky, so chairs and tables were put out in the garden and the barbecue was fired up.
Then the main event (the actual striking competition, not the BBQ) started. The change of date had, unfortunately, meant that some towers were unable to enter a full team, but with a little bit of jiggling around, we managed to add a further three teams to the three already put forward (which were Islip A and B teams, and Kirtlington). The additions were a Youth Team, Bicester United, and a scratch team to give Islip’s newest recruit, 12-year-old Felix, a chance to have a go (at the time of the competition, he’d only just started to ring rounds and call changes on his own).
Each team rang either Grandsire Doubles, Bob Doubles or Call Changes and the ringing was pretty even for all teams.
Hugh Deam and Maarit Kivilo very kindly agreed to be the judges and were very kind with their après-ringing comments too. The placings were nail-bitingly close, but Islip B team was judged to be the overall winner.
The final result was:
| Islip B | 78% |
| Youth Team | 76% |
| Bicester Utd | 70% |
| Islip A | 66.5% |
| Scratch team (with Felix) | 55% |
| Kirtlington | 45% |
The International Space Station went over the garden just as Hugh
was announcing the results. One wonders if they managed to get a photo of the occasion.
Around 25 ringers and guests enjoyed a veritable feast of burgers,
hot dogs, salads and puddings. Everyone enjoyed the evening, and it was nice to have a relaxing, sociable time, under a starry sky, once the stress of the competition was over.
Many thanks to Kathryn for hosting the BBQ.
Teresa Carter