On Wednesday 3rd June 9 branch folk banded together for the (as usual) sunny June Middleton Stoney branch practice.
After Samuel had rung up the Treble and two, we rang the others up in peal before starting with plain courses of Plain Bob Doubles which the local band have been working on. Two courses without too much trouble 🙂 We then rang Grandsire Doubles and call changes. The evening progressed alternating Plain Bob and Grandsire and the locals commented how a couple of extra ringers had helped them through the Plain Bob where normally they struggle – exactly what a Branch Practice is for 😀
The next branch event is the special practice at Islip on Tues 16th June – Plain Bob Doubles and Stedman Doubles on the cards – perhaps some of the Middleton ringers need to come along and work on Plain Bob then too.
On Monday 25th May ringers from Bicester rang a quarter peal to celebrate the life of one of our own, Bill Knapton, who died at the end of April, aged 92. Bill rang at Bicester and Caversfield for many years, only retiring about 18 months ago after a heart bypass.
Oxford Diocesan Guild
Bicester, Oxon
St Edburg
Monday 25 May 2015 in 42 mins (15-0-7)
1260 Plain Bob Doubles
1 Janet Smith
2 Sarah Cole
3 Simon White
4 Jeremy Adams
5 Anthony Cole(C)
6 Steve Walker
Rung to celebrate the life Bill Knapton, ringer at Bicester for many years, who died recently aged 92.
On Monday 18th May 7 ringers from 4 branch towers and 3 from Buckingham came to check out the newly decorated Bicester tower which was hosting the May special practice.
After ringing up all 10 we rang the first of the nominated methods – Little Bob Minor. Then we rang some plain hunt on 8 followed by a touch of Plain Bob Doubles on the front bells – well done Si.
Next we took the rare opportunity to ring all 10 with some call changes. We followed that with a touch of Grandsire Doubles with Anne observation – nearly there Anne – well done.
Next we rang a plain course and immediately followed by a short touch of Grandsire Triples! Both nominated methods and a touch of one.. excellent!
Another two goes at plain hunt on 7 firstly with Anne on the treble and then Amanda on the treble for the first time, very well done both of you.
We finished the evening with a plain course of Plain Bob Triples and ringing down on 8.
An excellent evening with a rare opportunity to ring on 8 and 10 and a chance to extend experience for quite a few.
The next branch event is the branch practice at Middleton Stoney on Wednesday 3rd June – hope to see lots of you there.
The Guild master has been in discussion with Branch reps and Secretaries at the Spring General Committee meeting regarding recruitment and retention. Each branch was asked to submit their thoughts – see Anne’s Recruitment thoughts report on behalf of the Bicester Branch – download it below.
This does bring up a big issue really – more and more towers (countrywide, not just locally) are finding it hard to continue ringing and more towers are falling silent due to lack of ringers. Kathryn has sent these thoughts around by email:
It was great to have two new members at our Branch AGM – and youthful ones at that! Most of our towers could do with more ringers – and although it’s sometimes a thankless job recruiting/ teaching/ retaining/ encouraging new ones, without recruits we may, within the next 10-20 years, have a number of ‘silent’ towers. Anne Martin (Launton) and I were at a meeting where this topic was discussed throughout the Oxford Guild and some of the ideas/ difficulties are highlighted in Anne’s report on the Branch website. Do see what you can do individually to encourage newcomers to our quaint but lovely English tradition!
I echo these concerns – the Bicester branch membership is dropping and whilst some is due to people moving away, some is simply because our members are getting older and less able to ring and newer (younger) recruits are not coming forward. Equally I wonder if many towers in our branch have ringers confident or capable of teaching new recruits. If you are from a tower that has possible recruits but hasn’t a competent/capable/willing teachers then please contact Anthony or any of the branch officers and we will help where possible. Equally, if a course on teaching bell handling would be useful then get in touch and we can organise something. Having taught a new band at Caversfield over the last year or so and watching them improve I can vouch for it being a rewarding opportunity to teach new (and younger) recruits and we are now fairly good at plain hunt and are starting to work on plain courses of Grandsire Doubles (with a little extra help from Launton) which after just over one year is very pleasing – we also came second in the branch striking competition last year!
On Wed 6th May 13 ringers from 5 branch towers banded together for the May branch practice at Piddington. The locals hadn’t expected us (proof reading of the branch diary cards missed that we forgot to put anything on for May!), but they were happy to see us.
We started with call changes (perhaps we should rename that “Yell changes” given the volume of the bells!) and then more call changes. We then progressed to plain courses of Grandsire Doubles and then as the evening progressed we alternated call changes and Grandsire with helpers standing behind to help one of the locals, and to help Anne try a touch. We finished with some plain courses of Plain Bob Doubles before ringing down (not our best if I am honest!).
The evening was not without incident though. Twice the 4th bell woke up the ringers by slipping wheel (once with a very experienced ringer on the end!) so a bit of maintenance will be done to look at the cause of that.
The next branch event (again not on the cards!) is the special practice at Bicester on Monday 18th May – Little Bob Minor and Grandsire Triples; we’re expecting some ringers from Buckingham to boost our numbers so please come along and attempt these methods or just the treble to them – we will hopefully have enough for someone to stand behind you. If that isn’t a draw then just come and admire Bicester’s newly painted ringing room!!
On Saturday 18th April 14 ringers plus some “hangers on” trekked to Bedfordshire for the 2015 Bicester Branch Outing. The A421 stressed out a few of the sat navs (those like mine which hadn’t been updated to show the course of the new road!) but we managed to get to Haynes by the 10am start time.
Ringing at Haynes, BedsHaynes, Beds
A pleasant little 6 with a lovely church – nice that the congregation can watch the ringers. We rang call changes, plain hunt and lots of Grandsire Doubles here.
From here we moved to Biggleswade and the first 8 of the day.
Biggleswade Church
Anthony caught on camera
The tower was in the middle of renovation work and featured an open cased clock mechanism – who is that scruffy person ringing the tenor?? 😀 We rang call changes, plain hunt on 7 and even managed a course of Grandsire Triples here.
Lunch was up the A1 on the outskirts of Eaton Socon (our next tower stop) where we had a lovely meal at the Highwayman (Brewers Fayre). Some of us were inside and those with dogs were able to sit and eat outside in the sunshine.
Next was the 8 bells of Eaton Socon where we again managed Plain hunt on 7 and Grandsire Triples as well as call changes. The tower also had a monitor showing a live camera feed from the bell chamber – something that would be fun in more towers perhaps.
Samuel outside Eaton Socon tower
Kathryn putting ropes into the rope warmer after ringing
The next tower Eynesbury wasn’t far away, but confused the ringing master and his sat nav a little! At least he arrived in time for a last ring! The tower was also able to confuse a number of the other ringers as the bells were arranged in an anti-clockwise order which, whilst not exactly rare, is not something the Bicester branch ringers have experience of.
Lastly we visited the birth place of John Bunyan, author of the Pilgrim’s Progress amongst other things. Not only that but John Bunyan rang in the detached tower at Elstow Abbey where we were to ring. Having arrived to late for the attempt at Eynesbury, we rang a couple of courses of Eynesbury Bob Doubles at Elstow along with Grandsire Doubles, Plain Bob Minor and call changes.
Elstow Abbey’s detached tower
Ringing in elstow tower isa bit woolly?
A strange rope spider.. face one side, fish face the other
Some ringing at Elstow
Finally what better way to finish off a lovely day than to visit a tea garden for a cream tea?
Tea garden with Abbey visible in the background
Thanks to everyone who came along and made it such a fun day. Obligatory group photo below!
On Friday 10th April 11 ringers from 5Â branch towers came together to ring the heaviest set of bells in the branch. Ambrosden only has one resident ringer so it was nice to hear them rung.
After a shaky ring up we started with rounds to help the lesser experienced used to the bells – there is a long draught to get used to as well as the weight of the bells.
Next we rang plain courses of Grandsire Doubles on the back 6 before more Grandsire on the front bells.
We moved on to a touch of Plain bob Doubles and then call changes.
Next we had a couple of courses of Plain Bob Minor on the back bells – have to admit the ringing master enjoyed turning in the tenor!
We rang some more Grandsire on the front 6 with bobs this time before the last set of call changes.
Thanks to a number of experienced ringers standing behind learners it was a good teaching practice and great experience for all ringing heavier bells.
The next branch event is the branch outing on Saturday 18th April – details on the website.
“Wow” is the first word that comes to mind to describe the special practice at Bletchingdon on Wednesday 25th March. Ringers usually arrive at our practices in a slow trickle, but at exactly 1930 we already had 8 ringers in the tower and within minutes 22 ringers had arrived representing 6 branch towers and (such is the draw of the Grandsire and Plain Bob Doubles practice, or maybe the Bletchingdon bells – I am not sure which) representatives from 2 Witney & Woodstock branch towers and an Oxford City tower too! It was also lovely to see a ringer who has just moved to the Bicester branch area – great to see you Demelza 🙂
After a (poor sadly) ring up we started with Plain Bob Doubles followed by Grandsire Doubles (plain courses of both). We then gave the newer recruits some call changes practice. We concentrated on plain courses of Grandsire Doubles for a while before more call changes, and Plain Bob Doubles. As the evening moved on we moved to trying touches for a couple of the progressing ringers with mixed success.
Before the evening finished the newly elected member of the guild, Samuel was presented with his membership certificate by the branch president to a round of applause. I look forward to presenting the other newly elected members their certificates later today at our weekly practice – to slightly less an audience I suspect!
Having so many ringers at a practice is a challenge for the ringing master to ensure everyone gets a fair amount of ringing, but is also a great benefit to those there to learn thanks to the willing helpers who can give tips and guidance to those who are learning; helpers do not need to be experienced peal ringers (though we did have a few of those present) – ringers capable of ringing a touch of Plain Bob Doubles are able guides for those learning to ring plain courses so nearly everyone can help. We had a good mix of capabilities on Wednesday and a good number of ringers stood behind those learning – ringing is a team effort after all so my thanks to all who helped and encouraged.
Next week is Holy Week, and therefore a week off for ringers countrywide. However, as April approaches we have a busy month’s ringing ahead with the Branch Practice at Ambrosden on Fri 10th April, the Branch Outing on Sat 18th April and (for Caversfield ringers and those who would like to join us) a trip to Mark Walker’s mini ring on Fri 24th April. Looking forward to it!
In the second of our Bicester branch World Tour (or at least one of our members!) I have received the following report from Ian about his experiences in the Big Apple!!
I contacted the Trinity ringers via email, to ask if I could come along and ring with them whilst I’m working in New York at JFK. I had a lovely reply welcoming me to NY and to come along to ring. Trinity church, from the outside, looks like a quaint little church, but once inside you realise that it’s only it’s setting amongst all the skyscrapers in the financial district of Manhatton that give it the appearance of being small. There are 12 bells and the ringing chamber is bigger than Bicester! The bells were all hung in 2006 and go really well. I rang the 24cwt tenor and it goes so much better than the (slightly) lighter tenor in Buckingham and no box to stand on! Practice is on a Wednesday night from 6.30 to 9 pm, ringers travel from all round NY and this gives them time to travel in to the city.
We started off ringing Grandsire and Plain Bob doubles then a touch of PB minor, before hunting on 9 and even rounds and calls on 12 – a first for me! I was then treated to some excellent ringing, including Superlative major and spliced Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Superlative. I went back to ring on Sunday before the service, to find there was a quarter attempt, they attempt quarters every Sunday prior to ringing before the service – something we could try in Bicester branch?? Going back tomorrow, Wednesday evening practice and I’ve been given homework to learn the bobs to grandsire, which I haven’t done yet!! Hannah is due to visit next week and I’ll take her along so she can ring on 12 too. Will let you know how we get on!!
If I’m honest, a Quarter Peal every Sunday isn’t likely, but we do need to perhaps try a few more each year 😀
The branch practice at Bicester on Mon 7th Jan was a slow start to the year – we had 6 ringers from 2 towers; a ringer new to Bicester tower who has been ringing at the neighbouring tower of Marsh Gibbon joined us and given our small number our efforts focussed on helping him. After “up” we rang first call changes and then had a number of goes of Plain Bob Doubles with Arthur ringing tenor behind (not something he had done before) and he improved as the evening went on – well done Arthur 🙂
Next practice is next week at Islip – St Nicholas Doubles and Plain Bob Minor. Hopefully see more of you there 🙂
