Category: Special Practice

On Wed 28th Sept 13 guild members (a mixture from Bicester and Yarnton in the W&W Branch) headed for Bletchingdon and the September special practice.

After a rather shaky up we started with plain courses of Grandsire Doubles. After 3 goes at this we tried a touch (bobs only) for a couple of people. After more plain courses we rang more touches including one with Singles. Nice to see Sue getting more confident with the half-hunt touch on the 3.

We ended the evening with a couple of plain courses of Plain Bob Doubles before a reasonable ring down.

The next branch event is the branch practice at Bicester next Monday 3rd Oct (which, given it is my birthday the next day, I hope to drag some people to the pub!)

Details of the mini-outing will be made available shortly (starts 10am Sat 15 Oct at Finmere).

Anthony Cole

Tues July 19th was special in a number of ways. Firstly it was Samuel’s 12th birthday, and also it was the evening of the July Special practice which was hosted by Islip.

9 branch members (from 5 towers) braved the hottest day of the year so far.

Whilst Kent TB Minor was one of the nominated methods that was not going to happen; however plain courses of Grandsire and Plain Bob Doubles were rung,  interspersed with call changes for Islip’s rapidly improving learner, and a touch of Grandsire Doubles was attempted too (perhaps a conducting course is required to help when the Ringing Master is away??). The lure of the pub and a drink outside persuaded us to finish punctually with a very competent lower!

Anthony Cole

On Monday 16th May 10 ringers (6 Bicester, 1 Islip and 3 Oxford City ringers) attended the special practice at Bicester. On the agenda (if we had enough capable ringers) were Little Bob Minor and Grandsire Triples. Also at the back of my mind, given we have a 10 bell wedding on Saturday, I was hoping to get enough ringers to do some practice on 10.

At a little before 8pm we were still only 5, but headed up the tower anyway to ring. As we were about to ring up the doorbell went and 3 visitors from Oxford City were asking to be let it. I headed downstairs whilst 4 bells were rung up (3-6). Once upstairs again we rang up the back 4 and then tackled our first nominated method of the evening – Grandsire Triples. A shaky start, but on the second attempt we succeeded and rang two courses in the end – some smiles on our faces resulted – it’s been a while since we rang that at Bicester – well done Ian for getting through without mishap for first time in a couple of years.

Two more arrived so we rang up the trebles and then proceeded to practice call changes on 10.. not too bad.

I then proposed we try Little Bob Minor. The first band got through a couple of courses with a few wobbles, and the second band managed three courses – very good, and excellent attempts by Ian & Simon who hadn’t rung it before.

Given we had 10 bells I thought we ought to push ourselves further so plain hunt on 9 (caters!) was called. The first time through was a little rough, but it settled and by the end we were ringing it with good striking – excellent first ever attempt by Amanda and smiles all around as we haven’t done that for a very long time!

After dropping the trebles we rang down the back 8 in peal – pretty well struck and nice rounds to catch at the end.

All in all a great practice with some (rare) advanced ringing – if only all practices were like that! (Not that I am belittling less advanced methods – just a while since we’ve rung the more advanced stuff).

Next event is the branch practice at Middleton Stoney on Wed 1st June. Do please come along if you can.

Anthony Cole

On Wednesday 16th March 16 ringers travelled to Bletchingdon for its 2nd branch event of the month!

We started with (a better than last time) ringing up which was followed with plain courses of Grandsire Doubles. After more Grandsire Doubles we moved to plain courses of Plain Bob Doubles requested by the Middleton crew. We stuck with Plain Bob for a while as many of the Bletchingdon folk wanted to ring it also, but we did go back to Grandsire later in the evening when we rang a touch (including Singles) for Anne.

We finished with (what started as a very well struck) plain course of Plain Bob Minor .. however, it wobbled rather mid-course and the conductor had quite a lot of work to do to get it round.

Time for a week off (no ringing in Holy Week), but looking ahead we have a branch practice at Stratton Audley on Wed 6th April and the branch outing is coming up soon – Sat 23rd April – and there are only 3 places left for the coach so book your place soon if you want to go.

 

Anthony Cole

On Tuesday 19th January 4 branch members, 1 former branch member and 3 recruits headed for Islip and the first “special” practice of the year.

We started with rounds for the more recent recruits and then progressed to Plain Hunt on 5 for Becky.

Next we rang a touch of Grandsire Doubles – this didn’t go exactly to plan (the conductor miscalled it and had to swiftly recompose to get it back round .. much to the amusement of Willy Haynes!).

Next we had more rounds before Becky had her first attempt at Plain Hunt on 6 (successful!).

After more rounds before Sue left, we rang some plain courses of Grandsire Doubles with Becky having her first attempt on the treble (having watched earlier) – with Teresa as a minder. It went well so plenty of homework to look at in the coming weeks 😀

We finished with a short touch of Grandsire Doubles with Sally half-hunt before heading to the Red Lion to help our branch president celebrate his birthday.

A few regulars were unable to attend so we didn’t try our nominated methods (PB Minor and Winchendon Place) but it was a useful practice nonetheless.

The next branch event is (again) at Islip – the February branch practice – a slight change from the advertised schedule to allow Kirtlington’s ringing room floor to be fixed before we visit in March.

Anthony Cole

On Monday 16th November Bicester hosted a special practice and 10 ringers from 4 towers came along to try something a little above their regular tower methods – the methods for the evening were St Simon’s and St Martin’s Doubles and Plain Bob Triples.

After a quick go for a ringer returning from 21 years absence from ringing we rang up all the bells and started with rounds on the front six which turned into call changes as Del’s handling and memory of ringing was returning fast!

Next we rang plain hunt on 7 (well done Samuel and Anne) followed by a successful touch of St Simon’s Doubles. Rounds and call changes on 8 followed and then a touch of Grandsire Doubles with Anne on a working bell – bobs and singles this time!

And now for something harder… plain courses of Plain Bob Triples .. after a wobbly first attempt for a few ringers, the second attempt was successful (well done Samuel on the Treble) and the third attempt was similarly successful (well done Anne on the Treble).

We finished with some St Simon’s and St Martin’s spliced (no bobs!) to give everyone the idea of what was involved – there was plenty of enthusiasm for trying the other two methods another day (St Osmund and Eynesbury) – all four share the same back work, differing only in the front work made before and after making seconds around the treble. It makes it a little more difficult but it is easier than it sounds once you have a go at it!

Thanks to some experienced help from Ludgershall it was a really useful and progress filled practice so thanks to the Haseldine’s and well done everyone else!

Next branch event is the branch practice at Charlton on Otmoor on Wed 2nd December – look forward to seeing lots of you there 😀

Anthony Cole

On Tues 20th October the branch headed to Islip for the special practice. Almost from the start it was clear we were not going to get Rev Canterbury Doubles or Plain Bob Minor!
We started with a few goes at rounds for the beginners.. Islip currently have 5! After the younger contingent went home we did manage a touch of Grandsire Doubles on the back 5 before heading to the pub for a short branch meeting.
A disappointing turnout but useful for the beginners never the less.
Next branch event is the branch practice on Wed 4th Nov so hope to see some of you there then.

Anthony Cole

On Wednesday 23rd September 12 ringers from the Bicester, Witney & Woodstock and Oxford City branches joined together for the special practice at Bletchingdon.

As with previous practices at Bletchingdon we focused on Grandsire Doubles though this time Plain Bob Doubles was also requested. After a shaky “up” we rang call changes – well done Rachel – and then the first of many plain courses of Grandsire Doubles, interspersed with more call changes. Towards the end of the evening we rang Plain Bob Doubles and then had a discussion on the merits of setting / leaving bells at back stroke and (despite worries about it) had a go at setting the bells at backstroke from rounds .. 5 out of 6 managed it on time! Pulling off from backstroke proved to be more scary for some than setting at backstroke, but really there is little difference in what is going on upstairs – we are just less familiar with setting / pulling off at backstroke. With the bells set at backstroke you can tell how much rope you need for the backstroke when you grab the bell, but not necessarily where to catch the sally – normally it is the other way around and thus is less scary apparently – having been taught the exercise of setting successive times at backstroke I find this isn’t a problem, but it unsettles some. Perhaps more practice at it is required?? I bet that wouldn’t be popular at a branch practice!

Anyway, next branch event is the Branch Practice at Bicester on Monday 5th October so I look forward to seeing lots of you there.

 

On Tuesday 21st July Islip hosted the July special practice. On the schedule was Grandsire Doubles and Kent TB Minor. 11 ringers came along from 4 branch towers (and one from outside the branch).

We started off with rounds and call changes for Rachel, then Laura had a lesson with Keith before some plain courses of Grandsire for Samuel. We then had more call changes and then tried treble bobbing to give Steve an idea of what to do on the treble and see if we might be up to ringing Kent.. sadly we struggled so Kent was not going to work, but Steve was getting the hang of the treble by the end. More lessons for Laura and then we rang a touch of Grandsire for Anne.

More call changes and another lesson for Laura (putting the handstroke and backstroke together) before ringing down. Have to say Rachel and Laura are making great progress so keep it up 😀

Sadly I had to get Samuel home, but the pub called to the other ringers.

The next event is the branch practice at Ludgershall on Fri 7th August – usually a good practice so do come along if you can.

Anthony Cole