This was held on Saturday 12th January. Proceedings began with ringing at Forton and Hinstock followed by the service at Hinstock.  An excellent meal was provided by the Hinstock ringers, after which our Association President, Bishop Alan, chaired the Quarterly and Annual General Meetings. He also presented a cheque for £2750.00 from the Association Bell Restoration Fund to John Gibson of Upton Magna.

The Ringing Master, Nick Green, looked back over the year and recalled as highlights the very successful Ceilidh, the augmentation at Upton Magna and the restoration at Stirchley. He thanked Brian Kear for running the 100+ club, which continued to provide regular income for the Bell Restoration Fund. On the ringing front, three performances were singled out for attention: Gareth Jones' first quarter peal, Luke Wilson's first quarter peal as conductor, and the quarter peal on eight bells by the local Market Drayton band, the first such for many years. He expressed his sadness at the untimely death of Keith Buckingham, at a time when he was beginning to be fully involved with the Association.

The Deputy Ringing Master, Peter Woollam, in his guise of raffle czar, thanked those who supported this venture, both by buying tickets and by donating prizes.

The Secretary, Kathryn Greaves, was of the opinion that, of all the Ringing Masters with whom she had worked, Nick was not the worst.

There was a proposal to increase subscriptions from 2009 to £7.00 (£5.00 for concessions), and this was inexplicably passed nem con.

The Librarian, Brian Kear, appealed for greater use to be made of the resources of the library.

The Training Officer reported that four training mornings had been held, on two of which two centres were used. Twenty-six students from fourteen towers had attended. He thanked those who had acted as helpers, and suggested that visits by more experienced ringers to towers with ringers of less experience were an effective training tool.

The Public Relations Officer, Paul Lewis, reported that there had been much positive publicity during the year, both on the radio and in the printed press. Much of it related to the successful scheme at Upton Magna and the celebratory ringing in connection with the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Telford.

The Central Council Representative, Fred Mitchell, outlined the work of the council to help all ringers, and offered to provide more details as required.

The Trustee of the Lichfield Diocesan Mobile Belfry, Paul Lewis, reported another successful year despite severe weather affecting the two bookings in the Association's area.

Bishop Alan thanked the officers for their work and then presided over the vote, in which all were re-elected except James Ward, who had not indicated a willingness to stand again. His place as Trustee of the Lichfield Diocesan Mobile Belfry was taken by Madeline Harris. Nick Green took the place of the late Keith Buckingham as Central Council Representative.

Bishop Alan presenting the St Alkmund's Cannons Trophy to Edric Broom. This unusual trophy is awarded annually by the Ringing Master to someone who has made a significant contribution to the Association. Edric received it in recognition of many years service in a number of posts.

Peter Woollam spoke about the proposed changes to the rules of the Bell Restoration Fund. In principle, these will allow more generous grants to be given in future. He encouraged members to read the draft rules which had been sent to each tower, and to attend the EGM to be held in April to vote on the proposals.  He also extolled the virtues of the Association lapel badge, without which no ensemble will be complete. They are available from Peter for £5.00, or £10.00 for a matching pair.

The Bookshop Organiser, Tricia Mitchell, reminded members that she has a selection of excellent, modestly-priced instruction books available at most monthly meetings.

Prizes in the raffle, which raised £57.00 for the Bell Restoration Fund, were won by Malcolm Monie (Whitchurch), Judith Byne (High Ercall), Adrian Roberts (Shrewsbury), Edric Broom (Edgmond) and John Crum (Shrewsbury).

Prizes in the 100+ Club draw were won by: Iain Coull (Clive) - £40, Graham Talbot (Newport) - £20 and Paul Lewis (Edgmond) - £10

Nick Green proposed a vote of thanks to Bishop Alan for chairing the meeting, Revd Jeremy Stagg for taking the service, the Hinstock ringers for the refreshments, and Kathryn Greaves for all the hard work involved in preparing for the AGM.

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Quarterly meeting - October 2008

The latest quarterly meeting and practice was held on Saturday 11th October at Hodnet. About thirty ringers were in attendance, and good use was made of one of our better rings of eight.

During the brief business meeting Nick Green paid tribute to Fred Mitchell, Honorary Life Member and former Ringing Master, who had died since our previous meeting. Three new members were elected (subject to receipt of subs): Peter Nicholls of Shifnal, and Ross and Lucy Underwood of Hodnet. Following a meeting of the catering coven, the social event on November has been redesignated as 'Food Night with Quiz'. Tickets are available for the embarrassingly small sum of £6 from Kathryn Greaves or Jackie Barden. Ideally, teams should consist of four well-honed minds and appetites, but this being Shropshire, all comers will be welcome, especially those bearing prizes for the raffle.

Association Secretary, Kathryn Greaves, whetted the appetite of the meeting for 2009 activities, including a ceilidh in November and a coach outing on the second Saturday in June. This will involve a leisurely tour round a modest number of towers, but the destination remains undecided. Mention was made of the recent successful young ringers' canal trip, and thanks were extended to Gill Glover for its organisation. It was noted that the April meeting would have to be moved to avoid a clash with Easter.

Training officer, Edric Broom, gave an update on the training morning to be held on 15th November. (see below)   The next course on which places are available in on Saturday 21st February. Consideration is being given to running a course for teaching teachers, i.e. increasing the competence and confidence of those who teach bell handling. Any comments or suggestions on this would be welcomed.

E Ann Williams reported that the PCC at Atcham has agreed to the installation of a ringing balcony. Peter Woollam (Association bell adviser) reported with some relief that no-one was currently in need of advice or assistance with their installations.

The following members now have greater liquidity than any Icelandic bank, due to success in the quarterly 100 club draw: Dennis Formstone (Atcham) - £40;  John Crum (Shrewsbury) - £20;   Simon Vernon (Ellesmere) - £10;   Tony Parkes (Baschurch) - £10.

Prizewinners in the monthly draw were: Kathryn Greaves (Newport);   Jad Bienek (Unattached);   Madeline Harris (Market Drayton);   Adrian Roberts (Shrewsbury)

Sue Buckingham, Adrian Roberts, Jacqueline Barden, Nick Green, Alan Glover, Gill Glover Shrewsbury 'A'	A dispute with 'Hello!' magazine over the rights to this photograph mean we are unable to publish it at present   Market Drayton 'M'
Peter Woollam, Alex Olah, Helen Henson, Joe Edwards, Brian Henson, Kim Evans St Martins	Terry Spearing, Eleanor Beckwith, David Beckwith, Madeline Harris, Nick Green, Carol Gandy Market Drayton 'C'

Amanda Craig, Brian Kear, Chris Menhinick, John Neal, Gill Glover, Alan Glover Shrewsbury 'B'	Brian Kear, Gordon Menhinick, Madeline Harris, Chris Menhinick, Jacqueline Barden, Dawn Offen Baschurch
Graham Talbot, Kathryn Greaves, John Stokes, Peter Dean, Oliver Stokes, John Williamson Newport	Angela Gibson, Mary Tetlow, Anne Bowley, Ian Baker, Chris Harris, John Burton Shifnal

Peter Woollam, Helen Henson, Kim Evans, Sue Ganley, Andy Harris, Will Lander Oswestry

Photo currently under examination by DPP   Holy Trinity, Scratch

2008 Quarter Peal Totals

In 2008 a total of 121 quarter peals were rung in the Association's area by bands where at least half of the ringers were resident members. These ranged from two QPs of Singles at Myddle to five QPs of Cinques at our only twelve bell tower. The joint favourite 'methods' were Plain Bob Doubles and various combinations of Doubles methods and variations.

A summary of these quarter peals is always published in the Association report. If you know of any errors or omissions in the tables below, please let the report editor or webmaster know to ensure that the record is as accurate as possible.

First quarter peal: Jim Townsend (Great Ness), Des Machin (Calverhall), Helen Henson (St Martins), Ann Bowley  (Shifnal), Thomas McDaniel  (Stanton), Amanda Craig (Shrewsbury),  Tom Miles  (Ellesmere),  Joan Wilson (Shifnal),   Bill Price  (Atcham), Marie Johnson  (Hodnet)

First quarter peal 'inside': Ian Baker  (Shifnal), Paul Dutton  (Calverhall), Kim Evans  (St Martins), Amanda Craig  (Shrewsbury), Gareth Jones  (Loppington),  Heather Vernon  (Calverhall)

Sixty-five tickets were sold for the quiz night held at Upton Magna Village Hall on Saturday 8th November, and the majority of the purchasers braved the somewhat inclement weather to reach the physical comfort and mental discomfort of this excellent venue.

The evening was a great success, with well-chosen questions (some answers being less well-chosen), good food and a well-stocked bar. It was good to see some non-ringers swelling our numbers. Peter Woollam surprised us all by running a raffle, and the winners of the dazzling array of prizes were: John Neal (Shrewsbury), John Burton (Shifnal), Lynn Hall (Atcham), Maureen Broom (Edgmond), Nick Green (Shrewsbury), Jill Middleton (non-ringer, Sue Perry's sister and a serial raffle prize winner), Kathryn Greaves (Newport), and Ann Rogers (Upton Magna). The raffle raised £75 for the Bell Restoration Fund.

As the scores were being added up, Nick Green, Association Ringing Master, thanked an impressive list of people who had helped to make the evening so enjoyable: John and Joyce Gibson, for arranging the venue; Peter Woollam for running the raffle; John Gibson again, for running the bar; Joyce Gibson again, Sue Buckingham and Madeline Harris for cooking and serving a choice of hot meals, and the various members who had donated puddings/desserts; Kathryn Greaves for co-ordinating the evening; and finally Paul 'Bamber' Lewis, who made an excellent quizmaster.

The second placed team, 'The Signallers', trained at Atcham and comprised John and Lindsey Blackall, Ann Williams and Bill Price.

The winning team, 'Universally Challenged', starred Jacqui Barden, Sue Buckingham and John Crum (Shrewsbury), Mark Adams (Newport) and a guest appearance from Ben Hockenhull (various points between Keele and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.)

Including the proceeds of the raffle, the evening raised £462.78 for the Association Bell Restoration Fund. Appropriately, it was held in a parish which had received £2750 from the fund in 2008 towards its successful restoration and augmentation project.

The Association committee, in their infinite wisdom, decided that they should arrange some activity to encourage our younger ringers to get together on a social basis, as well as providing another ringing opportunity. The youngsters were asked what activity they would like to be arranged and all the answers disregarded on the grounds of legality, practicality or cost. Gill Glover undertook to arrange an outing by canal barge to include ringing at a couple of towers. The arrangements were difficult, but on Saturday 4th October eight young ringers with two ringing mothers, a non-ringing sibling and various 'responsible' adults set sail from Bunbury under the leadership of Rear Admiral Nick Green - (Gill Glover having wisely chosen a day on which she was unavailable.) The day passed without incident - some steered and rang with precision, some steered and rang erratically, most ate determinedly and all appeared to have enjoyed themselves. We hope to arrange another such activity in the future. In the meantime, there is the prospect of an Association tower outing by coach, on which the youngsters would be very welcome.

Photo by Chris Fraser

This was arranged in exemplary fashion for Saturday 27th September, by John Williamson, and featured six towers in Staffordshire. Most of the Newport faithfuls were in attendance, and were joined by Edric Broom and Mark Adams of near neighbours, Edgmond, and Peter Hall from Cheswardine. Ringing ranged from rounds and call changes to Grandsire Triples, and represented excellent early practice for next year's striking contest. A very enjoyable lunch was taken at the Greyhound Inn at Saverley Green, which offered good quality food and good value (especially for the organiser, who escaped without offering payment!)

The band enjoying the sunshine outside Stone church. Back row from left: Barry Lewis, John Stokes, Oliver Stokes, Peter Hall, Edric Broom.  Front row from left: Mark Adams, Kathryn Greaves, Peter Dean, Graham Talbot, John Williamson

Below are the same people, in a different order, enjoying the lunch break. The empty chair is due to one of the morning ringers succumbing to the lure of a little-rung five in Northamptonshire. No prizes will be awarded for guessing his/her identity.

At Easter, six of our members joined with five friends from elsewhere in the country for a trip to the Veneto, the region round Venice. Nick Green, and Gill and Alan Glover (Shrewsbury) had rung in the area before, but for Sue Buckingham and Jacquie Barden (Shrewsbury), and Madeline Harris (Market Drayton), there was some apprehension at the unknown.

	Ringing in the area is with rope and wheel, but there the similarity ends. Most towers are tall and slender and the bells are hung out through non-existent louvres.  (left) The bells are highly decorated, the headstocks are much taller to give a counterbalanced effect, and the wheel and most of the 'rope' are made of metal, with only the bottom twenty feet being rope.  Bells are all still cast with cannons and the clappers are wired in place as they are in such an exposed position.  (right)
	Ringing feels like ringing in the 'English' way, but in slow motion. On the left may be seen the handstroke position. Note the absence of a sally. On the right is a young ringer at backstroke. There is no tail end and the excess rope is simply coiled on the floor. Also in this picture is Giuseppe de Facci, leader of the ringers in Vicenza, where we were based, and a host with boundless energy. Another difference is the absence of a rope circle in most towers. The ropes simple fall in random order around the walls of, or in the middle of, the broom cupboards that pass as ringing rooms.

The local form of ringing is slow call changes, radically different to our own. They were based originally on religious or folk tunes and as there is  no concept of rows, bells may be on either stroke. The bells are raised randomly but quickly and settle into very slow rounds. The maestro, who may or may not ring himself, calls the changes. Any ringer may be required to ring twice in succession, or to hold the bell on the balance for a considerable time. Many concerti build to a climax of chords on up to four bells. After the performance, which rarely last more than five minutes, the bells are rung down at random. (Perhaps there is a similarity with Shropshire ringing after all!)

	Apart from the ringing, we managed a number of interesting activities. We visited Venice, and enjoyed the interior of La Fenice. We visited a superb private collection of items from the Orient, including many bells, and were treated to a memorable handbell performance by a group of talented youngsters under the direction of Livio. On Easter Sunday we joined the local ringers at a trattoria in the hills where we were required to eat and drink for Britain. Three and a half hours of concentrated effort meant that we were rewarded with a podium finish. On Monday we were blessed in front of a huge congregation of pilgrims at Monte Berico.
		We also visited the region's bell museum (left), where we found bells old (below left), and unusual (below right), and were treated to a performance on the open-air carillon by Andrea (below centre). Andrea is also a talented ringer of tower bells and handbells and is not untypical of the level of musicianship to be found in the young ringers of Verona. Magda, who was invaluable as interpreter, went through the theory of Plain Hunt to Bristol Max during one lunch break under the attentive instruction of Nick Green. We hope to see her and Livio in Shropshire in the near future.

Other highlights of the trip were the 700 year-old Giotto frescoes, the dais from which Gallileo taught, and the first permanent anatomy theatre, all in Padua; the food; the world's first covered theatre in Vicenza; correcting some misapprehensions concerning WWII; the coffee and hot chocolate; and teaching our waiter to put the tea bag in the pot before adding the water. The lowlight was appearing on local television ringing mediocre call changes.

1933-2008