First quarter peal
On 21st November Bill Price of Atcham rang his first quarter peal at the first attempt. He becomes the tenth member in 2008 to reach this milestone. The quarter was to celebrate Steve and Elaine Evans becoming grandparents for the second time. Most of the same ringers rang a similar QP in 2007 for the Evans' first grandchild. Will this become an annual event?
Congratulations to Bill. Was his success anything to do with the training morning below?
Training Morning
The latest Association training morning was held on the simulator at Edgmond Ringing Centre under the leadership of Edric Broom, our training officer. Students were Clare and Callum Unsworth, and Alina Warren of Stanton, Bill Price of Atcham, Gareth Jones of Loppington, and Ian Baker of Shifnal. The good number of volunteer helpers present enabled practice to be provided in rounds ringing, plain hunt, and various methods up to Norwich Surprise Minor. A technical fault prevented all eight bells being used, but this might have been a blessing, as the morning already seemed very busy.
The next training morning is at the same venue on Saturday, 21st February 2009. Any members needing further practice, and any members able and willing to act as helpers, are invited to contact Edric. (training@sacbr.org.uk or 01952 825851)
Quiz Night
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.
Association Peal
Upton Magna, Shropshire, St Lucia
On Saturday, 1st November 2008 in 2 hours and 38 minutes
5040 Minor
Four methods: 1. Oxford Treble Bob; 2 and 3. Kent Treble Bob; 4 and 5. St Clement's College Bob; 6 and 7. Plain Bob
Tenor 8-0-12 in Ab
| Kathryn R Greaves (Newport) | Treble |
| E Ann Williams (Atcham) | 2 |
| Peter J Woollam (St Martins) | 3 |
| Adrian G Roberts (Shrewsbury) | 4 |
| Alan M Glover (Shrewsbury) | 5 |
| Nicholas J Green (Shrewsbury) | Tenor |
Conducted by Nicholas J Green
First peal on an 'inside' bell - 3
First peal on the bells since restoration and augmentation
Rung in memory of Fred Mitchell of Shifnal, who died on 10th August 2008
Quarterly Meeting
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)
Young Ringers Outing
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.
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Photo by Chris Fraser |
The young ringers at Bunbury: Will Lander (Oswestry), Katie Little (Forton),
Callum Unsworth (Stanton), Tom Miles (Ellesmere),
Eleanor Beckwith
(Market Drayton), Naomi Wilson (Stanton), Alina Warren (Stanton), Kathryn
Unsworth (Stanton)
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Enjoying the sunshine on the luxury cruiser |
The master makes a bid for freedom when he realises Will is on the helm |
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Both photos by Edric Broom |
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How did he ever get to Paris?
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Young and old aboard |
Two Stanton ringers testing a possible
new source of stays (A fellow pedant has pointed out
that the photo shows Eleanor Beckwith of Market Drayton and Callum
Unsworth of Stanton rather than 'two Stanton ringers.' I hope no lives
have been blighted by this error. Truth and accuracy have never featured
strongly on this web site, and things can only get worse with advancing
years.)
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| All three photos by Nick Green | ||
'New' Association Tower
Our area now boasts a second fixed mini ring to add to the Ringmore Campanile in Cockshutt. Darren Pickett has installed a ring of five bells to be known as The Stables Campanile, Welsh Frankton. The Tenor weighs 11 lbs (or about 5 Kg for the younger readers.) They were formerly hung as The Parc Campanile in Bala. Several quarter peals have already been rung on them in their new home and future quarter peals (including this one) will be recorded in our usual system, as we are pleased to welcome Diane, Dave and Darren Pickett back as members, together with Dawn Gaze. Further details will be added to the Welsh Frankton web page as they become available.
Association Striking Competition
