Although all of the ringing in the public eye has been great, it is also good to get back to some sort of normality this week, and for everyone to hear their backstrokes again. I am settling into my new routine of doing blogs every three weeks rather than two, in an effort to ease the burden on my successor. The Editor might wonder why it still arrives within a whisker of the copy deadline!
I am pleased to report that recent events did not stop us going ahead with the Summer School which was the weekend following the announcement. Eight young ringers destined for university this term did an ART M1 bell handling teaching course on the Friday, expertly led by ART tutors David Sparling and Lesley Boyle, who reworked the programme to fit round other events. Then the following day they were paired up to teach four novices from scratch. This pilot will hopefully lead to an annual event designed to equip new members of the university societies with experience of teaching so that they can teach other freshers with confidence.
Another production from the Schools and Youth Groups workgroup is a Scouts and Guides video, ‘A visit to the tower’. This was filmed at Moseley, taking advantage of one of the Brumdingers’ parents being a Scout leader (and half the Brumdingers being Scouts or Guides). Rachel Mahoney was the ‘talent’ in front of the camera, with Colin Newman writing the screenplay and editing. I fulfilled a life’s ambition by taking the critical role of Key Grip. The eight-minute film can be found on the CCCBR YouTube channel https://youtu.be/AJzqVCqrF_M
Muffling and unmuffling bells probably saw 1000+ steeple keepers asking for help from fellow ringers, some cutting up bits of carpet for improvised muffling, and causing a small spike in gaffer tape sales. Steeple keepers now have a new source of guidance from an online publication from the Stewardship and Management workgroup – ‘Belfry Upkeep’ which complements the written Manual of Belfry Maintenance, available from the CC shop.
The provision of online vs physical publications was discussed at the Council meeting, with some people wanting physical books, and others wanting material to read online. I certainly use a mixture when looking for compositions – a peal composition requirement will either send me to Complib, or to BellBoard to see what other people have called recently, while a quarter will see me reaching for my dog-eared copy of Standard 70, or my last Ringing World diary. There is still room for both.
I am going to spend one paragraph on my personal experiences of the Roadshow, in no particular order. Very pleased the Mobile Belfry made it, still work in progress, but good feedback – I’d never thought how ropes are made so was intrigued to see a ropewalk in action – booksellers were all doing well, and I bought the Stoecklin/Gay book on Advanced Handbell ringing (for me), and the new CC book on Beginners Stedman (for the tower) – nice to have random people just come up to me and say we’re doing a good job – witnessed Simon Melen ringing four-in-hand at very close range – triple booked myself at 1pm so was only able to spend a fleeting moment in the Recovery Champions reception ☹ – pleased to see lots of young ringers present – only one person managed to catch me at the bar and cash in their pint for wearing their CCCBR-branded polo shirt.
On the Sunday morning of the Roadshow I managed to advertise an event which was spectacularly poorly attended. The offer of joining me for a 7am run saw me running along the River Trent on my own. It got better though because we then had twice as many people at the morning service which meant the attending ringers got to read both the lessons. Café church at Holy Trinity Clifton was an experience. I am not sure I really like the Apostles Creed adapted so that it rhymes. It was a good morning showing overall though – Council members provided ringers at multiple churches, in a co-ordinated effort to get as many local towers ringing as possible.
When Paul Wotton took on leadership of the V&L Workgroup he was clear that a key part of his role was to find the right Lieutenants to run the many projects that could be undertaken by a workgroup with such a wide remit. Stepping up to one plate is Mike Hopkins-Till who is taking on the listening skills / ‘Towards Decent Striking’ brief. That is something that has been sorely tested in the last 10 days as we try and place half-muffled backstrokes!
The ringers at Brierley Hill managed to get funding for a simulator by being in one of Historic England’s ‘Heritage Action Zones’. The funding was for community engagement activity alongside the Zones’ main activity of regenerating high streets. It is worth checking if you are in one of these zones as there is funding available https://historicengland.org.uk/access/text-alternative/heritage-action-zone-list/.
What will ringing be like in 2030? If we carry on with business as usual, it won’t be hugely different to what it is now, but with fewer ringers, fewer places doing change ringing, and yet even more complicated things being rung by a very small number of bands. Some associations are looking to change what they do, and various Council initiatives should have some impact. The Council has looked into the crystal ball before, received worrying news, and then looked away.
However, as I reported in the Forward Plan at the Council AGM (on behalf of the CC Executive) we are not addressing the ticking demographic timebomb in ringing, and if we are not careful we will have left it too late. So I announced a project tentatively called “Ringing 2030” which is going to develop a deliverable plan for getting from here to where we need to be. It needs more explanation than a paragraph in a blog post, so I will write more next week.
Simon Linford
President CCCBR