I am going to start by mentioning an event to which I wasn’t invited and in which the Council played no part. The rest of my family went though, and that’s because they are female and wanted to increase their experience of ringing heavy bells. The rings of 12 at Selby, Leeds Parish Church and York Minster gave the entirely female group the opportunity to ring on heavy bells, and push boundaries with peer support. It was great to be sent a video of the back three bells at Leeds being rung beautifully by the three youngest attendees – Bethany Cater, Charlie Linford and Paisley Cater. The Council continues to support the Women in Ringing initiative which seeks to address gender bias. As one participant said: “I feel inspired and empowered, and I’m excited about ringing again for the first time in ages.”
Meanwhile back at base I was having an extremely painful weekend (and still haven’t recovered). The lesson I suppose is that trying to learn methods, as in actually looking down at method sheets, is not compatible with running at any sort of speed. I had only set myself a target of learning two methods during parkrun, and I wasn’t even at full pace because I had a cold, but the speed at which I hit the ground after tripping over my own feet has now impacted on my ringing activities for over two weeks. I hope that will be the last trip I make in Killer Treble Bob, although I am due to find out next weekend!
It may be wishful thinking as the peal in which Killer TB will appear is occupying quite a few of my waking hours. How could we explain to others quite how engrossing and challenging ringing can be? I had to take my mother to a Memory Clinic last week and I thought it was quite funny that I was sitting in the waiting room learning methods. I was thinking “they have no idea how much I am trying to commit to memory here!”
What are our motivations for ringing? We’re all different although there are some common ones. I started in order to annoy my sister (as did one of the Brumdingers), but that is probably not one for the marketeers to exploit. The different motivations need to be captured by the marketing and branding project which is kicking off now with a series of Zoom sessions where about 40 ringers with diverse experience and backgrounds are going to share their thoughts before we brief the agency Yellowyoyo.
We’re not alone at taking a look at our structure and future. Cycling has done it, Girlguiding has done it – many organisations have. The Cathedral Music Trust has just received its report on an extensive consultation into the future of cathedral music. There are similar issues to ours, as well as some much more complex ones, and there were some sentences in the report which struck a chord with our own situation. Take this one for instance: “This report should serve as a rallying cry; for cathedral music to survive, we all must work to make this world and its traditions accessible to everyone and appealing to the young people of today.”
Last week saw the first meeting of new Executive, with Ernie de-Legh Runciman installed as Secretary and Katie Lane and Beverly Faber joining as Trustees. There was plenty to discuss including revisiting looking at the size of the Council, allocating sponsors to each of the Workgroups, ownership of mobile belfries, and specification of what could go in the National Ringing Centre. See the separate notes of the meeting.
The North American Guild has just celebrated its 50th anniversary with its AGM in Raleigh, North Carolina. The NAGCR has come a long way since it was formed with141 members and 11 towers, and we can learn a lot from its progress. Is there a better description of ringing on a society website (NAG’s) than this?
“Change ringing is a fascinating hobby which originated roughly 350 years ago in England. It has something for everyone — dashes of music, physical exercise, meditative concentration, a sociable team sport, and a little math (optional) all put together. Groups of people cooperate to change the order in which they ring their bells according to a precise pattern.”
It is very many years since I went to a Scout Jamboree. The theme was ‘Cowboys and Indians’, and whereas most boys went as very well-dressed (and warm) cowboys, I went as an authentic but scantily clad squaw and nearly froze to death. We’re looking for any Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Brownies, Guides and Rangers (a generic term needed) who might be available to go to the Minehead Jamboree on the first weekend of January. It’s tentative at this stage, but there is potential for a significant bellringing element to this Jamboree, and it would be good to be able to show that there are already uniformed members who can demonstrate ringing. Contact me or Colin Newman if you know anyone. Maybe even some leaders.
The ART Masterclass is one of my favourite weekends of the year and the recent one was no exception. An amazing amount of expertise is leveraged in Birmingham to support those who have achieved Level 5 of Learning the Ropes. All rates of progress are supported and celebrated, right up to the youngsters in my group who rang Stedman Cinques and Bristol Maximus. One older attendee said “It’s nice to see so many young ringers. I’ve never seen that before.”
Finally, here’s something to think about if you think you’re in with the kids because you’ve got a branch Facebook page. Charlie gets teased at school for having the Facebook app on her phone. She only has Facebook to keep in touch with bellringers. Her friends think bellringing is OK and are even a bit intrigued by it – but as for using Facebook – how embarrassing is that!
Simon Linford
President CCCBR