Happy New Year! Hopefully it will be a good one where the things you want to happen happen, and the things you don’t want to happen don’t. I have never been one for New Year’s resolutions, although with a surprising nod to superstition I still try and say “White Rabbits” on waking up on the first day of a new month. I managed to say it on New Year’s Day so perhaps it’ll be a good year.

I also managed to clear both my CC and personal email inboxes over the new year weekend so I can make progress without that cloud of having things I haven’t done. So if you have sent me something and don’t think I have answered then you’re going to have to send it again!

Christmas was tinged with considerable sadness on getting the news that AJB (AJ Barnfield) had died on Boxing Day. AJ was such a believer in the need for change, and whilst he often seemed to be predicting ringing’s demise he accomplished a tremendous amount by drawing attention to good practice and encouraging people to follow it. He was the St Martin’s Guild’s delegated ‘Recovery Champion’. I got to know AJ when I was developing Project Pickled Egg. He passionately believed that as with many aspects of ringing, method choices were stuck in a rut. He was so pleased when one of his favourites, Turramurra, went into PPE’s metaphorical larder.

A little while ago I mentioned Historic England’s ‘High Street Heritage Action Zones’, one of which had been used by the ringers at Brierley Hill to get a simulator. The funding was about revitalising communities, and the building of the new band at Brierley Hill was all about the place the bells have in the community. This comes across well in a lovely film made by Historic England about the project  https://youtu.be/00pweEHzydA

I don’t often refer to specific ringing performances in these blogs, but the two young lads in that video are a bit of a phenomenon at the moment. On Boxing Day I called a quarter of Bob Minor with both of them ringing inside to complete their ART Level 5 – both before their 10^th birthdays. Their enthusiasm for ringing should be distributed widely.

A blog wouldn’t be complete without something from my richest source of material. In a month with ringing opportunities aplenty, Charlie considered the benefit of having ringing parents: “I think I am a bellringing ‘Nepo Baby’, so put something in your strategy about making sure the opportunities are as good for young ringers who are not Nepo Babies.” (The term Nepo Baby, short for nepotism baby, has trended in recent weeks due to a New York Magazine cover story that analysed the current boom of actors benefitting from having famous actor parents.)

Matthew Higby’s demonstration bell made its way to Moseley on loan just before Christmas and was in place for the Christingle service. One woman with two children came up to me. “I tried it once but I was scared of when it all went wrong”, said the mother unhelpfully about her own ringing experience. However a daughter was persuaded to try it, and one boy from the congregation who is on my target list said it was cool. 2023 will be a year for serious recruiting.

Sometimes you wonder how spam emails are targeted at you, and I was amused to be the recipient of an email from “WeFindAnyLearner.com”. Sadly, ringing courses were not on their list of government funded training!

The North West Course has already been inked it into the new Linford family diary – 10^th to 13^th August at Myerscough College again – you can register interest here https://nwringingcourse.uk/  (Other residential courses are available.) The V&L Workgroup is starting to look at a course in another region building on the NW success. Maybe it will be in an area near you? Maybe call change ringing will be on the menu? (That’s a clue btw)

Coincidentally I have published the next chapter in my book on Devon call change ringing, which can be found here https://callchanges.cccbr.org.uk/. Chapter 6 – The Lower. I have always thought ringing down was much easier than ringing up, but what I have learned is that if you are trying to do it perfectly, as opposed to adequately, it’s actually very difficult right at the end. When I went to the Devon Major Final last year, the contest was effectively won in the lower.

I caught up with the various ongoing discussions on the Forums, which seem to have come of age now. When we launched them, I found myself stimulating conversations to get it going, and logging in every day to keep it moving. But I don’t have to anymore – they are self sustaining with reasoned and interesting debate. I am amazed by how much some people write. www.ringingforums.org

One post titled “Excellent Vlogumentory on Discovering Bellringing” introduced this 30 minute film produced by a team from the London Transport Museum – not aimed at ringers, and all the better for it. If you’re looking for something to share on your local social media this is not a bad option. (Also see December 9th Ringing World for a report of the making of this film)

Or try this which was on Radio 4. It gives a very different take on ringing from a non ringer but will not be to everyone’s taste. I like the messages in this of bells as part of the community and landscape. And great contributions from different members of the band.

There is so much good stuff going on in the media now about ringing that it’s difficult to keep up, although the PR Workgroup is working on accumulating it all into one place. So to my fellow ringer in a peal in Oxford last week who was bemoaning the difficulty of finding recruits – share some of these on local social media. There are people looking for things to do, and many don’t even realise ringing is something you can learn.

Simon Linford
President CCCBR