Yes you’d think they’d know what the service was by now rather than keep bellringers on tenterhooks. However the Palace still seems reluctant to say what time it’s going to start (maybe the Abbey is double booked), the best guess being 11, with an outside chance of 11.15 (the time of the last one). Ringing at any time over the weekend is going to get associated with the Coronation, but many towers are aiming to ring in the run up to the service, before going somewhere to watch it. Agree ringing locally, and let your local community know you’re ringing.
A set of call changes that was specifically composed for the 1953 Coronation might be a good target for bands this time. The Coronation Peal has elements of Devon call change sequences in that it hunts the treble and second up and down whilst slowing cycling the other three bells round. Locally we have set it as a target for some members of our band to get to grips with in time for the big day. We have put ‘Coronation’ on the Ring for the King website along with another sequence that is simpler and which is aimed at early stage learners, e.g. those at the Learning the Ropes Level 2 stage (other learning programmes are available).
For a slightly different twist on ringing for the Coronation, the band at Mellor led by Tim Lowe recommend linking Coronation ringing to charity support. This is something they have done very successfully at their tower before – for the Platinum Jubilee they had 70 people in 70 minutes experiencing ringing a bell, and raised £600 for cancer charities. The link to charity encourages people to the belfry.
I went to the ART Conference with a couple of hats on. First of all, I am an ART tutor and teach regularly so was interested in others’ experiences and news. The conference is for anyone interested in teaching – all the talks and workshops would have been useful for a wider audience. Such events are useful for just catching up with people I needed to see. Most workgroup leaders were there, people involved in the branding project, mobile belfries, some association leaders – all useful to talk to. Those who made it through to the bitter end were a useful audience for my talk on the future of ringing, where I was able to test reaction to alternative ways of doing things. Why is the County a logical unit of ringing organisation?
At both the conference and the ART awards there were inspirational examples of how bands have recruited new ringers and built bands. The North Bucks Bellringers have tried something new by having a stand at a jobs fair. That’s going to get a different demographic to Waitrose magazine. I am looking forward to seeing what comes of that, with more than 30 people having left their contact details for follow up.
Anyone who thinks it’s impossible to recruit in small villages can look to the success of North Crawley, where a previously silent tower now has 10 ringers learning and hoping to be ringing rounds by the time of the Coronation, following one call for volunteers in the village magazine. Not only that but they’ve inspired the next village too! Sometimes it’s the old media that works best!
When I was learning to ring at Cannock we got given a copy of ‘Diagrams’ when we’d rung our first quarter, presented in church on Sunday morning. If that tradition was still in force now we’d probably give out the best-selling ‘New Ringers Book’. It remains a great thing for a new ringer and we give it to everyone at the BSoBR when they achieve their basic handling. (And just for balance we now give the Ringing World’s ‘Little Green Ringing Book‘ to our next level students after I saw it on the RW book stall at the ART conference.
Facebook popped up a memory from 12 years ago which was of me and fellow judges standing on the stage of the first youth contest, looking confused because we weren’t sure who had actually won! The RWNYC has become a slick operation, ironed out over the years, and youth teams are already practicing for this year’s contest. Not all young ringers are in youth teams or connected with other young ringers, and that is one of the things the Young Change Ringers Association is trying to do. Their spring event is on April 22nd, split across three regional venues (Leeds, Reading and Sussex) – please can you spread the word to as yet unconnected young ringers that they will be welcome to meet and ring with other young ringers on that day. Further info available in socials (FB and Insta or me).
With the second digital publication put live by the Stewardship and Management Workgroup, Running a Tower (following Belfry Upkeep), we are looking for any people with experience in digital publishing to help the CC Publications team. There is demand for both digital and print versions of publications and we are looking to integrate the two more closely so that we can deliver publications consistently across all formats.
The PR Workgroup continues to be very busy, in between fending off enquiries from increasingly obscure foreign news stations wanting to cover Ring for the King (did you catch us in Romania?). There is now an Experience Voucher entitling the bearer to five bell handling sessions for anyone wanting to give a different gift for the person who has everything, or wants to try something new. We’ve been asked about these several times. People may wish to make a donation to the tower in lieu. https://cccbr.org.uk/resources/publicity-material/
Finally, a warning to turn off your phone if you are doing any ringing on the evening of April 23rd when an emergency broadcast is going to be sent to all mobile phones. That would be a sad way to lose a quarter peal!
Simon Linford
President CCCBR