Longest peal for the Guild.
Saturday 31 March 2007.

The first long peal for the Guild was rung in October 1965. Our initial plans were to mark the 40th anniversary of this event with another long peal. Sadly, we couldn't bring everything together at that time (band, tower, composition etc), but a number of people were still keen so we set about arranging something at a later date.

That later date was eventually set for Saturday 31st March 2007. Thorverton bells were booked and the local tower captain Bill Ford notified all the local residents about the event. It generated quite a bit of interest in the village! The band was invited and comprised seven resident members, plus one who used to be resident, one who pays resident fees and a regular visitor! Selecting the method was the hard part. What should we ring? The objective was to ring the longest peal for the Guild and set a new tower bell record. We could have done this by ringing Pudsey, or Rutland... but who wants to ring over six hours of that?! So we found something different that produces some nice music whilst at the same time not being too difficult to ring. After that, umpires were arranged, and the post peal drinking and eating booked at the Thorverton Arms!

When the day arrived everyone was up for it. For three of the band it would be their longest length so there was also some trepidation and nerves. But we set about the target with determination and confidence. After 6 hours and 31 minutes the bells duly ran into rounds to applause by the umpires. We then retired to the Thorverton Arms for much merriment by all until late in the evening.

The peal band:
Front row (left-right): Ian Avery, John Loveless, Howard Egglestone, Pauline Champion, Ian Fielding
Back row (right-left): Paul Pascoe, Matthew Hilling, Ian Smith, Mike Mears, Martin Whiteley

Guild of Devonshire Ringers
Thorverton, Devon
St Thomas of Canterbury
Saturday 31 March 2007 in 6h31 (15-0-4)
10800 Riggwelter S Royal
Comp: D G Hull (No.2a)
1	Ian W Avery
2	John P Loveless
3	Howard W Egglestone
4	Pauline Champion
5	Ian R Fielding
6	Paul J Pascoe
7	Matthew J Hilling (C)
8	Ian V J Smith
9	Michael E C Mears
10	Martin J Whiteley
Longest length:1,4,9 and for the Guild. The longest peal in the method (subject to ratification by the Central Council Records Committee). Umpires: Linda Garton, Tony Osborne, Mary Mears, James Kirkcaldy, John Hill.

 

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