The Guild of Devonshire Ringers
RINGING ROUND DEVON is the quarterly newsletter of The Guild of Devonshire Ringers, and is circulated free to all affiliated towers.
Any individual members who wish to subscribe should contact Lester Yeo. The cost is £2.50 for four issues (cheques made payable to Guild of Devonshire Ringers). It is also available on line on the Guild's website at http://www.exeter.ac.uk/gdr/ .
Any comments and inaccuracies in articles contained in this newsletter are the responsibility of the individual contributors, and the opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Guild.
Items for inclusion may be sent to lyeo@supanet.com .
I want to thank the Exeter branch members for hosting the A.G.M. this year, in particular Mo Hawkins and all the people who worked so hard to provide us all with ample food. Valerie Oates, Martin Mansley and Wendy Campbell are to be congratulated on organising the tower and helpers to support the various workshops during the day.
Since the change of format of the A.G.M. day, we have attracted much more support, this year we had good support from most of the branches.
I understand that some members felt that I stifled discussion on rule changes at this years A.G.M. As many of you will appreciate a procedural matter takes precedence and has to be voted on. I had no option to do any other than I did in the circumstances. The A.G.M. has to accept or reject any rule changes en bloc because every member must be circulated with a copy of the proposed changes before the A.G.M. (as required by the Charity Commissioners).
The changes to the rules that were agreed this year are a big improvement to the old rules. However I suggest that all branches discuss the rules at their branch AGMs to allow everyone an opportunity to put forward their ideas for any further changes that they might feel necessary.
The Guild committee will discuss any suggestions that are forthcoming from the branches or individuals at the meeting in January I hope that you all have enjoyable ringing in the year ahead, that many new members are elected to the Guild and that many first quarters and peals are scored.
George Mudge.
The annual festival of the Guild was held on Saturday 23rd. June at Heavitree in Exeter.
Once again the format for the day was a welcome departure from that of previous years, with numerous towers open throughout the day and a long and often poorly attended AGM. For the enthusiastic early risers the comparatively recently augmented eight at Pinhoe were available prior to coffee and registration in St. Michael's Church school at Heavitree. Various displays, including the computer programme 'Beltower' and a selection of Steve Coleman's popular publications were on hand as members and visitors gathered together. And at about 10.30 the main hall was comfortably full for Steve's lecture on 'ropesight'.
Lectures are traditionally rather boring and sometimes frightening, but not this one. Steve Coleman very quickly had his audience completely entranced by his humorous and light hearted manner and his subject matter became alive and most interesting as he explained the various aspects of ropesight and invited questions and comments from his captivated assembly.
All too soon it was time for lunch and the ladies of the Exeter branch showed their ample culinary skills as an excellent salad and quiche lunch was served, buffet style.
The business of the Annual General Meeting needed the attention of those present; one hour had been allocated and in the event this took some fifteen minutes more than that under the efficient chairmanship of George Mudge, the guild president. North Devon provided two officers for the guild and county of Devon with Michael Rose being elected to serve as Guild Master and receiving his collar of Office from the retiring Master, Peter Bill. The county had lost a loyal servant with the death of Frank Mack and Preb. John Scott had lost a good friend and colleague as Towers and Belfries Adviser, but James Clarke was being groomed to fill the gap and had already proved his interest and ability in the field of bell restoration and so it was little more than a matter of form that he should be elected to serve the county in Frank's place; other guild offices were, in the main, to remain the same as before. with the newly formed Devon Ringers Council established with representation from the guild being elected to serve alongside our colleagues in the Devon Association. The council reps are Ian Avery, Martin Mansley, Bob Southwood, John Steere and Lester Yeo; Wendy Campbell as Guild secretary serves ex officio. Even the Publicity Officer was re-elected, in spite of his having done nothing at all in the previous year (hence this 'conscience' report!).
Various workshops, including handbell tune ringing, classes for Bob Doubles, Triples, Doubles and Minor, Major, call changes and Plain Hunt were held in various local towers before there was a general convergence upon the tower of St. Michael's, Heavitree, for tea in the church and pre-service ringing on the fine 26cwt. eight. The service itself was well attended in spite of the preacher being the recently retired guild president, Bob Southwood, the real attraction no doubt being the expertise of the St. Marychurch Handbell Ringers.
A post service pint or two for the more hardened sinners rounded off what had been an excellently planned and executed day. Thank you Exeter!
Bob Southwood (Publicity Officer)
Many ringers in the SW Branch will have been aware of the intensive activity that began in 1996 to raise funds for restoration of the St Andrews bells - and many who have recently rung at St Andrews will confirm the urgent need to repair headstocks, replace clappers and rehang the bells.
After an initial surge in activity, enthusiasm was dulled by failure to obtain a Millennium Grant and then a change in working patterns and commitments of the major participants further slowed down the project. The stalwarts however continued to keep the initiative alive mainly by humping endless tons of donated newspapers (reward £25/ton!) from the church into a transport van, often on ugly wet and windy nights before practice.
Recently, the vision has now become a reality on account of several recent generous, personal donations which have topped up the fund to within £500 of its £40,000 target. A comprehensive plan of DIY and general cleaning in the belfry and the ringing chamber is planned from June through to September: willing volunteers required, liquid refreshments provided.
"It was a great privilege to be asked if we would like to witness the casting of two new bells for St Andrew's, said Mr K Rose. "It was an easy decision to make especially after seeing them loaded for their trip to London, under the watchful eye of our Captain of the Bells on the morning of 25th June. It seemed appropriate to witness the next part of their journey to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London E1."
A final date for the diary: the Re-dedication service takes place on 24th November after which the bells will be available for open ringing, so come along and test the results of five years hard work.
At his retirement party, Bob Southwood finally found a bell he can ring well!
Martin Mansley's memories of growing up in a ringing family in Lancashire
I suppose three things have prompted this article: the reminiscences of Don Lawson in RRD, my visit to Lancashire for the CC meeting and reaching a certain age in June.
Don's article really struck a chord as I knew most of the personalities he mentioned. Unlike Don, ringing was very much in my veins as I am the third generation of a ringing family. My Grandfather, George Bradley, learned to ring in 1910 when the fine 21 cwt Taylor ring was installed at Whittle le Woods near Chorley in Lancashire. He eventually became Tower Captain at Whittle and also Chairman of the Preston Branch of the Lancashire Association. He was a plumber by trade and anyone who has rung at Whittle le Woods will probably remember the washbasin he installed in the ringing room. It was natural, when the wartime ban on ringing was lifted, that his daughter Ruth, newly qualified as a teacher, should follow him up the tower. She soon became an enthusiastic ringer and when the bells at nearby Walton le Dale were rehung and augmented to eight she helped to train the new band. One of the recruits was Walter Mansley. Before long romance blossomed, they were married in 1949 and moved into a house on the borders of Walton le Dale and Higher Walton. I came along in 1951 and (I am told) attended my first ringing meeting six weeks later.
Looking back, ringing meetings seem to have been quite important events in those days. The Preston Branch had 24 towers in it and meetings were monthly so the "circuit" took two years. It was a tradition that each tower provided a free tea when it was their turn but then you got 23 free teas before it was your turn again. It was considered to be quite a disgrace if you did not have enough ringers to provide a tea and the printed postcard (3d. stamp) bore the note "Please bring own tea". My parents had changed their allegiance to Higher Walton - a 16cwt. eight - and we had the ultimate February slot. Higher Walton was a very cold belfry so the ringers were always cheered when they arrived at the schoolroom to mounds of steaming Lancashire Hot Pot. Our Branch secretary was Lawrence Walmsley whose handwriting was dreadful (even worse than mine!). It was a good job that the cards informing members about the meetings were mainly pre-printed with just a couple of spaces to fill in date and place.
Lawrence was a delightful man who was extremely popular. He always had an Alsatian dog - usually from a rescue centre. Lawrence was secretary for over twenty years and when he retired he was succeeded by Don Lawson who was living in Leyland at the time.
Our Branch was one of great contrasts, Preston itself was a smoky industrial town with many mills and heavy engineering works, Chorley was similar but smaller. Leyland was really a village but contained the massive works of Leyland Vehicles. Outside these towns there were many small country villages where agriculture was the main industry.
The ringers were, therefore, a mix of mill workers, engineers and farm workers with a smattering of other professions such as teachers and even the occasional Mill Owner. Fred Dunkerly owned his own mill and when he was General Secretary of the Lancashire Association he used to bring his own secretary with him to the meetings to take the minutes. He later owned and piloted his own aeroplane and ferried peal bands to the more distant locations. To be concluded next issue.
Congratulations to Guild vice-president Bill and Dorothy Ware who celebrated their diamond wedding in August. A peal of Stedman Caters was rung at Thorverton by the Cathedral Society, of which Bill has been a loyal member for many years.
There has been a flurry of activity at Stoke Damerel. After talking about it for two years, the window between the tower and the nave has been installed. The ringers now feel even more "connected" than before to the congregation as a whole. The light that floods through the ringing chamber reveals just how scruffy we have let it become, and inspired us to smarten it up. This is planned to be finished before the end of the year.
Is it coincidence that three peals have been rung while the window has been in place? On 22 June 2001 John Mitchelmore called a peal of Grandsire Triples in memory of two former churchwardens, Jim Browning (Julia Steere's father) and Bob Burnett, who both died in the previous year. This was their first peal for Chris Peirce (Steve's son) and Mark Williams, and but for the reinforcement of the band by Fergus Stracey - the whole band consisted of Stoke ringers.
Daniel Mitchelmore's marriage to Sarah Sandel gave us an excuse to celebrate with a peal of Cambridge Major on 8 August, and a second peal of Cambridge by a visiting band on 13 August provided a welcome boost to our tally, perhaps helping keep us in the leading towers list.
We are glad to welcome Catherine Stanway, who learnt her ringing in Essex as a member of the band.
Fr Michael Hart of Heavitree has taken on the additional responsibility of being Priest-in-charge of St Mary Steps (an unringable Pennington four). The former St Mary Steps Rectory in Victoria Park Road becomes the new Heavitree rectory, and the former rectory in Sherwood Rise will become the curate's house. Although the two parish boundaries do not touch, the PCC of St Mary Steps had asked to be joined to another traditional Anglican parish in the city.
A quarter peal of Grandsire Caters was rung at Cullompton on 21 July to welcome Eloise-Mae Gubb, the great granddaughter of local ringer Alan Spear, who rang the tenor. This was the first quarter on the bells since completion of the restoration work on the tower. The architect has recommended that peals on the bells be discouraged.
Russell Chamberlain, who has striven to maintain some method ringing in his former incumbency in the Okehampton team is to move to be Vicar of Wolborough with Ogwell in Newton Abbot, where, of course, he will encounter another well-known ringing clergyman!
Belstone ringer Alan Biggs had a lucky escape when his car caught fire outside his house. Two of his children were on the back seat, and they all escaped unarmed, but the vehicle was destroyed.
Elaine Grant of Teignmouth has been head-hunted for a new job as financial manager of a food distribution company based at Heathfield. She starts in the autumn.
Now that her children have left home, chairman of the NE branch Sheila Scofield has moved from Tiverton to Bampton.
David Snowdon of Weare Giffard is now recovering well from the severe stroke he suffered three months ago, reports Don Lawson, who visited him in hospital.
Ringers at Uffculme were asked to stop ringing after a wedding service in July, because the music of the bells was drowning out the noise of the bagpipes! Apparently the bagpipes were only booked at the last minute, and nobody thought about the bells.
Many Guild members will remember Tom Chapman of Somerset who died on 15 July, not least for his leadership of a handbell workshop at a recent Guild Festival Day. He and Margaret were regular visitors to Devon when their son Chris lived in Pinhoe. Marston Bigot church was packed with ringers and other friends for a memorial service on the 31st.
A peal of eight-spliced with a difference was rung at St Mark's in Exeter on 25 June. The peal contained eighty-eight singles, and every time one was called, a new bell went into the hunt. This represents a significant challenge to all the ringers but especially for conductor Matt Hilling.
Dawlish bells are now silent on Sundays following the resignation of Derek Hawkins as tower captain. The new vicar Jerry Bird arrives soon, and it is reported that he is able to ring.
Stoke Damerel ringer Ian Avent has frequently been on the television news and in the local newspaper recently leading a protest against the danger of refitting nuclear submarines in the dockyard.
It is now a little under 150 years since Charles Acland Troyte, the first president of the Guild of Devonshire Ringers, formed a ring of six bells at Huntsham, employing the present seventh bell as the tenor and it is 125 years since he augmented the ring to eight by the addition of a treble and tenor, and recasting the then fourth (the present fifth bell) to suit the altered key note.
Since that time a number of minor repairs and restorations have been undertaken including renewing the pulleys, overhauling the clappers and fitting ball bearings. It is clear that usage of the bells has declined during the last half century, and now only the middle six bells are in a ringable condition.
Most of the current shortcomings in the installation are entirely due to features of the 1866 design, and the fact that through local enthusiasm, a ring of eight bells of considerable size has been crammed into a space that is far too small. As an example the diameter of the wheels is about half the size recommended for bells of this size. Although the original installation was ingenious, the concept was unwise and the installation as a whole is totally unsatisfactory. Apart from the mechanical short comings, the bells themselves are not particularly well graded for size and are not well in tune.
RESTORATION PLANS
Early in the year 2000, Huntsham joined other churches located around Bampton, and the future of the Huntsham bells was discussed. The diocesan adviser on bells and belfries visited the tower and presented a report, and bell-hangers were invited to tender for repairs to the fittings and the possible relocation of the two trebles, or, if repairs were not viable, to tender for a complete rehang.
None of the three bellhangers invited to tender was prepared to submit a price for the repair or rearrangement of the existing equipment. All recommended the complete renewal of all fittings and rehanging in a modern two tier frame. This necessitates the relocation of the lock and the lowering of the frame by some four feet in order to accommodate a two tier frame within the existing tower.
Two of the bellhangers also recommended re-tuning all the 17th century Pennington bell and in addition suggested recasting two bells so that, together with some careful retuning, a somewhat lighter and more pleasant ring of eight could be obtained.
THE NEW BELLS
After a detailed exploration of a number of possibilities, the Huntsham PCC has selected the third option presented by the Whitechapel Bellfoundry. This involves dismantling the bells, fittings and framework, and lowering them to the ground. All eight bells would be sent to the foundry, the tenor and fifth bell to be retained by Whitechapel for use elsewhere, and two new bells to be cast to form the treble and fifth of a remodelled ring, hung in a new two tier frame.
The new fifth bell will carry the inscription:
Charles Acland Troyte of Huntsham 1842 - 1896
The new trebles will carry the names of the Presidents of the Guild of Devonshire Ringers from 1874 to 2000, and it is understood that it is hoped that the bells and church might become a ringing centre for the eastern side of the county; certainly the bells do not cause any disturbance to neighbours, as the church is quite isolated.
By Mark Williams
An archway dating back to the 13th century has been uncovered and restored at a Plymouth church.
The archway at Stoke Damerel church was plastered over in about 1750 when the church was enlarged to accommodate an influx of people moving into the Devonport area to work at the dockyard. In the late 18th century, the Georgian ceiling was taken down and a gallery was removed. Now, more than 250 years later, the rare stonework dividing the tower from the main body of the church is once again on show.
The £2000 project was the bellringers' idea to mark the new millennium and coincided with the redecoration of the church's interior, which has been repainted. John Mitchelmore has done a brilliant job inside the church, which looks very clean and the view from the window is definitely worth a look. The congregation are certainly giving the window and ringers attention on Sunday mornings which may encourage new ringers, you never know!
On Tuesday 14th of August Brian Horrell celebrated, along with many of his ringing friends, his 70th birthday, having only just this year celebrated 40 years of ringing. As with the celebration of 40 years it was marked with ringing at Withycombe Raleigh along with ringing at East Budleigh, the church where he and his wife Anne were married.
It was a few months ago that the subject of his birthday came up, and he mentioned the fact that it would be a good idea if we could ring a date touch for the occasion. He did say that there was a composition published recently by J. S. Warboys for Grandsire Triples and could it be rung on that day, fitting since he was going to be 70 in 2001. So we said yes, booked the day and waited. The conductor looked up the composition, thought about it, he is known for not being very happy about calling Grandsire Triples, and decided that it must be possible to get one of Plain Bob Triples. So the scene was set. The composition took several months to evolve, the main premises being to get Queens, Kings, Tittums and Whittingtons in it, this was partly successful, unfortunately Whittingtons is missing, but the correct length appeared and was computer checked, not only by the conductor but also by Matthew Hilling. Brian was shown the composition, because he had mentioned that he might call it for the Thursday band during the same week. The first draft made him change his mind, but eventually it was distilled down to its present form, which he said that even he could call it. All we needed now was a band to ring it and the bells to do it on.
A band made up of people that he has rung with mostly over the last few years assembled at Withycombe on the Tuesday evening. The bells were raised, ropes adjusted, the start explained and away we went. The bells were kept at a good steady pace by the tenor man, (2hr 56mins peal speed!) and everybody was on their best behaviour. The striking was excellent and the musical qualities of both bells and composition shone through. The single brought up Queens, and all the band smiled as they had been warned that the first single was Queens and that we were just over the quarter peal length. Most of the band are regular quarter peal ringers and anything over 1260 changes is going into uncharted territory. So onwards to the end. The bells came round in just over 70 minutes, purely coincidence that time, and stood. Many For many of the band it was the longest ringing they had done for a long time. Afterwards everyone congratulated Brian on his birthday, and he expressed his joy and happiness that the planned celebrations had worked out. He then proceeded to cut the cake he had brought with him, ending up with blue fingers from the icing, and the champagne was poured. We all took a glass, raised them and wished him well, ate the cake, and also the sausage rolls he had with him and said we looked forward to 2011 and his eightieth birthday. The conductor said you can get someone else to work on that composition!
Brian then told everyone that there was also a quarter peal planned with the Thursday band at East Budleigh of Cambridge Surprise Major and that he was going to conduct his first quarter of surprise. We were amazed to learn that after all these years of ringing and conducting quarter peals that he had never called on one of surprise before. We all wished him well and looked forward to hearing good news. This quarter was successfully rung we subsequently heard and again congratulations were in order. What next we ask?
For those interested in the compositions it is included with this article. I can only recommend that you ring it to appreciate the music involved. I also must thank Matthew for his patience with me and all the e-mails, and one text message from Spain, and for double-checking the composition. It would have been a great shame after all the joy that accompanied its ringing that it should be proved false. It anybody is interested I am working on a 2002!
As discussed at the Guild AGM in June, the 6 and 8 bell striking competitions will be taking place in the North/North West Branch area on Saturday 20th October, but given the rural nature of that region and the problems with the Foot and Mouth epidemic, the venues for these competitions are not yet known. The General Secretary will circulate details as soon as they are known, so she advises branches to keep practising the Grandsire Major!
As has been the custom in recent years, the General Secretary intends to obtain a large supply of Ringing World diaries and calendars on a sale-or-return basis and she will be moving amongst Guild members at the various branch AGMs being held between October and Christmas, and also at the Cathedral practices held on the third Saturday in the month. If you wish to take advantage and receive your diary directly into your hands rather than entrust it to the rigours of the Royal Mail, please watch out for Wendy lugging a heavy box around, or else reserve one or more copies by e-mailing wendy.campbell@lineonet.net. Prices as yet are unknown.
During the afternoon of Saturday 14th July eight teams assembled at Kilmington for the annual six bell striking competition. All East Devon towers were struggling to find ringers, mainly due to holidays and other events being held locally on the same day. The judge this year was Mr George Retter ably assisted by wife Queenie.
Results were as follows:
All who took part are grateful to Wendy Wayne for organising the cream teas, skittles & supper at the New Inn.
It is hoped that Sidmouth will now enter a team at Warkleigh in October!!
The Devon Association of Ringers grand draw in aid of the Devon Church Bell Restoration Fund took place in the Mortimore Rooms in North Tawton Church (the Major final scheduled for Shirwell having been cancelled) on Saturday 9 June in the presence of a large percentage of the Committee.
The draw was made by the Association president, Mr Mervyn Phillips, and the results were as follows:
1st (£100) Penny Priscott, Dawlish
The remaining prizes of £25 each were won by Shirley Dudley (Barnstaple), John Irish (Modbury), Nick Williams (Roborough), BA & M Ley (Cookbury), M Trout (Eggbuckland), R Frood (Shepton Beauchamp), June Wright (Barnstaple), A Stewart (Kingsbridge), Steve Jacobs (Eggbuckland), Brian Clay (West Alvington), and Gill Boyce (Malborough).
Despite the difficulties caused by the Foot and Mouth Disease in some areas, the Draw was once again a great success, making a profit of £2,543.20.
Organiser, Julie Endacott, said, "I would like to thank all distributors for their part in achieving this result - without their help there would be no draw.
"I should particularly like to thank the Secretary of the Guild's East Devon Branch, and also the Exeter Cathedral Ringers for between them selling two hundred draw books. This is another welcome example of the ever-improving relations and co-operation between Devon's two ringing organisations."
A generally under-used method except at the minor stage, York is quite useful for introducing 'wrong' places and hunting to those who have mastered Cambridge and other 'right place' methods, without encountering the complexity of London or Bristol.
Now many ringers of minor methods often think of York as being 'Cambridge above and London below the treble', and indeed this is so on six bells. However, the repetition of places required for extension turns out to be different to the systems used for extending both Cambridge (and Yorkshire etc) above the treble AND London below the treble - resulting in there being no such similarity in the major, royal and higher versions.
York has a STATIC extension, or in simpler terms, it extends like Kent and Oxford TB, and St Clement's Bob (and St Simon's etc). Basically the method on higher numbers is achieved by repeating the 'slow work' type of work in the front four places, and adding 'treble bob' type work above the treble. The double dodge is of course repeated in all positions above 5-6, but remains fixed two whole pulls from the lead-end change. This is unlike Cambridge type methods, where places are repeated in higher positions, and the double dodge moves up - staying next to the treble (which is called EXPANDING extension). Conveniently, the figures are shown for minor, major AND royal in the popular 'Red Book' - DIAGRAMS, so there's not much point in repeating it all here.
Touches are easy to arrange as the lead ends fall in the same order as Plain Bob - providing double the length of course because of the dodging treble. Care has to be taken with the major stage because of internal falseness, but otherwise the composition and calling are not difficult.
Frank Bye, the Devon Association secretary, has moved out of the county. Until the autumn he is living and working in the new Forest area of Hampshire. Taking over his duties until the Association annual meeting in November is Mrs Janice Gist.
Congratulations to Neville and Fiona Gibbings who are proud to announce the arrival of a baby girl Katie Johanna at 09.46 on 14 June 2001 by Caesarean section weighing in at 6lbs 4.5oz at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, London.
They says that both the bouncing mother and the tired baby are doing fine, a sister for Sasha, and for Neville, plenty of nappies to get used to! Christening details are as yet undecided but should be in September or October.
The three new bells at St Michael's Farway have nee installed by Nicholson Engineering and were dedicated at the end of June. About half the cost of the project was met by a single donation from the estate of the late Farway resident John Baber.
The three bells cast by Whitechapel join the previously unringable three, one of the old bells being cast by JT of Exeter. The first quarter has already been rung on the bells.
The wedding of Sarah Garle (recently of the ECG) and Andrew Huggins took place at Ashchurch, Gloucestershire on Saturday 28 July. The church was filled with relatives and friends to witness the marriage and hear Sarah and Andrew say their vows from memory. Outside the church after the service all the traditional photographs were taken and the bells fired. the weather was so hot tha6 the bridge and groom managed to travel the ten miles or so to their reception in a very smart open top vehicle and everybody followed on behind to the Hotel de la Bere, at Southam, just north of Cheltenham.
On June 30th, the wedding took place at Stoke Damerel Church of Daniel Mitchelmore and Sarah Sandel. Daniel's father is a churchwarden at the church and of course has been a member of the band for many years. Long-standing friends joined together to ring for the happy occasion before and after the service. On August 8th, to celebrate the marriage a peal of Cambridge Surprise Major was rung. The band consisted on 1 Yvonne Porter, 2 John Mitchelmore, 3 John Steere, 4 Ann Smith, 5 Ian Smith 6 Andrew Mudge 7 George Mudge, 8 Fergus Stracey (C). Andrew Mudge has now rung peals of Cambridge from Minor to Maximus.
Several Exeter ringers attended the wedding of Stephen Chambers, ex-Master of the Exeter Colleges Guild. This took place at Battle, east Sussex, on Saturday 4 August, when Stephen married Deborah Earl.
Finally Caroline Newman, daughter of former Guild secretary Marion and former Stokeinteignhead tower captain Richard, is due to marry Alex Hunt on September 22. Richard and Marion now live at West Huntspill, between Bridgwater and Highbridge.
Pages written by Ian Campbell
Updated 07/09/2001
Huntsham: plan to refurbish historic eight
TWO NEW BELLS AT TROYTE'S CHURCH
8: 9 cwt 1866 John Taylor
7: 6 3/4 cwt 1663 Pennington
6: 5 1/4 cwt 1874 John Taylor
5: 4 3/4 cwt 2002 Whitechapel: the Troyte Bell
4: 3 3/4 cwt 1866 John Taylor
3: 3 1/2 cwt 1866 John Taylor
2: 3 1/4 cwt 1874 John Taylor
1: 3 1/4 cwt 2002 Whitechapel: the Presidents' Bell
Stoke Damerel: millennium project
HISTORIC ARCHWAY IS UNCOVERED
Withycombe Raleigh: Brian Horrell's 70th birthday
CELEBRATING IN STYLE
Contains Kings, Queens and Tittums.
Start is 2134657, 2316475, etc., i.e. Rev. Canterbury Start.
GUILD COMPETITIONS
2002 RW DIARIES
East Devon: Six Bell Competition
SIDMOUTH WINS SUMMERS TROPHY
Sidmouth A 12.25 faults
Shute 13.00 faults
Honiton B 14.00 faults
Awliscombe/Buckerell 14.75 faults
Honiton A 15.00 faults
Ottery St Mary 18.00 faults
Sidmouth B 26.5 faults
Ottery St Mary B 39.5 faults
Mrs Kath Summers presented the Edward Summers Trophy to Andrew Harris, captain of Sidmouth.
Association: Grand Draw
OVER £2000 FOR DCBRF
2nd (£75) Gill Walker (Feniton)
3rd (£50) Keith Bavin (East Anstey)
YORK SURPRISE
By Rob Needham
ODG Sonning Deanery branch newsletter
ACTING SECRETARY FOR ASSOCIATION
NEW ARRIVAL
NEW SIX AT FARWAY
WEDDING BELLS
