A
busy week for the Frank Mack Garage Ring - May 2011
One week in May saw two separate
events for Devon ringers, in different locations… but involving
the same set of bells.
Saturday 14th May was the Young
Ringers’ spring outing. The first stop was the Frank Mack Garage
Ring in its default location, above Ian Avery’s garage in
Kingsteignton. This ring, put together in 1963, is considered
the earliest miniring, and was originally in Exmouth in Frank
Mack’s garage, until given to the Guild of Devonshire Ringers in
2007.
The young ringers (plus helper!)
ringing the FMGR.
With a tenor of less than 2 lb, the young
ringers were quickly competent. Next was another miniring,
Bishops Ting Tong, where more adventurous methods were rung.
Finally Dawlish to ring on ‘normal’ bells, before a pub lunch
with a game of skittles which the ‘Gill and Hawkins’ team won.
From 19th to 21st May the FMGR was
out on its sturdy wooden legs at the Devon County Show
for the third year running. A team of volunteers from the Guild
and Association took turns to teach the public to ring on the
bells, which usually took just a few minutes. If only tower
bells were so easy!
The Bishop of Exeter being shown the
ropes by Ian Avery
Click to enlarge: learners having a go
and the 'experts' ringing for service
All three days were busy, but on
the Saturday in particular the stream of visitors having a go
was relentless. A combination of a strong wind and a lot of very
small children on the last afternoon meant constant trips up the
stepladder to unhook ropes from headstocks, but the bells
survived!
In the end there wasn’t time or
opportunity to ring a quarter on the FMGR at the show this year,
but a couple of quarters were rung on handbells. During one of
these, as the show was closing for the day, we found ourselves
being filmed by a cameraman; and a microphone from the ‘Devon
churches’ tent was pushed into the circle, broadcasting our
ringing to people as they passed to go home!
Lynne Hughes
Back to Photo Gallery Index
To
have your photos displayed here, please send digital copies to
