Mid Devon Tower Talk Autumn 2022

Raising and Lowering Course East Ogwell

It is very pleasing that, not only do we get a full quota of "Students" for this course, but we always have enthusiastic helpers to repeatedly raise and lower bells. One of the aspects that make it so useful is the tips and hints that are given by experienced ringers – these are usually between each "touch". Feedback tells us that these are very much appreciated by those trying to master this very difficult aspect of ringing. Even experienced ringers find it doesn't always go to plan!! Plenty of stamina is required and once again we were very grateful to Janet for providing bacon rolls for our mid-morning break. The warm welcome we received from the correspondent at East Ogwell made the day even more special. It was also great to meet new faces and we look forward to seeing you again soon. There is no doubt that this is well worth repeating.

Ringing for the Queen

The Platinum Jubilee this summer was the prompt for a massive amount of ringing but when her majesty died in September the response from ringers was even greater. Belboard – the Ringing World online depository for ringing performances was inundated by ringing performances and it was good to see this branch well represented

Branch 8 bell practice Dawlish Wed 14th September

For many of us this was a first as the bells were fully muffled during the mourning period for Her Majesty the Queen. It was a shame that we seemed to have picked a day when most of the Dawlish ringers were away but we still managed to have a very useful practice with a good range of methods rung as will be seen in the belboard ref below. It was particularly pleasing that two ringers rang their first full course of Bristol Surprise Major – one of the harder methods in the "Standard 8". https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/view.php?id=1543991

Branch Outing – with a difference Saturday 1st October

We advertised this outing as being an outing with a difference – not knowing how true that would be! Fortunately, we did not need to buy tickets for the proposed train outing until the day – in the event we coincided with a rail strike and so had to change plans. In the end we all went in cars, and it was such a pleasure to see so many members supporting this event. Another slight surprise was the number of ringers visiting new towers so close to home.

Because of problems getting towers most of the ringing was centred on Exeter. The first tower was St Thomas where the slightly cramped ringing room gave a few problems but we managed well in the end. On to St David's which are a pleasant 8 and we produced some of our best ringing of the day.

Train times meant we had been forced to have a long lunch break but, with our change of transport, we were able to add another tower. We are extremely grateful to the St Petrock ringers for making arrangements at the very last minute but a very enjoyable time was had on this light six in the very centre of Exeter. The final Exeter tower was St Mark's – now a ring of 10. Another slightly cramped ringing room but again we managed well on this very pleasant 10. The last tower was taking us down the river Exe to the delightful village (town?) of Topsham. This riverside spot has some lovely old properties, some of which show a Dutch influence. The Ground floor ring here was soon being put to good use and we finally managed a group photo here although some had left by the time it was taken.

Our final stop was for a meal at the Lighter Inn where our orders had been sent in advance and a very convivial evening was spent reflecting on a very successful day with good ringing and excellent company.

A Welcome visitor

The St Marychurch ringers were delighted to meet a ringer visiting Torquay again where she learned to ring with the Babbacombe ringers in the days of Don Roberts and Bill Simmonds. From Don Roberts
"The lady who came to ring with us at St. Marychurch some Sundays ago was Judy Aplin who I knew at Babbacombe in the late 1950s as Janet Winkles, she was introduced as a learner at Babbacombe by Pam Stephens. She now lives in Banwell and rings there regularly. Previously she lived in Worle and rang there for many years, she is still called up to ring at Worle. On 1st January 1962 I have a footnote to a quarter peal of 1260 Grandsire Triples rung on a Monday (at Babbacombe) as a wedding compliment to Janet Winkles (one time ringer at this church) and her husband married at Holy Trinity Torquay the previous Saturday. It was my first quarter of Triples as conductor"
Photo at https://photos.app.goo.gl/Lfc8kKmX6LX5epKE7 

First Quarter Peal

Many congratulations to Kevin Feavior who rang his first quarter Peal at Dawlish.
https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/view.php?id=1557820 

News from Dawlish
Many thanks to Lynne Hughes for

The sudden news of the Queen's death came when the Dawlish Tower Captain and Steeple Keeper were away, but the rest of the band rose to the challenge, fully muffling the bells (tenor open at backstroke). Ten ringers rang on the day the news broke, and six more for a memorial service. Nicola and Kevin tolled the tenor on the day of her majesty's funeral.

In October, we were honoured to host two of the guild striking competitions, and put two teams in, coming 6th in the 6-bell at Bishopsteignton (pictured) and 3rd in the novice 8-bell. Tea and cakes were served all day (pictured with Kate, Nicola and Deborah serving, and Les Boyce having a slice).
The tower AGM resulted in a new Ringing Master (Michael) and Tower Secretary (Cath) as well as Lynne remaining Tower Captain for now. This is future-proofing for Lynne and Phil's planned move away at some point. Kevin and Lindsay have taken over Steeple keeping from Phil.

Ten members of the band are on the 'Learning the ropes' scheme. Recently, Lindsay passed her level 1 (bell handling), and Kevin passed level 3 (with a second quarter peal). Five members were elected to the Guild in November: Becky, Sonia, Hannah, Lindsay and Amrik.

Finally, we managed to get a picture of all 8 ropes being manned, using a wide angle lens on a phone!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/HemWo3D9bGkVog1S7 
Thanks for this – we were delighted to elect 5 new members from Dawlish at our branch AGM

Mike's handbell exploits

During lockdown many of us kept up with ringing and each other by using a brand new website called Ringingroom. If you have tried it you will know that it is a marvellous tool but not without the occasional glitch. Some time ago we reported that Mike Tompsett had been linking up with other handbell ringers to progress his handbell ringing on eight bells and had pulled off the magnificent feat of a quarter peal in each of the standard eight methods. The other ringers were all over the country and even in France. When mentioning this last time I asked Mike if 8 spliced was next on the menu. Despite several near misses due to technical issues they finally achieved that milestone https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/view.php?id=1561251 
Many congratulations to him and we look forward to reporting more from this band.

Branch 8(?) bell practice Highweek

Was it the weather or the football but we had an unusually poor turn out for this practice. We know that several regular attenders were away or otherwise engaged. As it happened there were a few issues with the bells including a metallic "ching" on some strokes and the third bell being difficult to keep up. We are aware that there has been quite a bit of work on the mobile phone equipment in the tower and there is a possibility that this has had an effect on the bells. We therefore rang mainly on 6 with the second bell deputising for the third. It was particularly disappointing as our new Guild Education Officer (Christine Harris) had joined us from Plymouth. Please come again Christine, we may even manage Pudsey – great to see how many had come prepared to ring it! Let us hope we are more successful at Babbacombe in the New Year.