Stephen Ivin 1937 - 2010 (part 2)

by Steve Stanford
Concluded from last week

The Oxford Years; two new tens, a vastly improved eight, and a return to London!

Following the move to Oxfordshire, Steve became a little reclusive, and apart from two periods when he rang on Sunday mornings at Oxford Cathedral following the completion of work to the tower there, and St Paul’s Cathedral, mostly during the time when John Chilcott was Ringing Master, he did not do much ringing, and generally lost interest.

My own move from Bedford to Oxfordshire pre dated his by about a year, and so it was that we remained in regular contact, and I frequently visited Steve and Avril at Leafield. This was a difficult time for Steve, when he first began to suffer from periods of indifferent health that, sadly, he never really overcame. Despite this he soon became involved in other activities.

He acquired one of the earliest micro-processors, and taught himself an incredible amount about electronics, programming in machine code / assembler, and the construction of electronic circuits. One application was as a programmable ringing machine, pre dating Abel by some twenty years. I remember Holt’s Original coming to a rather abrupt end one morning when the cat walked over the circuit board and rather disturbed things – so much for the reliability of machines – and they didn’t respond to being shouted at either!

Steve also had an extensive knowledge and appreciation of music and musical composition. He was always keenly interested in Avril’s work in the Oxfordshire peripatetic music service, and as an orchestral cellist, and there are a number of ringers, who attribute their initial interests in classical music to Steve’s influence. With such an ingenious and rigorous mind, Handel and Bach were amongst his favourite composers. He was also an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction books, and as a result, incredibly well informed on a broad range of issues and subjects.

Other interests included computer proof of compositions, and the tuning and dynamics of bells, subjects in which Steve became very knowledgeable. Indeed, he co-sponsored Bill Hibbert’s Open University PhD thesis on the quantification of strike pitch and pitch shift in church bells and his contributions are acknowledged there.

As an engineer I always greatly appreciated Steve’s very considerable understanding of mathematics and physics, not only because he had such an excellent grasp of basic theory and first principles, but also because he invariably knew about, and was very adept in the practical application of those theories and principles. All the more remarkable because, being a Classicist, most if not all of his knowledge was self acquired. He was not however a particularly good teacher – far too fast and impatient for that. As Avril would no doubt confirm – he tended to assume that you already knew what he was talking about. On occasions it was like being on a roller coaster – just about possible to hang on and follow if you exercised maximum effort, although equally enthralling!

A move from Leafield to Blandford Avenue in Oxford in 1982 was to be the beginning of Steve’s renaissance period as far as bells and ringing was concerned. Clive Holloway recalls:
“At that time, ringing at Christchurch mainly consisted of Grandsire and Stedman Cinques. With Steve’s encouragement and persistence we were able to ring Cambridge Maximus without it falling apart when trips occurred. We were spurred on by such words as “Don’t overshoot the runway” and “Cut out the broken glass on the front”. He went on to assist many of us through our first peals of Maximus. He then got many of us through our first peals of London and Bristol Major and Royal. We had a number of attempts at Bristol Royal with a local band, sometimes having to go to towers outside Oxford. Fortunately there were no clocks at any of these towers!”

In 1986 Steve started work to re-hang and eventually replace and augment the bells at St Mary Magdalen in Oxford, a project that reached a final conclusion in 2001. Much of the work was supported and funded by members of the Oxford University Society. Later in 2001, generous donations from Peter Border’s family and friends enabled the addition of two trebles to his memory, resulting in a brand new and very agreeable 7cwt ring of ten. Fittingly, although not intentionally, this was Steve’s final project; his work possibly brought to a premature end following a fall from the vestry roof at St Thomas’ that resulted in the need for fairly extensive surgery and metal pinning in his shoulder.

The initial work at St Mary Magdelen was followed in 1990 by the re-hanging of the bells at Lincoln College, Oxford. Here the unexpected discovery of rot in the frame (a consequence of it being built into an old chimney which had effectively become a down-pipe), resulted in a far more extensive project than initially planned involving Steve in designing and constructing a new foundation grillage and frame.

At about this time, Steve spent several years working for Whites of Appleton, where he soon acquired sufficient practical and technical knowledge from Frank and Brian to be considered a potential competitor! Whites had been responsible for a project at Oxford Cathedral on which Steve worked as an employee and later, to varying degrees, they provided much appreciated professional advice and the use of their workshop facilities for the projects at St Mary Magdalen and Lincoln College.

Shortly afterwards, in 1991, Steve initiated another project that over a five-year period provided another new ring of ten, at St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford. This was precipitated by the architect’s condemnation of the old bell frame and Steve’s contrary assessment that the problem was more with its foundation. Further consideration during dismantling, coupled with the unexpected availability of additional funds, led to a more extensive project to install a concrete ring beam and new grillage and rebuild and extend the frame using the original Webb and Bennett design. This was no mean task – the frame being entirely constructed from steel bar that Steve cut with an angle grinder and drilled by hand with a pistol drill; and this (over 200 sections and one thousand holes) only a relatively minor part of the project! It was a typical example of Steve’s ingenuity, and tenacity. But for this, the project (to install a new frame) would never have been viable on a commercial basis, even with the many generous donations received.

Initially, the cannons were removed and the original bells tuned, with the third recast to provide scope for future augmentation. They were re-hung as a six and first rung in June 1992. It was Roger Abbot who precipitated the next phase with the generous donation of a treble of ten, intentionally leaving a rather obvious gap to be filled! With Steve at the helm, this was soon done, the combined attentions of the Church, Oxford University Society and Oxford Society resulting a year later in a very easy going ten.

But this was not to be the end of the story. Steve’s musical ear remained somewhat critical and intolerant of the older five bells – even after tuning they were something of a compromise by comparison to their modern Taylor counterparts. With his desire for perfection further encouraged by the enthusiasm of Roger Abbott and Clive Holloway, he set about replacing them in two stages. Having recast the worst offenders (6, 8, and 9), Steve commented in John Spice’s book as follows:
“As an act of faith the (final) two bells were cast on Good Friday 1996 (these irreligious Midlands working habits!), even before the necessary Faculty (or funds) was obtained. They were hung during June 1996 and rung for the first time on 30th June, thus completing an entirely new ring of ten. A few days later I took a sledge hammer to the two old bells – the last of the original six. The result exceeds our best expectations: the dream has indeed come true.”

Paul Mounsey also referred to Steve’s desire for perfection when he said:
“I think what I will remember most about him is the attention to detail he applied to all the many things he got involved in. I bought a set of handbells from him in the late 80s. Not only did I get the handbells but also a set of cards on which he had meticulously recorded their tuning characteristics.”

And referring to the Oxford projects he says:
“Here again, he was not content just to put the bells in, he was obsessive about the acoustics and spent many hours getting them perfect. He discovered he could actually make the two trebles at Mary Mag louder by getting smaller clappers (a longer throw with more momentum) for example.”

Peter Giles has contributed a number of amusing anecdotes that bring back many fond memories of Steve, unfortunately not all of them entirely suitable for a family journal, but in relation to St Thomas’ he recalls:
“Steve said that the best bit of the job was at the end, when he was breaking up the last two buckets (bells) in the churchyard. A member of the public was passing and said: “What a shame! It says 1706 on them.” “That’s all right,” said Steve; “it does on the new ones too!” ”

Also, referring to the new ten, and by then approaching the age of 60:
“We shall have no more of this 35cwt nonsense. These are a rest home for geriatrics.”

The bells at St Thomas’ are without doubt one of (if not the) best ten of their weight, and with regards light rings of ten, something of a pioneering development.

As if the Oxford projects were not enough, during 1994 Steve became heavily involved with a project at Edwalton near Nottingham, assisting Martyn Marriott to augment the three bells there, producing a lively and very pleasant little six – all on one level in an extremely compact tower. The bells were cast and the work done in memory of Martyn’s wife Kate, a close and almost life-long friend who sadly passed away in December 1992, and two other former parishioners.

Steve also provided assistance and advice to a number of other projects, perhaps most notably at Amersham, Milton, and Campton. Alan Ainsworth, Colin Turner, and John Loveless are all greatly appreciative of his advice and support to their respective projects.

The Oxford restoration work soon led to a resurgence of peal ringing in Oxford; peals of London S Major and Royal flowing weekly on Monday and Tuesday evenings when the University was down. New compositions were produced, and Steve surpassed Bill Pye’s record for the numbers of peals of London S Major rung and conducted. He appropriately conducted his 226th at St Stephen in Brannel, where Bill Pye rang his last and 226th peal of London S Major. His final total was 309 peals of London S Major (21 of them in hand) of which he conducted 240; the most rung and conducted in that method by anyone.

Terminal illness – and renewed enthusiasm!

Very sadly, it was not to continue. In 2007, following a move to Steventon near Abingdon, a new and more diligent GP discovered first a stomach ulcer that was successfully treated, but then further investigation revealed myeloma. For Steve and Avril and their many friends this was devastating news. But encouraged by the relative success of early treatment, and in spite of his deteriorating condition and obvious discomfort, Steve made the best of things, remaining incredibly positive and productively engaged in a whole range of new and more manageable interests and activities until only two months before he died.

Amongst these was his work in identifying and manipulating specialist scanning software that enabled him to convert the disparate layout and typefaces used by The Ringing World into a database readable format. This nicely complemented Andrew Craddock’s herculean efforts on PealBase, enabling another ten or so years to be added. Even with the software, a considerable amount of manual manipulation was required; all the more remarkable that this was achieved, with Avril’s patient help, during his final illness.

Other projects included the Peter Border memorial plaque (cast from bell metal and now installed at St Mary Magdelen), new compositions (including one for Shelagh Melville’s 80th birthday), and the London Major compilation (which he would not have completed without generous support from Richard Jones).

I always greatly enjoyed our phone conversations, and this period was no exception. His continued enthusiasm to talk about work in hand was quite contagious, and his comments about ringers and ringing no less acute. It was of course as much attributable to the devoted love and unstinting care that he received from Avril as it was due to his own tenacity and pragmatism. They were a wonderful team. When I mentioned this following Steve’s death, Avril said to me: “What else could I have done?” The answer, that I am sure that Steve would have given is: “nothing”.

Mark Regan, surely the most prolific of Steve’s protégés from Bedford recalls his last meeting with Steve:
“… though very ill, Stephen was full of enthusiasm and wry observations. Avril was at his side and the strength of their marriage was as evident as it always had been. Stephen wasn’t quite so terrifying, though he was still very inspiring. And I’ll always remember that lingering smell of pipe tobacco.”

Referring to the record peal of London S Royal at St Thomas’, Frank Rivett recalls his final (and somewhat characteristic) meeting with Steve:
“I last saw Stephen after the long peal of London Royal at St Thomas in 2007 when his first comment was “you lot took your time” – four and a half peals at an average speed of about 2h50m! The bells were perfection to ring on, we were warned not to “piss on the floor”, and he recorded all 23,320 changes. And then he was embarrassed when we insisted on paying more than £1 a head peal fee!”

Working Life; Computers, Beer, Books, and “Non Employment”

Following his time at Oxford University, Steve began his working life as a trainee at the George Kent Company in Luton, then a leading manufacturer of process and medical instruments. He later moved to Texas Instruments who had recently established an operation in Bedford, and it was here that he gained his first experience with early commercial computing and programming technology. Somewhat unconvinced by the American style of (crisis) management, he followed his instincts (for beer), and in the early 70s joined Guinness at the Park Royal brewery, where he became programming manager.

I am not sure if the job came with any perks, but Steve greatly enjoyed good quality draught Guinness, or when it became increasingly difficult to find it, the bottled variety. On more than one occasion a search party was despatched during the course of a peal to trawl the area for pubs with the all important tap, this sometimes resulting in extensive travel to the opposite end of the county for both search party and peal band! As a loyal Whitbread employee, I seem to recall Chris Hughes being remarkably diligent and successful in identifying and testing suitable establishments!

In 1972 Steve and Avril moved to The Red House in Ampthill from where Steve went into self employment, establishing his own programming business as a limited company, and securing a contract with Blackwells who had recently purchased the scientific publishing business of Munksgaard in Copenhagen. This involved him in extensive travel, with most of the working week spent in Denmark, and no doubt resulted in the postponement of plans for the Bedford augmentation, although he remained firmly dedicated to leading and developing the band. Following a move to Bushmead Avenue in Bedford that eliminated the weekend commute for ringing, Steve continued to work principally for Blackwells on various contracts and projects. His work was increasingly based in Oxford however, and so it was that he and Avril moved again, firstly to Leafield and then to Blandford Avenue on the outskirts of Oxford.

Steve ended his contracts with Blackwells in 1984. After this his work was less regular with several small contracts, perhaps the most fascinating of which concerned the custom design and development of hardware and software for the programmable control of a tracking telescope at Cambridge University Astronomy department. Subsequent employ-ment with Whites of Appleton and his increasing involvement and enthusiasm for the various Oxford restoration projects inevitably led to what he described as his ‘years of non employment’ when, supported by Avril, he dedicated most of his time and financial resources to those projects. They became a full time job!

Ringing Achievements

It would be impossible to do justice to Steve’s ringing achievements in a few paragraphs, but standing amongst them were:
Many pioneering and popular compositions most notably of Bristol and London Surprise Major, but also of Grandsire Triples (including a one part), Surprise Royal, Grandsire and Stedman Caters and Cinques. Referring to Pealbase, Andrew Craddock informs me that at the time of writing, Steve’s compositions have been rung to 5,202 peals since 1961, almost 2.5% of all the peals recorded, and of the 4,701 peals of London Major rung, 1,490 (almost a third) have used his compositions.

A total of 1,523 peals (104 in hand) of which he conducted 795 (8 in hand). These included 309 peals of London S Major (21 in hand) of which he conducted 240, the most rung or conducted by anyone to date, and 163 of London No.3 S Royal.

Record peals: including 16,368 Cambridge S Maximus at Birmingham Cathedral in May 1965, then the 12 bell record and 16,559 Grandsire Caters at Appleton in 1968, then the Grandsire Caters record.

Conducting Holt’s Original peal of Grandsire Triples 34 times – probably more than anyone else – and often on request at short notice.

Two attempts to ring the extent of Bob Major. 20,500 (about half way) in February 1958 conducted by Denis Knox, and 28,850 in 13 hours and 18 minutes in November 1959, that Steve conducted. This he stopped after one of the band became temporarily entangled with his rope; an incident that in Steve’s view marred an otherwise excellent performance, and a decision that caused some controversy.

And he was an accomplished handbell ringer, ringing 104 peals, most of them at 15 Harford Drive Watford, with John Mayne and Dorothea, and Roger and Kath Baldwin. Roger Baldwin writes:
“Kath and I first met Stephen in 1956. We were staying in Bedfordshire and he invited us back to his home in Houghton Conquest to ring a handbell peal – his first. It was just before he went to Oxford as a Scholar, and he was busy making his own gown – no mean task and typical of how versatile he was. We scored the peal, of course, Plain Bob Minor. He said never again!

The next one with us was London Surprise Major at Bushey in 1965, followed by Bristol Surprise Major a few weeks later, and then two of London conducted by him. There were two further main periods with the Watford band from 1971 to 1973, and again from 1977 to 1979. During this time he rang many peals of London Major and Royal and Bristol Major and Royal; peals of Spliced Surprise Major (up to 12 methods) and Royal (up to 22 methods), Stedman Caters and Cinques, Bristol Maximus, Wimborne Surprise Royal, and a variety of Surprise Major methods. One of his last peals was Holts Original which he called in 1975, one of his specialities, and his last handbell peal was, of course, London Surprise Major (at Campton on 3rd June 2005).

Stephen enjoyed ringing one of the fixed pairs, and was very good at it; an accurate striker and method ringer, and a good person to have around in a crisis. He was also excellent company, and would entertain us with his views on a variety of topics which had captured his interest, especially the tuning and hanging of bells, and of course the merits of different bells and ringers.”

Andrew Craddock has kindly supplied the following analysis based on information contained in Pealbase and Steve’s early peal books.

Peals mostly rung (conducted) for
Bedfordshire Association: 539 (418)
Oxford Society: 265 (158)
Hertford CA: 115 (9)
ASCY: 97 (9)
Oxford University Society: 74 (28)

Methods mostly rung (conducted)
London Surprise Major: 309 (240)
London No.3 Surprise Royal: 163 (91)
Bristol Surprise Major: 96 (58)
Stedman Cinques: 90 (12)
Cambridge Surprise Royal: 64 (34)
Stedman Caters: 63 (16)
Cambridge Surprise Maximus: 54 (21)
Grandsire Triples: 49 (40)
Bristol Surprise Royal: 48 (27)
Grandsire Caters: 44 (24)

Towers where peals were mostly rung (conducted)
Bedford St Paul: 194 (156)
Oxford St Thomas the Martyr: 192 (90)
Oxford St Mary Magdalen: 98 (60)
Maulden: 75 (53)
Husborne Crawley: 36 (32)

Ringers he rang most peals with (since 1961 from Pealbase)
Anthony H. Smith: 265
Clive Holloway: 228
Ronald J. Sharp: 211
Robert L. Piron: 203
C. Michael Orme: 177
Martyn J. Marriott: 172
Roger Baldwin: 168
S. Kathleen M Baldwin: 163
Avril Ivin: 156.

Steve’s final peal was at St Thomas’ Oxford on 23rd April 2007, for the Oxford Society when he rang the treble to Bristol Surprise Royal, conducted by David C Brown.

Steve was an Honorary Life Member of the Bedfordshire Association at the time of his death. He also previously served as Association Secretary (1962-1963) and Peal Secretary (1956-1963 and 1976-1980). He represented the Oxford University Society on the Central Council between 1960 and 1968, and subsequently served as an Honorary Member from 1970 to 1980. He was also Secretary of the Oxford Society from 1988 until 1995. Steve was elected a member of the Ancient Society of College Youths on 24th September 1955 and rang 97 peals for the Society, conducting nine of them. He was also a member of the St Paul’s Cathedral Guild from 1978 until 1983, and subsequently as a supernumerary, he supported the Sunday Service ringing there at various times up until the early 90s.

However, his ambitions and greatest contributions to the ringing world were surely not in any official capacity, office, or high position, but much more at grass-roots level in the bells and the ringers that he created, and the many happy memories that remain.

Fond Memories and Farewell

So what of those memories? Well perhaps contrary to the façade and his apparently temperamental and sometimes abrupt manner, Steve was very genuine and extraordinarily generous, not only with his time and expertise but also with money and possessions. He was never possessive in a material sense and his support for the numerous projects instigated by him and others often took precedence over his personal situation and needs. He was also very considerate and concerned for the welfare of close friends, especially in times of trouble or difficulty. As a leader he had a clear vision of what he was trying to achieve and although his methods could be indirect and somewhat unconventional, they were usually very successful. He was driven by a desire and ability to create something better and of lasting benefit to others – he had a tremendous sense of purpose. Combined with this he was extraordinarily skilled and talented; quick to discover and learn new things. But he was also a perfectionist – aspiring to achieve the very best that was possible, and he encouraged and inspired others to do likewise. He had a disdainful regard for anything that might be regarded as lacking maximum effort or being sub standard. But finally, and more than any of these things, the tremendous courage and determination that Steve showed during his final years of illness was an inspiration to all who knew him.

The high esteem in which Steve is held was clearly evident from the very many tributes that have been written, and spoken, and the attendance at his memorial service held at St Thomas the Martyr Oxford on February 22nd, when despite the very severe weather and travel warnings, well over 200 of Steve and Avril’s friends, mostly ringers, came to ring his bells, pay their final tributes, and share his wish that with Avril, we hold a wake to celebrate his life and work. It was a very fitting and moving end for a man who was considered by many to be “the greatest ringer of his generation”.

Acknowledgements

I greatly appreciate the help, support, and contributions from Steve’s many friends, particularly those who I have quoted. I would especially like to thank Steve’s wife Avril for providing me with unlimited access to Steve’s personal records and for engaging in many enlightening conversations about his life and work; also Martyn Marriott, Chris Pickford, and Clive Holloway who provided contributions and invaluable advice and assistance in commenting on and preparing the final copy.

Stephen Stanford