Peter Graham Davies

October 10th 1935 - February 8th 2010

The saga of Peter Davies’s life began some time before he was born. His father, a merchant shipbroker, on one occasion found himself on board The Peter Graham which was in danger of foundering. He told himself that if he came out of that alive he would call his oldest son after the ship. Thus the impact and drama of his future life was established early on in Tristram Shandiesque style.

When Peter’s funeral arrangements were published a great many ringers wondered why the little church of St Peter, Charney Bassett, was chosen rather than Wantage which would have held all those who could have wished to attend. However, it became evident very soon that Peter’s involvement with the local community was such that it couldn’t reasonably have been held anywhere else.

Peter was born in Swansea in 1935 and upon finishing school and wishing to be where the opportunities and challenges were, moved to Harwell in September 1952 to become an apprentice in the nuclear industry. The apprentices spent their first year in the training shop before moving on to university to do their Degrees. They also lived in a bleak hostel on the Harwell Laboratory site with not a lot to do in the evenings. This is where Peter and a friend decided to try their luck at nearby Chilton church where some youngsters were being taught to ring by Bill Corderoy, Harwell’s tower captain and Eunice’s Godfather. Eunice was from a ringing family in Harwell and this was a romance with bells and each other that led to a marriage that lasted more than 53 years.

He immediately became ‘hooked’ on ringing. He rang his first peal at Chilton, the treble to Grandsire Doubles in October 1953 aged 18, conducted by Douglas Jordan. The tower later fell into disrepair and became silent until only very recently. For Peter’s 70th birthday a peal was rung on the newly restored ring on his actual birthday. He declared that this was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for him.

During his three years at Imperial College London, Peter studied for a degree in electrical engineering and was expected to gain a 1st. However, a lot of ringing in London, as an entertaining diversion from study, meant that he obtained a very satisfactory 2-1 instead! How many other ringers can identify with this story? During this time his link with home remained unbroken and he would visit often and ring at Harwell and in the neighbouring villages of Hagbourne and Blewbury. Harry Wells, tells of walks where quarter peals
were rung and a pub lunch taken, which he would organize and let Peter run the ringing. These consisted of crossing the fields from Hagbourne to Blewbury and back to Harwell. Week-end coach outings even extended to Devon and Cornwall.

Although Peter strove to maintain ringing links with home, his studies and promotion involved a lot of moving around in this country and abroad. When ODG committee members were asked to state their names and the branches they represented he, on one occasion, declared “Peter Davies, Thurso Branch!” and we can all remember when he would disappear during the AGM, often held on Cup Final Day, third Saturday in May, and come back with a running report on the match. Similar episodes occurred during meetings when there was a rugby international involving Wales.

Peter came back from university to live on an estate at AERE, Harwell and worked in Separators as an engineer. He and Eunice were founding members of the Cockroft Society of Change Ringers and Eunice became its secretary for several years. People who worked for atomic energy/nuclear physics labs ( Rutherford, Atlas, Harwell, Culham and Aldermaston) were eligible to join.

“During the lunch hours at work, Peter occasionally came over to Rutherford Lab from Harwell to ring handbells with Tim Pett, Tony Peake and myself”, recollects Jim Diserens. “John Baldwin joined us at times. I rang about ten handbell peals with Peter; these were Plain Bob from Major to Maximus, also Treble Bob up to Kent TB Maximus and also Oxford TB Royal and one of Spliced Kent and Oxford Royal. At the time we had David Brown, Paul Mounsey, Frank Price and Bernard Groves to augment the band on occasions. I also rang two 12-bell tower peals with Peter; these were both at Tewkesbury Abbey (rewards for winning the Tewkesbury Shield) they were Stedman Cinques and Cambridge Maximus, both called by Tim Pett”.

Despite ringing a total of about 45 peals from treble to Grandsire Doubles up to Maximus on tower and handbells and even conducting some of them, Peter set little store by peal ringing. He said he could think of much better uses for three hours! The evidence suggests that that sort of slot would have been quite long enough to plan and establish yet another village project!

Back from university he moved to an estate in Grove, Wantage, where his involvement with Wantage tower began soon after. Busy with a wife and young family, perhaps after the first flush of the ringing bug had worn off, he soon found that he had other young ringers around him in the same estate; Anne Carpenter, known to many as ‘Anne the Admin’ of The Ringing World, and later-to-be the Revd. John Baldwin, future President of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. John, hearing that a young man had moved into the estate who had once rung and might be persuaded back to it, knocked on Peter’s door and took him along to ring at Wantage and from that he never looked back, even when he had extended periods of work away. Peter usually made an effort to get back at the week-end for ringing. Promotions within his job came thick and fast. A promotion to Division Head took him to Risley near Warrington, but he decided to commute and Wantage remained his base. Trips away also took him to Brussels, America and Japan. As a Senior Manager he became advisor to the local MP on the dumping of nuclear waste. He was involved in heading public enquiries over the implementation of alternative energy sources, particularly wind farms. Hilary Rose of Sketty, Swansea, remembers that Peter was a regular visitor on a Tuesday night when he was researching wind farms at Llanelli.

Peter taught at Evening Classes and was excellent at imparting information to people; his learners at Wantage were notable for their near-perfect bell handling and his lectures at Easthampstead Park, the Guild’s Annual residential training centre, were memorable. Even the latest recruit to Grandsire Doubles could conduct a touch having received his tutorial; and who could forget his lecture on bell forces as the large model bell flailed across the polished table top and threw itself into reverse with the opposing forces. High drama!

His broadcasts on Radio Oxford about ringing had the same visual flair even though they were for radio. He even persuaded the reporter to become a ringer at Wantage! Jim Diserens remembers ruefully that when he was organizing the Easthampstead course Peter made a lot of useful suggestions and Jim often found that Peter had soon organized everyone, himself included, with jobs to do. However, he generously admits that Peter would always put a lot of intelligent thought into it!

During his time at home he and John Baldwin were responsible for teaching a band from scratch at Great Haseley and he also assisted a novice team at Lambourn and Hungerford under the tower captaincy of Robert Grange. As a member of the Guild’s Education Committee he later organized and developed the course, also taking part as a tutor.

Similarly he was a member of the Guild’s Towers and Belfries committee, advising on ringing, surveying towers and even helping with bell restorations.

Peter’s involvement with the ODG’s Towers & Belfries Committee spanned many years and he was able to bring both experience and local knowledge to the work of the Committee. He served as Secretary until taking over as the Guild’s Public Relations Officer. Recently he took an interest in the online Dove’s Guide and submitted a huge amount of data relating to bells in the Diocese of Oxford, including details of founders, weight and even requesting people to record bells to obtain tuning details. Peter was also heavily involved in the Committee’s Tower Maintenance Award Scheme, both inspecting towers and printing and sending certificates to successful towers.

In 1980 he was involved, along with a bellhanger from Whitechapel, in replacing all the bearings on Newbury bells.

His quick witted comments certainly helped meetings along and made them more enjoyable.

When he moved to Charney Bassett in 1977 his pattern of life changed. As John Baldwin said, “Life was so much bigger and more important than ringing”. Here began Peter’s involvement with the local community. For some time he had been financial advisor for the Parish Council when in 1994 he was asked to be Parish Clerk and on agreeing, inherited a black plastic bag full of official papers – and not for the last time! His understanding of local, regional and national government was also used to good effect, resulting in regular attendance of district and county councillors at Parish Council meetings and a good working relationship with the local MP. He was Parish Clerk from 1994 to 2009 and in those fifteen years the village has seen an array of changes that moved the village forward and which were instigated or influenced by Peter:

• The creation of Charney Hall and Field Trust as a charity, replacing the old Hall Committee
• The purchase of the playing field with a grant from the Trust for Oxfordshire Environment
• The purchase of children’s play equipment, enabled by a grant from Charney and Lyford Education Trust
• The Village College, promoted by Elisabeth Dahele but with Peter’s support and guidance to keep it moving forward
• The Village Hall Project, which will soon be completed but sadly he will not see the finished result.

The accreditation of Quality Status for the Parish Council was largely his doing and, to do this, he undertook training and an exam to become qualified to the necessary standard. He introduced, edited and maintained the village newsletter, Charney Chatter, and set up and managed the village website, writing many of the articles. He also made a very professional job of editing and producing the Old North Branch newsletter and website.

When Quality status was confirmed at the end of 2007 Charney Bassett was the smallest council in Oxfordshire to achieve this and still today is among a minority of local councils that have been accredited. He recognized the importance of communication and the use of the media to put over his ideas and appeared on BBC 1’s The One Show to demonstrate the difficulties created by lorries passing through small villages where they had been sent by their SatNavs thus endangering the safety of old bridges.

Rain-washed and windswept, Charney Church appeared very bleak on the morning of February 18th and a dismal ting-tang announced the arrival of the coffin. The church was full to bursting with mourners who were standing in all corners and many were outside in the rain. By 9.20 the church was comfortably full for a 10 o’clock service: word had got around that seating would be at a premium. Tributes were given by Revd Joy Hance who described Peter’s many interests. He was into alternative energy, a member of the Royal Observer Corps, interested in astronomy, liked photography, passionate about Beethoven and an anorak when it came to trains and aeroplanes. He even embarked up taking out a pilot’s licence but didn’t complete. He drove the Stanford-in-the-Vale community bus, played rugby and cricket, was a football referee and chairman of Childrey football club, and also did the rewiring for the club. For twenty years Peter was commentator for the heavy horse show part of the White Horse Show which his daughter, Christine, says he did really well. The family and extended family were there in support of a much-loved husband, brother, father, uncle and grandfather.

Revd Joy Hance read a tribute by Geoff Rumble, Chairman of the Charney Bassett Parish Council and in addition to the things already listed described ‘Old Badger’ who set up the Charney Army, an ad hoc group of villagers who carry out simple construction and maintenance work round the village and help keep footpaths clear. Resourceful as ever, Peter recognized that the ad hoc status meant that anyone could be classified as a member and used this to ensure anyone who had a mower, chainsaw strimmer and a few hours to spare could and should be enlisted into the team. As commander in chief he will now always be remembered as Captain Bunsen for his ability to start a bonfire with a match and his garden gas flame weeder.

A tribute followed by Revd Canon John Salter of SS Peter & Paul, Wantage concerning Peter’s many years of devotion to ringing as Tower Captain. Many ringers will have heard the story, told in full by Peter in The Ringing World, of the altercation with the local publican because of the noise that came out of Wantage Church from the bells and especially from the chimes during the night which were keeping him awake. The irony of the situation was not lost on Peter. He drummed up support from all over the country for the continuation of the night chimes and won the day. It was later explained that when the publican moved on, the only thing he left behind on the mantelpiece was a recording of bell ringing, given to him by a customer! Canon John also read the poem Wantage Bells by John Betjeman.

The service ended to the rousing singing of Cwm Rhondda and a burial in the churchyard. Over the sound of rain dripping on umbrellas could be heard the poem Grandad XX from Steph and Jo written by his granddaughter, Stephanie Davies.

There was a reception at Charney Manor after the interment, venue for some of the early Guild training courses in ringing. The house was packed by family, ringers of the Old North Berks branch and Guild with a strong representation of Central Council members and The Ringing World Board, including The Ringing World Editor, Robert Lewis, Alan Hughes of Whitechapel and judging by the representation from Whites, nothing much got done at Appleton that day either. A number of ringers had travelled considerable distances to pay their respects to Peter.

He will be remembered for many things, but above all for his larger-than-life sense of humour and boundless energy.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory!

Contributed by:
John Baldwin, Bill Butler,
Anne Carpenter, Graham Clifton,
Kate Crennell, Eunice Davies,
Jim Diserens, Bobbie May, Tim Pett,
Hilary Rose, Mark Walker, Harry Wells.

Peter Davies
Ringing Master SS Peter & Paul, Wantage
18th November 1970 - 8th February 2010

This obituary is from a Wantage Tower perspective from the Wantage and West Hanney ringers

Peter first rang at Wantage in 1966 after John Baldwin, Ringing Master, invited him to ring there after Peter and family moved to the nearby village of Grove. Peter’s first quarter peal at Wantage was on New Year’s Eve, 31st December 1966. Peter was elected Deputy Ringing Master on 17th November 1968, and then elected Ringing Master on 15th November 1970, a position he held until his death on 8th February 2010.

Peter was an excellent Ringing Master who had the ability to impart information to ringers with clarity and enthusiasm, whether they be learning or more experienced. He always impressed upon learners that without near-perfect bell handling, progression to ringing methods would be very difficult. It was not the number of methods you knew but the excellent striking of the bell that was Peter’s main aim. He would not start conducting a method until the rhythm and striking was near-perfect! Peter was very proud of his Wantage band when they won the Oxford Guild annual striking competition in 1973. He often recounted the story of the band watching the FA cup final (Leeds/Sunderland) on a small screen black and white television whilst waiting to ring, and nearly missing their turn to ring when Sunderland scored!

As Ringing Master, Peter’s philosophy was that in order to have a good band of ringers you also needed to have a happy, relaxed atmosphere where people were at ease with each other. However, he did become tetchy if he called out a method to ring and then moments later someone would ask ‘what method are we ringing?’

Peter had a great presence wherever he was, and his sense of humour, enthusiasm, knowledge and personality were always to the fore. If any non-ringing visitors appeared, Peter was in his element explaining the art of ringing. Over the years there have been a number of occasions when non-English speaking visitors turned up at the tower. This did not faze Peter, and somehow he was still able to have an interesting discussion on ringing with visitors appearing to depart happy and knowledgeable on the art! In addition, numerous Scouts, Guides, Brownies and other groups requested to visit the bells/tower, and no matter what sort of group it was, Peter would make the visit informative and entertaining. Peter’s practical involvement with bell ringing was not just confined to Wantage. There are countless towers, locally and further afield, with whom he worked to facilitate tower maintenance, the hanging of new bells, and also re-hanging older rings, together with teaching learners and the more experienced ringers. When West Hanney lost 3 experienced ringers in 2003 Peter became a great support to them and eventually formed a ‘twinning’ arrangement between Wantage and West Hanney, with Wantage ringers attending West Hanney once a month and West Hanney ringers regularly attending practice at Wantage.

During Peter’s 40 years as Ringing Master there have been many highs and lows at Wantage. At times the band comprised of experienced ringers where ‘Surprise’ ringing was normal, and at other times ringing call changes was an achievement. But regardless of the standard of ringers at his disposal, Peter’s enthusiasm never waned. He was a great ambassador for ringers with the general public, and his appearances on local radio discussing ringing were very informative and popular. In addition, Peter was also invited to speak on local radio on many local issues, and his knowledge of facts and figures on many matters, and his gift as a story teller, with his repertoire of jokes made him an ideal contributor to the local media. After ringing the Wantage band would retire to the Bear Hotel for our Tuesday night ‘‘apres-ringing’’ drink. Peter would hold court from his special ‘‘hot seat’’, and in fact whenever he was absent we thought of putting a cardboard cut-out in his place! These sessions were full of lively discussion laced with plenty of humour. Peter was a keen railway enthusiast and to the cries of ‘boring’ from certain members he would regale us with tales of his day trips on a Railrover ticket, or the latest news of a steam engine excursion stopping at nearby Challow station to take on water. Here he would join crowds of other steam buffs absorbing the sight, sound and smell of a mainline steam locomotive, preferably a ‘King’ or ‘Castle’ from the old Great Western Railway days. The following Tuesday at the pub, we would sometimes relive the occasion, causing a glazed look to come over the others - the sort of look you get when you run out of blue line! These cries would be repeated whenever Peter mentioned Eddie Stobart, as he was an Eddie Stobart buff. These lorries have names and Peter would tick them off in his Eddie Stobart booklet when he saw them on his travels. He should never have told us about this as we were merciless in our leg-pulling about his
lorry spotting.

Peter was a keen sports fan, especially rugby, and if Wales had won a six Nations game he would be very vocal on a Tuesday night, but very quiet after a loss, especially against England!

It was very similar at West Hanney, as after ringing the majority of ringers retired to the Plough, when discussions on local parish issues were to the fore due to Peter’s involvement as Clerk to the Charney Basset Parish Council, and with West Hanney ringers being well represented on West Hanney Parish Council.

Over the years Peter held many senior posts in the Oxford Guild and the Old North Berks Branch and more recently was appointed as a Director of The Ringing World. He was the leader of the very successful 2005 ‘Ringing Roadshow’ held at Newbury racecourse. Peter would bounce ideas for both the ‘Roadshow’ and The Ringing World off the local bands, but he did not take any notice of the ladies’ views of changing the colour of the shirts for the ‘Roadshow’ – yellow was not popular! Wantage was very fortunate in having Peter as its Ringing Master for 40 years, but for the ringers they are very proud to have known Peter not only as a Ringing Master, but also as a friend. In addition to many other quarter peals rung around the branch in Peter’s memory, a half-muffled quarter peal of Grandsire Triples was rung in honour of Peter on 6th March. His wife, Eunice, children and grandchildren joined the band of ringers before ringing commenced. Normally after ringing a well-struck quarter the ringers would be bubbly and talkative, but this was one occasion when tears and silence said it all. The words “that’s all” were sadly poignant on this occasion. Ringing at both Wantage and West Hanney continues, but due to Peter’s sense of humour, quick wit and passion for ringing and his Welsh voice saying “right, come on now, catch hold” and his movement halfway across the chamber to indicate to a learner that they should be following him, are sadly missed. We all miss Peter, and ringing is not the same, but he will always be in our hearts and minds, and quite often when a method goes wrong someone will exclaim ‘‘what would Peter say!’’

Poem Granddad XX

Watch the sun rise, watch the sun set,
You are so special, we’ll never forget.
The bird in the trees, the clouds in the sky,
Don’t say that this is our final goodbye.
The leaves in the wind, the rush of cold air,
We’ll miss you so much, you’ve always been there.
The glimmer of rays, the stars up above,
Please never forget the feeling of love.
The walks in the sand, the bleak of the shore,
Sticking together; what families are for.
The fun in the snow, the tears in the rain,
Always and forever, love and thoughts will remain.
Steph and Jo XX

Written by Stephanie Davies

Peter Davies and The Ringing World

I first came to know Peter during the long lead up to the 2005 Ringing Roadshow at Newbury, of which he was the organizer-in-chief.  We hit it off straight away and I had the privilege of working closely with him in delivering publicity for the event. To be honest, he made my part in the proceedings very easy;  his boundless energy, enthusiasm and terrific sense of humour shone through the whole project. It was not surprising then that some time later, when The Ringing World was seeking to  reinforce its Board that Peter’s name entered the frame.  In his time as a director he achieved so much - not least master-minding to perfection our challenging office move from Eagleside House, Chantry Street to the current premises at 35a High Street, Andover.

Peter faced his final illness with immense courage. When he visited the RW Office for what turned out to be the last time, we went for a pub lunch and he was still very much his old self - although the seriousness of his condition had, by that stage, become known. I thanked him for everything he had done for the RW and for his friendship. Characteristically Peter responded with a wink and a wry smile saying “steady on Mr. Editor... I’m not ruddy dead yet!” But sadly we lost him much more quickly than expected.

At Peter’s funeral it became apparent just how much of a contribution he had made in so many other spheres - notably in his professional life and in service to his local community.

It was marvellous to be able to take part in the service and ringing in celebration of Peter’s life on 12th June at Wantage. A RW team was also very pleased to be able to ring a quarter in his memory at West Hanney, which had also played an important part in his ringing life.

Robert Lewis

Peter’s Day

Peter’s Day, held at Wantage Parish Church on 12th June to celebrate the ringing life of Peter Davies, was a successful but emotional day. The day started with a communion service conducted by Canon John Salter, followed by four sessions of ringing throughout the day ranging from call changes to surprise methods.

On display were a range of photographs showing a young Peter to more recent times; a video of ringing made at Wantage a few months before he was taken ill, and a CD played of some of Peter’s Radio Oxford talks, including the sessions when he was trying to teach Alison Booker, one of the presenters, to ring.

Peter’s family, including his wife Eunice, children and grandchildren, and his sister and brother who travelled up from Wales, attended the day as well as the local MP, Ed Vaizey, the Editor and directors of The Ringing World, plus many of Peter’s friends and ringing colleagues from all parts of the country.

Wantage ringers were ably supported by Hanney ringers who supplied refreshments during the day, including ploughman’s lunches. Although the day was mainly about ringing, a total of £250 was raised, which will be sent to the two charities selected by Eunice; the Marie Curie Cancer Care and Sobell House.

The Wantage Ringers would like to thank everyone who attended and made the day so successful, and a fitting tribute to a fine man and a fine ringer.

Sarah Howell