Ringing World 5129 (14 August 2009)
Front Cover: The bells of Mereworth by Barry Evans
Mereworth (pronounced Merryworth) is a small village in Kent, just off the Maidstone to Tonbridge road. It is between the villages of Wateringbury and West Peckham, and a mile or so south of the new village of Kings Hill. The village is famous for three things.
Clock House Bells by Roy le Marechal
Many different ringing ideas have started out as pub discussions. “Clock House Bells” is not one of them. Back in the early 1980s I took John Dodd for a ring on Martin and Steve Hough’s mini-ring in Liss. It was a cold February morning and he was just recovering from a bad bout of flu. “They’re buckets”, I told him. He thought I meant they were not very good. I meant they were buckets! From that traumatic experience, John decided he would like his own ring of bells, but something that looked and sounded like a “real” ring of bells.
Letters
Child protection debate - Richard Major
Admittance of sex offenders - Martin Roast
Preserved for whose sake? - A. S. Watt
Rare poo? Think again - Jane Hooker
"Go Stedman" - Hilary Rose
Seizing the chance - Robert Newton
Thank-you letter - Gavin E. Price
Far Eastern temple bells - Alan Blair
"Make a Joyful Noise" - Nick Simon
Chawton now available - Roger Barber
From the E-Lists A round-up from the internet compiled by John Camp
Ringers like talking about money.
Firing up the YACR Western Branch Striking Competition – with enthusiasm!
There was no doubt we had to try a new format. Last year’s Sunday Service Band competition had only attracted five teams from the 68 towers in our branch, so we realised we had to listen to the customers if we were to significantly increase the number of entries.
Obituaries
Douglas Jordan, Eleanor Margaret “Peggy” Thornton
Hong Kong ringers in Alderney
Over the long weekend of 17th to 21st July handbell ringing was the connection between the small island of Hong Kong and the even smaller island of Alderney. Hong Kong has no tower bells hung for full circle ringing but since the early 1980s, with the exception of one or two years, there have been enough transient expatriate ringers in HK to maintain a small band that regularly meets for handbell ringing.
A Victorian day at Barton-on-Humber
On Sunday, 28th June the ringers of St Mary’s Church, Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire played their full part in the Victorian Day celebrations which were organised by the local Civic Society to mark its 40th birthday.
Kids in Birmingham Ring Out
On Saturday June 20th, an event was held at St Paul’s, Birmingham for young ringers. This was based on an original idea by ringers from Monmouth and Llandaff society to provide social networking opportunities for young ringers for added peer support in a hobby that is relatively unusual.
Last chance to ring on Hutton’s five by Brian Cooper
The village of Hutton, which is on the fringes of the Somerset resort of Weston-super-Mare, has a reputation for decorating its verges, nooks and crannies with flowers – thousands of them. Hutton in Bloom has more floral awards than you can shake a trowel at, and this year the team of ‘bloomers’ is hoping to get its third gold award in a row.
