Ringing World 5146 (11 December 2009)

Front Cover: Completion
Brisbane Cathedral consecrated
On Thursday, 29th October 2009 the Cathedral Church of St John in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia was consecrated so completing the construction of the Cathedral which was started in 1906. The Cathedral is the last Gothic style Cathedral to be completed and was designed by John Pearson based on his design of Truro Cathedral.

Ringing World board plans for future
The Board of The Ringing World tackled a wide ranging agenda at its regular late autumn meeting on 28th November.
At the heart of the discussions was the Board’s continuing commitment to build on the success of recent years, while robustly tackling the challenges presented by the continuing difficult economic environment.

New Year hopes of 1941
I thought readers might be interested in this snippet, which I found in the Midland Counties Association of Change Ringers 56th report.

W. W. Worthington Memorial Trophy 2009 by Tim Poole
On Saturday, 26th September, five bands of ringers gathered at the church of St Mary-the-Virgin, Nottingham, to compete for the W. W. Worthington Memorial Trophy. The trophy was first contested in 1978 in Burton-upon-Trent, with a test piece of Cambridge Royal and Stedman Caters.

The Queenstown project: bells rung for new Diocese
The first diocese in South Africa was founded in 1847, when Robert Gray was consecrated as first Bishop of Cape Town. His was an immense diocese, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to, and including, Natal; from the Indian Ocean to the Orange River. The diocese even included the island of St Helena, in mid-Atlantic. Although Gray was a very hard working priest, and not afraid of walking thousands of miles to visit his vast territory, the area he had to cover was much too great for one man, especially in the pre-motor age.

Letters
Bristol Surprise Maximus – never had it so good - David Hilling
Only fifth - Frank Lewis
Dinner bells - Martin Kirk
Peals - Vernon Bedford

The Ringing Foundation – Paddling Forward!
October Seminars show the way by Bob Hancock
The aims and objectives of the Ringing Foundation are to support and develop the skills, practice and art of change ringing and these obviously point to training and education as the main area to concentrate on. A desire to discover innovation and best practice was the stimulus for the ‘Moving Forward’ seminars; the first in London on October 3rd with a repeat in Birmingham three weeks later and total of 100 attending. The format was a series of presentations and time for discussion and review. In his opening remarks, Brian Meads, chairman of the Ringing Foundation, drew attention to the need for a different approach to bring a whole new generation to change ringing and that money could make a difference in achieving this. Perhaps 10% of the two to three million pounds raised annually and spent on bell restoration and maintenance was a realistic sum to invest in the human resource side of change ringing.

Book Review
Christmas Readings – a new slant
Angela Newing
Well-known for her series of Puzzles in The Ringing World and which have been collected together in booklets from time to time, Angela Newing has prepared a rather different compilation for this coming Christmas: Prose, Poems and Puzzles for a Modern Christmas.

Obituaries
Jean Sanderson, Paul Cattermole

What’s up that tower?
Chris Pickford explores … Helmdon, Northamptonshire
Tucked away in the southern end of Northamptonshire, Helmdon is a rural village with a pleasant but ordinary 10cwt six. The bells were cast between 1679 and 1951 by founders whose work is common enough, especially in the locality. The story of how the ring developed – the who did what and when – is of rather greater interest than the bare details might suggest.

Thought for the week
Twice in my fairly long ringing career I can remember the lights going out during quarter peal attempts. The first time was during a thunderstorm when the power in the whole area was affected and after valiantly trying to continue in almost total darkness with no ropesight possible, the conductor called stand. The second time, the lights went off but after a minute or two and much shouting from the ringers, came on again, and we completed the quarter without further mishap.

Flower Festival at Grappenhall
Although ringing has been temporarily suspended at Grappenhall, Cheshire, due to work being carried out to repair the crumbling sandstone spiral staircase, the ringers were involved in the recent Flower Festival held in the Church to raise money towards the stair fund.