Ringing World 5158 (5 March 2010)

Front Cover: Shreveport – ‘ringing full circle’ by Andrew Nelson
In 2006 Edwin and Candace Higginbotham from Shreveport Louisiana, USA visited their daughter who was studying at Lancaster University, England. Whilst in Lancaster they visited the Priory Church of St Mary and asked about the bells. I first met them when they came to practice night and thinking they may be visiting ringers, I asked “Do you ring?” Answer: “No”. “Would you like to?”. Answer: “Maybe”. At the time the Priory band needed some more recruits and I thought perhaps we had just found some. We did not have enough ringers that night to give a proper demonstration so we gave them a tour of the bells and a short training session. Although Candace declined the offer, after about an hour Edwin had gained a good idea of what was involved and with a little help was ringing handstroke and backstroke together.

The Sight of Gentle Maiden Deftly Handling of a Rope by Steve Coleman
3. Washerwomen, Sextons and Lunatics
As I’m basically left-wing, a Guardian reader and a child of the Sixties, I’ve never been happy that so much ringing history deals only with the upper classes. So what about the workers? And especially, what about the women workers?

Letters
St Paul’s Cathedral, Valletta, Malta - Margaret Thomas
Hats off to the Holdens! – Brian Harris
Not the first ringing Chancellor - Mick Exton
Financial advice sought - Tony Finke
Bells in organs - Richard Offen
Bells in music - Keith L. Shaw
My bell music choice – Alan Pink
British composers - Hayden Charles
Corrosive influence - Ray Woods
Belfry sexism still rampant - Sue O’Neill

Book Reviews
Stephen Ivin
Compositions of London Surprise Major
48 peals with introductory notes by the author
A collected edition in A5 format.
£5 plus 80p. p&p. Cheques payable to Avril Ivin at 54 High Street, Steventon, Abingdon OX13 6RS
After someone rang their first peal of London Major, Norman Goodman would go up to them, shake their hand and say: “Now you’ve got your hand on the top shelf”. That was a little ritual I observed when I came to Birmingham in 1959 and probably for the next 15 years. London was a top method, distinguished from the flawless Bristol by a sense of unorthodoxy and ruggedness of character. And so it was with composition: Bristol readily yielded her charms; London guarded his. “Received Wisdom” for the past 50 years had dictated the use of In & 5ths (I/F) in the majority of courses: pretty on paper, but unfulfilling in the tower. For it was those very leads (3-5) by-passed by I/F in which the best music occurred, with 7-8 dodging behind. Enter the ‘Young Turk’ from Bedfordshire. For that is what this book is all about: a chronicle of Stephen Ivin’s love affair with London Major that started in 1956 and never really ended.

Exploring Plain Minor Methods
by Michael Day
I have never been ‘a Minor ringer’. In my teens I rang lots of Doubles methods in a 5-bell tower, and for most of my life I have rung at an 8-bell tower. I can turn my hand to lots of Minor methods, but they have always been a sideline. Many of the basic ideas in this book were familiar, but not the diversity of methods covered.

Grandsire Variable Treble (GVT) by Alan Burbidge
This interesting variation in the ringing of Grandsire Triples was rung to a peal on 24th November 2009 at St Chad’s, Birmingham. The idea is very simple. Whilst ringing Grandsire Triples you may change the bell which acts as the main hunt bell (which we will call “treble”) at any time to any one of the other six working bells. This rule enables a variety of touches to be put together which can provide interest and variety in their execution. No bob is required. In fact if you make two consecutive changes of treble it is effectively the same as a normal Grandsire bob. You can of course start with any bell as treble. To effect the call the conductor simply calls out the number of the bell to become treble as that bell begins his handstroke lead.

The John Scott Devon 10-bell Call Change Competition
It was back in the summer of 2009 that Richard Shere sent a proposal to the Devon Ringers’ Council for a 10-bell call change competition. The dozen or so members of the council, made up of Association and Guild members in equal proportion, agreed this was a good idea, and went about organising the competition and drawing up rules which would accommodate both traditions. Thus there was the option of rising in peal or ringing off the stay; and of open or closed handstrokes. A test piece of forty changes based on Queens was used. The competition was dedicated to the late John Scott who produced a definitive work on Devon bells and was a respected friend of many of us.

Obituaries
Iris M. Davis, Lionel Barrington (Barry) Ward, More memories of Jean Sanderson

Thought for the week
Being of one mind
In  the belfry of a village Church near to the A1 there is this notice:
“Dodging is the mutual co-operation between two ringers, not the shear hard work of one and the ------ laziness of the other” (supply the adjective according to local circumstances)

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