Ringing World 5162 (2 April 2010)

Front Cover: Seattle bells ring out over Red Square!
by Rebecca Woodgate, Tower Captain and Oceanographer, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
On Saturday, 31st May 2008, in the light, grey drizzle that makes the place so English, the first change-ringing on the west coast of the continental United States rang out across Seattle, Washington. The 6cwt eight, cast by Eijsbouts and hung by Taylors, Eayre and Smith (TES), is thanks both to vision, funding and over three decades of dogged determination from the Gordon Stuart Peek Foundation (GSPF) of Seattle, the open-minded enthusiasm of the University of Washington (UW) School of Music, and the calm problem-solving of Bob Smith of TES. Every tower has a long “to-do” list – just before our 2nd anniversary(!), we’ve finally some time for items below “Start a new band”.

The Sight of Gentle Maiden Deftly Handling of a Rope by Steve Coleman
4. The Great Myth
I’m told that women were only able to start ringing at the end of the 19th century because of advances in bellhanging. Is that true?

Learning: what helps, what hinders - A Guide for Teachers by Wendy Graham
George Bernard Shaw said: “He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.” This is demeaning to teachers (not to mention women), suggesting that imparting knowledge to others is a second-rate occupation and gives no consideration to the skills required of a good teacher.

Letter
Ringing Roadshows – Tony Smith

The highwayman’s guide: an aide-memoire to conducting for the intellectually less able
Compositions are traditionally published with the course ends followed by the calls. This notation has the virtue of brevity, but if you’re the conductor, your job is not just to put in the calls and check the course ends but also to correct any mistakes that occur and to make sure that the bells are all where they should be. The course ends are of limited use for this and you look pretty stupid if you have to wait for the course end (or worse still the course end after next, since in two places a single line contains two courses) before realising that two bells have swapped over.

Obituaries
Donald Towers, Dom Paulinus Angold

St John The Baptist, Avon Dassett, Warwickshire
The redundant church of St John the Baptist lies just off the M40 near the Warwickshire/Oxfordshire border. With its soaring 125’ spire in a glorious setting on a steep hillside above a pretty village this church is a masterpiece of the Gothic Revival. Charles Buckeridge – a pupil of Gilbert Scott – built it in 1869 using golden Hornton sandstone replacing a medieval church whose east window he reset in the west wall of the tower. It was consecrated on 24th June 1869 when the bells were ‘opened’ by ringers from St Martin’s, Birmingham.

The Harry Windsor Ringing Centre at Kineton by Graham Nabb
Saturday, 30th January saw 46 Ringers from as far afield as Lincolnshire and Oxfordshire at the Harry Windsor Ringing Centre, Kineton to attend a full day course on Teaching and Tower Management.

Book Review
Ringing Basics for Beginners (or: How to Learn Methods – and then ring them properly)
by John Couperthwaite
Central Council Publications
Price £2.50 and p&p from Barbara Wheeler, 2 Orchard Close, Morpeth NE61 1XE.
This booklet, consisting of 32 pages containing 6 chapters, an Introduction and a Conclusion, began life as a series of articles written for a District Newsletter. The six chapters cover the three basic skills (bell handling, ropesight and listening), learning simple methods, ringing bobs and singles and conducting. It is therefore immediately apparent that the book covers a huge area within its few pages.

Thought for the week
When a bell rings …
How often have we heard someone say: “Oh, yes! That rings a bell!”? It may be the mention of a name which jogs a memory. It may be seeing a place which reminds us of a long forgotten event. It may just be something which is definitely familiar but we cannot quite put a finger on what it is.

How does a punter make a small fortune at a race night?
This was the question facing a 100 ringers and friends when the Bingham District of the Southwell and Nottingham Guild held a Charity Race Night recently in aid of the Bell Repair Fund.