Ringing World 5169 (21 May 2010)

Front Cover: The refurbishment, tuning and rehang at St Peter & St Paul’s, Ash in the county of Kent
or Ash bells are appealing
by Gabrielle Stook, Tower Captain, Ash by Wrotham
The church of St Peter & St Paul’s, Ash aka Ash Tower aka Ash by Wrotham, is a mainly flint-built church, with the patron’s house next door, and the cricket pitch across the road. It is surrounded by fields, the old village is several hundred yards away and the new village, New Ash Green, even further away in one direction, and the new vicarage is in another direction. Until recent work on the louvres and pigeon proofing the bells hadn’t been heard in the new village for thirty years. Work has recently been completed on the church roof and tower. Now it was time for the bells.

Central Council Bell Restoration Fund – 2010 Grant Awards
Applications were invited last November, at which time only just over £11,000 was available for distribution.

FREE BelTutor teaching aid by Derek Ballard
BelTutor is a (nearly) free cut-down version of Beltower, for teaching learners in a tower, from their very first beginnings up to Plain Hunt. The intention is to encourage grass-roots ringers to install a ringing simulator in their home towers, or perhaps even a neighbouring tower, and to promote a greater awareness of the benefits of listening right from the start.

Child Protection – update prior to Vetting and Barring Scheme start
Prepared by Chris Mew on behalf of the Central Council Tower Stewardship Committee
The article published in The Ringing World issue of 11th September 2009 gave a fairly full overview of the operation of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and it is not proposed to repeat the detail here. This update is by way of bringing to ringers attention those developments and minor alterations to the scheme which have occurred in recent months and to merely reiterate the key points and actions required.

Letters
Essex Association rule change debate - David Rothera
Photograph of Ted Cawser’s 1948 Somerset Tour - Beryl Attaway (née Cawser)
Sherborne Abbey peal - Beryl Attaway (née Cawser)
All change - Janet Waterfield
Ringing and Alzheimers - Hilary Donoghue
Somerset Tour - Ernie Carvell
Bell Restoration - Jay Bunyan
Thanks - Helen Pettet, Doug Nichols & David Smith
Eric Sykes - John P. Partington

St George’s Day ringing
The “Ring for England on St George’s Day” campaign seems to have been received with enthusiasm. This week we are printing several accounts from across the land, together with numerous peal and quarter peal reports.

Obituary
Revd John Bax Tayler Homfray

Thought for the week
It is good that we do not have to climb long spiral staircases or ladders to reach Heaven, although bellringers are well accustomed to such climbs. But ringing itself is a continual upward learning curve.

Durban disaster
At practice on Wednesday 5th May the bells were being rung up; while ringing the 2, the disaster happened: it crashed into the 1 which was already up.