Ringing World 5174 (25 June 2010)

Front cover: HJWP rings his first peal – aged just 7 years
The thing about being 7 is that one has no appreciation of what it means to ring a peal aged 7. That’s probably just as well because, like most other things, boys and girls of that age are then able to take it in their stride. So it was with Henry, just a few months after his first quarter peal.

New use for an old ringing room by Frank H. King (the Cambridge University Bellringer)
There are many ways in which ringing rooms are put to good use when the ringers are away. Some serve as storage rooms for cleaning equipment and flower-arranging paraphernalia. Just occasionally I have seen the odd glass of beer consumed in a ringing room too.
Readers can no doubt come up with numerous alternative uses and this account may prove to be the first of a series.

Child Protection – Church of England moves forward
Even in the short time between preparation of the update published in The Ringing World issue of 21st May, 2010 and the Central Council meeting, information was received on further developments regarding Safeguarding which are the subject of this piece.

Letters
The Felstead Database - Andrew Craddock
Central Council BRF grants pass £100,000 mark - Robin Shipp
Stedman and his works - Edward Martin
An unusual set of tuned bells - Tony Lowe
Child protection, the Church and treatment of offenders - Chris Mew
ISA checks - Robin Woolley
Ringing for funerals - Kevon Thompson
In poor taste - Robert J. Perry
W. George Chaplin’s 90th birthday - Bryan Woolley
Central Council’s Bell Restoration Committee helps Parishes - John Barnes

Composing a 40320 of Grandsire Major by R. B. Pullin
Many people would ask me why I’d bothered composing and publishing these compositions. Peals of 40320 changes are rung so exceptionally rarely that it is hugely unlikely these compositions will ever be rung. They were purely composed for theoretical interest. In any case, needless to say, Grandsire is not very well liked on even numbers and is mainly rung for the novelty. However, when looking on the online index of compositions published in The Ringing World, I noticed that there was no mention of a 40320 of Grandsire Major so I thought I may as well bridge the gap. It was also a personal project which I enjoyed dabbling with. I’m certainly not claiming to be the first person to have done this; I wouldn’t be at all surprised if well over 50 people had also devised their own extent which they never chose to publish.

Obituary
Dr Richard Till

Young band’s ORABS success at Shoreditch
Our congratulations to the band of under-25s that rang a peal of Spliced Treble Dodging Maximus (5 methods: 1056 Rigel S; 1008 each Avon D, Bristol S, Orion S, Strathclyde S; 93 changes of method, all the work) at St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch on 19th June.

From Across the Pond
A round-up of reports from towers in the North American Guild of Change Ringers
Many of you reading this column perhaps do not remember the first time you heard change ringing bells, or recall exactly when and where you decided that you wanted to learn to ring; you may have grown up with the sound of bells in your bones, or your parents were ringers and fully expected you to join their ranks in due course. My personal experience, however, was a sharp, sudden one. I began attending a local church in July of 1996 after a church-going hiatus of many years. I saw and heard the bells being rung the first day I attended a service and I knew in a moment that I wanted to learn to ring. Yes, this month’s tower spotlight is on my home tower: St James Episcopal Church in Marietta, Georgia.

Thought for the week
At the end of May with a group from Canterbury Diocese, I attended the Passion Play in the Bavarian village of Oberammagau. Our base for the week’s stay was Arzl, a small village in the Austrian Tyrol staying in an excellent family run hotel. Our guide, Rainer, took us to local places of interest including Innsbruck, Stams Monastery and an awe inspiring drive up into the mountains where the temperature had dropped to 3C and snow was falling! The week away was filled with new sights, new friends and too much food with the two biggest impressions being the sharing of communion in the hotel bar using the hotel family’s communion set and of course the play itself.

New conductors in Devon
Back in February the Guild of Devonshire Ringers held a conducting workshop as part of the education programme. Following this success Tim Bayton organised and ran a follow-on day on 15th May, to take those who were ready a little further: Sue Sturdy, Sophie Hughes, Lynne Hughes and John Steere.