Ringing World 5272 (11 May 2012)

Front cover: First peal of Shipway Major for over 100 years
by Richard Trueman & Quentin Armitage
The simple way to think of Shipway Major is as a sort of ‘Stedman on 8’. Rather than double-dodges in 4-5 and 6-7, Shipway has triple-dodges in 5-6 and 7-8. You go in Quick or Slow and the Slow work is similar to Stedman but with a little extra at the start and end of it. In the same way that Stedman comprises alternate Slow and Quick ‘sixes’, Shipway comprises Slow and Quick ‘eights’. Bobs and Singles are Stedman-like too with the Bob being made in 6ths place.

St John-in-Bedwardine gives thanks by Rose Ashton
On Sunday, 19th February 2012 St John-in-Bedwardine Church held its Service of Thanksgiving and Celebration of the restoration of the church tower, clock and bells. What a day – over 400 people came to our church! We were delighted to be able to ring a peal, organised by our Vicar, Revd Christopher Stuart, who put together a band consisting of Stephen J. Bedford, James Clatworthy, Saskia E. Palmer, Christopher J. Stuart, Alistair A. F. Smith, Richard B. Pullin (C), W. David Roskelly and Alison K. Regan. We gave them bottled water and a large box of chocolates, sealed the ringing chamber against interruption, and let them get on with it.

Letters
Diamond Bob Triples - John David
That bell - Revd Tony Graham
Rebuilding Christchurch - Alan Munnings
A cautionary tale! - name supplied
“Out of Tune” - Chris Hutchinson

Two-hundred and forty years on
In 1772, a party of adventurous ringers from St Peter Mancroft Norwich set off on a ringing tour of the north. The Norwich Mercury of Saturday, 11th July 1772, gives a hint of where they visited:
‘Last Monday a Company of Ringers belonging to St Peter’s of Mancroft in this city, returned home from a Tour which they had made to the North. In this excursion they visited the cities of York and Lincoln and most of the remarkable Towns in those parts, at which places they were treated in the politest Manner, and with the greatest Respect, being universally esteemed in their skill in the much admired Art of Campanology. At Holbeach in Lincolnshire, they rung a compleat Length of Eight in, at which place their Names, with the Bell each Man rung were set up in the Belfry at the church.’
A week later, the Leicester and Nottingham Journal, expounded further noting that they had travelled a distance of ‘upwards of four hundred miles’ and had ‘intended to have touched at Nottingham and Leicester on their return from York, had they not been detained in that city longer than they expected.’

Book Review
Dove’s Guide for Church Bell Ringers, Tenth Edition
Hard on the heels (well, nearly) of the new edition of ‘Diagrams’, reviewed on p.1029 of The Ringing World of 7th October 2011, comes the latest incarnation of Dove’s Guide, the tenth edition of a book which has become a classic in its sphere and an indispensable aid to generations of ringers. I remember poring over the first edition when I was learning to ring, and most of the subsequent ones have found their way onto my bookshelves.

Obituary
John Colbert

The Curious Tale of the Coloured Bells – Part II
Some of you may remember the article I wrote in 2007 concerning a set of colourful handbells that I received; here the theme continues …

Tail Ends
Is your tower wheelchair accessible? What provision have you made to ensure that people with physical disability are not to feel negatively discriminated, prevented from equal opportunity to participate in a cultural activity?
Does your tower comply with possible future Occupational Health and Safety requirements? It is far too late to address such matters after an incident which draws attention to inadequacies that, according to whichever authority makes judgment, should have been foreseen. It has been my experience that authorities, usually an arm of government, delight in judging others. They make the rules which they police rigorously, and often they are intolerant of circumstances and traditions that make compliance difficult or impossible. Yet these authorities can be blind to their own shortcomings.

The Return of Stoke Canon bells
For the past five years the six-hundred people of the village of Stoke Canon, a few miles north of Exeter, have been busy raising some £86,000 to restore their ring of six bells. As with so many similar projects, there have been local fund-raising events, appeals to grant-making bodies and the support of local bell ringing organisations and of the Central Council’s Bell Restoration Committee. In the village there was a project team and a fund-raising team chaired by Maureen Owen-Jones, with Jane Cook as Treasurer. Sadly, Jane was not to see the result of the work as she died unexpectedly last December. Nevertheless, the fund-raising continued and, from details on Jane’s computer, it is thought that the target has been reached. The funding included grants of £44,000 from The Heritage Lottery Fund and £7,500 from The Devon Church Bells Restoration Fund.