RWNYC write-up competition runner-up

Ringing World National Youth Contest 2013
by Ellie Sargeant, Lincolnshire Poachers

We all came to York for the third contest for the Whitechapel Trophy, this year 16 teams entered:

There was a peal ringing during the day:

YOUNG RINGERS’ ASSOCIATION

YORK, Cathedral & Metropolitical Church of St Peter
Sat Jul 6 2013 3h56 (59)
5004 Stedman Cinques
Comp. Edward R Mack

1 Adam A Brady
2 Edward R Mack (C)
3 Heather M Forster
4 Katharine A Hill
5 Jonathan H Potter
6 Michael R Crockett
7 Simon Read
8 Daniel Jones
9 Michael J Pollard
10 Nicholas D Brown
11 Thomas J Waterson
12 Simon A Percy

Rung on the day of the Ringing World National Youth Contest, taking place in York, by a band aged 17 to 24.
First of Stedman as conductor.
First peal of Stedman: 9.
The conductor would like Tom Mack to be associated with this peal.

Well done to all who rang in the peal! Especially in that heat, it was one of the hottest places in England!

I’m sure I speak on behalf of all the people who were at York on 6th July by saying a huge ‘thank you’ to The Ringing World for putting on yet another great day for us. Not just the contest itself but for the other ringing and treasure hunting as well.

The treasure hunt was won by Richard Pinnock and Tom Horton from St Martin’s Youths; the prize was four £15 Amazon vouchers so well done to them. We found it hard to complete the treasure hunt because of the timing; none of us read the bottom of the sheet until 4pm! And we were running about trying to get the answers!

When we arrived at St Helen’s to register, we received a wristband which was red and said RWNYC 2013 on so we could get into the towers, everyone had them. The mini ring was out all day in St Helen’s and our team went to ring them at about 11, and they were a bit of a challenge because they were so light.

Next we moved on to the handbell workshop, a bit of plain hunt for a few of us then on to something a bit harder for those experienced on hand bells.

There was a bit of walking between St Lawrence and the other towers but no one minded. Personally I thought it was a great idea to have all of the towers open most of the day, so you’re not pressured for time to ring at all of the towers in a particular order; we were free to ring when it suited and where we were at the time.

The churches open during the day were:

• All Saints, North Street – 11-12:30 – focus was Plain Bob Major
• St Olave, Marygate – 11-13:30 – focus was Cambridge Surprise Minor and Stedman Doubles
• St Martin-le-Grand, Coney Street – 12-13:30 – focus was Yorkshire Surprise Major
• St Wilfrid, Duncombe Place – 13:30-15:00 – focus was Grandsire Caters
• All Saints, North Street – 14:00-15:30 – focus was Bristol Surprise Major
• St Martin-le-Grand, Coney Street – 14:30- 16:45 – focus was Plain Bob Major and Grandsire Triples
• St Wilfrid, Duncombe Place – 15:30-17:00 – focus was Yorkshire Surprise Royal and Grandsire Caters

St Lawrence’s bells were a challenge but I think every team worked really hard and did absolutely brilliantly; so well done to everyone who took part in the day to make it a great success, the judges commented about the 2 and 6 being a challenge.

McDonalds was certainly a popular place during the day due to its location being just a few steps away from St Helen’s, we probably kept them busy all day! They were so busy they ran out of McFlurrys! Our team all had large cokes or sprite with extra ice! The queue was spilling out the door-literally!

Which gave everyone a go; they rang rounds and call changes as well for anyone who couldn’t ring either the focus method or what they were ringing at the time. Everyone had their prime ring and I didn’t see one unhappy face throughout the whole day; everyone was smiling during the results – especially those who won!

The judges were Simon Linford, Helen Beaumont, David Leese, and Ryan Mills. Simon was head judge again but will be sadly missed next year as he is letting someone else do it.

During the results ‘The Creeper’ was out doing his ghost trail which kept us all entertained during a serious moment!

Congratulations to Bedfordshire and The G. & B. on winning the call changes and methods category and look forward to seeing you all there again next year.

They told us the date and venue for next year’s contest, 5th July 2014 at Worcester. All in all my team decided that this year was better than last year, not just because there were more things to have a go at but we have become closer as a team and grown stronger as ringers.