The fifth Ringing World National Youth Contest will take place on Saturday, 11th July 2015 in Oxford, hosted by the Oxford Society of Change Ringers. This eight bell competition for the Whitechapel Trophy will be held at St Thomas the Martyr and is open to bands comprising ringers aged under 19 (on 11th July 2015). Bands may choose to ring Major, Triples or Call Changes. David Pipe will again be the Chief Judge, aided by three young judges who will be announced in due course. The bells of St Thomas are widely regarded as one of the finest light tens in the country (11cwt); the bells are easy both to hear and to handle and have been rung for several notable record length performances since their augmentation to ten. The church is very close to the train station, and only 15 minutes walk from the centre of Oxford. In addition to the contest there will be lots going on during the day for young ringers to enjoy. There will be ringing for the contestants at many of the other towers in Oxford, including the 31cwt ring of twelve at Christ Church which was the venue for the final of the National 12-bell Striking Contest in 2014, and is accessible by walking under the famous ‘Harry Potter stairs’.

The closing date for entries is Friday, 24th April. If you are an adult organiser or a young ringer who would like to enter the contest please send an e-mail to rwnyc@ringingworld.co.uk for an entry form, contest rules or just further information. If there are more than 16 entries, teams who came in the top 3 in either the method or call change competition in 2014 will be given automatic entry (if they apply) and the other teams will be allocated places by a random ballot. Teams will be informed whether or not they have been successful in their application.

We look forward to what promises to be another great day for everyone involved.

COLIN PARKER
RWNYC Organiser