The Ringing Weekend

The accommodation this weekend came as a distinct contrast to the Travelodge where I happened to fetch up on Tuesday night last week.  We have to acknowledge, of course, that they are aimed at a different clientele and each probably meets its own aims with the same efficiency.  I had no real compaints with either.

The organisers of our ringing weekend are faced with one overarching problem, that of finding an affordable establishment that is big enough to accommodate 12 to 20 guests, and either will provide both breakfast and an evening meal, or is sufficiently close to a pub which can offer one or both of these requirements - and even more importantly - makes a convenient base for visiting a suitable number of churches that have ringable bells in good order.

In recent years we have set our sights on the Best Western chain, and this weekend we aimed for their hotel at Blunsdon, just outside Swindon.  It seems that this was the best sector of the country for weather; their snow had already arrived by Saturday morning, providing a picturesque if unseasonal backdrop, and we missed the substantial falls at home during our absence.  The only adverse effect of the weather was that one of our party, who is elderly and not very mobile, decided not to venture out in the morning, for fear of slipping on a slushy churchyard path.  Her husband delighted to return to the hotel to fetch her for lunch, however, and she joined in the rest of the day's activities. 


The hotel drive in the snow

St. Mary, Kempsford ceiling

Perhaps one of the most beautiful sights of the morning was the magnificent crossing ceiling in St. Mary's church, Kempsford, under which we had to pass before we could climb to the ringing chamber which is above it.  Lunch was taken at the Riverside Inn by the Thames at Lechlade, before going just up the street to ring at the church of St Lawrence there.



There is always a good welcome in the ringing fraternity, and during our time at Lechlade the door of the ringing chamber opened to admit three ladies who had heard the bells and, being ringers themselves, had decided to investigate.  On learning that we were simply visitors and not there to ring for a wedding or to attempt a significant ringing achievement like a peal or quarter peal, they asked if we would mind them joining us.  We didn't of course, and our augmented band rang a couple of touches of slightly higher quality with their help before we each went our separate ways.

St Leonard, Broad Blunsdon

The first of the two churches at which we rang this morning was St Leonard, Broad Blunsdon, just up the road from the hotel, where the local band were away and our request to ring had been warmly welcomed.  It was lovely to see the church so colourful and feel its warmth as the local congregation assembled for their celebration on Palm Sunday.  Our ringing there included what we agreed was one of the best pieces of ringing of the whole weekend.  The quality and enjoyment of ringing depends on several factors: the weight of the bells, their state of maintenance, the competence of the ringers and so on.  Today on this very light ring of eight bells (tenor 5cwt, 1 qtr, 15 lbs, or about 274Kg), we rang a simple piece in a method called 'Grandsire Triples', which, in the estimation of one ringer present, equalled something in which he had taken part at Canterbury Cathedral twenty years ago, and which had stuck in his mind as particularly pleasant.

We then moved on to what was probably the worst experience of the weekend.  The five bells at St John the Baptist, Lattan, although not particularly heavy, are mounted on plain bearings (whereas most rings these days are on ball bearings ... compare it to a car with or without power steering), and are not regularly rung, although they had been recently maintained.  It is hard to appreciate that the beautiful ringing of only an hour previously could be followed - by members of the same band - by such an awkward and disjointed performance.  Some of us simply couldn't match the work required to keep the bell going properly!  If nothing else, it's part of going on tours like this to other places, to meet the challenge of other bells, the difficulties presented by other installations and, as a result, to improve our own techniques and achievements when we get home.

By lunchtime today, therefore, the party had broken up.  Some were going on to visit family or friends who happen to live nearby, and others are now at home in the bosom of their families.  For my part, I'm sorting out the aftermath of the weekend (including the writing of this blog) and looking forward (or not, in the face of this nasty wintry white stuff) to another week on the road.