Cambridge District

of the Ely Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers

Calendar

Saturday 11th February	3:00 - 5:00	Cambridge (Our Lady and the English Martyrs)
Saturday 11th February	5:00 - 6:00	Cambridge (St Andrew the Great)

News

Congratulations to Catherine Richardson, ringer at Linton, who has been awarded the Dorothy L Sayers Society Young Ringer's Award. The recipient of the award is chosen by the Ladies Guild and will be funded to attend a ringing course of her choice.

Congratulations to Alf Pipe, who has rung a quarter peal at the age of 6! He rang the trebles to Plain Bob Minor on handbells, with his parents, to eclipse his brother Henry's similar achievement in January 2010.

Thanks to a kindly reminder that Great Wilbraham are now not a 5 (!), I've finally got round to updating the "Name the Tower" pages. Not only are Wilbraham now a 6, but there are options to view some alternative views of the towers. I have called these "Detail Views"; they may be within the ringing chamber, or external details of the tower. (There's even a photo of a very young John to spot!) If you select "Random Views" you should get a mixture of internal and external photos. Please let me know of any problems or out-of-date pictures. And while I was at it, there's a new cartoon too.

A quarter peal of Grandsire Triples was specially arranged and rung at the Catholic church in Cambridge on Tuesday 17th January, to mark the centenary of the arrival of Robert Falcon Scott and his team at the South Pole. Being just up the road from the Scott Polar Research Institute, the venue was very well chosen. A peal of Surprise Minor was also rung on the back 6 (!) on Thursday 19th January.

The Annual District Meeting was held at Barton on Saturday 14th January, after ringing at Little Eversden beforehand and tea including a selection of excellent soups. There was little change among the officers, apart from the formalisation of the Web Master role. Three new members were elected and there were several notable long-service awards. The Gipson Trophy was presented to Derek Latchford, tower captain of the Bottisham band. The Association's Annual Report is currently being finalised, so if you have any corrections for that, please let Felicity know. And of course, subscriptions are now due to Sue Ellis; £10 for adults, £5 for juniors.

The Trumpington band have been busy recently, ringing a date touch of 2012 Yorkshire Surprise Major on the 1st January, then a quarter peal of 24-spliced Surprise Major on 8th January.

John Gipson featured in the Cambridge Evening News on Tuesday 13th December, talking about his 3000 peals and his experiences of ringing around the world.

Many thanks are due to Phil Gorman and his team for arranging a splendid candle-lit District Carol Service at Great Wilbraham on Saturday 10th December. A ringers' choir, directed by Penny Coggill, contributed some lovely singing, with Thomas Brooke at the organ. As well as readings and a sermon from Alice Goodman, the service also included excellent hand-bell ringing from Steve Theobald, Robert Oakeshott, Patrick and Ali Brooke; personally I thought just 40 changes was much too short! The service was followed by refreshments, with more ringing on both tower- and hand-bells.

Thanks to Andrea, I gather there is a mistake in the latest edition of Diagrams. On page 14, the Singles for St Clements and Single Oxford are incorrect. I have produced a correction page, in case it's of any use - either low or high resolution.

Congratulations to Rhyan and Katherine Probert, ringers at Cherry Hinton, on the birth of a daughter, Hannah Elizabeth, on Saturday 19th November. Quarter peals have been rung at Sutton (Cheshire), Fulbourn, Little Shelford and Cherry Hinton to welcome her.

Here are a couple of items that are not technically District related, but are newsworthy nonetheless. Firstly the SUA (Southern Universities) Striking Competition took place in Cambridge on Saturday 12th November. There was an 8-bell competition, held at St Andrew the Great, then a 6-bell at St Bene't's, both of which I'm glad (and slightly biassed) to report were won by the Cambridge University Guild. For full results, see their website. Secondly, the first peal on the bells at Swaffham Bulbeck, just over the border into Ely District, was rung on Monday 14th November. This was a notable achievement, with the band included three first pealers; congratulations to them.

A Cambridge Youths (GSM) band has rung a peal of 23-spliced Surprise Major in hand. This was a first for Elizabeth Frye, Stephen Croxall and Luke Smith, and a first as conductor for Patrick Brooke. They also rang the first ever peal of cyclic Fourteen in hand, in two methods, Kent TB and Gonville Little TB.

Welcome and congratulations to Clare George. Having begun to learn to ring only in September, as part of the Great Wilbraham Ringing Course, she was elected as a member of the Association at the District Meeting at Woodditton on Saturday 12th November. And on Sunday 13th November, Clare rang her first quarter peal at the first attempt, in good style, ringing the tenor behind at Great Wilbraham.

We bid farewell to Anne Bridge, tower captain at West Wratting, as she moves to Norfolk. This will be a great loss to the District, as Anne has been a keen and active supporter of our activities for many years, as well as all her efforts in keeping ringing at West Wratting going. Quarter peals have been rung for Anne at West Wratting and Cherry Hinton.

Further to the item below about the New Music 20x12 project, Matt Dawson has created Five Rings Doubles, a variant of the Triples composition by Howard Skempton, who has apparently approved the new method. Like the original, the new method keeps the rotationally symmetric treble path, with five blows ("five rings") in one place. The new method is false in the plain course, but still looks fun for those who wish to take part in the project.

This year's Association Quarter Peal Day took place in the Ely District on Saturday 29th October. We scored a total of seven (out of nine) quarter peals, including Over, Burwell, Willingham, Cottenham, Haddenham and Oakington. Many thanks to Dee Smith for all her organisation. There was also a business meeting, to ratify bell fund grants and to make some changes to Rules 5, 6, 7 and 9 (details are here).

Congratulations to John Gipson on ringing his 3000th peal, rung at Meldreth on Friday 28th October. His first peal was on 9th March 1939 and he is the 36th ringer to reach 3000 peals.

Best wishes to Philip Earis and Jennie Butler, who were married at Great St Mary's on Saturday 22nd October. Peals were rung at Great St Mary's, GSM (in hand), St Andrew the Great, Chesterton, Trumpington, OLEM, Willingham, Campton and New York. Quarter peals were rung at Newcastle, Maisemore and Market Deeping.

I was in Wolfson College recently, when a large bell caught my eye, so, naturally, I went to investigate. It was the old 11th bell from Great St Mary's, which had been traditionally sounded prior to University Sermons. The motto of Wolfson is 'Ring True' and a bell features in its coat of arms, so the college acquired the bell when the new ring was installed in 2009. The full information card is here.

You may have seen the item on the BBC news website about ringing for the 2012 Olympics, featuring a new composition called Five Rings Triples. There is more information on the Central Council website, including an interview with the composer, Howard Skempton, and a blue line. The composer is not a ringer himself, but has learned enough about change-ringing to produce a new method, with Plain Bob lead ends, but an unusual Bob and unusual symmetry. The treble path also includes 5 blows in one place (a reference to the five Olympic Rings) - so, perhaps ironically, the Central Council doesn't actually recognise this as a proper method.

Geoff Perryman does a fantastic job, single-handedly coordinating the Practice Night Support scheme, but his band of helpers is dwindling, which means that he can't cater for all the requests that he has from towers for help. So, please get in touch with him (C. 207790) if you can help, as your assistance is greatly appreciated by the towers. Even if you can only ring plain hunt, you can still make a difference, enabling bands to ring things that they otherwise wouldn't have enough people to so. And equally, if you

Congratulations

First Quarter Peal

Alf Pipe (on handbells) - Willingham, 24th January 2012
Clive Dalton - Little Eversden, 26th November 2011
Clare George (at first attempt) - Great Wilbraham, 13th November
Judy Hirst - Duxford, 16th October
Sandra Webb - Pampisford, 16th October

Quarter Peal footnotes

JoAnne Rutter - First Spliced Surprise Minor - Thriplow, 26th January
William Brooke - First Stedman Cinques - Cambridge (Gt St Mary), 1st January 2012
June Mackay - First Royal inside (Plain Bob) - St Neots, 30th December 2011
John Hinton - First Minor - Little Shelford, 3rd December
Chris Surridge - First as Conductor - Little Eversden, 26th November
Henry Pipe - First on 8 (Kent TB Major in hand) - Cambridge (Gt St Mary), 20th November
June Mackay - 150th quarter peal on tower bells - Longstanton, 19th November
Jackie Latham - 100th quarter peal - Cambridge (St Edward), 16th November
Sue Toule - First on 8 - Melbourn, 13th November
Amanda Cator - First Spliced (Cambridge/Ipswich S. Minor) - Cherry Hinton, 5th November
Anne Bridge- First Spliced S. Minor (Cambridge/Ipswich) - Cherry Hinton, 5th November
June Mackay - First Royal - Cambridge (Gt St Mary), 30th October
Jackie Latham - First Grandsire Triples - Burwell, 29th October
Imogen Brooke & Sam Gorman - First Avon D. Maximus - Cambridge (Gt St Mary), 16th October

Peal footnotes

Frank King - First 8-spliced Surprise Major - Trumpington, 4th February
Patrick Brooke - 200th peal as Conductor - Trumpington, 14th January 2012
Henry Pipe - First on 8 (Kent TB Major in hand) - Cambridge (Gt St Mary), 22nd November 2011
John Gipson - 3000th peal - Meldreth, 28th October
Mike Purday - 500th Peal - Willingham, 23rd October

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