Ringing Forums

Without wishing to drag this conversation on into eternity I've had a read through all of the Comments and personally I wish I'd never started this in the first place, it was never my intention to offend or criticise another tower and if I have done either of those things I am truly sorry and I'd like to apologise to everyone who has had to read through my ridiculous rantings. I will ensure it doesn't happen and that I can promise.

I'm not churlish Simon, I know I come across as such in my Original post but that is not what I am and many of my ringing friends will testify to it. the incident at Bedford was a genuine complaint but thinking about it with Hindsight I should've really contacted the tower captain privately rather then airing my grievances on a public forum like this. I will ensure that I do so if anything like this occurs again

the Point in my Original post was supposed to be sarcastic, I'd never ever under any circumstances grab hold of a rope without asking and thinking about it I kind of wish I hadn't even written it!

well I'm pleased to say I'm not like that, I've rung several tenors to quarters over the years and a lot of people have commented favourably on how good my striking is. I do remember one instance though on an outing where our youth co Ordinator had a right proper moan at the "lightnings" amongst claiming that If we rang like that with some bands we wouldn't be asked to tenor again, eight years later I do think she had a point.

I did follow the guidance Philip, If I wanted I could've grabbed the tenor and refused to budge but because I am generally a respectful person I asked the RM very kindly if I could take the tenor for the last set of rounds and instead of saying something along the lines of " yes of course you can" or "not this time but you can when the bells are back" he bluntly told me no because "he" had to place the band and even after I'd explained that I'd had experience with heavy tenors he sarcastically retorted "oh I bet you have" as if he didn't actually believe me. I will in due course contact the tower captain to discuss the matter further but I have already decided that this will be my one and only visit to Bedford, I don't usually say this about towers I've been to but this has left a sour taste in the mouth and I find it especially sad that this had to be my memory of them given that a friend of mine used to ring there in the early 70s

cheers Lucy, if we'd got the quarter last Friday it wouldn't be so much of an issue but what especially hurts about this situation is that it's happened before. last year I lost a quarter of Bob triples around this time but instead of arranging another one for me a week later he instead got somebody else to ring in it whilst I had to wait a good three months before a friend of mine organised one for me with a totally different band. I really want to progress my ringing but at the moment I don't really feel like there is the opportunity for that especially as this tower captain has one or two favourites that call the encouragement he can throw at them.

that sounds excellent, two years is quite a while and I hope this time there will be some success. It's been a very long time since I've rung at said tower so it will be wonderful to return when everything is sorted.

cheers Lucy, from what my friend has told me this does seem to have morphed into something of a standoffish situatation, I've notified the local association secretary and he is going to gather intelligence and look into it!

you're right I shouldn't feel concerned but I must admit I do feel somewhat jealous that our learner can ring inside to Cambridge major whereas I (having rung for almost 14 years since the age of nine) have never got asked (or even encouraged ) to learn it , I have tried asking our tower captain weather I can be accommodated but usually it's the same old excuse of "we don't have enough " or " maybe another time" which invariably never happens. I'm half tempted to leave this particular tower and move onto somewhere where my needs are catered for and interestingly quite a lot of my fellow ringers have expressed similar concerns, maybe that might be the only answer?

I have tried asking in the past but it's the same excuse of "oh the bells are too heavy" or "only when the right people turn up", ironically they did used to be a monthly "eight bell" practice long before I started ringing and I do know that ten years ago they could ring up to stedman triples so I think it's just a lack of interest ( coupled with a lot of learners!). however I am not going to give up and I think I might just try and give your strategy a go, I will let you know how I get on
cheers
oliver

hi lucy, yes quite a lot of places have done this but there is usually no indication of it on their website!. i'm after these two reports as I rang at durham on sunday whilst on a short break and on the way home we paid a visit to fylingdales ( as my late grandmother used to visit the area as a child), it's frustrating that there isn't a dedicated website for old reports but at the same time it's good to have physical copies as you can look at them whenever you want (and without having to be connected to wifi!)

hi martin, yes that's a very good point, I live in harlow essex but I regularly ring at sawbridgeworth, much hadham, bishop's stortford and waltham abbey (which is on paper my home tower).

Hi Lucy, whilst there are some particularly strong quarter peal bands in my area there seems to be an all too massive gulf between those who ring surprise major and those who don’t, the vast majority of practices tend to cater for the former type of people but thankfully I do regularly ring with a band who are both inclusive and willing to help people progress in anyway they can. As a matter of fact I am going on a course to learn bob minor next week so already I think I’m well on my way to improving my method repertoire

does anyone have any contact details for andrew craddock?, apparently he's the one who
runs the site.

hi Richard, yes this is exactly what I'm after, do you mind sending me your email address and also do you have any from 71,75 and 76?.

hi Alison, I do take an interest in the bell news but these are easily available online, I would be particularly interested to know which years this collector had as they are a few that I already have. my current copies are kept in my bedroom cupboard but hopefully I should be getting a shelf for them, are bound copies more easier to keep? as most my existing ones are in loose box folders.

I am certainly very much in favour of digitalising reports and as a matter of fact this is something I have wanted to see happen for quite a while, not only will it make the historian's job a lot more easier when researching a particular tower or association but it might also help to foster an interest in people who regularly ring at these places.