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Alison Hodge

The ODG held their traditional Early May Bank Holiday Open Day yesterday (Monday 1st May 2023).
I hope that the organisers felt that it was a success and that it raised a good sum for the ODG Bell Fund. Thank you to all the towers, organisers and helpers involved!

More generally, I wonder how successful such open days are now? Are there as many people participating as in the past and what about the quality of the ringing?

A "rare" or new tower may still attract a significant number of the regulars who wish to take the opportunity to 'tick off' in Dove their five thousandth and something tower, but is a new generation of tower collectors emerging who will maintain what's probably been quite a useful source of income for several societies either annually as for the ODG and Salisbury LEBRF, or occasionally for a specific project or campaign.

Lucy Chandhial

I know young ringers in the London area who keep a record of how many towers they have been to and would enjoy Open Day opportunities to ring at new towers.
So with less new ringers in the last forty years than the forty years (ish?) before there will be less of them but I’d say there is a still a proportion who are tower grabbers and more who are interested in a day out once in a while.

Tristan Lockheart

Speculation time here, but what could be the factors behind fewer people going on

Less spare time? - an open day eats up time on a weekend, and people tend to have busy lives. An ongoing trend throughout ringing and hobbies/volunteering in general - hours are down across the board.
Maybe people don't like dashing around to get to all the towers? A more relaxed schedule with fewer towers might make for a better balance between energy and tower grabbing.
You need a car or someone to share a lift with to take part - petrol isn't cheap these days either.

Less dashing around could also increase the quality of the ringing; I for one certainly wouldn't be up to much by tower number 8!

That said, I'd echo @Lucy Chandhial's observation - there are plenty of young people into tower grabbing, so I don't think Open Days will be going away any time soon. There may be fewer people coming onto the tours and thus a lower level of income, but probably still enough to be worthwhile (particularly in areas where Open Days are less common).

Simon Linford

I think Open Days need to be viewed as more than just revenue generating exercises, because they are not really very good at doing that these days. Although there is little direct benefit to the organising area, Open Days are part of the joy and variety of ringing and in organsin them we provide opportunities and experiences for our fellow ringers. They are particularly good for giving young ringers the opportunity to ring at different places - I certainly scoured the classified section of the RW when I was a young learner looking for tower grab opportunities - and if you can throw in a few rare towers to satisfy avid grabbers there can be something for everyone.

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