visiting ringers at Service ringing
  • Oliver Lee
    35
    As they are due to be removed at the end of the month for rehanging my Father and I decided to join Bedford for some service ringing and I'm sorry to say that the experience was far from enjoyable, although we cleared our visit with the tower captain a couple of days previously we received what I can only describe as a frosty reception but as two of my friends were present I decided to ignore it with hindsight however I really should've taken this as a warning of what was to come!, whilst there were more then enough people to have rung a touch of Grandsire triples on the back eight the ringing Master instead choose to ring a decidedly boring set of rounds on 12 with a placed band during which he fussed incessantly about the striking and made some uncalled for remarks on my bell handling!, eventually I grew more then a little fed up of this but the biggest insult came when he at point blank refused to let me ring the tenor because I was a visitor and not one of his "locals". has anyone else encountered unfriendly towers like this? I've visited many places across the country for service ringing and with the exception of yesterday I have always received a very warm welcome
    Oliver Lee Options
  • Phillip George
    109
    eventually I grew more then a little fed up of this but the biggest insult came when he at point blank refused to let me ring the tenor because I was a visitor and not one of his "locals". — Oliver Lee

    Oliver, you have explained your visit to Bedford from your point of view and I do not wish to comment on it because I was not there. However, as you have commented publicly, I will say that I support any tower captain/ringing master in their decision whether or not to allow any ringer to ring the tenor or any other particular bell. ....None of us has a right to ring! .....we do so only with permission of the church under the guidance of (church) appointed leaders. When visiting a tower we should respect the decisions made locally, including what methods and how many bells are rung. You might have an opinion about this but yours is not to reason why! You said that the ringing master did not allow you to ring the tenor because you were not one of the locals. There could be a reason for this e.g. the condition/go of the bell? If you feel so strongly aggrieved I would suggest that you contact the tower captain and ask if he would be kind enough give you a more detailed explanation. I hope you are able to resolve this.
    Phillip George Options
  • Oliver Lee
    35
    ↪Phillip George
    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
    Oliver Lee Options
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