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Overseas Liaison - updates from all overseas ringing societies were requested by Bruce Butler on behalf of the Committee. The following were received:
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Ringing is progressing well in established areas, though it is hard work where there is no tradition. On the east coast in Brisbane, where the nearest towers are two and a half and three hours' drive away, ringing trips to other centres tend to cover quite large distances. There are some very enthusiastic ringers who have organized several trips to other towers and states to get to know other ringers and improve their skills. This included a round trip to Melbourne of 3500 kms.
Construction work on St John's Cathedral, Brisbane, continues without any serious interruption to the ringing and we are looking forward to welcoming ANZAB for the 2009 ANZAB Festival in June.
October storms caused significant hailstone damage to the leaded lights in the tower at Lismore and curtailed ringing for several weeks.
In NSW the opening of the new ring at Orange was a highlight in the ringing calendar. A remarkable achievement was one of our younger ringers, Lexi Prabenhakar, conducting her first peal but choosing Holt's Original as the composition.
In Tasmania, Holy Trinity, Hobart, has been made redundant without any significant reference to the bellringers. This tower is historical to Hobart as well as to ringing in Australia. The tower contains unique memorabilia and it is hoped that the ringers will be able to maintain access to and control of the bells and the memorabilia.
On the Western seaboard, St George's Cathedral had a well-earned overhaul as part of a $15 million restoration programme for the cathedral. The 'go' of this lovely light eight is improved considerably. Swan Bells continues to attract visitors from all over the world with almost 90,000 visitors passing through the tower and being suitably informed of the history of the bells and the intricacies of the art and science of bellringing. A milestone on the WA ringing road was a quarter of Yorkshire Maximus by an all WA band: this should augur well for the future. Swan Bells also took part in a performance of the 1812 Overture. Plans are well advanced for a new tower (literally) and ring of eight at St Luke's Mosman Park in Perth.
There have been monthly Sunday afternoon practices at Ballarat Town Hall which have now continued for three years (second Sunday of the month) and bi-monthly Vic branch practices at Bendigo, Geelong or Melbourne. St Patrick's Cathedral started Tuesday practices last year which will continue and they have several new members. St Pius X, West Heidelberg, changed its two trebles for slightly heavier new bells cast by Taylors. They are now more audible when we ring the 8.
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We start on a high note as the bellringers St Finbarre's Cathedral in Cork city await the augmentation of their ring of 8 bells to a 27cwt peal of 12 bells. We are all looking forward to hearing these lovely bells ring out again in 2008.
Again there were many visiting bellringers during the year and their help was greatly appreciated. Some towers, unfortunately, were very low in number which was due to illness, though new ringers are coming on stream throughout the Association and we hope they will be able to enjoy their time as bellringers and help to keep the bells ringing.
A number of ringers from the Eastern District of the Association availed themselves of the bells in Manchester and rural Cheshire. The week-end's ringing covered nine towers, ending on the majestic ring of 12 bells at Manchester Town Hall.
The Association ringing festival was hosted by the Southern District with ringing at Mount St Alphonsus and St Mary's Cathedral in Limerick. During the afternoon a cruise on the river Shannon brought us to our venue for the bellringers' dinner where the President of the Association welcomed everybody.
The Association holds monthly practices throughout the 3 districts and the hosting of joint practices across the districts presents the opportunity for a good range of ringing from call-changes right through to surprise methods. The many cup competitions held at district level culminated in the winning teams competing at All-Ireland level. A number of quarter peals and peals were also achieved during 2007.
I wish everybody plenty of enjoyable ringing in 2008 and don't forget to include Ireland in your schedule of places to visit: you will be made very welcome.
June Kelly
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Greetings from us all, the Guild of St Brigida Bellringers, Geldrop, The Netherlands.
Gradually we are establishing a full-circle ringing tradition, (Dutch style), though the main tradition in Holland is the carillon and it's taking time to catch on. We have an education programme in Spring and Summer months with morning schools visits. Some stay to learn change-ringing and other schools have applied to come in 2008. During 2001 we rang for all the main religious and cultural festivals, visited Guilds in Utrecht and Breille and hosted visits from Amsterdam and Zwolle. We practise regularly on a dumb-bell in order to plan for a visit to the UK.
Pam Reid
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Progress has been made in finding a home for the Pewaukee, Wisconsin bells but there is still a funding issue. Efforts to have rings of bells in Shreveport, Louisiana and Portland, Oregon, are still continuing. It has recently been announced the funding for a new ring of 8 (6 cwt) in Seattle, Washington has been donated and the bells are expected to be ringing before the end of 2008.
As usual, numerous events were held throughout the year including our very successful AGM and course in North Georgia (Atlanta and Marietta). It was here that we celebrated the 35th anniversary of the founding of the North American Guild. Side trips to Augusta, Birmingham and Sewanee were also part of the weekend. We hope for another successful AGM weekend this year in Miami in October and hope to see some overseas visitors.
Kalamazoo scored their 500th quarter peal on the bells. Toronto and Raleigh had significant birthdays, 10 years and 20 years respectively. Both were celebrated with weekend ringing events.
Philadelphia had their very successful annual quarter peal weekend in January and held their annual dinner in March and birthday celebrations for both St Mark's and St Martin's in June. New Castle hosted their annual dinner weekend in November. A very successful Five Towers Festival was hosted by Houston. The Kalamazoo and Mid-Atlantic Area weekends were held throughout the year. Dallas's novice weekend, Victoria Day, Brewster's annual anniversary celebration and Trinity, New York City's first annual July 4th celebration were just a few of the other events that brought ringers together. The Quebec ringers celebrated the rehanging of the retuned Holy Trinity Cathedral bells in May. Numerous instructional weekends were held in addition to the pre-AGM course.
This year the Striking Competition was held and hosted by Augusta. The Guild is very grateful to Jeremy and Sheila Cheesman for participating in the weekend both as tutors and judges.
Our President for the past three years, Porter Brownlee, stood down and his successor is Lyn Barnett from Atlanta. Several other officers also stood down including Margaret Ketchen, our newsletter editor. There will also be some new faces in Newcastle for the CC meeting.
Bruce Butler
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Because of the far-flung position of the ringing centres in the country, and the consequent lack of regular ringing interchange, the SAGCBR operates mostly in three ways: through the Annual General Meeting, in its activities in facilitating the installation of new rings of bells, and by the publication of a newsletter about twice a year .
Even within ringing centres, distance can be a problem. In Johannesburg, Parktown is far from Fourways Gardens, and none of their ringers live near this new six. It is vital to ensure the new ringers have good handling ability, which is easier to do at Parktown than on very light bells. Kate Dryden has done this successfully, but more ringers have to be trained.
In 2007 the AGM was held at the end of August, in Grahamstown, where ringing took place both at the cathedral and at Hillandale, on the monastery bells. Guild members from all four ringing centres in the country were able to attend, there was an especially lively contingent from Durban. The annual dinner was attended by just over 40 members and friends. The Mayor of Makana, the area within which Grahamstown is located, presented Guild Certificates of Proficiency as Change Ringers to ringers from Grahamstown and Parktown (Johannesburg). The annual striking competition, always a much-awaited part of the AGM weekend, regrettably had to be abandoned for technical reasons.
During the year quarter peals were successfully completed at Cape Town, (a first inside for Marvin Williams), Grahamstown, (including Richard Tyson’s first quarter, aged twelve), Hillandale and Parktown (a first inside for Anthony Arbuthnot).
A visiting peal band from England was able to complete peals at Cape Town cathedral, Woodstock, Hillandale (first of Surprise on the bells), Grahamstown cathedral (first of Caters on the bells), and at Parktown. Two local ringers stood in the Caters peal.
More locally trained members are taking on positions of responsibility at the ringing centres, succeeding the older generation, most of whom learnt to ring abroad.
The project to install a ring of six bells at All Saints Church, Fourways Gardens, Johannesburg, nears completion. The trebles have been cast at Loughborough; the back four bells are already hung. Wheels have been made by Eric Tasmer in Grahamstown and the headstocks by Grahamstown Engineering. The dedication of the completed ring of six will take place in the first half of 2008. The Guild thanks the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, the Trustees of the Fred Dukes International Fund, the Trustees of the Keltek Trust, and many individual ringers in Britain for generous donations towards the cost of bells. The Transvaal Society paid for one bell.
The project to install a ring of bells at Kimberley cathedral proceeds slowly. New projects are in gestation.
The annual meeting for 2008 is scheduled for Durban at the end of August. The Guild hopes that many visitors from overseas will attend. Visitors are always welcome in our towers, where their contribution to practice nights is especially appreciated, and that not only in teaching the elements of change ringing. In Parktown for example, just one good visiting ringer gives the band the opportunity to ring more complex methods. Contact details are available on the Guild's website.
E D Elderkin, Chairman
with contributions from:
C A Lewis, Projects Officer
M Roberts, Parktown
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Bruce Butler
On behalf of the CCCBR Public Relations Committee