Monthly Archives: March 2014

Crowded practice

Excellent practice session this evening made possible by a wealth of visitors from Milland (not even in Hampshire!), from Alton and from Blackmoor.

Ringing included rounds & call changes, Plain Hunt, Plain Bob Doubles, Grandsire Doubles and Stedman Doubles – how good is that? Lots of practice for Bob preparing for his debut as a Quarter Peal treble ringer. A good varied evening with something for everybody present (including a trip to the GreyFriar for “asbo”)

Wondering what all those strange names are (Plain Bob Doubles, etc)? They’re names of “methods”, the bell ringing equivalent of a tune, patterns of sequence changes which the ringers learn by heart. Wikipedia provides this explanation.

Ringing next Sunday

Dry now

Dry path, gate, cemetery

With the flood waters receding, electrics restored and spring just around the corner, bellringing at Chawton will resume this coming Sunday 16th March from 10am for the service commencing at 10:30.

We’ll also be holding our regular practice on Monday 17th from 7:30pm until 9pm (much to the dismay of the landlord of The Star Inn in Bentworth)

Why not come along and enjoy our bells.

One man’s ringing week

Last Saturday I attended an education day run near Andover by the Winchester & Portsmouth Guild on the topic “Plain Hunting on 5 Bells & Trebling to Doubles Methods”. It was an all-day intensive course covering the subject matter both in theory and practice. The first practical session started with me (and others) fumbling basic bell control but the last session in the afternoon saw me trebling to several plain courses with considerable ease.

I was tired on Sunday, I am quite old after all.

On Monday with St Nicholas still flooded, five of us (and several from St Lawrence, Alton) joined the practice at Bentworth where we were all able to progress our skills at comfortable rates. We were introduced to the delights of a “special for beginners” version of Plain Bob – Nervous Breakdown Bob Doubles.

On Friday I accepted the kind invitations to ring at Blackmoor (the tower that wobbles during ringing) where I indulged in some Plain Bob Doubles.

This morning two of us attended the Learners & Improvers session in St Lawrence, Alton before indulging in a lunchtime pint in the Eight Bells while setting the world to rights.