BELFRY GOSSIP

Oh dear, shock horror, calamity, we only came second in the Wellingborough Branch’s striking competition held at Grendon in June. We have won this competition for years and it therefore comes as a bit of a shock In fact we may have to emulsion the section of wall where the trophy has hung over all these years!

However, congratulations to Irchester who were placed first and thereby won the trophy.

Congratulations also to our second team, Rushden Diamonds, who were placed 4^th in the competition and moved up one place from last year’s position. They rang rounds and call changes as opposed to just rounds in last year’s competition, so that’s good progress.

The next striking competition is the Peterborough Diocesan Guild’s 8-bell competition to be held at Earls Barton in September.

On a rather warm Sunday afternoon in June, eight ringers toiled for 3 hours to take part in the annual Les Priestley Memorial Peal. Whilst most turned up in shorts, one of our ringers entered the belfry carrying a large oscillating electric fan – what a great idea everyone thought. Place it in the corner, switch on and all would feel so much cooler. Alas, after checking plugs, connections etc. still nothing happened. However it has now been repaired and put to good use for our Sunday evening quarters. However, well done to all who took part.

At the best of times, ringing can be warm work, but at this time of the year, perspiration is most evident. Some ringing rooms are quite small, with low ceilings and no, or very little ventilation. At least at Rushden, we have the height, but no natural ventilation.

How many Grapevine readers have ever looked or been into a ringing room? If you were to walk into the room, and perhaps you should, but not when ringing is taking place, you won’t see any bells. All you see are some ropes. Each rope is connected to a bell and the rope is the only means of controlling what happens. If you strike the key of a piano, a sound is immediately heard; scrape the bow across a violin string or blow into a recorder and similarly you have an immediate response. Not so when a bell rope is pulled. The bell has to swing and a second passes before the clapper hits the side of the bell to produce a sound. And so the length of rope has to be controlled or it will control the ringer!

The Mayor of Rushden, Cllr. Clive Wood, recently visited Rushden. That is Rushden near Cromer, not in Norfolk but in Hertfordshire. He was invited by the community to their annual fete. Whilst discussing future exchanges, Clive thought the ringers could forge some links between the two communities and indeed the church itself – so watch this space.

Our annual barbecue, held at Brenda and John’s at the beginning of July, was another great social occasion. With everyone contributing towards the food and drink, the weather proved ideal after the earlier mini heat wave. Conversation was varied but certainly not about ringing and we were delighted to sample Meg’s special birthday cake.

Eight of the ringers were still in a reasonably good state to achieve a quarter peal of Yorkshire Surprise Major to celebrate the baptism, earlier in the day, of Thomas Bone, the youngest child of Jennie and Peter. This was the first time we had rung a quarter peal for a baptism at St. Mary’s. The Yorkshire method was specially chosen as the Bones had previously lived in that county. A certificate was presented to the parents commemorating the baptismal quarter peal. The ringers are always delighted to ring for any special occasion or anniversary – we already have two Ruby Wedding requests. Do please let us know.

Recently we received a request via the Internet to ring for Mr. Hayden Dewey Crowe, an American based at Podington Air Station during the war. Having married a Rushden girl, Edna Wright, they settled down back in Georgia USA. Sadly Mr. Crowe recently passed away. His son-in -law contacted the ringers by e-mail, and so once again it shows how many people throughout the world read Belfry Gossip. We have dedicated one of our quarters to the memory of Hayden and forwarded a certificate to his widow.

We are all looking forward to our annual dinner at the end of August. We shall firstly be ringing at Rushton Church followed by the dinner itself at the Thornhill Arms. The ringers wish everyone a pleasant and relaxing holiday.