Belfry Gossip
Isabel Has a Go: On her first Sunday at St. Mary’s, Isabel, who is now back in Chile, visited
the ringers in the ringing chamber. Still overcoming the trauma of long
distance travel, together with acclimatisation etc., she agreed to join
us for our next Friday evening practice. Out came the model bell to demonstrate
what was happening as ropes were pulled. With a true Chilean smile, she
agreed to have a go and within the practice session, was ringing rounds
but with considerable support. The strenuous pulling on the muscles, unused
in normal daily activity, caused her some concern the following morning.
She has however, returned home, knowing she had a go at one of the oldest
English activities. Sadly with no ringable bells in Chile, that’s as far
as she will get, unless her taste for the UK. wets her appetite for a later
visit.
Our AGM: At the beginning of the year, the dreaded virus causing coughing, rattling chests and sneezes affected several of the ringers and it was with this background that we had to change the venue of our AGM. John therefore was banned from his own lounge, until the food and drinks were provided at the conclusion of the meeting, and Brenda’s kind hospitality was greatly appreciated.
Notable Decisions: As mentioned in February’s Gossip, the issue of early morning ringing at Christmas and Easter was an agenda item. It was one of the quickest decisions of the evening and we sadly, but unanimously, decided that we would cease the 7 30am. ringing on those two Festival Days. Our past record has been exemplary and for the past 50 years we have stirred and reminded the townsfolk of the birth and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. In all those years we only received one complaint concerning the early morning ringing. One Christmas morning some local turned up clad in striped pyjamas under a black overcoat complaining he had been disturbed from his sleep – we hadn’t the gall to enquire if he had had an alcoholic Christmas Eve! You can’t win them all.
Each year the item on our agenda, which takes up disproportionate time, is fixing the date for our annual outing. It used to be set in tablets of stone – Carnival Day, the last Saturday in June. With no Carnival and so many of our ringers having retired, holidays are taken whenever. This makes finding a convenient date more difficult. However we eventually decided on Saturday July 15th and the venue will be somewhere in North Leicestershire.
Rest of the Agenda: Reports were given by the various officers. The captain reviewed the ringing of 2005 and again commented upon the ringers’ commitment to Sunday Service ringing and mentioned that hardly a Sunday passed without the ringing of the bells. The secretary outlined all our many and varied activities during the past year and commented on the number of peals and quarter peals (46). The treasurer’s report, showing a good balance, was presented and adopted by the meeting. Our statistician gave us a very comprehensive breakdown on who had rung what, on which bell, together with the names of the various methods and conductors. We were informed that two groups of ringers had requested peal attempts during the year and these dates were agreed. (One has since been changed).
We voted in the same officers for 2006 and after agreeing the date of our annual barbecue, invited John back to join us for eats and drinks.
50th and 60th Birthdays: Ringers are always game for a celebration. It was good to be invited to Pam and Paul’s home after ringing on one Friday in January. Nibbles and drinks were in good supply and we congratulate Pam on her big ‘O birthday, together with Jim’s 60th.
Tintinnabulum
www.stmarysringers.org.uk
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