A Year of Firsts

Congratulations are in order to Graeme Byfield (Warminster) for achieving a run of impressive firsts, from his first quarter peal in over two decades in May last year, to his first of Surprise in January this year. A challenging feat for any up-and-coming ringer, to do so in well under a year is a demonstration of how hard work, dedication, and perseverance pays off.

Graeme learnt to ring in the late 1980s as a boy at the Minster Church of St Denys in Warminster when at that time, it was led by the late Norman Knee. He progressed quickly, ringing touches of Plain Bob and Grandsire Doubles, before achieving his first peal in March 1993, trebling to a peal of 8 Doubles at Sutton Veny, a few weeks before his 15th birthday. As is often the case with ringers in their teens, the growing pressure of life tends not to be compatible with ringing, and so he gave it up shortly afterwards.

In 2016, still living in Warminster, Graeme saw a notice that the church was struggling for ringers, and as a lapsed ringer, was determined to help them out. He quickly demonstrated he had forgotten very little, and made slow but steady progress with both his ringing, and with teaching other ringers the skill. It was not, however until 2023 that things started kicking up a notch. He rang his first quarter peal since 1993 on 6 May 2023 at St James in Southbroom, covering to Grandsire Doubles.

A few weeks later, he visited St Thomas in Salisbury with Jane McKee, a ringer from Lincolnshire who had moved down to Warminster the previous autumn, and the two quickly became friends. At St Thomas, Graeme saw Cambridge Surprise Minor being rung for the first time, and it became his goal to be able to ring it as soon as possible. Though we had rung together once before in October 2022, I was properly introduced to Graeme at Westbury practice night in July 2023 when I saw him studying the line. Explaining that he was in the middle of a generous nine-month holiday from Waitrose and introducing me to Jane, we formed a plan to bring him up to Cambridge by the time he was due to go back to work in January.

At the time, Graeme was up to ringing bobs-only touches of Plain Bob Minor, and I made the decision, with his permission, to take things a little more gently, and bring him up through the various stepping stones before reaching Cambridge. We started a monthly Minor session on a Tuesday night, circling around various towers in North Dorset, attended by members from both East Dorset and Devizes branches where it was roughly halfway between them. Starting with Spetisbury in August with the focus being on Plain Bob Minor and Cambridge, which gave Graeme a chance to practice singles for the first time and ring his first plain course of Cambridge.

Following this success, we arranged a quarter peal of Plain Bob Minor at Tollard Royal comprised of three ringers from Devizes and three from East Dorset, which we scored; giving Graeme not only his first ever quarter of Minor, but his first quarter inside since the early 1990s. With PB Minor now firmly in his memory bank, we continued with one Minor practice and one Minor quarter a month, giving Graeme his first of St Clement’s in early October at Barford St Martin, his first of Double Oxford in early November at Sopley in Hampshire, and his first of Treble Bob with a quarter of Kent inside at Wilton in December.

I should also point out that during the autumn, Graeme called his first as conductor, rang his first on eight, rang on ten for the first time in Southampton where he rang touches of Grandsire and Stedman Caters; rang on twelve for the first time on the glorious (but formidable) bells of St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol; and rang his first QP of Stedman at Warminster, all with much success.

With all the steps completed, we had one final practice for the Cambridge, at Gussage St Michael, where just to make it more interesting, the bells are anticlockwise. Graeme rang two touches of it inside here, his first time on an anticlockwise ringing circle, and also the first time he had rung a touch without method mistakes; proving we were on the right path.

The date for the Cambridge was set for Wednesday 3rd January on the fabulous Taylor six at Merriott, in Somerset, comprised of people that had helped Graeme on his journey. The weather was, perhaps predictably given the time of year, foul, with strong winds and heavy rain but the band nevertheless arrived unperturbed. The quarter peal was for the most part, excellent, with only a few minor (no pun intended) trips that were easily sorted out, and came round after 44 minutes and 1,296 changes, marking an end to this phase of Graeme’s ringing journey, with a 100% success rate.

Congratulations to Graeme on working so hard to get there, improving his skills on both the rope and in the belfry, and becoming a highly capable and dedicated ringer. It is perhaps also worth noting that in the spring of this year, he had considered giving up ringing, and I think there are lessons for us all there. Firstly, keep your ringers interested by giving them new challenges, and secondly – you can achieve anything you put your mind to!

Jack Pease
East Dorset Branch Ringing Master