Having finished level 5 of ART by ringing a quarter of Bob Minor inside, I was invited to a Master Class Day in Bristol. These days are free with travel expenses and accommodation, if needed, reimbursed.
There were two groups with five students in each group. My group also included Debbie and Liz who are members of our guild. Each of us was assigned our own tutor and we had an individual tailored programme, so I chose to focus on ringing Bob Triples and also rang some Bob Minor. It was great to be able to spend time ringing triples. We also had a listening tutorial which reinforced the message that listening is sooo important. There were two eight bell towers, one in the morning and one after lunch and then both groups amalgamated at St Mary’s Redcliffe to ring on 12 bells, where I was delighted to manage plain hunt on eleven bells ( a case of remembering the rules and following them). In true ringer fashion we then adjourned to the pub and an Indian curry.
I stayed on and rang on Sunday morning at St Mary’s, Bristol Cathedral and the Lord Mayor’s Chapel, all opportunities that I would otherwise have been unlikely to have. They were very different experiences as St Mary’s is a 12 bell tower, the cathedral 8 and the Lord Mayor’s Chapel 6.
This was a great experience, an opportunity to ring surrounded by good ringers and both consolidate and stretch oneself.
If you are following ART it is worth getting to Level 5 just to do this.
Tilly Cooper
