6 Bell Novice Competition at Motcombe (6, tenor 7-0-7)
Congratulations to all those ringers from around the Guild who were at Motcombe on Saturday for the Novice Competition.
The Novice Trophy was awarded to the team from Canford Magna, East Dorset Branch – congratulations and well done – but as Chris Bush said in his opening comments, when assessing the ringing,
‘You’re all winners. You’re here, they’re not!’
Below you’ll find a report by the Judges, as well as the experiences of some of the participants, photos of the teams and the event and a final note of thanks from me.
Pat Davidson
Guild President
Judges Report
Judges: Jenny Hancock (Chippenham Branch of G&B Diocesan Association) assisted by Chris Bush, (G&B Chippenham & SDGR Devizes).
The judges were pleased to see so many ringers competing. It was hard to judge between you and you had all clearly worked hard to present your performances today on unfamiliar bells. Well done to you all for competing.
RESULT | Band | Method | Faults | Judges’ comments |
1st | Canford Magna Plus | Rounds | 38 | Settled down well. When treble was slow, faults tended to happen behind. Faults were randomly distributed throughout the changes but there were some long good sections particularly in the second half. |
2nd | Wyke Regis | Rounds | 46 | Used practice time very effectively to sort out the bells. Ringing slowly sometimes caused back bells some problems. Nice sections from mid-way to the end. |
3rd | Sherborne Abbey | Rounds | 47 | Not sure that the practice time was used effectively as there were big gaps between short bursts of ringing. Of course, this is not judged but is a comment. Settled down nicely. Any faults early in the change didn’t ‘ripple down’ to bells later in the change; some good steady ringing here. |
4th | Tuesday Allsorts | Rounds | 48 | Space from treble to second sets the pace for the rest of the band. When this was wide, the rest of the band slowed down to match which then caused the following leads to appear rushed. Consistent errors were not remedied quickly enough but there were no direct clashes of bells. |
5th | Striking Spires | Rounds | 62 | Used practice time well to sort out pace and individual bells. Initial pull off not the best (something to work on perhaps). Towards the end some really good ringing was achieved but too many faults had been accumulated early on, whilst settling down. A valiant effort. Had the test piece been longer I’m sure you would have been placed higher. |
6th | Devizes Rounds On Us | Rounds | 86 | Maybe missed out on ringing rounds together during the practice session? Bigger gaps than usual at the front end of each change caused the back bells issues when the rhythm was not very even. Settled down well at 80-90 changes in, but this good section unfortunately didn’t last. Difficult to ring well when the rhythm keeps changing. Trips were distributed, so no individual problems, just a lack of cohesion. |
Two bands chose to ring call changes and the Judges decided that these teams should be judged separately on this occasion. In general, the decision to ring call changes seemed to introduce an extra layer of difficulty which made striking the bells so much more difficult. With experience, I am sure this difficulty could be overcome, and well done to those bands that ‘braved it’. We also decided not to include faults as we were not comparing like with like. As there were only two teams in this group, that simplified the decision.
RESULT | Band | Judges’ Comments |
1st | Devizes Belfry Belles | Practice session seemed fast and confident. In the test piece, mistakes were not quickly rectified taking some time to resolve. In the second section the call changes were markedly better, and the way the second bell listened to keep off the fifth bell in Queens was impressive – a common error usually. |
2nd | Devizes Dodgers | Used practice time well. Improved and settled over time. Corrections were made but then the errors crept back in. Light bells didn’t keep far enough away from heavy bells in the call changes. Ropesight needs to be augmented by listening to results and correcting appropriately. Front bells tended to slow down, which gave problems to the back bells. |
The Bands
Select the thumbnail for a full list of team members
How did it feel for those participating?
It was one of the hottest days of the summer, but despite the soaring temperatures the whole team enjoyed our afternoon together in the beautiful village of Motcombe.
As novices, the competition had given a focus for our practices during the preceding weeks and our mentors had helped us all improve our listening and bell-handling skills. Visiting an unfamiliar tower in a competition was a little daunting, but we all agreed the bells were lovely to ring and managed to complete our rounds with reasonably accurate striking. As one of us commented,
“We all tried our best with smiles on our faces. It was brilliant to be part of a competition with so many teams”.
All the teams met at the end of the contest for a very welcome tea and to listen to the results. The judges gave some helpful guidance on competition ringing and offered each team feedback that will benefit us all. We all agreed that the whole experience had been very gratifying and worthwhile and would like to thank all involved.
Helen Donnelly
(Sherborne Abbey)
We were thrilled to represent the Salisbury branch at the Novice Striking Competition. Three of us were learners on a course run just over two years ago, and others joined us through recommendations to form a team for the competition.
Practicing together was incredibly useful in honing our skills of listening and rope sight, although the competition was made harder because we do not ring together regularly. Our amazing supporters, Vicki, John, and Justin, were incredibly helpful by providing encouragement, guidance, and directions. We truly appreciate their support and dedication. The bells at Motcombe were delightful, with one being odd-struck just to make it more of a challenge for us learners!
The day was rather hot, and we filled the remaining time doing a quiz and listening to the other teams, which gave us valuable insights.
Overall, we were fifth out of the eight teams entered and now understand more about how the faults are counted. We had a fantastic time and look forward to participating again. Thank you to everyone who made this experience memorable.
Michaela Johns
Canford Magna Band is fairly new in its present form. When I joined there were only 3 experienced ringers but neighbouring towers supported Canford and we all appreciate they still do. I became a bell ringer after hearing the bells in my back garden; after a quick ‘Google’, emailed the Tower Captain and joined the practice that week. Another member was literally ‘dragged’ in from outside, she had come down to listen to the bells but from that day, she was hooked!
July had been an exceptionally hot month and the day of the striking competition at Motcombe was no different, it was so hot. On arrival we registered but were still two band members short: Nigel, who we had not practised with before was kindly standing in for another of our ringers who couldn’t make it and Caroline who was rushing from Upton after working an unfamiliar shift at the library there.
The first bands began ringing and we listened, gauging the competition in a light hearted way. ‘This is just for fun’, a band member reminded me as my nerves were starting to make me feel a little sick. We had a short walk through the picturesque village and arrived at St Mary’s church.
“Good luck”, the departing ringers said as we crossed paths as they made their way back to the hall. Ascending the stone, spiral staircase my nerves had really kicked in, this wasn’t feeling ‘fun’ at all I thought. We stood by ‘our’ ropes. Thoughts raced through my head, were they ‘nice’ bells, were they ‘easy’ bells, were they odd-struck, would I need a knot, where was the treble?
Our practice time started and three of us soon realised we needed a knot. Adjustments made, we used the practice time to ring rounds and get used to the bells: they were ‘nice’ and ‘easy’, I did need a knot but they were a joy to ring! The treble sounded two blows ‘look to, treble’s going, she’s gone’; we were off. A long four minutes passed when to my relief ‘stand’ was called and we all stood our bell. Take a moment, it was over.
After mulling over our ringing with each other we thanked Nigel for helping us out, it was a shame he couldn’t stay for the results. A bring and share tea had been laid out, a delightful spread of sandwiches, cakes and refreshments to tuck into and plenty of second helpings. There’s always plenty of delicious food at a bell ringers’ tea and always seconds.
The judge gave a brief summary of each band’s ringing and explained the marking criteria for the change ringers and round ringers. The results were given in reverse order, we patiently waited to hear where band 4 had come, we were down to the last two bands’ numbers and as we glanced at each other around the table and heard the judge say band 4 had won it was a period of disbelief. To our amazement and delight we had come first, wow! Canford had never won before because it had never had enough novice ringers. Pat Davidson presented us with the ‘Patricia Cotton’ trophy whilst we stood in the glorious sunshine for the photographer.
What a journey bell ringing is, always something new to learn, unfamiliar bells to ring and quaint little villages to visit where the village church is situated. There’s always a very warm welcome from the hosting band and very often cake! Least not forgetting, the weekly visit to the local pub for a pint and social get together.
Maybe if I had known how hard it is to learn to ‘ring’ I may never have sent the email that started my bell ringing journey and despite the highs and quite deep lows (and they have been deep), I feel proud of myself and the band, and grateful for the support and encouragement given by the experienced ringers who help usto move on.
Caroline Alderson
Final word from the President
Thank you to all the participants, the supporters and others who came for the afternoon to support their team.
Thank you to Chris Bush and Jenny Hancock, our Assessors/Judges for the afternoon. Your general comments and individuals to each team were not only encouraging but helpful in showing the ringers how to improve.
A big thank you to the members from the Mere Branch who prepared the Church and the Hall and especially those working in the kitchen providing copious amounts of water, tea and coffee on what was a very hot afternoon.
The Quiz, provided by our Guild Secretary Kathryn, to help while away the afternoon was won by Bob Purnell from Melksham. Bob was presented with a box of chocolates from the fridge!
The afternoon finished with over 70 ringers enjoying a delicious tea – a big thank you to all who brought food for this spread.
From the many comments I have heard the new format for the Novice Competition proved very popular. All in all a well organised and very enjoyable afternoon.
I look forward to seeing you, and more, next year.
Pat Davidson
