East Dorset Branch opened up St Mary’s Church at Lytchett Matravers on 20th April to welcome new ringers with their mentors and fellow ringers. It was an ideal opportunity for some of those who might be feeling a bit isolated to meet other ringers at the same stage and learn about the ringing in the Guild and the Branch.
Organised by Training Officer Sue Bateman, with the support of other experienced Branch members, the afternoon offered a range of activities starting with Bell Chamber tours – not easy in a tiny chamber, but somehow Cathy Neyland and Kris Knudsen from Lytchett Matravers managed to take 3 people at a time into the chamber to explain the intricacies of the bells, frame and simulator. With so many interested ringers, this overran the planned half hour but everyone managed to have a visit if they wanted to. Those down below could see what was going on via the camera set up in the bell chamber to the monitor in the church.
By the time they all managed to get down we had a full car park with 40+ visitors including 22 new ringers. The afternoon then progressed to some short talks after everyone had supplied themselves with a welcome cup of tea and slice of delicious cake thanks to our culinary experts.
It started with a talk by Viv Endecott from Lytchett Matravers on the history of bellringing, entertaining us with tales of lost bells in the River Stour and the unique English ringing tradition. Kathryn Tyson Guild Secretary took us through the 5 stated Aims of the Guild, putting these into context for the average ringer. She outlined how the Guild Executive acts as a bridge between ringers and the Diocese and how it plays its part in the safety and quality of ringing. Next came Branch Chairman Bob Crighton who welcomed ringers from all over the branch, from Swanage in the far south to Cranborne Chase in the north. Bob reiterated how the Branch committee supports our ringers and the opportunities open to all at our monthly events. Sue Bateman spoke about the Branch training programme and the Guild-wide Training Day in June.
The rest of the afternoon had the church buzzing with activity and ringers having a chance to ring on the easy-going bells of Lytchett Matravers, with experienced ringers standing by to help where needed. Ringing Master Jack Pease did an excellent job as usual making sure everyone had a go at ringing at their level, finishing off with a course of Cambridge S Minor for our experienced helpers.
For those who were not ringing or watching, there was more tea and cake to be enjoyed, networking plus books and DVDs to be scrutinised. Paul Tyson demonstrated the simulated ringing computer program, Ding, for people to see and have a go as well. Richard Picker brought the handbells to try out different tunes, which proved very popular. There were discussions buzzing everywhere including how to learn Plain Hunt by places having rung it for so long by numbers.
We saw ringers enthused by the handbells, satisfied by the tea and coming out of the tower with huge grins.
We thank all of those who put the afternoon together, all of those who helped and all of those new ringers who hopefully left feeling happy they had joined our welcoming bellringing society.
Debbie Phipps & Sue Bateman
