Novice Striking Competition

The annual Guild Novice Striking Competition took place on a gloriously sunny afternoon on 11th July at Holy Cross, Chiseldon. Ringers and supporters enjoyed the shade of the churchyard or the cool of the beautiful church itself as they listened to the ringing.

Judges Christine and Bob Purnell gave some wonderful, encouraging feedback to the ringers from Devizes who did their branch proud as the only official entry to the competition. The Devizes Dingers used their practice time very well, settling into rounds before practicing ‘whole pull and stand’ which ensured they got off to a strong start in their test piece. The team rang a total of 82 rows, the majority of which were in true rounds. The judges were particularly impressed with the leading, and commended the ringers on the 3 and 4 bells. To top it off, the band stood the bells successfully at the end of the test piece. Despite being the only team to ring, the judges and Guild representatives deemed the performance worthy of presenting the band with the Patricia Cotton trophy.

It was a fabulous afternoon of bell ringing, showcasing once again what a great community we have in the SDGR. “I really enjoyed it today!” and “An absolutely lovely day, great setting and fantastic people” were just some of the comments from those who were there. It was a shame that there were not more teams entered, and the Guild will be discussing ways to increase engagement with this excellent foundation-level competition. We invite all Branches to provide their feedback and suggestions on ways of making such events and competitions more accessible for Novice ringers.

Caroline Noonan

Footnote from the President

Patrick (aged 9), the treble ringer for the Devizes Dingers, deserves a special mention for his performance in the test piece. In their summary following the competition, the Judges commented how impressed they were with the leading. This led to a round of applause from those present. It was also good to see Daniel Best (12), one of the official supporters of the Devizes Dingers, encouraging and helping Patrick throughout the afternoon. Only the previous Saturday Daniel had been a member of the ‘Go Bellistic’ team representing the Guild at the National Youth Contest held in Nottingham. Daniel tells me he is looking forward to next year’s competition. Hopefully it won’t be too long before Patrick is able to join the ‘Go Bellistic’ team alongside Daniel.

Very well done to you both.

Pat Davidson