The Dauntsey Steam and Transport show is a medium sized show held over the August Bank Holiday weekend in the north Wiltshire village of Dauntsey. The show site is alongside the M4 motorway which provided a ready audience and some entertainment for those driving slowly among the Motorway over a Bank Holiday.
I got involved following an advert on the Bellringers Facebook page asking for volunteers to man the Charmborough Mobile Belfry which had been hired for the 3 day event by Bob Blanden of the Gloucester and Bristol Association. It sounded fun so I went along on the Saturday. As the event crossed the boundary between our 2 associations there was some excellent cross border working and recruitment, with members of the Calne Branch coming along over the 3 days to help man the tower, talk to the public and have a go at Mobile Belfry ringing themselves. It was a relaxed and interesting day, seeing experienced ringers getting used to the Mobile belfry bells and encouraging the public to ‘have a go’.
Whilst each day was a little different, overall it was a very worthwhile exercise with 20 leads with contact details and no doubt a lot of folk who may reflect afterwards about bell ringing, which in itself makes it worthwhile. Perhaps the experience of youngsters pulling a rope connected to a bell may spark interest later on. I helped a 2 year old, who loves the sound of bells have a go, apparently he often asks Mum to ‘sing bells’.
There were also some lapsed ringers, many of whom had learnt as teenagers, that came and had a go, and may be persuaded to come back again.
The Calne branch team are now on the case, following up those who were from our Guild patch and hopefully we will have some new recruits.
The Charmborough Ring is a mobile belfry, not a mini ring as the bells handle more like tower bells than mini ring ones do, albeit light tower bells! It is available to hire from the Mobile Belfries Trust, there is a charge, but worth considering for a large event such as a county show.
Vicki Rowse
