Around seventy members of the branch had a great afternoon at the West Dorset barbecue and Striking Competitions held at Leigh on Saturday, 15th June.
The judge for the day was Upwey Tower Captain Andrea Jacob, assisted with time-keeper, Megan Boffy.
It was really encouraging to see so many entries in the Novice competition as well as one scratch team made up on the day. The standard of ringing was also very encouraging, Andrea giving compliments to all the teams. The winning team was Bridport with a very respectable 7½ faults.
Five teams entered the 6-bell competition and Andrea commented on the high standard of the ringing in all the teams – noting especially how close the first three places were. The winners on the day were Lyme Regis with a fine performance of Grandsire Doubles with, commendably, only 6 faults.
Throughout the day, Jan Keohane and Sylvia Fowler kept us refreshed with tea and biscuits and, following the competitions, branch Chairman, Nick Baker, acted as chef on the barbecue.
The winning teams were awarded their trophies by veteran ringer and ‘mother’ of the Branch, Sue Philp who was in great health and commented that she took particular pleasure in awarding the 6-bell trophy to Andrew Nicholson (Lyme Regis Tower Captain) who taught her to ring an unspecified number of years ago!
Particularly note was made on the health of ringing at Sherborne Abbey who managed to field four teams – two each in both of the competitions.
Novice Competition Teams
Sherborne Abbey (A)
Shipton Gorge
Whitchurch Canonicorum
Bridport
Sherborne Abbey (B)
We also had an entry from a scratch band formed on the day who rang particularly well but who asked not to be included in the judging as many of the ringers weren’t strictly novices. We were very pleased they entered as the more teams who participate the more fun the day is.
Six-bell Competition Teams
Lyme Regis
Evershot
Sherborne Abbey (A)
Thursday Minor Group
Sherborne (B)
