Out and AboutYou may wonder what Out and About has to do with learning to ring. Well to put it in a nut shell quite a lot.
I took up ringing and became ‘A Mature Learner’ at the age of lets say well past the big 50 about four years ago I was quite annoyed with myself at being away on holiday when our Society had its annual Summer outing. Since then I have always made sure one way or another I am there for it, experiencing towers where I would certainly not like to learn to ring, from long drafts and no rope guides, to ceilings so low that the sally disappears, and as a sally watcher when ringing I find that difficult when ringing a method.
But I digress, this is not the Out and About I am talking about. I had been ringing only four months and on returning from a holiday in the UK asked about the Bells I had heard practicing at in a small village I was staying at. I was told ‘Oh they are okay you should have joined them it would have been an experience’.
Well that was something I had not thought about so the following year I decided whilst I was away with my daughter I would do just that, much to her annoyance. As she put it ‘You’re on holiday and that is something you do at home’. Well I did not listen to her and took myself off to the local tower, making sure I arrived before 7:30 as I was not sure what time they started and if the door would be locked once everybody had arrived. Well the welcome I received surprised me as it was so warm. The only questions being ‘You Can Ring I Take it’, to which I answered ‘Just a little only Rounds, Call Changes and Treble to Plain Bob’. They said they would start with Rounds to see how I handled the bells, so with knees knocking I pulled off a bell that I knew nothing about and without the beady eye of my own tower captain watching for the faults he knows I have, and ready to save me if I have that dreaded early learners ‘PANIC’. Needless to say I had a very enjoyable evening with seven strangers and made to feel completely at home. Handling must have been okay too, as I was asked to ring at another practice later on in the week because they usually end up short and can only normally ring five of their six bells, and also ‘Can you ring on Sunday as we will be short?’. Well as you can imagine being one of the ‘mature learners’ I walked out of that tower on cloud nine, and could not wait to get back to my home tower and tell my tower captain of the successes. The icing was added to my cake when I did tell him, as his comment was ‘What are they like? I have not rung there’ and he has been ringing nearly 40 years. As far as I know he still has not rung there.
The following year I became even more ambitious, and leaving my daughter at home knowing she would complain, I stayed in the UK and spend an enjoyable seven nights 280 miles away from my home. I set off on the Saturday and joined another local society for part of their annual ‘tower grab’ taking in three towers, and was made very welcome. Of course I had checked before setting off that this would be okay with them. I left them at lunchtime and continued to my destination and looking forward to ringing at the five towers. I had contacted all of them before hand to make sure that they were holding their practices, as this was in the height of the holiday period. This was a cheap holiday as I was staying at my sister’s, and my fellow ringers in my home tower will tell you I do not let the moths out of my purse very often!
The other reason and main reason why I had chosen the area was to ring at the church at which I was confirmed. As far as I can remember when I lived there the bells were not rung. This was to be my first ring of the week and you can imagine my disappointment at being held up in traffic and as a consequence being locked out of the tower. Not to be put off by this and having kept all the information I had gathered of the area I found another tower that also practiced on Monday evening and joined them; my luck was in; their practice started later and I was made welcome. I have since found out that this tower is not normally so accommodating. I will not bore you with the rest of the details of this holiday except to say that I was made very welcome at all of the towers. Also at one of the practices I met the tower captain from the practice I missed and was invited to ring at a wedding there on the Friday. They have three bells in a straight line which are very loud and hung on plain bearings. Ear defenders are offered
You are now probably sat there wondering what this has to do with learning; in fact you are probably thinking this is just another tower grab, and perhaps it is. But I learned quite a lot. Whilst I was sitting in these towers waiting to ring, and in some there was very little sitting around, I had a chance to see how ringers I didn’t know handle their ropes, what methods they were concentrating on, and talked to other ringers about how long it had taken them to get were they are. At all of the towers I was asked what I could ring, which was at the time was just a plain course of Plain Bob Doubles, to which some replied that’s okay we don’t call bobs here! This surprised me, because at my tower as soon as we are comfortable with a method bobs are added. At another towers I had the chance to listen to a course of Bristol, which sounded spot on to me and very enjoyable.
I came away from this holiday will the feeling that perhaps I am not as slow a learner as I thought I was, a realisation that the demonstration from my Tower Captain on how not to handle a rope was not quite as exaggerated as I thought, but also with the ambition to continue with my ringing and take is as far as I could.
Saturday again up and out for 8:00 but this time not for ringing but to do the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb so Stew had to be left behind as nothing is to be taken up. The bridge climb took 3 hours and is worth every minute of the time. I did find Stew's long lost friend waiting for me at the coffee shop after the climb as the picture shows. We then walked around the Opera House and back to the car for another journey to St Peters and Burnwood.
Friday we were on our way to Bathurst Cathedral an 8 11-3-14 with a tower that is still a building site. Two sides of the ringing chamber were open to the elements and we had to climb up scaffolding to get to the ringing chamber.
We then moved quickly on to Lithgow Hoskins Memorial Church 7-2-2 8 where a quarter peal was attempted but not successful. Then off to the Blue mountains where we went to have another look around, we also decided to go on the Zig Zag railway at Lithglow this train instead of going through tunnels as it is named Zig Zags along the edge of the ravine Stew decided that his was not going to be left out cooling off in the one of the many waterfalls, and on to Sydeny where we will be staying for 3 nights.
Tuesday on the road again with a change of accommodation not such an early start but a very long day traveling to St Andrews at Lismore for general ringing, then a quarter of Grandsire Triples, as you can see Stew could not resist getting in on the act again.
Having completed this quarter we are back in the cars driving a further 216 miles, stopping for a quick snack on the way to St Peters Cathedral where we caught up the the locals for their practice night, and a lovely meal at a local pub. Again Stew could not help himself he had to make himself known to the local emergency services just is case.
Sunday up early for service ringing at St Andrews and then on to St Johns Cathedral, where the bells are no longer open to the elements, they have also fitted sound hoppers.
Not such an early call for Monday as traveling 3 hours and a 163 miles for evening ring at St Paul's Maryborough. Maryborough is the birth place of the author who wrote Mary Popins and Stew could not resist having a cuddle before we went ringing.
Well here I am on the first leg of my journey having purchased my train ticket and had to make the first half of my journey by coach as there is work on the line and am now on a train heading towards the airport where I will stay the night and catch an early flight. It is not that early it is just that I have to book in 2 ½ prior to the flight which makes 6am, and therefore I am staying the night at a hotel on the airport. just to save the panic of missing the flight , what you call role out on bed and book in should be a piece of cake. The nerves have not set in yet I expect that will happen tomorrow when it is time to board the plain .