On Saturday 8th July, ten young ringers from the Salisbury Guild took part in the Ringing World National Youth Contest (RWNYC) day in York, including Ben A, Esther and Lila from Wimborne. We had a great time, ringing at five towers including the magnificent 12 at York Minster. In the competition itself the team rang call changes on six bells. The band was:
Treble Conni (Dorchester branch)
2 Ben (Calne branch)
3 Oscar (Calne branch)
4 Ben (East Dorset branch)
5 Robert (Devizes branch) (C)
Tenor Pippa (East Dorset branch)
There were seventeen call changes teams and Go Bellistic! was placed joint 4th (with Young@Herts), behind Durham & Newcastle, Sussex Young Ringers and Kent Young Ringers. Our best ever result!
The other participants were Esther and Lila, Eddie from Wyke Regis and Abigail from Dorchester.
A big thank you to the Salisbury Guild and to all those ringers who have supported us financially, practically and with their best wishes.
The much-delayed Wimborne band outing took place on Saturday 6th January. The event had first been postponed by Covid and then by the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
For those not familiar with ringing in Oxford it presents an opportunity to ring at a significant number of towers, many of which are of great historic or architectural interest and all within walking distance. A number of towers are part of the College buildings and some are existing or former city centre churches.
Our first tower was St Ebbe’s where the very light bells gave us some challenges. We then moved across the road to the completely different surroundings of Christ Church College where the bells are in one of the college towers but are rung for services at the Cathedral which is part of the same complex. These bells are a 12 of a similar weight to Wimborne but very much an old style ring in tuning and surroundings. We rang some successful touches of cinques and surprise maximus and enjoyed seeing some of the Harry Potter locations around the college on the way out.
After lunch we met up again at Magdalen College where the beautiful perpendicular tower contains a fine ring of 10 where we enjoyed more good ringing including some London Royal.
At Lincoln College the former church of All Saints is now the college library but the light ring of 8 remain and are available for ringing. We managed to just about fill the ringing chamber and everyone was able to say that they had rung in a library.
From here it was a short walk in the rain to St Mary Magdalene, a light 10 where amongst general ringing we managed two separate touches of caters, one by a ladies band and one by the gentlemen!
Our final tower was at Carfax which is all that remains of the former church – apparently demolished in the early 19th Century for traffic improvements. Although our energy was flagging we managed some good ringing on this surprisingly heavy six to conclude our day before stopping on the way home for a welcome pub supper.
Our thanks should go to Katie Child who organised the event for us using her local knowledge as an Oxford graduate and also to our escort from the Oxford Society who accompanied us throughout the day.
Ringing for the late Queen Elizabeth II at Wimborne Minster
21st April 1926 – 8th September 2022
Wimborne Minster has a long history of royal connections. Edward the Confessor founded a college of canons to live and worship here in 1043 (some twenty years before he founded Westminster Abbey), and in 1318 Edward II declared the Minster a Royal Peculiar. Later, in 1562 Queen Elizabeth I appointed twelve Governors to be responsible for the property and prerogatives of the Minster and Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School – a role they continue to exercise today.
As the news broke on the evening of Thursday 8th September that Her Majesty had died in Balmoral Castle, the Minster bellringers reacted quickly, fitting a double set of muffles to the top 11 bells, and a single muffle to the hand stroke side of the tenor clapper. A band was hastily arranged to ring at 11.00am the following morning (as decreed by Operation London Bridge). A sombre quarter peal of Stedman Triples on the back eight was rung whilst a short service of Remembrance was held in the Minster.
Friday, 9 September in 52 minutes
1 Trish Hitchins
2 Hilary Child
3 David Hilling
4 Flick Warwick
5 Max Knight
6 Robert Child
7 David Warwick (C)
8 David Coates
Rung fully muffled with the tenor open at backstroke in memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
Extract of the Quarter Peal of Stedman Triples
After discussions with the Rector and the Bride and Groom, it was decided that the wedding ringing on the following day should also be fully muffled. After the marriage service we rang three courses of stately Grandsire Caters on the back ten.
Sunday morning offered the opportunity for the ringers to get used to fully muffled ringing on the whole twelve, and then a quarter peal was rung for Evensong.
Sunday, 11 September in 55 minutes
1265 Erin Cinques
Composed by John Hyden
1 Hilary Child
2 Trish Hitchins
3 Rosemary Duke
4 Graham Duke
5 Kathy Bentley
6 Alan Bentley
7 Max Knight
8 Flick Warwick
9 David Hilling (C)
10 Robert Child
11 David Warwick
12 David Coates
Rung prior to Evensong with the bells fully muffled and tenor open at backstroke, in affectionate memory of our late Sovereign Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
As a mark of respect, we decided to cancel our normal Tuesday evening practice, but instead invited our younger ringers for 30 minutes of ringing on the front eight to allow them the opportunity of ringing in memory of The Queen.
Tuesday, 13 September
500 Various Triples
Rounds, Call Changes and Plain Bob Triples
Lila Hickman
Charlie Goldie
Ben Avery
Esther Davey
Kathy Bentley
Hilary Child
Flick Warwick
Max Knight
Robert Child
David Warwick
Fully muffled (with the tenor open at backstroke)
Sunday ringing the next week continued as usual in the morning, and then a quarter peal was rung for the Civic Service in the afternoon. BBC South Today filmed this service, and the fully muffled ringing featured prominently in the report.
Sunday, 18 September in 54 minutes
1254 Grandsire Cinques
1 Graham Duke
2 Rosemary Duke
3 Lucy Warwick
4 Trish Hitchins
5 Kathy Bentley
6 Alan Bentley
7 David Hilling
8 Flick Warwick
9 Harry Blamire (C)
10 Louis Suggett
11 Nigel Woodruff
12 Max Knight
Rung fully muffled with the tenor open at backstroke, for a Special Service of Commemoration marking the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
A full peal was organised to be rung after The State Funeral on Monday – the first fully muffled peal on the bells. Starting at 2.00pm, the sound of the bells was appreciated across the town and brought many people into the Minster, which had been kept open during the day – streaming the funeral from Westminster Abbey and allowing opportunities for quiet reflection.
Monday, 19 September 2022 in 3h 26 (29–2–20 in D)
5005 Stedman Cinques
Composed by Shirley Burton
1 Max G Knight
2 Patricia M Hitchins
3 Lucy S Warwick
4 David P Hilling
5 Felicity S Warwick
6 Philip A L Rioch
7 Adam W Kilgour
8 Louis P H Suggett
9 David A Warwick (C)
10 Harry E Blamire
11 Nigel R Woodruff
12 Robert T Child
Rung fully muffled with the tenor open at backstroke in memory of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, following her funeral at Westminster Abbey.
First of Stedman Cinques – 1; 300th peal together – 5 & 11.
Altogether, 23 different ringers took part in the various sessions of ringing, and a peal board will be made to record the Funeral Peal. We were very grateful to the steeple keeping team who had placed the muffles on the bells – not a single one slipped throughout the many hours of ringing during the mourning period.
The East Dorset Branch Bonanza at Shroton on July the 30th included 2 striking competitions, a cake competition and another for Limericks, as well as a traditional Ringers’ Tea.
The Novice Shield was claimed this year by Witchampton, a brilliant result for this newly-trained band. Well done!
The Novice Shield
The main competition was won by the Wimborne P team, with the Q team coming second, by just one point!
Competition Winners – Wimborne P team2nd Place – Wimborne Q team
There are various Ringing contests every year, but the peak of them all is the National 12-Bell. To put it into context, there are over 5000 towers in the UK with a ringable set of 6 or more bells. Of those, only 136 have 12 (or more) bells, of which Wimborne is one.
Of those 136 12-bell towers, only around 20 put in a team for the National 12-bell, so the Wimborne band is very proud to have taken part.
The Eliminators were held in 3 locations, and Wimborne was allocated to St Magnus the Martyr in London, on March the 26th, and was placed 5th.
St Magnus the MartyrThe Wimborne Team enjoy a drink after ringing in the National 12-bell Competition Eliminators in London March 26th 2022
On Saturday 2nd July Ben, Esther and Lila enjoyed the RWNYC in Exeter with other young ringers from the Salisbury Guild and across the country, from Cornwall to Yorkshire.
This presentation was displayed in Wimborne Minster as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend in June 2022. To watch on FULL SCREEN, click the 3 dots in the bottom of the window and follow the instructions.
Research by Kathy Bentley and Gillian Richards With thanks to the staff of the Dorset History Centre Photos of peal boards and peals by Alan Bentley
