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On a bright Saturday morning in mid-September 2018, seventeen members of the Wimborne Minster band of bellringers boarded a train at Kidderminster Station in Worcestershire for Bridgnorth. But this wasn’t just any train; this was a Severn Valley steam train, with proper wooden luggage racks, windows which could slide open (who needs health and safety anyway?) and billows of steam puffing out of the engine funnel. Needless to say, it was difficult to work out what this group of passengers found more exciting – the train ride, or the prospect of a day devoted to ringing.

The annual tower outing had begun the day before. While eight members of the group whiled away Friday afternoon ringing a peal of five-spliced Surprise Major at St Stephen’s, Barbourne, the others headed into Worcester city centre. A pleasant hour or two was spent looking around the cathedral and visiting a coffee shop (one of us even found the time to have a haircut), before heading to the 6cwt ring of 10 at Old St Martin’s. We were all very impressed by the array of brightly-coloured sallies and were grateful for the help of Paul Smith, a local ringer who, due to splitting his time between Worcester and Dorset, knew some of us already. After being reunited with the peal band, it was time for a ring at Wolverley (8) then dinner at the hotel followed by a spot of handbell ringing and an early night, to make sure that we’d be bright-eyed and ready to enjoy what we’d all been waiting for – the train!

And so we found ourselves at the station in Kidderminster on Saturday morning. Thanks to information from the Severn Valley Railway and some local ringers we’d managed to put together an itinerary where we would take the train to Bridgnorth and work our way back down the railway, ringing at four towers along the route; this meant we had a long train journey at the start of the day. For those of us who had come armed with a newspaper, this was a chance to get up to date on the crossword, and for the others there was plenty of entertainment in watching the animals in the safari park as the train passed by.

For the two towers in Bridgnorth we were joined by Alice Stanley, a ringer in the town who recently visited Wimborne and whose cousin (coincidentally) had learnt to ring at the Minster. After an hour at the lovely 8cwt ring of 8 at St Mary’s (where we managed to ring everything from call changes to Bristol Major), we stopped at one of the (19!) pubs in Bridgnorth for a spot of lunch. The staff had put on a wonderful buffet-style spread for us that was not unlike a ringers’ tea, although this one included freshly cooked chips which went down extremely well – perhaps they should become a staple at regular ringers’ teas! After ringing at the heavier (18cwt) 8 at St Leonard’s, we had to march quickly back to the station to catch our next train; being a couple of minutes late was definitely not an option on this outing!

On the journey south, we stopped in Bewdley to visit the 8 bells at St Anne’s which, due to the fact that the tower had been having an open day, were probably tired out already! This visit was followed by a trip to the ice cream shop by the river, another activity which really ought to become an entrenched bellringing tradition.

The forlornness felt by many of us at leaving the lovely steam train was cancelled out by the prospect of ringing on the 12 in Kidderminster that evening; although ringing on 8 during the day had been wonderful, it was nice to get back to what a lot of the group felt most comfortable doing. The bells were similar to ours in both weight and style and, even though it was our last tower of the day, the ringing at Kidderminster was some of the best we’d had all outing; a lovely end to the day before setting off on the long drive back to Dorset.

Thanks go to Hilary Child (the organiser), Severn Valley Railway and those local ringers who opened up/joined us on the day. Also, a mention goes to Harry Blamire, who was at the last minute unable to join us and was greatly missed. Several of us seem to have been nominated to organise next year’s outing, so we should probably make a start on that now!

The Salisbury Diocesan Guild 6 Bell striking competitions was held on Saturday 1 September at Zeals. The competition was ably judged by Christine and Peter Hill from Winchester. Happily, the Wimborne band came first in the competition, above other branch teams in the Guild.

From left to right: Rosemary Duke, Hilary Child, Rob Child, Judith Williamson (Guild President), David Warwick, Flick Warwick and Ben Duke.

Results:

• 1st Wimborne, Grandsire Doubles – 17 faults
• 2nd West Dorset Branch, Plain Bob Minor – 34 faults
• 3rd Downton, Stedman Doubles – 41 faults
• 4th Melksham, Grandsire Doubles – 44 faults
• 5th Bradford on Avon, Grandsire Doubles – 53 faults
• 6th Charminster, Plain Bob Doubles – 60 faults
• 7th Gillingham, Plain Bob Doubles – 74 faults
• 8th Sturminster Newton, Call Changes – 85 faults

Four members of the Wimborne Minster band (together with the son of a previous Minster ringer) joined forces with the Wimborne Minster Choral Society, the Bournemouth Sinfonietta Choir, the Wimborne Sinfonia and soloists to perform Chris Dowie’s Darkness to Light in the Minster on Saturday 7th July.

David Warwick, Sue Riley, Kathy Bentley, Gill Richards and Gavin Courtney (son of retired ringer, Liz Radford who sang in the Choral Society). Rob Child, another Minster ringer, played bassoon in the orchestra.

Darkness to Light was written in 1984 when the composer was Organist and Master of the Choristers at the Minster. It is an ambitious work combining soloists, choirs, narrators and an orchestra including twelve handbells which expresses a journey from doubt to belief through words from scripture and dramatic music.

The bells play an important role in that narrative. 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the Wimborne Choral Society and it was an appropriate choice of work to celebrate the occasion, drawing together different elements of the Minster’s musical forces.

Photos courtesy of Alan Bentley.

David Warwick accepting the trophy, presented by Guild President, Judith Williamson.

On Saturday 12 May, the Wimborne band entered the SDGR 8-bell striking competition, held at Calne, Wiltshire.

Up against 7 other teams, Wimborne ringers put in a solid performance of the Plain Bob Triples test piece. The band managed to chalk up only 19 faults, landing them comfortably in first place.

The ringers can now enjoy a few months ‘off’ from practising for striking competitions…until the next one in September.

The 8-bell band, plus trophy, back in their home tower of Wimborne.

On Saturday 21 April, the Wimborne band entered the East Dorset Branch 6-bell striking competition at Worth Matravers.

Up against 7 other teams, Wimborne ringers rang a beautifully-struck 120 changes of Grandsire Doubles, earning favourable comments from the judges and bringing home the sizeable trophy for the second year running.

Ringers from the band will now be turning their attention to practising for the Salisbury Guild 8-bell striking competition, held at Calne on 12 May.

We’re currently practising for the National 12 Bell Striking Competition.

There is an initial ‘eliminator’ round at the end of March, followed by the final at Great St Mary’s, Cambridge in June.

Wimborne is up against some strong competition; bands from Bristol, Guildford, Melbourne, Norwich, and Oxford.

So for the next few Thursdays, we’ll be practising on our test piece (6 leads of Cambridge Surprise Maximus), working hard on our method knowledge and striking, whilst being mindful that the tower we have to ring at for the eliminator is Southwell Minster in Yorkshire – an anti-clockwise 12!

At the end of January, the team headed up to snowy Yorkshire to try out the bells ahead of the day of our performance. Here’s hoping our return visit in March is less chilly!

The challenge to retain ownership of Maurice the Mouse* is on once again.

On Friday 17 November, Minster ringers and churchwardens will go head to head in the annual skittles match at the Langton Arms.

Competition is always fierce between the two teams – but is miraculously forgotten when the excellent buffet dinner is served.

Ringers are extremely well represented this year, with a twenty-strong team ready to take on the churchwardens.

We’ve been lucky enough to keep hold of the prized Maurice ‘trophy’ for two years running now. Can we make it a hat-trick? Check back at the end of the month for an update.

*Maurice is named after Maurice Jenkins, former verger and bellringer)

Wimborne 6 Bell Band ©Jack Pease

The Salisbury Diocesan Guild striking Competitions for 2017 were held on Saturday 9 September at Zeals and Mere. Wimborne bands came first in both six and eight bell competitions.

From Left to right: Rob Child, Trish Hitchins, David Warwick, Hilary Child, Flick Warwick and John Riley.

Results:

• 1st Wimborne, Grandsire Doubles – 17 faults
• 2nd Melksham, Grandsire Doubles – 24 faults
• 3rd Dorchester Branch, Plain Bob Doubles – 26 faults
• 4th Shaftesbury St Peter, Reverse Canterbury Doubles – 37 faults
• 5th Wool, Grandsire Doubles – 38 faults
• 6th SDGR Young Ringers, Call Changes – 44 faults

Wimborne 8 Bell Band ©Jack Pease

From Left to right: Gill Richards, Flick Warwick, John Riley, Katie Child, David Warwick, Trish Hitchins, Rob Child and Hilary Child.

All teams rang a set piece touch of Grandsire Triples.

Results:

• 1st Wimborne – 49 faults
• 2nd Dorchester Branch A – 70 faults
• 3rd Melksham – 75 faults
• 4th Mere Branch – 79 faults
• 5th Dorchester Branch B – 99 faults

David collecting one of the trophies from Guild President, Judith Williamson ©Jack Pease

On the brightest and breeziest weekend in September 2016, a band of intrepid Wimborne Minster ringers travelled to an exotic, faraway land for their annual ringing outing. Leaving our beloved ring of 12 in the very capable hands of an ASCY band for a peal of Bristol Surprise Maximus, we travelled through forests and overseas to our destination…the Isle of Wight!

Expertly organised by our trusted Tower Captain, the ringing tour kicked off on the Friday evening at Brading, a sleepy town on the east of the island. From the street, we climbed a wooden step ladder outside the church, through a trap door and into the sunbathed ringing room. Raising this brassy ring of 8, we realised we’d need to use our extra-loud voices for shouting the calls during the ringing – but after a few touches, we admitted defeat and, to great effect, rang a few ‘silent’ and non-conducted touches of Plain and Little Bob Major, as well as a few leads of London and Cambridge Spliced.

From Brading, we headed to our hotel in Sandown, a stone’s throw away from the pier – and, according to TripAdvisor, a favoured destination of both bellringers and coach parties. The accommodation and food at the hotel was very pleasant (if a little Fawlty Towers-esque!), although we almost came a cropper with the hotel’s lounge singer when a breakaway handbell band had an impromptu practice in the room next to the bar. She was not impressed with the Plain Bob Major backing track to her rendition of Mustang Sally!

We woke early on the Saturday to tackle no fewer than 6 towers; starting with three musical 6s in Whitwell, Chale and Brighstone. We rang everything from rounds and call changes, to touches of Grandsire and Stedman Doubles, to Carlisle, Norwich and London Surprise Minor for those who had done their homework. (A side note: Jane, who doesn’t often leap at the chance to ring at other towers, recommended Brighstone as her favourite bells of the outing: “I liked them, they were easy to ring”!)

Fortified by a superb lunch at The Chequers in Rookley, we headed to Carisbrooke to ring the ten bells at St Mary the Virgin. A more ‘traditional’ ring of bells, our first challenge was to pull off in rounds from a backstroke start; not easy when the ropes seemed to have been adjusted for the tallest of ringers! We managed some respectable Stedman and Grandsire Caters and attempted a few leads of London Surprise Royal, which unfortunately got the better of us (shouldn’t have had that second pint at lunch…). Carisbrooke was followed by ringing at the Minster church at Newport, a 16cwt 12, which proved surprisingly difficult to hear and handle. Nevertheless, we managed some Cambridge Surprise Maximus, as well as touches of Erin, Stedman and Grandsire Cinques.

Following a quick coffee break in Newport, we made our way to the final tower of the day, Shanklin. The sun had gone in by now and a chilly wind was whipping over the clifftop as we waited patiently outside. 6.30pm came and went, and still we stood in the alcove, teeth a-chattering. 6.45…7…where was the tower captain to let us in? Suddenly a blue car came hurtling into view, tyres screeching and headlamps blazing – a very flustered tower captain arrived to unlock for us, profusely apologetic that she had forgotten all about us! A brief ring on this stately 8, then we headed back to the hotel for the evening. After dinner, undeterred by the wannabe Alma Cogan’s comments the night before, four of our merry crew confined themselves to the hotel’s restaurant to ring a splendid handbell quarter peal of Plain Bob Major – a ‘first’ for the hotel.

Wight Bay Hotel, Sandown, Isle of Wight

Saturday, 17 September 2016 in 43 mins (15 in C)

1344 Plain Bob Major

1–2 Trish Hitchins

3–4 Kathy Bentley

5–6 David Warwick (C)

7–8 Alan Bentley

 

Before heading for the ferry on Sunday, all 14 of us descended on the Sunday service ringing of not one but two local churches, Newchurch and Godshill. The local ringers decided to enjoy a rare Sunday morning lie-in while we enjoyed the two fine rings of 6 and we ended our weekend tour with some excellent striking (if we do say so ourselves). Another quick hot chocolate stop in the village chocolate shop (try saying that after a few drinks) and we were all set to return home.

As the Red Funnel ferry docked at Southampton, plans were already afoot for a one-day tour of the towers of Guildford next year. For now, thanks must go to David and Flick Warwick for organising an excellent ringing outing.

On Sunday 14th February 2016, two of Wimborne Minster’s young ringers simultaneously rang their first quarter peals of Bristol Maximus – in two different towers! Matthew Child rang his for Evensong at Guildford Cathedral, where he is currently studying at Surrey University, and Lucy Warwick rang hers at Wimborne Minster, also for Evensong.

Guildford Cathedral – 1344 Bristol Surprise Maximus – 14 February 2016

Wimborne Minster – 1344 Bristol Surprise Maximus – 14 February 2016