Minutes from September meeting 2023
CI Branch AGM 16/09/23 held at the Vale Church, Guernsey
As the post of chair is currently vacant, he meeting was chaired by branch secretary, Jen Hill. She welcomed all and extended thanks to the Vale ringers and Rector Tanswell for their hospitality .
Apologies for absence: Chris Totty, Mike Halsey, Steve de Carteret, Tim Knight , Phil and Elaine Le Conte
No members were lost through death during the last year, however the secretary sent condolences to John and Nicky David for the loss of their son, Mark.
Minutes: These had been previously circulated. John David requested a correction to the statement that, due to the death of the Queen, no bells had been rung open – in fact they had as St Annes bells were rung prior to the service that day. The amended minutes were accepted: proposed, Helen McGregor, seconded Jane Le Conte.
Treasurers report: This had been previously circulated. There were no questions and the report was accepted, proposed: Justin Reed seconded: Joseph Blake
Ringing Master’s report: This is appended to these minutes. Duncan reminded the meeting that this is his last meeting as Ringing Master. Jen thanked Duncan for his considerable contribution to the district.
Election of officers: The postholders of Secretary – Jen Hill
Treasurer – Peter Routier
Web Master – Peter Bevis all indicated their willingness to stand again.
There were no candidates for the post of chair.
There was one proposal for ringing master; Joseph Blake was proposed by Justin Reed and seconded by Aileen Wilson.
All were elected on bloc
Duncan requested that each island’s ringers take responsibility for organisation of finding a judge, arranging transport, etc, when the meeting is at one of their towers.
Election of new members: Alderney : Sally Vos is promoted to Full Member, St Peters Guernsey – Christopher Hill and Keith Rowcliffe, Simon Kirkpatrick, Frederica Kirkpatrick, Jocelyn Briggs, Tim Peat, and Christine Browning (junior member). Town Church Guernsey – Anne Le Cheminant, Jean Collier and Ian Wood as Provisional members and Rachel McCritchen as full member. Proposed by Duncan Loweth, seconded by Judy Hall and elected en bloc.
Any other business: Helen McGregor suggested that the branch business meeting is held over Zoom a week before the ringing meeting. This would have the benefits of enabling members who do not attend the ringing meeting to have a say in branch business and will also maximise time for ringing, especially considering the difficulty and expense of travel. There was discussion around those members who may not be able to access Zoom. This could be overcome by joining members who can do so, or by using a venue for a group to get together.
John and Nicky David had concern there would be a decrease in attendance for an on-line meeting, and that meeting on-line would result in less fellowship.
Jen Hill pointed out that the numbers at this years meeting had been reduced by transport times meaning that ringers had to leave for the airport and so could not be present. A Zoom meeting would overcome this problem. She suggested that the Zoom meeting be held after the ringing meeting, thus giving members the chance to raise and discuss matters beforehand and that, given the reservations expressed, there should be a Zoom trial after the meeting in April. The success or otherwise, of this can be discussed at the next branch meeting. This was proposed by Helen McGregor, seconded by Louise Reed and carried by 16 votes to 1.
Jen Hill proposed that the branch September meeting is moved so as not to clash with the Salisbury Diocesan Guild AGM, which is also held on the 3rd Saturday of the month. In order to allow those returning to university to attend, the second weekend of September was suggested. This was proposed by Jen Hill and seconded by Duncan Loweth and carried unanimously.
Dates of next meetings: April 13th in Alderney. The 8 bell inter-island competition test piece will be Grandsire Triples (PBPBPS x 2) check with Duncan this is correct. 14th September in Jersey, 6 bell inter-tower competition
Jen invited Tim Phillips from the SDG to make a presentation regarding the guild’s new system for collection of members subscriptions. Power Point slides explaining this had been previously circulated to members. Tim Phillips explained how the new system will reduce the work currently caused by the present system. In response to members he reassured them that the new system is compliant with data protection legislation. It was pointed out that both the Bailiwick of Guernsey and Jersey have their own legislation and that this should be investigated. The meeting had no objections to the new system and thanked Tim for his presentation.
Jen then welcomed the competition judge Peter Holden thanked him for his hard work in judging so many teams and invited him to present the results.
He started with general comments: this was a good turn out and congratulations to all who took part. There was a good use of the practice time, particularly ringing rounds long enough to let them settle down. All teams bar one, rang doubles or call changes; the tenor can make or break a piece of ringing and is often an underrated skill.
Results (in order of ringing):
Town Church 3: Plain hunt doubles; good use of beginning rounds, a good attempt but a hiatus near the end meant the piece only just finished . 83 faults, 10th place
Town Church 2: Grandsire Doubles, good use of rounds to sort out the striking of 4 and 5. A nice piece of ringing with no method mistakes and few faults. 25 faults, 3rd place
St.Peters: call changes. Unfortunately attracted faults as rang more than 120 changes. Peter commented on the difficulty of calling exact number of call changes. 76 faults, 9th place
Jersey A: Plain Bob Doubles. This team established a nice rhythm. 25.5 faults, 4th= place
Elizabeth College 2: Call changes. Some changes were uneven initially, but this settled. The correct number of changes were rung. 57.5 faults, 8th place
Alderney: Plain courses of Plain Bob Doubles. Quite nice ringing but marred by some whole fault changes 29 faults, 6th place.
Forest: Plain Bob Doubles. A nice piece of ringing with no full faults. 18.5 faults, 2nd place
Town Church 4. Plain Hunt Doubles. This was a challenge for some of the ringers, though it did improve towards the end. 132 faults, 11th place
Elizabeth College 1. Grandsire Doubles. Quite nice ringing, but sounded a bit rushed, all ringers need to ring at the same speed. 25.5 faults, 4th= place
Town Church 1: Grandsire Doubles. Nice ringing with a sprinkling of half faults. 15 faults, 1st place
Jersey B: Call changes. These were the best call changes of the day, though there were some changes which were not clean 41.5 faults, 7th place
Scratch: Minor. This team did not complete their test piece
The judge presented the trophy to Donny Brock, conductor of the winning team.