Justin, Louise, Ines, Helen , Peter and Steve have just completed an excellent trip to Vernet-le-Bain. We were part of a group of 22 ringers in total – all great friends.
The bells – 5cwt 10, were fully available and we made excellent use of them – lots of ‘firsts’, both in tower & hand. Some sightseeing, some swimming, lots of eating & games – a great trip
Justin, Louise, Ines, Helen , Peter and Steve have just completed an excellent trip to Vernet-le-Bain. We were part of a group of 22 ringers in total – all great friends.
The bells – 5cwt 10, were fully available and we made excellent use of them – lots of ‘firsts’, both in tower & hand. Some sightseeing, some swimming, lots of eating & games – a great trip
The last fortnight has been hectic for the Alderney band.
We were pleased to welcome back our regular visiting experts – John & June Wells from Reading March 13 – 20th. They come each spring to help us prepare for the inter-island 8 bell striking competition. This year we were already managing to get through the touch ‘unaided’ but their criticisms are always welcome & usually constructive!!
We hosted 8 young ringers (plus 3 adult helpers) from Elizabeth College over the weekend of March 22/23rd. The youngsters regularly ring at College on a set of bell simulators which are the lightest in the Channel Islands with occasional sessions at Town Church where the bells are the heaviest on the Channel Islands. Ringing at both St Anne’s and Wells Bells the youngsters were able to work on their style as our bells are both ‘goldilocks’ peals – not too light & not too heavy. We very much enjoyed their visit and appreciated their enthusiasm on Sunday morning – where all the practice on Saturday paid off and we rang some really good rounds on higher numbers. The hot chocolate in The Georgian afterwards went down very well too
On Monday March 24th a lady ringer from St John’s came to Alderney specifically for 3 days of intensive ringing tuition. This initiative by the Alderney band has already been well received by 2 separate groups of Guernsey ringers & we can now add Jersey to our list of very satisfied customers.
Anyone wishing to boost their repertoire/perfect their style/receive an intro to handbell ringing should email me: [email protected] Ideally a group of 2 or 3 of similar standard wishing to work together will be made very welcome by the Alderney band – solo ‘travellers’ welcome too of course & I will try to attract others to join in – course fee £60, free accommodation
Wow – what a week:
https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/event.php?id=20629
Jane Le Conte, Aileen Wilson, Helen McGregor and Peter Bevis have just spent an amazing week following the ART Minor Stepping Stones programme. 23 ringers spent a week listening to talks about the structure of surprise minor in general and some of the methods in particular. We had plenty of opportunity to practice and then attempt a quarter peal in various methods of gradually increasing complexity – set our in a clear path.
Evenings were spent on Stedman Triples, DNCBM, Kent TB Major & Yorkshire S Major. Handbell ringing was undertaken of course with 2 ringers scoring their first ever handbell qtr peals
The standout moment of the week was Aileen’s 1/4 peal of London S minor – fabulous 🙂
Next year we hope to be trying some spliced s minor. Experienced s minor ringers might like to join us – let me know & we can discuss
Alderney ringers Helen & Peter have just been enjoying a spectacular week in Tulloch with the Cumberlands. Peter’s hips rang their first tower bell peal (London S Major) & although Helen’s peal of Orion Maximus (the principle NOT the surprise) was stood up due to one ringer feeling unwell – she did go on the ring a very successful quarter peal of Orion Maximus
Alderney band very much looking forward to hosting Elizabeth College at the weekend 🙂 – weather looking dreadful tho:-(
Just completed a great weekend on Jersey……practice @ St Marks on Friday night then training all day Saturday @ St John’s. Justin & Louise in the Vestry with handbells and playing cards – an opportunity for theory & fun practical demos – & me running sessions on handling , raising & lowering on muffled bells on the ground floor ring.
Service ringing on Sunday plus coffee ‘back at the ranch’ gave more chances to plot future fun with old and new friends
Many thanks Jersey
Helen McGregor – Alderney
The Alderney band is following the ART Minor Stepping Stones programme. We have just had a huge boost by making good use Matthew Higby & friends who were with us for 4 days. We have scored 4 qtr peals in as many days – completing level 3. This does of course put us in a strong position to commence Level 4 – which we are undertaking in February in Tulloch – BUT it also helps us support our Alderney ‘middle rank’ of ringers as they proceed through Levels 1 & 2
https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/search.php?ringer=helen+mcgregor&from=05%2F12%2F2024&address=Ringing+Centre
HMMcG
As you know the committee asked the Membership to vote on whether we should be considering either:
to disband the CI branch & be subsumed within a mainland branch of SDGR
or, to remain as a separate CI branch of the SDGR
The results are as follows :
88% voted to stay in the CI Branch
12% voted to consider joining a mainland one
There were 37 votes cast.
With this in mind the committee’s view is that we see no point in pursuing the issue with the SDGR and we propose to continue as we have been.
4 intrepid ringers from St Peter’s came to Alderney for a weekend of intensive training Nov 29th – Dec 2nd. Concentrating on handling, ropesight and plain huntng the 4 were supported by the Alderney band at special sessions at Wells Bells, St Anne’s, on handbells and on the simulator. Videos were watched and methods ‘rung’ on playing cards and walked in the hall:-)
During a normal practice session there simply isn’t time for indepth discussions on ropelength, the importance of straight arms, ‘find them follow them, forget them’, ‘somebody – treble – somebody – 4’ etc etc. Living & breathing ringing for a whole weekend gave us that time
Good fun was had by all & we like to think that the novices left our island armed with a better understanding of what was expected of them than they had before:-) We look forward to their next visit when we hope to see clear signs of them having made good use of all the information we imparted.
HMMcG
