It was a real pleasure to help with the Middlesex CA and London DG Summer School today and Tuesday this week. Seventeen new ringers have been learning to handle, most of them from scratch, and now, on day 4, most of them are now handling a bell on their own. The group includes two new ringers from Isle of Dogs and two new ringers from Walworth

Taught in three groups of six or seven, each day each new ringer is getting about one and half hours of 1:1 rope time with an instructor on the six dumb-bells. We even had about a third of the pupils ringing rounds for the first time this afternoon on the simulators. The remainder of the time is spent ringing handbells and on other ringing related activities.

Tomorrow it’s more practice at bell control, including tidying up ringing up and down. Most of the new ringers should reach Level 1 of Learning the Ropes tomorrow. There is already talk of holding some regular follow up sessions to supplement teaching in their local towers, and we do hope that many will be able to reach Level 2 and Level 3 of Learning the Ropes by this time next year.

There is certainly an awful lot of enthusiasm and camaraderie amongst the students, and it would be really good to maintain this and produce some excellent ringers to strengthen local bands, not just at Isle of Dogs and Walworth, but also across London. The teachers are also gaining a lot from working together and picking up tips from each other, and seeing the pupils make such rapid progress is so rewarding.