Author Archives: Roger

Success is the Reward for Perserverance

We almost had an all ladies band! (Emma couldn’t come to Isle of Dogs). Back L to R: Piers, Buky, Anna, Justina, Lina, Front: Bo, Lily, Naoko. The peal board in the background is the first peal rung by an all ladies band. Success is the Reward for Perseverance!

The bands at Isle of Dogs and Greenwich work closely together, especially as we have a fair number of new ringers, and the two towers are only 15 minutes walk apart. As one service starts at 10am and the next at 11am, we can easily ring for both morning services. Today we were able to ring rounds and call changes on the front six at Greenwich and all eight at Isle of Dogs.

What is remarkable is that of the ten ringers today, four have only learnt in the past six months, and two more have been ringing for less than a year. Never the less they are all making excellent progress towards Levels 2 and 3 of Learning the Ropes.

Today was also one of the band’s 16th Birthday https://bb.ringingworld.co.uk/view.php?id=1206191

Isle of Dogs is the tower where the first all ladies band rang a peal, back in 1912. We look forward to further progress and to the day, in the not too distant future, when at least some of our new ringers also ring their first peal. ‘Success is the Reward for Perseverance’ as the motto on the peal board says!

Remembrance Sunday at Limehouse

Piers, Bo, Lina and Justina

With 15 ringers available, we had enough ringers, not only ring half muffled at Rotherhithe this morning, but also to split in two and ring at Bermondsey and Limehouse at the same time!

Over recent months we have grown the band so that we have enough ringers to able to do this more regularly. Piers, Bo, Lina and Justina all started learning to ring in August. They have learnt quickly, having benefitted from some intensive handling sessions with plenty of ‘rope time’ and use of our simulators to practice striking. They are all now ringing rounds and call changes sufficiently well to be able to ring together at Limehouse this morning.

This was also the first time that they had rung half muffled, enabling them to tick another box in their 50 Ringing Things book (two for those that helped fit/remove the muffles).

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers announced this morning that working in Partnership with the Government, in a year’s time, on Nov 11th 2018 they are looking for: 

1.     As much bell ringing in as many towers as possible, with half-muffled ringing in the morning, and open bells in the afternoon and evening.

2.     Ringing as part of the large-scale British project, ‘Battle’s Over – A Nation’s Tribute’. Pipers will be piping in the morning, bugles sounding and 1,000 beacons lit across the UK in the evening; with1,000 towers ringing at 7.05pm on the day.

3.     Recruiting and training 1,400 new ringers in 2018, the same number as those who fell in the Great War, to take part in this ringing

Piers, Bo, Lina and Justina show that with intensive tuition it is quite feasible to train new bell ringers and have them ringing well enough to ring together on Sundays within a few months. Enquires from people wishing to learn in time for 2018 are already coming in as a result of today’s nationwide publicity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41957521

 

Sound control left open by accident – local residents respond

We ‘ve not rung the bells at Isle of Dogs regularly for two years due to mobile phone equipment being installed and loosing a couple of members the band. However yesterday we were teaching five new ringers on silenced bells and the simulator from 6.30pm, and removed the silencers at 8pm for an open practice, but forgot to close the sound control.

Imagine the surprise this morning to find that local residents had heard the bells and posted about it on the Canary Wharf and Isle of Dogs Residents Facebook group!

Perhaps we should leave the sound control open more often!

Packed tower at St Anne’s Limehouse

Some of the helpers (l to r) Naoko, Roger, Simon, Emma, Greg, Bo, Piers, Alan, JJ Andrew, Gillian, Lily.

People were queuing before mid-day to come and meet the ringers, see the bells and climb to the top of the tower at St Anne’s Limehouse at the tower open day on Sunday 10th September.

Advertised on the Canary Wharf and Isle of Dogs Facebook Page and the Heritage Open Days website, and with a parish fun-day going on in the churchyard, we must have had over 120 members of the public come up the tower. At times, particularly in the first three hours, it was very hectic. There were almost too many people and the Rector and Churchwardens were very pleased and impressed with the response.

We were able to demonstrate the bells being rung, ringing some rounds and a few call changes on 6, 8 or 10 bells every 20 minutes or so. We then took people up to the top of the tower, past the bells and clock, where they could admire the view and listen to a brief talk about the history of the building.

On the way down, they were invited to have a go and talk to the ringers, whilst the next group went up. It was particularly pleasing that some of our newer ringers, who have only been ringing for a few months (even weeks) were able to take part and talk to members of the public about Learning the Ropes.

As a result of this event, we have several people’s contact details to follow up. With the other new ringers that we have at Greenwich, Isle of Dogs and Bermondsey, we are going to be busy teaching them to handle over the next few weeks, and hopefully they will be ringing rounds at practices and on Sundays by October.

Demonstrating ringing, with members of the public watching on

Demonstrating ringing, with members of the public watching on

 

 

JJ Explains ringing to some non ringers

The feather banners outside

The ten bells, viewed through the sound control floor from above

The Thomas More clock, installed in 1852 after the great fire

 

 

Piers Myers of Isle of Dogs ringing rounds after ten days

 

Piers Myers of Christchurch Isle of Dogs after five one and half hour 1:1 handling lessons at last week’s MCA&LDG summer school on the dumb bells at Kensington, followed by an hour and half on Monday afternoon getting used to the real bells at Christchurch and practicing on the simulator, and a further hour yesterday evening.

He’s ringing the sixth to rounds on 6. Piers and his wife Bo (who’s a little camera shy) can certainly hear their bells, although now that they have something extra to concentrate a few handling faults have crept back in. Ready to try ringing with a real band, but also need to continue with 1:1 lessons to sort out the bent arms at handstroke and that left hand.