Category Archives: Training

Bellringing: It’s harder than it looks

Some of you will have met Adam Bacon, who Rob Parker has been teaching to ring at Bermondsey.

Adam has produced a video which shows how media personality Ant Smith learnt to ring rounds with 13 hours intensive tuition over a period of four weeks, coordinated by Deborah Thorley.

Ant had the objective of ringing on twelve at Bradford Cathedral, and although his 12 bell striking was not up to much, he did a creditable job of ringing on six bells. This just shows what can be achieved in a relatively short space of time, and this video is perhaps something that can be used to inspire other beginners.

Tueday night band make progress

Members of the Tuesday night band at Bermondsey and Rotherhithe have made significant progress in March and April, quarter peals having been attempted and scored most weeks, either as part of the Tuesday night specials, or Sunday service ringing at Rotherhithe and Isle of Dogs:

Andrew Larsen has rung his first quarter of Kent Treble Bob Minor on the treble.

Joe Tilley has rung his first of Kent Treble Bob Minor inside.

Eva Redei has scored her first of Doubles on the Treble, and followed this up buy ringing the treble to another in two Doubles methods and the treble to another of Plain Bob Doubles

Jonathan Gregson has also rung his first of Plain Bob Doubles inside, and followed this up by ringing his first of Grandsire Doubles inside and Plain Bob Minor on the Treble

Louise Booth has also conducted her first quarter of mixed doubles.

In addition to these firsts, many other ringers have taken the opportunity to ring and several have also practiced their conducting skills; a total of eighteen ringers having participated (Harry Baulcombe, Andrew Booth, Louise Booth, Roger Booth, Luke Camden, Andrew Clark, Simon Fraser, Colin Friend, Jonathan Gregson, Gillian Harris, Richard Hensman, Andrew Larsen, Elizabeth LeMoine, Nolan Marchand, Eva Redei, Trisha Shannon, Joe Tilley and Mike Todd).

Besides the ones that have been scored, we have also lost quarters of Plain Bob Minor and Plain Bob Triples. Perhaps someone is sending us a message, but over the coming months we will make the effort to help more people move on to ringing Minor and Triples, although we will still need to continue ringing quite a lot of doubles, not only to refine our striking, but also enable those who are currently ringing the tenor behind, or hunting the treble, to move on. We also need to cater for those who are coming through the system and who will soon be ready to attempt their first quarter.

In addition to the quarters, Guseppina and Luigi Vincenti have also achieved their ‘Learning the Ropes’ Level 1 and are now working towards Level 2. There are several other people at the same stage, so it looks like that there is still more progress to be made and many more quarters to be rung.

Roger

Happy Birthday Andrew

At a recent training committee meeting it was noted that Andrew had notched up another birthday.  Elizabeth managed to magic up a cake from nowhere.

Andrew

As usual but trying to include normal business, the training committee tries to have a bit of fun as well!

Want to ring more Quarter Peals ?

The DRC currently has two regular quarter peal slots a month to further the training of its members.  These are usually both at Stepney, one at 4.30pm on the second Sunday of the month and one at 6.20pm on the third Thursday of the month.

The idea is for individuals to take a turn at organising them in order to spread the load, to ensure you get to ring what you want to ring, and to give people experience of organising quarters if they haven’t already.  It also enables you to take control of your own development as a ringer.  Another reason is that we have limited capacity within the DRC to ring everything everyone wants, but if different people organise them and they call on people they ring with at other towers, our capacity is extended.

To organise a quarter, one first needs to get a tower and a time.  These two elements are done for you, so you then need to decide what you want to ring, and consider who to ask to conduct it – Jonathan, Andrew, Chris and Roger are usual suspects, but there are others within the DRC and you might know other conductors.

For those new to organising, it is advisable to consult with your conductor as to the composition of your band.

I keep a record of who is organising each one, so that we do not end up with a clash, so if you want to organise something, let me know and I will tell you the next available date.

Of course, this does not preclude anybody organising a quarter at another tower at another time and if lots of people are enthused, we can consider setting up another regular time at another tower.  Information about contact people for the other DRC towers are elsewhere on this website.

I look forward to a deluge of emails saying you want to organise something!

Gillian Harris

Docklands Training Day – October 27th

Hi everyone.

Following positive feedback from the last one we are holding another simulator training day on Saturday 27th.

This is an opportunity to use the simulator with somebody experienced to focus on an aspect of ringing you wish to improve on, be it listening skills, handling or if you have used one a lot before then practicing a specific method. If you have not used one much then it is a good introduction and once you understand how it works then all you need is a couple of willing people and you can use it almost any time, for hours on end (or at least till you need a drink).

Sessions will run 9am-1pm at Rotherhithe and 10am to 1pm at Stepney and the slots are an hour long starting on the hour.

They are first come first served with no more than 2 people per slot.

Please do contact me to select a slot and make the most of this opportunity.
Any questions or problems with timing please get in contact.

All the best,
Andrew (Clarke)