Tag Archives: New ringers

Isle of Dogs and Walworth bands benefit from Summer School

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.

Lily rings on Sunday for the first time, after starting eight weeks ago

Not only did Lily Tang come and help with the fun-day at Bermondsey on Saturday, but Lily rang for her first Sunday service at Greenwich on Sunday morning. Lily only had her first lesson at Greenwich eight weeks ago, but she rang the third to some very creditable rounds and simple call-changes on the front six.

This was the first time in many years that there had been ringing before the morning service at Greenwich, and it was good that four ringers who do not normally have the opportunity to ring on Sunday mornings came along.

Afterwards seven of us walked the short distance through the foot tunnel under the Thames to Isle of Dogs, where we were joined by Buky Rufai and Lily rang some more rounds and simple call-changes on eight.

To top that, in the evening Lily came to ring for the evening service at Deptford and rang some more rounds on eight. So ringing at three towers, two of which were new. That’s enthusiasm!

Lily is already developing a good handling style and although not perfect yet, she is striking her bell more or less in the right place much of the time. Something that will only improve with plenty of practice, like she had yesterday. We very much look forward to our next batch of new ringers at Bermondsey and Greenwich making similar progress.

Bermondsey Community Fun Day – highly successful

Rear (L to R): Roger Booth, Paul Harding, Edward Gormley, Matt Amos, Trisha Shannon.
Front: Naoko Nakatani, David Connearn, Lily Tang.
Photo: Gillian Harris.

On Saturday 22 July, the Parish of Bermondsey held a Community Fun Day in aid of restoring the ‘Joy Slide’ which once sat in the Churchyard. The old wooden slide, which was built in 1921 and brought delight to generations of Bermondsey children, was donated by Arthur Carr, Chairman of Peak Freans, whose biscuit factory stood close by. The old slide was damaged by fire and removed shortly after we installed the new bells, 25 years ago.

There were various attractions in the churchyard including a bouncy castle, helter skelter and a barbecue. As one of the attractions, during the afternoon we invited local people to come up the tower and meet the ringers, watch the bells being rung and climb the new ladder to the viewing platform above the bells.

Our aim was to raise awareness of the bells and the ringers within the local community and the church family, and to recruit some new people into the local band. With help from our friends from Greenwich, Lewisham and Waterloo, and with all the ringers wearing their smart Docklands Ringers polo shirts, and giving everyone a warm welcome, we certainly helped give the right impression.

We must have showed at least 60 people up the tower and given most of them a go at ringing a few backstrokes, even a large group of schoolchildren. We also have three people who have left their contact details, and there may be a couple more who have also promised to come along early next Tuesday evening for a lesson. We were also able to publicise the event in local social media, and have attracted a significant number of ‘likes’.

The Vicar and Churchwardens were very pleased and it was very good PR for the ringers. All in all a very worthwhile exercise.

 

 

Virtual reality can help improve your ringing

The video images are very realistic

There have been significant advances in simulator technology in recent years, and we are welcoming anyone who would like to try out the new technology to come to our early practice at St James’ Bermondsey from 6.30pm on Tuesdays.

Previously simulators relied on listening alone, but the latest technology makes use of videos of real people to create a virtual reality effect. You can practice improving your ropesight, and ‘flashes’ can come up on the screen to help you see which bell you should be following.

There are also new features to record your ringing and play it back, with excellent graphics to show you how well you struck your bell in each row. With these graphics you can diagnose common striking problems such as consistently ringing quicker on one stroke and slower on another, and difficulties getting your open handstroke leads in the right place.

Thanks to grants from the Surrey Association and the Docklands Ringing Centre, a £400 award from the Association of Ringing Teachers, and technical input from the Whiting Society, we now have three ‘workstations’ set up in the ringing room at St James’, each with its own set of headphones. This means that up to three people can practice at a time, without disturbing one another, and they can all be practicing different things, from rounds to complex methods!

We are using our early practice on Tuesdays to teach several new ringers and help them progress into method ringing, and the simulator facility is proving quite popular. However, as we have three workstations we can always accommodate a few more people. As always, you will also be very welcome to stay on to our regular practice from 7.30pm (or a little later if the simulator workstations are in heavy use), and to the Gregorian pub afterwards, on your way back to the Tube!

Practicing on a workstation with headphones

 

Summer Funday and Tower Tours

On Sunday 6th September, between 2pm and 4pm there will be a rare opportunity to enjoy a behind the scenes guided tour of the tower at St Anne’s Church in Limehouse. Designed by Wren’s assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor and built 1714-1727, St Anne’s was one of twelve churches built to serve the new suburbs after the great fire of London, funded by a tax on coal coming up the River Thames. The church did not open till 1730 because a change in government repealed the tax before the work was complete.

This historic church was almost completely gutted by fire in 1850. It was restored between 1851 and 1854 by Philip Hardwick.

With support from the London Docklands Development Corporation, the roof and tower were again restored between 1983 and 1997, and completed when a ring of eight bells was finally added, these bells having previously hung in the tower of St Peter’s Church, Walworth in South London. Two more bells were cast at the Whitechapel Bellfoundry in 2004 to complete the present ring of ten bells.

Those coming on Sunday on Sunday afternoon will be able to climb to the top and see the restored Victorian clock mechanism and admire the view across the local area. The Docklands Ringers will also be on hand to demonstrate the bells being rung, you will be able to have a go. You will also be able to view inside the main roofspace and see how the Victorian timbers have been ingeniously strengthened with a delicate space age tubular steel framework, threaded between the old timbers.

If you can’t make 6th September, the Docklands Ringers will be holding a ‘taster evening’ on Wednesday 9th September between 7.30 and 9.00pm when you can also come up and see the tower and find out more about the bells.

Summer funday