Welcome to the handbell roundup for April 2015.  There were a massive 196 handbell performances on BellBoard, as ringers took advantage of the Easter holidays.

Handbell quarters of note:

• A first quarter in hand for Rebecca Zarate and Elspeth Novice.
• A first on 8 for Francis Fisher, and for Nicholas Parr, in a productive handbell evening.
• A first handbell quarter for Mary and Frank Sluter, at Wellington.
• First of Surprise major for George Salter.
• First quarter in hand for William Ryan.
• Andrew Browne has rung his first on, with a first on 8 in hand by Oliver Coldrick in the same quarter.
• Janet John has rung her first away from the trebles, followed several other firsts over the course of the month.
• We like the tradition of handbell ringing during ringing courses, like this one in Essex and this one too.
• Congratulations to Leland Kusner's first quarter, in a long American tradition of learning handbells first.
• Nicola Bright has rung her first surprise in hand.
• First Stedman Triples for Helen Phillips and Philip Hopkins.
• Peter Richards achieved his first on 8, as has William Ryan.
• Another first on 8 for Fran Rogers and Peter Rogers.
• Moira Tregaskis has rung her first minor on an inside pair, as has Mary Edelsten.
• And this quarter for the Bromley handbell school, which sounds very interesting.  Who is going to tell us about that?
• And finally, James Ramsbottom has called his first handbell quarter.  We look forward to seeing more.

Handbell Days

The Easter holiday offered many opportunities for handbell ringers to get together.

• A productive handbell day at 24 Deanery Crescent, including firsts for Francis Fisher, Nicholas Parr, Terry Astil, and Stephen Aldridge.  Plus a first in hand for Brenda Parr,  Elizabeth Rudge and Nicky Carling.
• Next, it was the turn for Llandaff, with 4 quarters.
• The very officially named Sussex Change Ringing Handbell Day, kicked off with a quarter of treble bob.  We would like to hear what other activities happened too - hopefully lots of tryout sessions?.
• And don't forget the massive ODG Handbell Day in Reading, which apparently had fewer quarters than usual (17) but a lot of good practice sessions.
• Later in the month, there was a day at Northallerton, with 3 quarters and a first treble bob for Sebastian Bradley.

Peals of note:

• A new handbell location (and possibly a first on the bells).
• Alison Lucas has rung her first Kent on an inside pair.
• Jack Page has conducted his first handbell peal, followed shortly by his first spliced maximus.
• A resident Sussex band has achieved spliced Surprise Major (2m), including firsts for Jonathan Franklin and Stephen Beckingham.
• Frederick DuPuy has rung his first handbell peal (and for a wedding, so no pressure).
• Laura Davies has rung her first on 10 in hand, with a peal of Stedman.
• First peals for Murray-Luke Peard and William Ryan with a performance of Doubles (42m/p), also marking a 'most methods' for ANZAB.  All those practice quarters paid off - a great performance.
• Spliced Surpise Major (20m) marks most methods in hand for June Wells, Christopher Cole, and John Wells.
• Matthew Tosh has ventured into ringing Cambridge.
• And Alistair Smith has rung his first Yorkshire.
• Congratulations to Peter Kirton, for his first peal in hand, on new bells and a new venue.  We hope to see more.
• Nice to see a revisitation of the Fen series of methods.
• A peal of Kent Royal sees a first on 10 for Lynne Hughes and Susan Sawyer, and also a conducting first for Tim Bayton.  Nice one.

Some milestones:

• Chris O'Mahony has rung 200 handbell peals, marking it with some style (see our featured performance).
• David Maynard has conducted 100 handbell peals (with his own very neat composition).
• Jeremy Spiller has rung 750 handbell peals (which also marks Winston Girling's 50th).
• William Croft has rung 900 handbell peals.
• Michael Purday has conducted 150 handbell peals.
• Patricia Newton has rung 800 handbell peals.

Our featured performance

Middlesex County Association & London Diocesan Guild
Aldenham, Hertfordshire
Aldenham School
Saturday, 4 April 2015 in 3h18 (15 in C)
5040 Kent Treble Bob Fourteen
Composed by D G Maynard
1–2 Alban D Forster
3–4 David G Maynard (C)
5–6 Samuel M Austin
7–8 Jonathan A Agg
9–10 Emma J Southerington
11–12 Christopher D O'Mahony
13–14 David Kemp
First on fourteen handbells: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 13-14.
200th handbell peal: 11-12.
(view it on BellBoard)