We always view Holy Week as an opportunity to take a break from the bell tower, and do some more handbell ringing instead.  This year, we packed in so much extra handbell ringing, that it has extended into an intensive fortnight of handbell ringing.  This year we were very indulgent and spread our ringing net to a few new people, giving us several enjoyable sessions along the way

We started off with our regular band, and met to attempt another of Simon's practice quarters of Horton's 4.  Sometimes we are on and sometimes we are off.  This time we were a bit off, but it is all useful practice.  The weak points are now easier to identify, and we know what we need to work on for next time.

The next evening we invited a new handbell ringer Phil Baiocchi for an intensive practice session.  Phil is a graduate student at St Andrews, where there is a growing number of people interested in handbells.  He had rung some Plain Bob before, so we practised that, and tried a short touch, and practised the plain course on a different pair.  It was a pleasantly social evening, as all handbell evenings should be.

Easter Weekend found us without many plans, so we invited one of our own ringers round for some handbell ringing.  After a recent SACR training day that featured a lot of handbell ringing, Iain Milne expressed an interest in doing more.  Another pleasant afternoon spent ringing plain hunt and explaining the different pairs and patterns. 

And it was very pleasant.  Many ringers assume that once you reach a certain level in ringing, that going back over those really basic steps and simple methods must be tedium personified.  I am not sure why it is thrown about so much.  I know very few ringers who have that attitude.  In fact, most of the ringers that I know are happy to join in and help out another ringer (as they were once helped).  It is especially rewarding when you can see definite progress being made, and better still when everyone is having a nice time as well. 

Now we are halfway through our second week and have worked into more complicated projects, and are hitting all the emotional highs and lows of handbell ringing.  On Easter Monday we had Julia Cater up and rang a nice peal of Bristol (although we took a false start to get properly warmed up).  Bouyed by this success, we then completely failed to ring a nice peal of Yorkshire last night.  After so many successful sessions, it was a bit of a downer, especially as the rest of the band rang well and deserved to get it. 

Our next session is on Friday, which is our wedding anniversary.  So our course we are having another attempt at Horton's 4.  Is there any other way to spend an anniversary?