Handbell Roundup for April

Submitted by simon on

I'm sorry to say that we didn't do any ringing at 1 Albany Quadrant in April. But everyone else has been forging ahead, and producing a crop of noteworthy performances.

Personal milestones:

Foreign adventures:

Various firsts:

Some handbell days:

Some interesting method combinations:

The clear choice for our featured performance this month is, like last month, a peal of Bristol Maximus. Congratulations to Jack for a great achievement.

Oxford Diocesan Guild
Reading, Berkshire

18 Sandhills Way, Calcot
Wednesday, 9 April 2014 in 2h55 (15)
5090 Bristol Surprise Maximus

Composed by David G Hull

1–2 Jack Page
3–4 Elizabeth C Frye
5–6 Bernard F L Groves
7–8 Graham G Firman
9–10 Katharine J Firman
11–12 Graham A C John (C)

First handbell peal of Bristol Maximus and at age 16, the youngest to do so: 1-2.

50th of Bristol Maximus in hand: 7-8 & 11-12.

See it here on BellBoard (with a photo)

 

Handbell Roundups

Comments

I was delighted to chance across your handbell ringing page and thought I would share briefly our story. I ring handbells with a band in Cambridge and at the moment only ring 1-2 ( I am happy there!). I can ring up to Cambridge based surprise royal and Kent max, although I find the latter frighteningly exciting! My wife Sheila was keen to learn handbells and our friend Sally Mew was already learning Plain Bob Minor with another local band. We started to ring together in early 2013. Sheila had never rung handbells but by June we had rung our first quarter peal. We meet most weeks and usually attempt a quarter. I said that if we rang 25 quarters on the old Taylor bells (11 in G borrowed from church and which need to be refurbished), I would buy a new set, which I did! We now ring on a Whitechapel pocket set (8 in C). These also go to Cambridge with me and we are looking forward to the first peal soon. Meanwhile, our "home" band is still ringing plain Bob Minor but we have now changed pairs and it shouldn't be too long before we are rattling of QPs in our new positions. I would like to think we could ring a peal later in the year - let's see.

Submitted by Phillip George (not verified) on

I think that's great and good progress too! Certainly being able to meet on a regular basis is the key to improving quickly and gaining confidence. This has been underlined to us this year, since our regular handbell band has not been able to meet as regularly as we used to. Our progress is definitely slower as a result. I will be excited to read about your first peal!