Ringing Forums

Oliver Lee

As they are due to be removed at the end of the month for rehanging my Father and I decided to join Bedford for some service ringing and I'm sorry to say that the experience was far from enjoyable, although we cleared our visit with the tower captain a couple of days previously we received what I can only describe as a frosty reception but as two of my friends were present I decided to ignore it with hindsight however I really should've taken this as a warning of what was to come!, whilst there were more then enough people to have rung a touch of Grandsire triples on the back eight the ringing Master instead choose to ring a decidedly boring set of rounds on 12 with a placed band during which he fussed incessantly about the striking and made some uncalled for remarks on my bell handling!, eventually I grew more then a little fed up of this but the biggest insult came when he at point blank refused to let me ring the tenor because I was a visitor and not one of his "locals". has anyone else encountered unfriendly towers like this? I've visited many places across the country for service ringing and with the exception of yesterday I have always received a very warm welcome

Phillip George

eventually I grew more then a little fed up of this but the biggest insult came when he at point blank refused to let me ring the tenor because I was a visitor and not one of his "locals". — Oliver Lee

Oliver, you have explained your visit to Bedford from your point of view and I do not wish to comment on it because I was not there. However, as you have commented publicly, I will say that I support any tower captain/ringing master in their decision whether or not to allow any ringer to ring the tenor or any other particular bell. ....None of us has a right to ring! .....we do so only with permission of the church under the guidance of (church) appointed leaders. When visiting a tower we should respect the decisions made locally, including what methods and how many bells are rung. You might have an opinion about this but yours is not to reason why! You said that the ringing master did not allow you to ring the tenor because you were not one of the locals. There could be a reason for this e.g. the condition/go of the bell? If you feel so strongly aggrieved I would suggest that you contact the tower captain and ask if he would be kind enough give you a more detailed explanation. I hope you are able to resolve this.

Oliver Lee

↪Phillip George

I did follow the guidance Philip, If I wanted I could've grabbed the tenor and refused to budge but because I am generally a respectful person I asked the RM very kindly if I could take the tenor for the last set of rounds and instead of saying something along the lines of " yes of course you can" or "not this time but you can when the bells are back" he bluntly told me no because "he" had to place the band and even after I'd explained that I'd had experience with heavy tenors he sarcastically retorted "oh I bet you have" as if he didn't actually believe me. I will in due course contact the tower captain to discuss the matter further but I have already decided that this will be my one and only visit to Bedford, I don't usually say this about towers I've been to but this has left a sour taste in the mouth and I find it especially sad that this had to be my memory of them given that a friend of mine used to ring there in the early 70s

Chris Turner

Oliver. Phillip George is quite correct, as were the actions of the Bedford tower captain. (I do not ring anywhere near Bedford, by the way.)
I would do exactly the same at my home tower on a Sunday morning - ring as many bells as I could, as well as I could. I would place my bands and probably suggest to anyone who asked to ring a specific bell, when I was unsure how they might ring it, to join us on practice night, when this option would be allowed.

Simon Ridley

The fact your consider other people's ringing "boring" says something. The fact your choose to raise the issue on a public forum, I presume to try and "shame" the locals and TC, says even more.
Your complaint may or may not be legitimate, but bringing it up here, as a visitor, and without giving the TC a right to reply, comes across as churlish and not the sort or person I would want to have to manage in a tower.

Peter Sotheran

↪Oliver Lee

As others have said, as a visitor, you are a guest in the tower and it is not your place to ask for or indeed expect to be allowed to ring whatever you want. Service ringing in particular demands ringing of the highest standard and it is entirely up to the TC to place a band such that he can get the best result.

We once had a notorious tenor-grabber visited our tower; he may have fancied himself as a 'tenor-king' but his striking was such that he was nick-named 'Lightning' due his inability to strike in the same place twice. We took secret delight in placing each band in such away that he never grabbed our tenor! Take care that you don't fall into the same category!

Oliver Lee

↪Peter Sotheran

well I'm pleased to say I'm not like that, I've rung several tenors to quarters over the years and a lot of people have commented favourably on how good my striking is. I do remember one instance though on an outing where our youth co Ordinator had a right proper moan at the "lightnings" amongst claiming that If we rang like that with some bands we wouldn't be asked to tenor again, eight years later I do think she had a point.

Ringing Forums

visiting ringers at Service ringing

Welcome to your Ringing Forums!

Categories

More Discussions