Cambridge District

of the Ely Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers

Calendar

Next Monthly Meeting

The District's 2023 outing is on Saturday, 14 October in and around Biggleswade (Clifton, Southill, Biggleswade, Potton and Gamlingay). Plenty of opportunities for your own arrangements for lunch in Biggleswade. See the full outing schedule.

News

Last year's Cambridge District Supper was a great success so we are going to do it again on Saturday 11 November with canapés and Prosecco at 7.00, dinner at 7.30, in the Whittlesford Memorial Hall. There will be open ringing 6.00–6.45pm at Whittlesford.

Our after dinner speaker will be Lucy Lewis, the first woman to be appointed Marshal of Cambridge University. Before this, she was the first female bomb disposal expert in the British Army. She later served in the Royal Military Police and then served a further eight years as a staff officer in the Ministry of Defence before retiring with the rank of major. There will be some social ("folk") dancing to round off the evening.

As last year we will provide the venue, crockery/cutlery/glasses, drinks on arrival, main course, and tea/coffee. Everyone attending will be asked to bring a contribution of canapés, salads, deserts, or cheese and biscuits from a list we will provide, and their own drinks to go with the meal. Costs will be the same as last year: £20 a head, discounted to £10 for those in full time education.

There are further details on the District web site. Booking is now open using using the on-line Cambridge District Supper 2023 booking form. Payment is by bank transfer or cheque, and we will let you know how to pay and how to choose your food contribution once we have processed your booking.

Booking deadline: Midnight on Sunday, 5th November 2023.

While there's still a little time before Christmas, you might want to save the date for the District Carol Service. This will be on Saturday, 9 December at Sawston. The service will be at 18:30 and will be preceded by open ringing at Sawston and elsewhere from about 16:45.

We will send reminders nearer the time, but as in previous years we hope to form a Ringer's Choir for the event and we need volunteers! If you would be able to join the choir then please let our Musical Director know at penny@coggill.com. We expect there will be a single choir rehearsal sometime on the day of the service.

The next district education session at St Clement's in Cambridge is on Saturday (23rd September) 2.30pm to 4pm which will be a session concentrating on plain hunt and covering. We'll focus on plain hunt on 5 and 6, but we have gone as low as 3 and as high as 12 (with the help of the simulator!).

The suggested donation is £4 per ringer - there's a card machine at St Clement's if that's of help.

Booking isn't necessary, but it's always nice to have an idea of who is coming - drop me a line at education@cambridgeringing.info if you're interested in coming along.

The plan is to run similar sessions on the third and fourth Saturdays until at least the end of this year. Of course, the sessions will be geared towards the needs of whoever is there, but as a rough guide, third Saturdays will be geared towards those working towards ART LtR Level 2 accreditation, whilst fourth Saturdays will be geared towards those working towards their ART LtR Level 3 accreditation.

Cambridge District 6 to 8 Bell Practice for the rest of the year will be as follows:

Saturday 21 October Guilden Morden
Saturday 18 November Trumpington - If you want to try Cambridge Surprise Major then please make a special effort to come to this session (and do your homework beforehand)
Saturday 16 December Ickleton

All sessions are open to everyone, no matter how many bells you normally ring on. Hope to see lots of you there.

The Ely DA has a mobile bell which can be used to demonstrate and promote bell ringing to a wider audience at such events as Church and village fêtes and fairs, tower training events and open days. For many years this has been stored by one of our members when not in use, but they are moving house shortly and we need to find a new place to keep it. Could you offer a home to the mobile bell? The details of measurements appear on the website, and it is also stored with display boards, a wall banner and the new Ely DA pull up recruitment banner. The mobile bell and trailer can be left out overnight. If you might be able to help then please get in touch with the Recruitment and Training Officer at rato@elyda.org.uk.

Could you help out at the St Clement's Ringing Centre? We'd love to have St Clement's Ringing Centre in Cambridge open to the public daily, from 2-4pm, Monday to Friday with public demonstrations from 2.15 - 2.45, followed by have-a-go sessions and/or lessons. This should be a great way to inform the public, and generate future bellringers in the area and beyond, but to do this we need volunteers to help staff it. If you could offer a regular slot, or occasional help in the school holidays, please do. You can all offer something - Friendly people who can chat about ringing are just as important as ringers to fill in or ringing teachers. We need you all! A short Google form at https://forms.gle/fAfE6Dh9HsU7URu1A is available to sign up.

This year's Gipson Trophy competition has reached its half way point, with all the teams having rung against all the others once. At the moment, Cherry Hinton and Great Shelford are in joint first place with 4 points each, and Linton and Little Shelford are in joint third place with 2 points each. There are 12 more points to play for in the second half of the competition which starts on 1 September with Little Shelford at home to Linton.

The Cambridge District Inter-tower 6 Bell Striking Competition was held on Saturday 10 June at Little Eversden, judged by Phillip and Sheila George. The results:

1st: Great St Mary's (97%)
Joint 2nd: St Benet's and the Cambridge University Guild (93%)
4th: Scratch band 1 (91%)
5th: Scratch Band 2 (86%)

Sheila George presented certificates to runners up and the trophy to Catriona Agg representing Great St Mary's.

Now that the dust has largely settled on the Coronation it's possible to sum up the ringing that took place in the Cambridge District. As far as the committee are aware, there were 55 performances in 37 (of 46) towers that appear in the Cambridge District in the Annual Report, ringing everything from rounds to Cambridge Surprise Maximus. Bells were also chimed at Weston Colville which isn't currently listed as a Cambridge District tower, though there are plans afoot that may change that…

This is really impressive, as was the number of relatively new ringers who took part. The District Committee would like to congratulate and thank everyone who made this possible.

The Meldreth & Melbourn Church Tower Bell Ringers voted at their 2023 AGM to hold their practice at Melbourn on the 1st Wednesday of each month (at Meldreth otherwise). This will start in May on a six month trial basis. All practice times are now 7.45-9.00pm.

Ringing at Melbourn is currently restricted to the back six while awaiting awaiting new fittings for the front two bells.

We are excited to announce the revival of the Perry Person practice night support scheme. For many years Geoff Perryman ran a practice night support scheme that identified helpers and sent them off to practices on a weekly basis. Geoff did this all by phone, but technology has moved on and the new scheme will now operate through a web based app (called 'AutoPerry'). There is a page containing more information, but the key thing is that volunteers are needed. That is YOU! Please register at https://autoperry.cambridgeringing.info/ (or via the link in the menu) and give it a try. Without you, this will never work!

German television recently filmed a short video at Thriplow featuring Becca Glazier and some of her 'Ring for the King' learners. It's mostly in German, but you'll get the general idea.

We are sorry to have to report the death of Roger Kendrick. Roger rang for some years at Trumpington and rang many peals there and at other towers in the area. He was a district ringing master and helped to teach ringers. He also helped to rehang Oakington bells. His funeral is on Friday 24th February at 11.00 am in Whipsnade Church.

An outline Program of District Events in 2023 is now available. While quite a lot of details are still to be confirmed, this does at least give some idea when each month's events will take place so you can get them into you diaries. More details will be added as they are confirmed, and we'll announce individual events here, and by email and on social media in the normal way.

The schedule for the 2023 Gipson Trophy 'competition' has now been published. Four teams have entered (representing 5 towers): Cherry Hinton, Great Shelford, Linton, and Little Shelford and Meldreth combined. The schedule and results to date are available on the website, as are the guidelines for the events. The first match is on 17 March at Little Shelford, who will be playing Cherry Hinton.

A local band rang a quarter-peal of Plain Bob Triples at Ickleton on Sunday, 5 February to mark 60 years membership of Ely DA by Ickleton tower captain David Lilley.

The Cambridge Annual District Meeting took place Saturday 14th January 2023 at Linton.

Stephen Burr stepped down as President of the District after four years in the post, and Tom Ridgman took over the role. Graham Louth joined the committee as joint Ringing Master, Richard Pargeter joined the committee as Practice Night Support Officer, and Barry Johnson joined as a committee member. The remainder of the committee were re-elected. 14 new members of the Association were elected and welcomed by the President.

Becca Glazier has created a very nice poster which we hope you might want to display in your tower - it shows the benefits of joining the EDA. And remember that new members can join at any monthly meeting, including the ADM this week. You can download the poster here.

We are sorry to have to report that John White, a ringer at Fulbourn, has passed away. John joined the EDA in 1984 and is credited with 20 peals for the association and rang many quarter peals. He was a dedicated Sunday Service ringer at Fulbourn until recently when limited mobility prevented him from climbing up to the ringing room. His funeral was held on Monday 13th February.

We are sorry to have to report the death of Geoff Reed, a ringer at Swaffam Bulbeck, on Thursday 29th September 2022. His funeral was held on 3rd November.

A history of the Association - EDA History - 'The First Hundred Years' has now been published as part of the 125 year anniversary celebrations. Every Association tower with members will receive a free copy, but if you want to purchase a personal copy should contact the treasurer, Nicholas Small, using smallsatgirvian@gmail.com or at 12 Cambridge Road, Waterbeach, Cambridge CB25 9NJ. The price is £10, including UK second class postage. Payment by cheque to "Ely DACBR", or email Nicholas for electronic payment details.

125th Anniversary of the Ely DA - mugs, badges, keyrings and garments are now available with a special logo celebrating 125 years of the Ely DA.

China mugs £7 each; porcelain mugs £10 each; enamel keyrings and badges £4 each. Mugs, keyrings and badges are available at district meetings, or contact for collection or delivery - postage can be arranged if required, at extra cost. Printed t-shirts and embroidered polo shirts, sweatshirts and fleeces are available to order from Expertees (now P&M Custom Clothing) at the Ely DA webshop.

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