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Friday, 22nd, August, 2008;

Another early start, but this time for a rather sombre occasion for we were heading to Leicestershire for Uncle Martin's funeral. It was held at Misterton in the far west of the county and lodged in the corner of the M6 and M1.

There is no band at this delightful 6, so not only was the ground-floor belfry a little full of junk, but Mum had needed to get a couple of 'local' ringers to complement the Munnings 4 that incorporated myself, Mum and Dad and Chris.

In the end it transpired to be Roland Cook and his wife Sylvia who came to ring. I have rung a couple of peals with Roland and he is a Rambling Ringer from before our time, so there was plenty to chat about.

The service went as well as these things can do and whilst Uncle Martin was buried in the churchyard, we rang some more, something that was much appreciated by Aunty Carol (Mum's sister) and cousin Emma.

The wake was held in a pub in a nearby village, before ourselves, Aunty Janet, Uncle Mick, Emma and her boyfriend Mark were invited back to Aunty Carols farm and riding school where Mason was able to enjoy horses, chickens, cats and dogs. With the earlier crowds, let's just say he was in his element!

We were back in time for Hollesley practice, although Aunty Ruthie spent the evening at mine. She wasn't feeling overly well after last night!

Thursday 21st August 2008

A bit of hard labour on my week off this morning as I joined Chris, Mary, Kate and Stephen at Grundisburgh to load headstocks, clappers, sliders and wheels into a van for Mr P to take to Taylors following the removal of the tenor.. Dad came along too, allowing Mason to wander the village under supervision.

Having shifted the 10th off the trapdoor, we were able to open it and lower various heavy equipment safely before heading off after the 8.30 start.

Once I'd met Ruthie after her haircut, the three of us headed to Ipswich to see our mate Becky at hers - after an operation earlier in the week - and then Mum and Dad's where we also met Aunty Marion and Uncle Eric.

With no practice at what was once the lightest ring of 12 in a church tower, we were - with Kate - able to meet Aaron at The Mariners. He's only back from the Navy for a bit, so the drinks in the back garden of this pleasant pub, the top of Woodbridge tower in sight, was a great opportunity to meet up with a much missed friend.

Mason and I had to leave early of course and with an early start tomorrow morning, it was to Mum and Dad's to stop the night.

Wednesday 20th August 2008

Picked Mason up at the end of a very quiet day prior to going to Pettistree practice for the first time for three weeks. A decent evening saw London and Cambridge rung following on from a successful quarter of St Clements.

Tuesday 19th August 2008

Due to Kara's cousin Krystal coming out of hospital, Aunty Roz who would normally look after Mason on a Tuesday had her hands otherwise full, so Ruthie and I gladly looked after the li'l man today.

The highlight was a trip down town on an otherwise quiet day where we bumped into said Aunty Roz racing around and my bank chum Karl, on his last day at HSBC before embarking on a career as a plasterer. With Ele having also left the bank recently, there's now none of the old crew left there!

Having dropped Mason back at Kara's, Ruthie and I enjoyed our usual night in with a cheese and wine evening. Delicious!

Monday 18th August 2008

With my enforced week off beginning and Ruthie at work, I organised a couple of peals to occupy myself, one of the benefits of ringing and peal ringing in particular.

The first one was at Tunstall, a place very dear to my heart after my time living there. I parked up in 'my' space in the lay-by opposite the pink cottage I once had abode in and being early wandered around. The cottage has been done up a lot from my time, at least judging by the outside. The once rotting windows are plastic and double-glazed and they've even added a porchway/conservatory on the back where you enter the quaint home.

The peal itself produced some really good ringing, a real vindication of my preference for peal ringing over other mediums. We were also able to dedicate it to Maggie Dunmore, a former ringer and resident of the village and we enjoyed her two sons tales of her, which they imparted before we began. She was quite a character!

Myself, Tom and Mary D went to The Green Man for a drink afterwards, really evoking memories. At times I spent more time there than at home and had some very enjoyable times there! Indeed, even two years on, I still bumped into many old friends.

Marlesford in the afternoon was a lot tougher. Mary gallantly called her first peal for the Guild, but it was extremely hard work. The tenor is 9cwt going on 20! Still, it's nice to be able to peal these bells and it was worth it in the end as we scored our second peal of the day

St Mary-le-Tower in the evening was hard work after the days exploits and being August we were on the bare bones. The striking wasn't great tonight but in the hot weather and a lot of Maximus 'learners' thrown in together we managed half a course of Cambridge Max, which was important as there being a bank holiday Monday next week it was our last practice for two weeks.

Sunday 17th August 2008

A decent turnout this morning at St Mary-le-Tower, despite getting my legs out in an optimistic attempt to raise some sunshine out of the torrential rain. Some decent Grandsire Caters was followed by a relatively well-struck three leads of Bristol Major on the back 8.

There was a benefice service at Pettistree which meant service ringing was from 10.30-11 and in turn left Grundisburgh very short - down to 4 in fact, although much time was taken up replacing the 11th rope.

Friday night was to have been Stephen's 100th peal on the tenor, but with the unexpected loss and the tenor coming out either tomorrow or Tuesday to be replaced by a new, heavier bell, this afternoon represented his last opportunity to reach what would be an impressive landmark. Sadly, with the unexpected necessity and short notice of this peal attempt, Stephen couldn't raise the numbers and so this morning represented the last time this ancient bell would be rung full circle, although it will continue to be used as the clock bell. The 7th will also be rehung, meaning that ringing will only continue on the front 5 on Sundays with no Thursday practices until the planned first practice back on 18th, September.

As is usual, there was an Alan McBurnie production on this evening. This time it was another attempt of the Half-Lead 8-Spliced Surprise Major at Hollesley. Unfortunately it came to grief, predictably in the London, although it followed some decent ringing. We had a bit more invaluable practice before calling it a night.

Saturday 16th August 2008

Two great results today that made up for previous disappointments.

We scored the 100th anniversary peal of Cambridge Max at St Mary-le-Tower, which went some way to overcoming the frustration of last night's loss at Grundisburgh.

It was kind of humbling ringing the original composition hearing the same music as that pioneering band of ringers rang 100 years ago, but at 5280 changes (they didn't allow singles, big bobs and tones in those days!) it was a long 'un (3 hours, 48 minutes) on a hot day. I think we did the old band justice however and the significance of the anniversary has been highlighted by the huge numbers of peals of Cambridge Max recorded on Campanophile over the last week. George had organised the peals at Great Yarmouth last Saturday, Mancroft on Tuesday and Grundisburgh last night, whilst peals were also scored at Cripplegate, Shoreditch and Aston yesterday and more at Aston (again), St Philip's Cathedral in Birmingham, St Mary-le-Bow and St Martin-in-the-Fields today and on handbells in Maidenhead on Wednesday. A band also rang a peal of Cambridge Major at Leigh in Lancashire to commemorate the event. I'm sure there's others I don't know about too, making this piece of our history something we should be proud of here in Suffolk.

We should also be proud of our biggest football team too after they battered Burnley 3-0 away (how long did we have to wait for an away win last season?!), which more than made up for last weeks bad start!

Friday 15th August 2008

15th August 2008 - a very significant date for two reasons close to my heart.

Firstly, today was the last working day in Great Glemham of John Catt Educational Limited after some 30 years in the old school there. Today we spent the vast majority of working hours packing the last remnants of the companies long period in this building packed full of history.

On Monday, with all of us having the week off, the stuff we've selected to take with us will be moved to the new offices in Woodbridge. Whilst these new offices are fantastic and the old building is slightly dilapidated as a workplace, there was still a tinge of sadness for even myself at leaving here. I've only been there for 3 months, people like Michael have been there for over 10 years, so it's hard to imagine how he feels.

Today is also exactly 100 years since the very first peal of Cambridge Maximus anywhere. Where was this historic and grand achievement hosted? St Paul's Cathedral? York Minster? Birmingham? No, our very own St Mary-le-Tower. We should be very proud of this history and with also the first peals of Yorkshire Max, Superlative Max and Pudsey Max having been rung in Ipswich, we should be doing all we can to not only continue this history of 12-bell peal ringing in Suffolk, but progress it further. Come on folks!

As part of the celebrations for this landmark date, a peal was arranged of Cambridge Max at Grundisburgh this evening and was going along nicely - despite a false start - until 2 hours in when the 11th rope broke (George was pulling too hard!), despite extensive checking by Mr P in the lead-up to the attempt. It's very sad as of course we can't repeat this opportunity, but we still have the big one at SMLT in the morning.

On the plus side, it was good to see James Smith, back from Hong Kong for a couple of weeks and Annie Brechin, up from London for a considerably shorter period.

After this early finish, it was back home where Ruthie was looking after a typically cheerful Mason.

Thursday 14th August 2008

The move really picked up pace today, as we donned casual clothes and mucked in with packing boxes and dumping unwanted rubbish, even including computers, leaving the bare bones for tomorrow. We were treated in The Crown at lunchtime for our efforts.

Having had tea and picked up Ruthie from home on the way, we headed towards Kersey via Mum and Dad's to grab Mason.

Our reason for going to Kersey? Well apart from taking the opportunity to join the practice, the primary reason was to partake in a feature for Escape to the Country, a well-known BBC programme that shows couples who want to escape from cities to the countryside various houses in the area of their choice. This couple had been looking at places in Diss and Palgrave, but had chosen Kersey to come to do the feature that essentially involved them and the presenter Tim Vincent having a go at backstrokes on their own and in rounds on 8.

I was interviewed and having got used to this filming lark for the Inside Out programme earlier in the year, I was prepared for the repetitive but fun nature of filming such a show.

I had expected Tim, a former Blue Peter presenter, actor in Dangerfield and now a regular presenter on US TV, to be a bit aloof. However, he proved to be a lovely chap, taking the time to chat to people and a genuine interest in bellringing. Top bloke and even spared some time to have his picture taken with Mason.

It was a later night than usual for the li'l chap, but hopefully one day he'll appreciate it when he sees the pictures!

Thank you to everyone who helped out, to Neville and his ringers who allowed their practice to be disrupted and to Mary Garner and then Philip Gorrod who set the BBC in the right direction.

They seemed very pleased with it and the programme should be shown in the autumn - watch this space!

Wednesday 13th August 2008

With the move to new offices taking place next week, there have been odd bits and pieces disappearing here and there and a skip just outside our window has been gradually filling up. Today however, things moved up a gear as we were all roped in to make a concerted effort to clear out decades of junk. Even when doing my contracted job I had to strike a balance between not staying still too long for fear of having a sticker slapped on me and not moving too far from my seat in case it got taken away.

Tonight was due to be another attempt of the 41-spliced Surprise Minor at The Wolery as a way of cementing our success two months ago. However, Ruthie fell very ill today at work and made the wise decision not to risk infecting others in the compact shed at the bottom of the Salter's garden nor fall short in the actual peal through illness.

Mary Allum very kindly stepped in at short notice and quite a reasonable peal of 7 Surprise Minor methods was scored before I returned to the patient.

Tuesday 12th August 2008

Terrible rain from about 6.30 this morning meant the country lanes I had to go via to get to work were practically rivers, making for a slow and hairy journey!

Five of us went up in Kate's new monster truck as Ruthie and I returned to New Buckenham just over a week after going there on Ramblers. We rang a very respectable quarter of Half-Lead spliced in 4 methods before helping out at the local practice night.

However, this could be the last one there for a bit as there was an apparently heated meeting that took place in the porch-way between some of the NDA ringers that seem to want to discourage Paul Norris from organising these quarters before the practice. I certainly don't wish to get involved in issues involving a tower I don't ring at regularly, least of all one outside of the Suffolk Guild's control, it is worth noting that the practice tonight would've been short of 7 Surprise Major ringers from Suffolk if Paul hadn't organised tonight's quarter for beforehand.

Received some sad news this evening as Mum informed Uncle Martin, the husband of Aunty Carol, Mum's sister died today. They live over in Leicestershire and what with running a very busy stables, I personally haven't seen either of them for a few years, but it's still very sad.

Monday 11th August 2008

Mason is a star in the making and is trying to get as famous as he could. He is in a national competition that if he wins could be the lucky recipient of many goodies. If you want to vote for him, go to http://www.rockabuybabytv.com/baby-vote.aspx?id=183.

Being holiday time, St Mary-le-Tower is - like most places in August - just about keeping afloat on the bare bones. Although people like Owen, Mum and Dad have returned from holidays, others like Brian Redgers and Simon Griffiths were away tonight. Still, we manged Cambridge Maximus as usual, but it took two attempts tonight.

Sunday 10th August 2008

A return to healthy numbers at St Mary-le-Tower this morning. Eleven came up, allowing us to reach the dizzying heights of Grandsire Caters and Yorkshire Royal, good for a Sunday morning in August.

Grundisburgh was well attended too, with Grandsire and Stedman Triples the order of the day.

A quiet afternoon and evening saw nothing much happen other than seeing Clare and Kev off as they set upon the long journey back to Scotland.

Saturday 9th August 2008

Went for an interview for a part-time job at The Captain's Table, a restaurant in Woodbridge. Things aren't great for restaurants and pubs at the moment, with dining and going out one of the first things to be sacrificed by most in the credit crunch, so Pascal who runs it says he'll probably only be able to offer Saturday nights. That'll still help though as the cost of living goes on sailing up ridiculously whilst wages stubbornly hold the same.

I was very excited about the start of the football season, with Ipswich signing lots of new players of quite high calibre as the millions now made available by Marcus Evans started to show their effect. However, as we lost 2-1 at home to Preston (not considered one of the divisions high-fliers) it seems there's plenty of the 'old' Ipswich hanging around. Still, it's early days, another 9 months and 45 games to go!

With Clare and Kev still in town, they took Ruthie and me down to the cinema in Ipswich to watch The Mummy. It was alright, but not something I would rush to suggest to others.

Friday 8th August 2008

08/08/08. A significant date in it's own right but also the start of the Summer Olympics in Beijing and the eve of the Championship football season and all the ups and downs that go with it.

I didn't catch the opening ceremony of the games and with a desire to enjoy one stress-free evening before Ipswich frustrate all Tractor Boy fans, Ruthie, Mason and I went to Hollesley after Mum and Dad dropped him off on the way back from the last full day of the Ramblers tour.

Despite Alan & Mickie and Ken and Helen being away this evening, a good attendance and a welcome appearance from Richard Wilson fresh from his trip to the West Midlands meant we could ring Plain Bob Major, an extremely useful exercise for Anne, Fred and Nigel.

Thursday 7th August 2008

Sad news about Sir Bobby Robson who has admitted his latest battle with cancer has beaten him. As an Ipswich fan he is of course an absolute legend and the fact that he is so respected by even Norwich fans shows the measure of the man.

A change from the norm tonight - in keeping with this week really - as we went to Campsea Ashe for a Summer Drinks and Canapes evening in the Old Rectory next to the church. As Elaine, Glenys, Ray and Tim rang a quarter of multi-Minimus, Ruthie, Mason and I mingled with ringers, villagers and sponsors alike in the lovely gardens on a very pleasant evening that just about escaped this evenings thunderstorms. Despite the valiant efforts of the quarter-pealers, the performance highlighted just why the work that is being done needs to be done. They're not a pretty sound! Please support them if you can, as I hope people will with all the worthwhile projects ongoing around the county.

Wednesday 6th August 2008

Bad news from Halesworth. Two of the cannons have sheared off the treble there. They can still ring the back 6 and understand that's what they intend to do for the time being, but it's a big blow to 8-bell ringing in that area. It's also a blow for the Rambling Ringers, who were intending to go there on Friday, the penultimate day of their mammoth tour of this part of the world. However, Friday is the only day Halesworth can get someone in to look at it all.

Better news at Pettistree though, where we scored the quarter of 12-spliced Surprise Minor and with some very good striking it has to be said.

Ruthie and I then left for the evening. Although we normally like to and usually do support the practice, tonight was a special occasion as we were meeting Fergie, Ruthie's best mate who was up from Brighton. Being on a nursing course, Fergie finds herself on placements whilst most students have come home for the holidays, so she has only just got back and then goes on holiday on Saturday. With Riley's last night and Campsea Ashe tomorrow night (plus having Mason tomorrow and Friday), tonight was the only night we could really meet up.

Lots of catching up was done in The Cherry Tree in Woodbridge, before I headed back in the most spectacular thunderstorm I've ever seen. It lit up the open skies back to Hollesley magnificently and turned my bedroom into some kind of disco!

Tuesday 5th August 2008

Got sent a fascinating link from Jeremy Spiller last. Go to the link and watch some mesmerising ringing featuring Cherril, Andrew Tibbetts and Jeremy ringing, presumably during one of the many handbell peals they rang in Bacton last week. Whilst you're there on YouTube, check out Maggie Ross ringing Norwich Minor on the back 6 (with 5 others of course!), ably watched by our Guild Chairman in a former life and the brilliantly struck 8-Spliced at Dordrecht. Isn't the internet great!

Monday 4th August 2008

It was a shame to see a peal lost at Reydon yesterday. Not only would it have been a first peal for Tom Britten and Philip Moyes, but an 80th birthday compliment to the driving force behind this charming 6, Helen Price. Happy Birthday anyway Helen.

St Mary-le-Tower was much better attended tonight, which was good for Kathryn and Alan, visitors from south Essex who had come up on their boat! We rang Cambridge Max with the only 12 that could, meaning Peter Trent rang his first Cambridge Max unaided. Well done Peter!

Worth noting a couple of events this weekend that are well worth your support if you can make it. The North-East mini-outing to Debenham, Stonham Aspal and Earl Stonham on Saturday evening should be good fun and very accessible for most in the county, whilst trips to Gordon Slack's mini-ring at Claydon are always a joy (for me anyway) so the open day at The Folly on Sunday afternoon should be well worth a look-in!

Sunday 3rd August 2008

These days, when Mason wakes me up then I'm in trouble. He's developed my preference for laying in and when my mobile - which doubles up as my alarm clock - failed this morning he was the first to wake out of myself, him and Aunty Ruthie. With Hollesley bells within earshot, we hastily got ready, bundled the li'l chap into the car and headed into Ipswich as quickly and safely as possible.

Not that there were many waiting for us at St Mary-le-Tower as we only slightly improved on last weeks numbers with Cambridge Minor proving the pinnacle.

Grundisburgh however, was much better and we rang Stedman Caters.

We were met by Clare and Kev, who had travelled down from Scotland yesterday morning and we joined them for breakfast at the cafe in the caravan by the river-front in Woodbridge, where I was glad to hear of a 100% success rate in the South-East District quarter-peals yesterday. This is a great initiative at a time of year when people go on holiday and thus it's difficult to get a good attendance at a traditional practice, so Kate should be congratulated on the results of the efforts at Ashbocking, Henley and Otley. Also, well done to Philip Mutton and Sam Shannon on ringing their first quarters in these attempts.

The afternoon was put aside to more Rambling Ringers. We were a bit closer today ringing at Covehithe and Wrentham in a far corner of Suffolk I rarely get to.

It's sobering to think that apparently Covehithe church has about 40 years before it succumbs to the sea. Beforehand the three of us went down to the ominously close cliffs, where we bumped into Geoff and Helen Wells, Ramblers from Nottinghamshire.

Covehithe is also the closest ring of bells to the Dutch ring in Dordrecht according to Paul De Kok. Everyday's a school day!

We left Mason with Mum and Dad at Wrentham as we headed back for a quarter at Grundisburgh. This was to be Peter Harper's first of half-lead spliced, but sadly this 4 method attempt came to grief.

Whilst others headed for a curry, I picked the boy up from Ipswich and headed home, ever so slightly exhausted!

Saturday 2nd August 2008

With Mason in tow, it was time to rejoin the Ramblers tour. The weather was the worst it has been, but as is normal with the Ramblers, the numbers and quality were high. Today they were just north-west of Diss, starting at Banham. Tea and cake was served to us here as the li'l chap was in his element attracting the attention of the crowded church and enjoying the huge multiples of toys available, from giant connect-four to model animals.

Sadly, south Norfolk doesn't seem to have got the hang of signposts and this was very much in evidence as we tried to find Kenninghall, the next tower and next village and yet no mention of it on the signposts in Banham bar a sign that points the wrong way.

Still we found this 8 eventually, where we rang the 8th place versions of the standard 8 (although of course Bristol remained unaltered).

On the middle Saturday of each tour, a meeting is held just before lunch. Most years the sunshine allows us to have this outside, but the damp grass from the earlier rain meant we had to hold it inside the church at Kenninghall. It's not a major meeting, just thanks for those have made the tour possible - not least my mother for arranging all the towers - announcements and voting on the destination of next years tour. Even with a choice of 6 destinations and a 3-way tie, the meeting only took just over 10 minutes, the way ringing meetings should be run! Somerset and particularly the area around Minehead was chosen for the 2009 holiday.

After a packed lunch outside Garboldisham church, it was time to ring on this rough 6. If you ever go here, be prepared to exhaust yourself climbing the stairs, rest and then exhaust yourself ringing them!

Quidenham, with a stove in the belfry of this round tower has a long-draft 8 where Chris Woodcock, young whipper-snapper that he is suggested that we could ring 15-spliced Surprise Major by merely splicing the the standard 8 surprise Major methods with their 8th place versions at the half-lead! It was duly rung of course!

New Buckenham was our last tower of the day. This is a superb augmentation job from 2005, when this ground-floor 6 (apparently quite rough) was moved to a balcony and turned into a fantastic 8.

It was then back to Hollesley to rest our weary arms and legs after a lot of ringing and a lot of chasing after Mason!

Friday 1st August 2008

Picked the li'l chap up for what will hopefully be a weekend of fun!

It started at Hollesley, where Kate was showing off her new car, we had a new learner called Nicki and we had a visit from young Tom Britten of Reydon. We also enjoyed teasing Alan for his toilet incident last Saturday!

Of course, Mason and I had to leave early, but thanks to Tom, we were able to ring Yorkshire Major.

Well done to the handbell ringers at Bacton for their efforts this week, peaking at 200 methods. This should be something to aspire to rather than just be dismissed as too hard to do, myself included!

Thursday 31st July 200

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles joined the Prime Minister and his family in the Southwold area as the upper end of the British establishment continue their invasion of our coast.

Ruthie and I meanwhile set our sights slightly lower and spent the evening in Grundisburgh, Not that we felt any the worse for it as a good crowd ensured we rang Yorkshire and Cambridge Royal, 8-spliced Surprise Major and Little Bob Max.

With not picking Mason up until tomorrow, we were able to stay until the end too, an unusual treat!

Wednesday 30th July 2008

Had a look at a flat to rent in Woodbridge after work. Far from a firm commitment to anything, but although a little more expensive than my current abode it could potentially save me in the region of 400 miles a month and could see me walking to work when John Catt shifts to Woodbridge. Still, there's a lot to take into consideration before I make any firm decisions.

After our successful attempt at the 41-Surprise Minor at The Wolery last month, we were back for more this month as we went for - and scored a peal of 'only' 18 methods all the work. It seemed a lot more relaxed but certainly just as focused as previously and a reasonable peal was scored in the end, despite the heat.

Tuesday 29th July 2008

Great to see the flurry of handbell activity coming out of Bacton this week. Jeremy says they're aiming for three a day, but they had suffered at least one loss when I spoke to him. Hopefully this will encourage others within the county on handbells, an extremely difficult skill that I have to admit I have never grasped!

Monday 28th July 2008

It's that time of year again! Summer holidays have hit and at St Mary-le-Tower they've hit with a vengence! After yesterday's hugely disappointing turnout, we were low on numbers at tonight's practice. On top of those missing on Sunday, we were missing the Brays, Nigel and David Stanford, all of whom would've come up. Only 9 made it tonight and whilst we were able to ring a useful bit of London Major for Peter and three leads of Bristol Major on the back 8, before calling it a day at 8.30. It was hot and sticky and frankly not much use as a 12-bell practice, so there didn't seem much point in hanging around. On the plus side, at least most of those who are away at the moment should be back in the next couple of weeks!

Sunday 27th July 2008

Thank you to Peter Davies, David Potts, Don Price and Brian Redgers. They were the other four who made it to St Mary-le-Tower on a disappointing mornings ringing. I had expected to be short with Mum and Dad, the Pipe’s, Owen and Ralphy all away, but it was still a shame that whilst the five of us put in the miles, others were visibly absent when they may well have been able to help. I can’t force people to come – and I have no desire to do so – but it is very, very frustrating for people to travel from Reydon and Stowmarket to ring Plain Bob Minimus as we were when Brian had to leave early to prepare for service.

Grundisburgh was no better, with Don joining Ruthie, Stephen, Daphne and myself to ring the front, middle and back 5’s to various Doubles methods.

After a brief attack of Kate and Ruthie’s front garden, it was on to one of the highlights of the social calender for me. Brian and Peta’s annual barbecue at Kimberley Hall was something I missed greatly when I was in the Midlands, being as it is the epitome of the perfect Suffolk afternoon. The weather was roasting and as usual the food, beer and company was fantastic, accompanied by singing by Ted, Josie, Sylvia and Janet and a fine pair maraca’s in Doug’s hands. The sound of cricket being played in the neighbouring field on one side and handbells being rung on the other as we played bowls on the Whitings' expansive lawn is still as wonderful as it was when I first experienced it as a child. There was also badminton, albeit with some of the most comedic set of rackets you’re likely to come across and although we had to leave slightly earlier than intended due to Kate needing to pick up a body, we thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon.

Thank you for driving Ruthie!

Saturday 26th July 2008

As you probably all know, I like – and I suspect many of you too – taking a look at Campanophile fairly regularly to see what’s going on in Suffolk and beyond. Every now and again I spot performances that I hope can inspire our members. I have to admit that the lack of confidence and/or motivation throughout many of our members – especially when it comes to peals can be very frustrating. Many don’t realise how good they are and how useful they can be if only they would push themselves. I’m not talking about people handing over their lives to ringing – indeed I think it’s important to have a good social grounding outside of ringing too – but rather exhibiting some of the spirit that appears to have brought about the peal of Grandsire Caters at Edinburgh. Now I’m no expert on the Scottish ringing scene, but I imagine that it is extremely difficult in an area where towers are often hundreds of miles apart and the membership not quite as vast and varied as ours (I may be wrong) to raise a band for such an effort. I have to admit, I can’t imagine persuading people in Suffolk to ring their first blows in Grandsire Caters to a peal! The number of firsts in this peal perhaps ought to serve as an encouragement to all those who say "I can't".

I was able to check this all out prior to the opening afternoon of the Rambling Ringers tour. As a kid I used to really look forward to my week on Ramblers as it both represented the start of the school holidays and a rare opportunity to catch up with friends from across the country, many my age on this family orientated tour. Although only going today and for next weekend, I have still been eagerly awaiting my first Ramblers tour for three years, not least because it is Ruthie’s first experience of this great ringing adventure.

This year, as I've already mentioned in this blog, the tour is close to home, based in North Suffolk and South Norfolk , the first tower being Pakenham, so having had some lunch we headed over. I was greeted by many old friends. Some I have mentioned before, like Andrew Mills, the Dew’s, etc, but it was nice to catch up with the Pick’s and Nixon’s who I used to ring with at Cannock when I lived in Wolverhampton.

After this anti-clockwise 6, we went on to Bardwell. For those who don’t know, this tricky 6 fall in odd rope ‘circle’ of 1,5,6,2,3,4. To compound the difficulty of these bells some bright spark came up with the idea of doing call changes in Dutch. This was done for the benefit of the De Kok’s, our Dutch ringing family responsible for the ring of 8 recently installed in Dordrecht . With our very own Steve Young – who had opened up for us – calling them, the call changes predictably came to a premature end. Good fun though!

It was then on to Euston, if nothing else to dispel the idea that all our rings were either anti-clockwise or in a random order! We rang some good Westminster Minor in this sauna of a belfry, but it did make us appreciate the cool church even more!

The final tower of the day and the first 8 was Elveden, where we were welcomed by David Bimson. We rang Rutland Major with young Gemma Mills on the treble, a shining example to young ringers and indeed any learners. Her handling is superb and she has benefited from not only being taught by her dad, but also ringing at lots of different towers, not least on Ramblers. If only more would do this.

We left them to retire to their campsite near Diss whilst we headed back to Woodbridge to cool down after a sweltering days ringing!

Friday 25th July 2008

A beautifully sweltering day that I loved, but Mason didn't seem too happy with when I picked him up. He was tired too though, having been with Mum and Dad to Orford to meet the visiting Italian ringers again and then to Burgh for wedding ringing.

I dropped him off at Kara's before Ruthie and I went to Grundisburgh to ring for the Italians' concert. A good turnout of the great and good of Suffolk, including Brian Whiting, Alan Moult, Margaret Lambeth and David Ward - whom I haven't seen for ages. David is responsible for the ringing at Rattlesden, although ringing is sparse whilst fundraising is in progress. They have raised £25k of their £41k target which is great. Hopefully we will hear more from that part of the world in the near future.

We couldn't stay to the concert as we had promised ourselves to Hollesley. We made it late but still in time to celebrate Jess' birthday with cake and her family. Happy Birthday Jess!

Thursday 24th July 2008

There has been a group of young Italian ringers in the county this week being ably transported and entertained by Stephen Pettman. Yesterday, after their arrival, they were shown ringing at Lavenham and St Mary-le-Tower and tomorrow they are performing a concert at Grundisburgh church with ringing beforehand.

Today, Stephen took them down to London on the coach, so was absent from Grundisburgh practice. This left Mason and I in charge until leaving it in the hands of others. Normally this is a quiet week and with Mr P not there I wasn't expecting much. However, we peaked at Yorkshire Max before the boy and I left. It could do with a lot of improvement, but it's rarely easy to ring Surprise Maximus on this light 12 and the fluctuating nature of attendances here mean it's hard to practice it regularly enough for it to sink in.

Wednesday 23rd July 2008

Ringing can be frustrating sometimes. Five leads from the end of a quarter of 12-Spliced Surprise Minor before Pettistree practice, the ringing collapsed irretrievably. It was a shame as it had been going well, but these things happen.

Having gone to Woodbridge and returned with Mason, the practice continued the high quality ringing we had enjoyed in the quarter attempt. Francis Goodwill Delight Minor (Ipswich Surprise below and Oxford Treble Bob above) and a very well rung course of Carlisle Surprise were the highlights as was a visit from Ed Whitby.

Tuesday 2nd July 2008

Another success for Ruthie! She today received news she has passed her Grade 7 Flute. Although a failure wouldn't have made any difference to her going to Colchester Institute, the pass gets her right up to speed and ready to accept the challenges ahead. For the record, she got 127 out of 150, a merit and just 3 short of a distinction!

Monday 21st July 2008

Owen had the keys for St Mary-le-Tower this week, so we were able to make a prompter start than last Monday! A slight miscalculation, late comers and early leavers meant that whilst we had enough for Bristol Max at one point, I was unable to fit it in. Disappointing, especially as people had made the effort to learn it. Impressive however that we could contemplate Bristol Max on a July practice night, traditionally the start of a slow period. We did ring Cambridge Max and Stedman&Cinques twice and whilst the striking needs a lot of improving, the method mistakes have largely disappeared, so we have a platform on which to start working on striking.

I had an email from our esteemed chairman who has received communication from BBC Radio Suffolk. They would like some peals rung to raise the profile of St Edmund on the 20th November. Please take note of the time around then (not just the 20th) as it would be great to all get behind some positive PR after the controversy of the Aldeburgh story. Nothing solid is planned yet - we've only just been contacted - but it would be good to get all four districts involved.

Sunday 20th July 2008

"I'd like to ring Stedman Doubles."

The short numbers at St Mary-le-Tower this morning were a shame, but at least led to this shock request from my mother. She wants to learn the singles before she and Dad go to Canada later this year. Still, with them both away next Sunday, as well as Ralphy and the Pipes, any help available next week would be much appreciated!

There was an interesting reversal of the norm at Grundisburgh this morning as with Stephen ringing 1-2, we were able to ring Call Changes on 12 a couple of times. Jess, who only rang on 12 for the first time on Thursday seemed almost at home with the 12 this morning.

Following some lunch, Ruthie and I paid a visit to her nan in Melton, who is well and chatty, to the extent that we were a bit rushed to get away in the end! Not because we desperately wanted to get out of her company, but because we had a 3.30 date at Hollesley.
Despite our success in getting a quarter of half-lead 8-spliced Surprise Major, we felt no desire to quit the project. Instead we are now going for a new composition and got on quite well, but sadly it collapsed after a couple of attempts. As ever though, all good practice.

On a busy Sunday, this was followed by a brief but useful meeting between Alan, Philip Gorrod and myself to get Recruitment and Training up and running again, held in the very pleasant surroundings of the McBurnies' garden.

All this preceeded a well attended and extremely enjoyable strawberries and wine evening, held in aid of the Hollesley tower and bells appeal at the home of Sam Shannon, one of the local ringers. This appeal has made a strong start, but even more support would be appreciated, especially as there are various different and alternative ways of getting involved! Please contact either Alan McBurnie or Peter Harper to find out more.

Saturday 19th July 2008

Gotta get in early for parking spaces in Wickham Market these days after the short-sighted decision of the council to charge people to park in the once vibrant shopping village. Luckily, we were there very early, 8am to be precise for a 8.15 departure. Today was the Pettistree coach outing to north Essex.

We arrived in plenty of time for the first tower, Ashdon. Mike ran the ringing here, a caged belfry (not as bad as it sounds!) where we rang many things up to Yorkshire Major.

I was in charge at Helions Bumpstead, the following tower, a ground-floor ring where Superlative Major and Stedman Triples were the highlight.

The only 6 of the day, Steeple Bumpstead was also run by Mike and apart from one of his famous sideline touches of spliced Doubles and Minor, we were treated to the ultimate in ringing teamwork as Shirley called 'look to', Kate said 'go Cambridge', Ruthie announced 'that's all' and Mary set them up!

Our large group got a room to ourselves in the picturesque village of Finchingfield, although the rector was disappointed by the lack of lemon and lime cheesecake. It was then onto the parish church just yards away to ring on the quiet but delightful ground-floor 8, culminating in 8-spliced Surprise Major and Bristol, well run by Jonathan.

Ringing at Wethersfield was ably organised by Kate, although the support pillar in the centre of the belfry blocked out the view of at least one other rope for many, making the actual ringing tricky!

Toppesfield was a good example of Taylor's getting things right. The old 5 was augmented to 8 last year and despite the retention of the old frame have turned out brilliantly. Also worth noting that the sound-proofing is marvellous here, with the bells clearly audible outside, but not intrusive. They have recognised that - as I have pointed out before - there is no point in spending large sums of money on a new ring only for them to risk shut-down due to bells that weren't being rung before suddenly shouting out across the community. The right compromise in such circumstances.

The trip back was long, but after a hectic day gave us the opportunity of a bit of rest and we arrived back at about half 7. Well done Mary on your organisation and also to young Jess who rang 14 times and learnt a lot from ringing on different bells with different people and visibly improved over the day - those teaching learners take note.

Whilst Kate went out to a party, Ruthie and I put our feet up.

Friday 18th July 2008

Bit of a shock as at work as at 5pm just as we were preparing to leave, David our boss came round and shook our hand whilst informing us it was his last day. It's a shame to see him go as he's been very helpful in settling me in and was the one who conducted my interview.

With an early start for the Pettistree outing in the morning, Kara and I came to an arrangement to drop Mason off at hers in the early evening.

Whilst always sad to see him go as I enjoy my time with him, but it's easier and better for him than lots of racing about in the morning. It also allowed me to enjoy Hollesley practice through to the end. It was a good turnout and nice to see Mike Warren, a good ringer and nice bloke. Normally he'd be at Felixstowe practice on a Friday night, but apparently they're out of action for 3 or 4 weeks as work is going on up the tower.

Lundy proved expensive, so even though we didn't have the li'l man with us, Ruthie and I chose to sacrifice a pint and instead settle down to watch the first night of the Proms.

Thursday 17th July 2008

The noticeable site of discarded bin bags greeted us down Edwin Avenue as we went to meet Ruthie at hers. Probably the most visible indication of the council strikes. Glad our council tax isn't going to waste.

Due to an event in Christchurch Park, the ringers of St Margaret's in Ipswich were unable to ring this evening, unbeknown to them before they arrived. In a fantastic show of enthusiasm, some of them travelled up to Grundisburgh to an already bulging practice, including a visitor from Leicestershire. The total attendance was 22 and enabled us to ring Yorkshire Max before the boy and I left.

Wednesday 16th July 2008

Happy Birthday Ruthie! Yes, that’s right, it’s a big day for my long-suffering girlfriend and now’s probably a good time to thank her publicly for her help. Not just in with my Ringing Master’s duties, which are often time-consuming and involve a lot of travel, organising and stress that she has deal with, but also with Mason too.

I picked up the li’l man for the first time since returning from Lundy and after a week-and-a-half it was great to see him. Whilst I looked after him, Ruthie went to ring in a quarter of York and Durham Minor at Pettistree as her birthday treat – happy birthday also to Pippa. It had suffered a false start, leading to crowd congestion outside as ringers gathered for the practice night. Mason had a good run round though and there was much cake to be had to celebrate the birthdays, so we all forgave them!

As usual, Mason and I left early, just as Jonathan Stevens was arriving – nothing personal Jonathan! – so we got home ready to prepare a glass of wine for the birthday girl, which she duly enjoyed having stayed on until the end of practice.

Tuesday 15th July 2008

Interesting correspondence in the Ringing World recently that I have only just been able to catch up on today after my time away. I understand there is to be an official reply in the Ringing World from Philip, so there's no need for me to say anything else except I hope this sees the end of correspondence on the issue in our national journal.

Ruthie and I enjoyed our first Tuesday night in since Lundy, As much as getting away from it all on the island was fantastic, it was nice to watch some TV tonight!

Monday 14th July 2008

Back to work to find my computer wasn't working after it's long break. I knew how it felt, so strangely it was quite good that this dead-rubber of a morning was able to ease me back into things.

It was also time to get back to business at St Mary-le-Tower. Yesterday, Owen had been away, so I'd taken charge of the keys, safely depositing them in my car on this occasion. Ruthie very kindly took me to Ipswich. I rather stupidly left the keys in my car. Key incident number 4271 was about to unfold.

The churchwarden living in Church House was away, but I knew that George and Di had keys to the church, but by the time I was able to get hold of them on the phone, Di was already on her way without them. Ruthie and I jumped into the car and head to the Pipe's, getting lost in the process. Even having found it, the farce was not over, George, having searched through Di's drawers, couldn't find the keys and so we needed to contact anyone waiting patiently outside the church to get hold of Di so she could guide George to the keys. Eventually I got through to Tom Scase and George and Di were able to liaise and find the keys.

Of course, all of this led to a very late start (just past 8 to be precise) and ringing was fairly curtailed. We still managed Cambridge Max, Stedman and Grandsire Cinques, but apologies to all who had to hang around - it won't happen again!

Sunday 13th July 2008

Despite the late night - or rather early morning - the timeless nature of Lundy Island was immediately replaced by the need to be at St Mary-le-Tower by 9am for Sunday morning ringing. As much as I love the island and have enjoyed the great times and company I have experienced over the last week and a bit, it's kind of nice to be back and ringing somewhere different! I was pleased by the turnout too, which saw us able to ring Rounds and Call Changes on the 12. Still more to be done on this most important of mornings however as I'd love to see us regularly ringing changes on 12 at this tower steeped in rich 12-bell tradition.

I was grateful though for SMLT's attendance when I arrived at Grundisburgh however as I made up a band of 5. Ruthie's car not starting meant she couldn't make it and instead went to Ufford with Kate, but we still had fun ringing Stedman Doubles on the front 5, 8-spliced on the middle 5 and then Antelope on the back 5. Who needs those expensive brain games eh Don?

I met up with Kate and Ruthie for some breakfast at Tesco's before Ruthie and I headed north to Fressingfield. It was our third visit this year there after the tryout and dedication in February, but since those glorious bright days much as happened in relation to the poor sound outside. Jonathan Stevens has worked hard since then and in his newly acquired roles of Honorary Technical Adviser and Chairman of Belfry Advisory Committee had invited myself back to this pretty village to assess them again.

A healthy crowd of local ringers meant we were able to do everything Jonathan wanted, culminating in the two of us listening carefully outside with John Castro who has worked tirelessly on the finance side, although he doesn't ring himself.

There is a marked improvement and the situation is much more acceptable, but the sound of the treble - a vital part of the ring - is still hidden deep below the other 7 and particularly 2, 3, 5 and 7 which sit on the upper tier. Much more discussion will be needed, but we at least made a good start and John invited us over to his impressive abode, the old rectory directly opposite the church, for a cuppa and a tour. And what a place! I have been amazed at the people I meet and places I'm invited into as a pleb who happens to be a bellringer and particularly in my role as Guild Master, but this has been the peak so far! Wow! John and his wife Pam have worked so hard  on their place to turn it from a heap into a marvellous home and beautiful gardens in 8 years.

We eventually slumped back at Ruthie's for the first time since returning from Devon and then it was finally time for me to return to Hollesley for a sleep in my own bed. That tent seems a long time ago...

Saturday 12th July 2008

Huge disappointment this morning. Winston had to pull out of this morning’s final opportunity to ring a peal on the 10 yesterday as his back was playing up. This was obviously unfortunate for him, especially as he had been very keen to ring a peal here, but I had been relieved that Ruthie had stepped in, despite her reluctance to ring peals these days. When we woke this morning however, Ruthie really wasn’t feeling too well and understandably felt it unwise to ring, something I agreed with. However, at such short notice after a long, long week’s ringing and with people busy booking out of their accommodation, it saw our last chance of getting a peal on the 10 sail over the Bristol Channel. All I wanted to do on a personal level was ring a peal on the 10 and so to leave the island without one after all that organising is a blow.

Once we’d packed our bags and vacated our properties – as we had to by 10am – I met with one or two other band members and we decided not to bother with a peal. I have to admit that I was slightly deflated by the lack of a 10-bell peal and my heart was certainly not in going through the motions of an 8-bell one.

As with the rest of the week though, this opened a door for some more quarters, so we decided to try for a quarter of London Major for Claire. This transpired to be our fourth lost quarter (it felt like more than that), but we were determined not to finish on a low. Over lunch – interrupted by a freak injury incurred to Mr Nigel by a bit of flying broken crockery – we gathered a band for one last effort and scored a very respectable quarter of Little Bob Royal – Anne’s first on 10 – as a huge family party gathered in the sunshine outside the Marisco Tavern.

The bells were rung down and four days after collecting them, the keys and logbook were handed back to reception with a trip next year already in mind. Although the lack of peals was frustrating, it was just one of those things and shouldn't detract from the fact we had a fantastic time.

There was just time for handbells outside the pub, which was steadily going until the local chickens came in for a closer look, before a team photograph was taken.

More photo's down on the jetty for Dick and Gill and the Ruby Wedding quarter peal band, including Peter and Jane who were absent from the team photo through their eagerness to get to the boat!

Everyone on the Oldenburg, although due to packing his ticket away an anxious wait greeted Louis as the crew made sure all the passengers were on before admitting him, we were ready for sailing!

The crossing back is normally much better (something to do with the tides, although I'm not a tideologist) and with much calmer weather everyone returned with their insides intact - even Mrs Nigel.

Goodbyes and farewells done on Ilfracombe quay, a taxi took those of us who had stayed at Mullacott Farm back to our cars whilst a supplied coach took others back to Bideford where we'd left on Tuesday.

It was a predictably long journey back to Suffolk, starting at 6.45pm from the B&B and finishing in Woodbridge at 2am, via Leigh Delamore services on the M4 - where we bumped into Unky Chris - and Kirton to pick up my car.

And thus a long, but enjoyable holiday ended at the exact place and time it had began 8 days earlier. Thank you to all those who put up with my disorganisation on the island and especially to Kate for organising the accommodation. Here's to next year!

Friday 11th July 2008

This is getting ridiculous! Mary Allum asked for a peal of Lincolnshire Major, something that should’ve been well within our capabilities. After 45 minutes though, we were going through the same old routine of trudging down the belfry steps defeated. It was to be our peal for The Lundy Island Society, a worthy cause that oversees the maintenance and running of the bells here. Somebody did suggest a peal of Minor, but after a much busier week of ringing than intended, even I didn’t have the energy or motivation to go for that! With a number of people snorkeling too, our options were limited anyway, so I chose to head back to the Castle Keep to wake Ruthie from her slumber. Following some breakfast, we took our first walk (not Ruthie’s favourite pastime), wandering round the south end of the island, up the west coast – where we came across some mountain goats straddling the rugged cliff-face – and back across the island at the Old Light to the (where else?) the pub as we took advantage of the first really nice weather of our trip.

Dick Waterson had requested a quarter for his and Gill’s forthcoming Ruby Wedding Anniversary to surprise his wife on an island that their daughter Molly frequently comes to. Sadly we couldn’t persuade Gill herself to ring, but Dick insisted on it remaining a secret from her and so a band of people who regularly ring with her at Pettistree and Grundisburgh rang a quarter of Yorkshire Major for them.

From then on I relaxed for the afternoon. Winston was still determined to get a quarter rung by members of the north-west district and after the young ‘un’s quarter yesterday also wanted to ring an over-60’s equivalent. Both were achieved well on this bright afternoon as Tom, Chris, Ruthie and myself listened from the pub patio overlooking the Bristol Channel and the coasts of Devon and South Wales.

Our final evening saw me become an impromptu quiz-master for first our table but soon the whole pub, offering an opportunity too good to miss for Kate to take the mick out of my remaining Brummy twang when saying 5 and 9! More Pictionary and the delivery of Christmas Cake from Mr Waterson to mark our earlier quarter completed a lovely night.

Thursday 10th July 2008

One of the perks of organising the ringing on this expedition is that I could arrange a lie-in for myself. Today was my morning. As others attempted – and lost – a quarter of Stedman Caters not too far away, Ruthie and I appreciated our quaint cottage a little more with a quiet smoke detector and no shrew. I hadn’t given us an entirely ringing-free morning though, with a quarter of Grandsire Triples lined up for Anne before lunch. This we scored, with Anne ringing the treble for the first time. Well done Anne.

Lunch in The Marisco Tavern was good as always, though we were slowly running out of games to play. Reduced to a game of Frustration (apt for this weeks ringing) that didn’t work and had bits missing, I was glad to be able to head back to the belfry to attempt the peal of Yorkshire Royal again. Although we got over half-way before losing it this time, it was still a massive disappointment. We agreed to downgrade to Plain and Little Bob Royal, but with tomorrow booked with ringing already, Saturday morning is the only option. In my experience it’s never ideal to go for a peal on the day of departure, with tired limbs and minds half on the journey home, but I’m desperate to get a peal on the 10 – it’s not the easiest of places to come back to to try again!

The lost peal did at least open the door for a quarter of Norwich and Cambridge Minor on the front 6 by an under-30’s band, something I won’t be able to participate in after this year! It was fast – 34 minutes – and needed slowing down slightly to improve the striking, but it was a score!

Whilst we’d been attempting the peal, Ruthie and Claire had been making an apple crumble in the Barn, where many of us returned to after having our first courses in the pub. It was delicious – a top effort girls – and we went back to the tavern well fed. More beer and more of the same games followed, although we did fit in a quiz and a bit of scrabble by last orders. I briefly entered the barn to grab some milk that belonged to Ruthie and me and got to experience first hand the ground-shaking snores that had been inflicted on the suffering residents. They still remain nameless, but flipping ‘eck…

Wednesday 9th July 2008

Lundy has a certain atmospheric value in bad weather. Which is lucky as that is what we got today. The low cloud, rain and wind that enveloped this rock in the middle of the Bristol Channel was eerie as I battled up to the church for our first peal attempt.

This was the big one, the one I am keenest to score, Yorkshire Royal. Last year we only had 10 people, but only 9 peal ringers, so whilst we got a couple of good peals of Major, a peal on the 10 eluded us. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow on this trip as this attempt came to grief in the fourth course, despite a nice composition from our very own Louis and a good band.

I had a cup of tea in The Barn, my home last year and accommodation for a large number of our party this prior to heading back to The Castle where I was confronted by Ruthie coping with a shrew and a dying smoke alarm battery. Once we’d informed the local staff of this, we met some of the others in the pub. Many were looking bleary eyed, some because they’d lost a north-west district quarter on the front 6, but others because they were stopping in the Barn, home this year of a chronic snoring epidemic!

A long-running game of Trivial Pursuit had to be abandoned as I’d arranged further general ringing where we were joined by James Hill, a ringer from Welkombe who happened to be staying on the island too. More Rounds and Call changes on 10 as well as a good-hearted attempt at some half-lead spliced saw us ready for another quarter attempt. This time it was Bristol Major for Jo with Mr Nigel observing, but sadly the result was typical of today’s ringing. It crashed to a halt after a couple of goes, so we retired to the now familiar tavern to partake in a game of Lundy Cluedo based on the islands properties. The dagger in The Barn seemed dangerous in the aftermath of last nights lack of sleep however…

We gave up on that eventually, but after food, a game of darts between my brother and me seemed to develop into a full blown darts competition eventually incorporating Louis, Jane, Anne, Mary G, Claire, Ruthie, Mr Nigel and one of the locals! This was followed by more Pictionary Mania incorporating some of the more ‘adult’ members of the group, more egg games and more giant Jenga.

Tuesday 8th July 2008

An early breakfast and taxi journey to Bideford saw us arrive well on time for our ferry crossing, but we weren't the first there. That honour ironically went to my brother who we'd all been waiting for last year. His risky but ultimately successful policy to not leave Cambridge until 3.30 this morning is not to be recommended however!

Slowly but surely our party arrived and then it was time for boarding.

MS Oldenburg is the traditional ferry for taking people to Lundy Island, much loved by many. However, it is a flat-bottomed river boat that rides every wave on the open seas. Last year I was very ill and with the wind still strong it was with a large dose of trepidation that I stepped on deck. Two hours later though and I had made it! Other's weren't quite so successful...

This is my fifth visit to the island and the steep track to the top has always been a killer, taking you from the jetty, past Milcombe House (the first property I ever stayed in on Lundy) and to the village. However, once to the top, you are greeted by The Marisco Tavern, the only pub on Lundy and just beneath the church of St Helena. It was here we gathered for some lunch and a pint or two along with other travellers who had accompanied us on the ‘SS Chunder’. It is also a good spot to wait whilst the process of preparing our accommodation and taking our bags straight to them progresses. This was where my plan of action – necessary due to our large group – nearly fell almost immediately. Whilst most were sorted out fairly briskly – Ruthie and I included – those staying in the two Old Light properties were left hanging for some time. I had arranged for us to do some general ringing and then a quarter of Grandsire Caters, but with a cut-off time of 6pm for ringing it looked like we might not have time for the quarter. Not that it would have mattered too much. We have the bells from 9am to 6pm until Saturday afternoon, so there’s plenty of time to fit everything in, but I was keen to get something on the board ASAP.

In the end, a group of 6 of us went up (after I’d picked the keys up from reception by the pub) and got things started. Before we knew it ringers were swarming in, enabling us to ring Grandsire Caters, Rounds and Call Changes on 10 and Claire’s first blows of London Major before Mary Garner arrived having finally been settled into the Old Light and we were able to get going. Despite a false start, Louis guided us through a fine quarter of Grandsire Caters – well done to the firsts!

From there it was back to the Tavern for some more beer and food, where Richard Wilson was busy playing with a gadget as he often is. With a delicious looking desert in front of him, he continued inputting info onto it as a girl approached him.
“That looks nice,” she said. “What is it?”
“Oh, it’s like a Blackberry but…”
Before Richard could answer the girl interrupted.
“I know what a Blackberry is, I want to know what your desert is.” Once we stopped crying with laughter she got her desert…

As the evening continued, many weary heads went to bed, leaving us youngsters (including honorary ‘yoof’ such as Anne and Geoffrey playing Pictionary Mania, Pictionary with added rounds and opportunity for intimacy – something Geoffrey enjoyed! This was followed by the ‘Dancing Eggs’ game, an energetic game in which the winner appears to be the one who looks most stupid. The night was finished off by a game of giant Jenga before Ruthie and I made our way to the Castle Keep where we are staying. Our cottage is quaint, full of character and minus modern day distractions such as TV, computers or a phone – as are all the holiday properties on Lundy – but is at the far south end of the island and a little further than most to walk. We made it by midnight when the electricity on the island goes off, but only just!

Monday 7th July 2008

After possibly one of the most uncomfortable nights of my life, I was frankly glad that this morning saw the dismantling of the tent. With the added help of the Nigels and Garners, it was a lot easier to take down than put up. It was at this point that a snapped support explained why a soaking wall had collapsed in on me overnight. In the extreme conditions however, I think the tent withstood everything incredibly well.

We were to spend our last night before sailing in the B&B, with walls that didn't move and a shower and loo just feet away. With eager anticipation we moved our stuff over, before heading out for another day trip.

This time it was to Clovelly, where we briefly met up with Alan McBurnie and Peggy who had come down on the train. I'd been to Clovelly once, but it was when I was catching a ferry over to Lundy in the days when it left there. It was 7am on an October morning and essentially closed. Today was different though, with bright sunshine (at last!) and throngs of tourists meandering up and down this very picturesque coastal village.

It was then onto Bideford for our first ringing of the trip. Alan had organised a quarter of surprise Major. As Kate, Ruthie and I searched for the church though, Kate received a text from three of the band members - Tom, Louis and Claire. They'd been stuck in traffic on the M5 and there was no way they were going to make it in time. From here the spirit of Lundy kicked in. Anne Buswell was kicking around and the Harper's were nearby. As time ticked by, it became apparent that they wouldn't make it, leaving us with 6. There had been a funeral at the church that day for a 46-year old churchgoer that day and both Alan and the 90-year old local, Albert Manning was keen we ring a quarter for it.

As a result, we set off with a quarter of Cambridge Minor, made harder by Mr Manning's insistence we couldn't alter the very short ropes and the entrance of two very excitable pigeons. It was a big distraction as we couldn't stop laughing, but our sprightly host - who was sitting in on the quarter - got rid of them and we got through it. Well done to all though, particularly Anne under trying circumstances.

Our evening was luxury in comparison to previous evenings, as Ron, Kate, Mr and Mrs Nigel, Chris, Mary, Ruthie and I went The Ilfracombe Tandoori. It was extremely slow and extremely hot but also extremely tasty, so a good time was had by all.

The night was finished by pillow fights and three bottles of wine, an appropriate end to our long weekend.

Sunday 6th July 2008

Brighter this morning, a severely welcome break. The long walk down to the amenities was now easier and even a visit to the wash-up area was bearable, enabling us our first chat with others on site.

The better weather also motivated to get out and about, taking us to Barnstable Tesco's for more supplies.

Ron then took us onto his favourite childhood and then adulthood holiday spot, Fremington. This is where his grandparents once lived and a pleasant walk from the River Taw and a beautiful spot by the tearoom in the old railway station.

Having taken advantage of the tea and tasty cake, we drove on to nearby Instow on the River Torridge, just a little down the river from Bideford and along the route the ferry to Lundy will take us on Tuesday.

Here we appreciated Mrs Nigel's crabs and Mr Nigel's giant erection - neither of which are nearly as bad as they sound but would take too long to explain on these pages!

A lack of ice cream and the initial signs the weather was worsening prompted our return to Mullacott Farm, but it had been good to get out.

The evening did indeed see more terrible weather that made every trip out of the tent a massive task. It was brightened however by the arrival of the Garners (who are staying in the B&B), drunken antics of Mrs Nigel and Mrs Eagle and various shenanigans over by the horsebox close to our 'home'.

One bit of bad news was received via a phone call from Bruce Wakefield, due to come to Lundy with us. His father had been rushed into hospital and although not thought to be overly serious, he and Gill felt they couldn't come to the island. It's a shame, particularly as Bruce was one of the peal ringers I'd got pencilled in, but totally understandable.

Saturday 5th July 2008

We were grateful to wake on the same spot, but the conditions were still windy - not perfect camping weather. Making the most of it though, we headed down to the farm's B&B where there were takeaway baguettes available - huge things that filled all the right holes, although the pigs that had been there yesterday were conspicuous by their absence.

The next few hours were spent sheltered in our secure but vulnerable tent as the wind was joined by rain that was consistent if unwelcome.

Mr and Mrs Nigel's arrival was welcome and soon lifted slightly flagging spirits. Going to Ilfracombe's Tesco's with them enabled us to renew the supplies and post Uncle 'Wob's' birthday card - for yesterday!

More food, beer and Jenga followed as we prepared to settle down for what seems is going to be an even rougher night than last night.

Friday 4th July 2008

Ruthie and I went for the no-sleep option. An accompaniment of copious dosages of Have I Got News For You and The Vicar of Dibley saw us through to Kate's awakening at 2am and the beginning of proceedings that should eventually see us through to Lundy Island.

Once the bags had been loaded up, I was responsible for driving the three of us to Kirton to meet up with Kate's workmate Ron, who was to take us down to Devon in his car.

Despite an indicator reminiscent of a hamster in the Physco shower scene, Ruthie and I were able to sleep on most of the way down as Ron and Kate took it in turns to drive. With a trailer on the back, the journey was steady - as it needed to be - and so we arrived at our campsite at Mullacott Farm on the outskirts of Ilfracombe at about 10am, roughly 7 hours after leaving Ron's and with a stop at the Membury services.

I have NO experience at putting tents up and with a rising wind, this was certainly a baptism of fire, especially with a can of Guinness on the go. With Ron's expert guidance and the Eagle girls experience in this field, we soon got it up and stable.

Whilst Ron and Kate had the presence of mind to nip to Tesco's to get beer and food in for the night ahead and go on a walk up to the nearby mast, Ruthie and I slept a bit more - a theme of the day.

Once back, we cooked up a mean spag bol, drunk some beer and tried playing Jenga as the wind got stronger and stronger. As the evening went on, we seriously wondered if we would wake up on Lundy Island a few days early...

Thursday 3rd July 2008

Got stopped by one of the traffic censuses that have been causing such uproar amongst rush hour travellers in Ipswich. Luckily it was on quiet stretch of the Henley Road after I'd dropped Mason off at his grandparents and although it only took a minute, I'm not quite sure what they made of my journey from Hollesley to Ipswich to Great Glemham. I'm sure it'll fit into their figures somehow.

Had a little less luck when I went for a walk at lunchtime in the fields near work, taking a wrong turning and getting lost in a field that didn't seem to have an exit. Not sure how that happened, but got back to work alright!

Whilst many went to the South-East District practice at Dennington this evening, Ruthie and I decided to help out at a thin Grundisburgh practice. It was fairly useful though, as Jess rang behind to Bob Doubles and rang on 10 unassisted for the first time, whilst the more experienced finished with a very nice course of London Major.

Ruthie and I made a detour to Tescos to get some essentials for the long journey tomorrow, before doing chicken hutch duties and contemplating whether to go to sleep or stay up for the 2am start. I'll mull it over with a cup of tea me thinks.

Wednesday 2nd July 2008

A slight change to the normal arrangements and with Kara's other half Danny without a car and needing to be taken to work for 7, it was an early start for Mason and me as I came round to pick up before 6.30 had been reached.

Once dispatched at Mum and Dad's and despite having spent a little time entertaining both him and them, I arrived at work very early. Not that the bosses minded.

It made for a long day in Great Glemham, but I'm still really enjoying this job so I wasn't fussed.

Practicality called for Mason to stop at Mum and Dad's for a tiny bit longer than normal as I had already agreed to ring for Chris and Mary's special quarter at Pettistree first. Although we had the party on Saturday, their actual anniversary - and Chris' birthday - are today. Congratulations guys and well done Chris.

The quarter of mixed Doubles was scored well. I enjoy anything that keeps me on my toes, whether it's Sixteen or Doubles or not even ringing at all, so I enjoyed this a lot.

Afterwards, a dash to Ipswich and back saw me arrive in time to ring in some spliced Doubles and Minor, partake in the quarter-peal band photo - Mason has managed to to be part of a quarter-peal band already! - and have a small glass of wine and some chocolate to celebrate the occasion before returning home. Phew!

Tuesday 1st July 2008

Managed to provide a rough ringing schedule for our trip to Lundy next week. With a party of nearly 30 made up of ringers of varying degrees of abilities and enthusiasms as well as the non-ringers, it is important to try and get the right balance for all. However, the beauty of Lundy is that so long as we ring between 9 and 6 and don't ring more than 2 peals or 4 quarters a day we've got complete freedom and flexibility to ring what we want whenever we want, although I'm keen to put on a good show for the few people on the island that won't be with our party! The large party should ensure we shouldn't get ringing fatigue as we got mildly got last year with just 10 of us.

Monday 30th June 2008

There are four people in our sales team, including myself. As you all know, I had a bit of a mare with my car last week – today it was my colleague Peter’s turn. His car just rolled to a halt over Parham airfield on the way in this morning, leaving Michael and Rhyan – the remainder of the team nervously awaiting whose turn it is next week to be vehicley immobilised.

Twenty-seven people packed into St Mary-le-Tower practice, a huge number when you consider a year ago we were struggling to ring the 12. It was a strange night. Cambridge eventually went well, but crashed to a halt first time round. We rang Bristol Max, with the intention to ring three leads and finish with a lead of Cambridge, but it collapsed after a couple of leads. This was a shame, but perhaps not overly surprising as it’s ages since we rang it on a practice night and is something that needs to be rung week in, week out. What often catches people out is that the dodges are nearly all the ‘wrong’ way round and when things go wrong it’s often difficult to pick out the points, but with a prolonged programme of practice, quarters and peals, the second half of 2008 should hopefully see us make a breakthrough with this.

It was good to see Gerry Bacon visiting, as well as David and Ann Webb.

Having dropped young Mr Suggett off at the railway station, Ruthie and I returned to hers for some homemade curry, saving money for Devon and Lundy, which is getting very close…

Sunday 29th June 2008

Sunday morning on the Garners' lawn resembled Glastonbury without the mud or Amy Winehouse (although there was enough alcohol there to satisfy her). We hadn’t been the only ones to camp over, so there was a large crowd in the early morning sunshine enjoying the breakfast supplied, although nobody seemed overly keen on finishing off all the strawberries left over from the previous night. Ruthie and I couldn’t fully take advantage of the ample feed and relaxed atmosphere as we needed to get down to St Mary-le-Tower for service ringing. I wasn’t expecting much as I knew that Mum, Dad and David Potts were all away (not together you understand) but even so, I was slightly disappointed with the lowly turnout of 8, especially as 12-bell ringing on Sunday mornings have become the norm in recent weeks. Still, we rang some nice Superlative Major (eventually) and to finish with, Stedman Triples on the back 8.

Grundisburgh also had 8 in the end, although until David Stanford appeared we undertook ‘Challenge Don’ which resulted in some Westminster Minor and Boat Race (Cambridge Surprise below and Oxford Treble Bob above) before we once again finished with Stedman Triples on the back 8.

We were to be reacquainted with the gazebos once more in the afternoon, this time in Pettistree churchyard as they provided cover for the stalls of the church fete. Last year I’d brought Mason, who managed to win me a bottle of rum, but without him this year my luck was slightly reduced. I won a bottle, sadly, just of sesame oil. Still, I’m sure it’ll come in handy at some point. There was some ringing for the service, enticing in Joan a former ringer who rang some call changes.

Ruthie and I walked down to The Three Tuns for an hour to see how they were getting on.

We returned to the fete to munch on more BBQ and win nothing in the raffle, but thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon.

Ruthie insisted we got back early for the final of Euro 2008, an exciting game that thankfully saw Spain beat Germany 1-0. Not that I’ve got anything against the Germans, it’s just they always win and it’s nice to see someone different win something.

Not in everything though. Birmingham once again won the National 12-Bell Contest at Lincoln Cathedral yesterday, much to my delight. I was very fortunate to be part of the winning Birmingham teams in this competition in 2001 and 2003 and despite it being nearly three years since I left there I still support them as ‘my’ team in the contest. To cap it off the College Youths pipped the Cumberlands to 2nd place, the perfect result!

Saturday 28th June 2008

A boiling hot morning, perfect for ringing a peal at St Mary-le-Tower – not! It was time for the next attempt of a peal of Bristol Maximus and having already lost two attempts in the last two months, people were understandably wary in this one. Whether it was that psychological influence or the hot weather or just not keeping on top of things, we struggled. But we got it! We could’ve done better, but it is just a small tinge of disappointment and an indication of the confidence I have in this bands abilities. We will go for another attempt soon – I don’t know when yet – but with a plan of regular Bristol Max at practices and more quarters over the next couple of months, I think we should score a really decent effort next time. Today though, well done to Mary, Louis and Matthew on getting their first in the method and thank you to Matthew for filling in at the last minute!

Aunty Ruthie very kindly looked after Mason whilst I rung, so whilst some went to The Dove for refreshment, I headed straight back to Woodbridge to spend the day with Mason and Ruthie. We almost immediately set off for Mr and Mrs Garner’s wonderful abode in between Pettistree and Wickham Market. On a beautiful day like today, it is a marvellous place to be, overlooking as it does fields and country lanes, with Wickham and the spire of All Saints in the near distance. The main purpose of our trip was not to enjoy the views however, but rather to help – with an assortment of their family and friends – set up for their party that evening to celebrate their Silver Wedding Anniversary and 25 years since they moved to Thong Hall. I say help. I spent most of the time running around with the li’l man who was well in his element, whilst Ruthie and others did all the hard work of putting up gazebos, tables and chairs.

Everything was well on its way to completion before the three of us left, dropping Mason off at Kara’s before Ruthie and I got ourselves ready for the big event itself.

And what an event! It’s these sort of evenings that you long for over those long winter months, the sun setting late and a huge crowd sprawled across the large garden a reflection of Chris and Mary’s popularity. The barbecue was superb as was the other food, the beer (Victoria – brilliant!) lasted just long enough and the company was great. Their groups of helpers – including Kate - were stars, keeping the food and beer coming and clearing the rubbish to a minimum as well as keeping Mary calm!

I was to spend my first ever night camping on their lawn with Kate, Ruthie and Max the dog too, but Ruthie and I needed to set up the camping beds first – something we didn’t realise until a couple of beers in. Again I wasn’t much help, but Ruthie did receive words of encouragement from the Norris girls, such as “that’ll collapse” and “won’t it tip over?” You can tell they’re their father’s daughters!

Anyway, the night went on late, the last of the revellers departing the house at around midnight as I set about spending the night with two women and a dog. It’s been a while since I’ve had a night like that…

Friday 27th June 2008

In between writing last night's blog and going to bed, I was kept up by my interest in a programme fronted by Suggs, the former frontman of Madness. I'm not sure what it was called (Suggs' Heroes or summit like that) but I was grabbed initially by his presence in front of The House In The Clouds in Thorpeness and then by his visit to Whitechapel Bell Foundry and walk through London following the nursery rhyme of Oranges and Lemons. It was nice to see bells on TV in a good light!

In relation to Aldeburgh, I had a brief chat to Richard Rapior on the phone to see how the PCC meeting went the other night and was pleased to hear that he was supported unanimously. Things have turned out well, but conscious of everything that has happened, Richard is keen to forge closer links with the local community, especially those who have complained and indeed has started making inroads this aim, something we perhaps all ought to think of if we haven't already.

Hollesley went well tonight as it usually does, with Kent Major rung for a change and rung very well, before Mason and I made the short journey home.

Thursday 26th June 2008

I saw my first glance of the list for the two-week Rambling Ringers Tour over the end of July and beginning of August. With Mum currently the secretary and organiser of this mammoth ringing extravaganza, I'm seeing it a little earlier, but I still get a little excited to see it. Although I haven't been for 3 years, this year it is being held in North Suffolk and South Norfolk, beginning at Pakenham on the afternoon of Saturday 26th July, so I thought we might join them for the first two Saturdays. Sadly I can't get the time off to join them in the week, but if all this interests you, it's well worth contacting my Mum about details. The beauty of it is that you can join in as little or much as you like. Some join for a couple of days, some for a particular tower, some make a week of it, whilst the diehards do the whole 15 days, though you need some stamina for that! The standard of ringing is good too. In fact it is demanded, as the Ramblers realise they are privileged to ring on other peoples bells and with such alumni as Andrew Mills, Stuart Hutchieson, George Dawson and many more involved they usually get that good ringing with a good family atmosphere. Hopefully I will get the chance to take Mason along.

Talking of the little chap, he had another good evening running around a churchyard, this time at Grundisburgh as we peaked at Cambridge Royal.

Mason and I caught the second half of the other Euro2008 Semi-Final as Spain joined Germany in Sunday's final by easily beating Russia 3-0. It's nearly time to stop pretending I'm enjoying it!

Wednesday 25th June 2008

Picking Mason up after work, I was very grateful for Hazel looking after the li'l chap whilst Ruthie and I rang a quarter of 12-spliced Surprise Minor at Pettistree before the practice. Duly scored, we picked my son up. He is always extremely happy, but seems particularly chirpy tonight. Perhaps it's the beautiful evening sunshine and the freedom to run round Hazel's spacious garden and then Pettistree churchyard and church! Either way, it's a pleasure as ever.

Got my first proper look at the letters that dominated Friday's Ringing World letters page in regards to the 50% of the Guild subs that automatically go to the Bell Restoration Fund. Both views were offered to varying degrees and John Loveless' in particular well thought out, though and I think probably reflecting the views of the majority of Guild members. Of course if there are people who think differently they are more than welcome (and I genuinely mean that) to raise these views and if they want to put it to the test, use the proper channels. You never know it may bring out a more representative turnout at the next AGM!

Mason and I got home in time to watch the exciting Euro 2008 semi-final between Turkey and Germany. Despite a thrilling finale that saw 3 goals scored in the last 11 minutes, the German's rather predictably won through to the final, despite being very poor. But that's just what they do...

Tuesday 24th June 2008

It must be the start of harvest in Butley. Six tractors as I passed through the village on my way home from work. I didn't see many of those on my commute home when I was in the Midlands!

It was our night off and for once Ruthie and I did have a night off!

Two notable and upbeat pieces of bellringing news today.

Suffolk Coastal Council rather sensibly announced they weren't going to take any action over the peals at Aldeburgh. This is good news and combined with the Aldeburgh PCC meeting taking place tomorrow should see an end to this debate. It has undoubtedly shown the huge support we have, even for peals. Organising peals is based on the local contact being happy that peals won't unreasonably cause a nuisance for the vast majority of the local residents.

I also received an email via my mother from Paul De Kok, a ringer on Rambling Ringers and good friend of mine who hails from and still lives in Holland. He has been behind the installation of a ring of 8, around about 1cwt in The Clockhouse in Dordrecht in his native land and on Sunday they rang the first peal on them, involving many friends of mine. An example of bellringing spreading to other countries, ironically in a week when it was challenged in it's homeland. As far as I'm aware, there have been no complaints from the rather easier going Dutch...

Monday 23rd June 2008

After Friday, where we visited the new offices in Melton and spent the afternoon planning the layout, it was back to real work today!

Last week, we had 11 at St Mary-le-Tower. This week we had 22! As grateful as I am for people turning out, the up-and-down nature of attendance that seems to be repeating is making it hard to plan ahead. We could’ve rung Bristol Max tonight with enough warning, but having asked people to learn it for last Monday I didn’t bother to get people to learn it for this week. We did ring some good Lincolnshire Max, with Kate Eagle doing extremely well. The highlight was probably some really good Stedman Cinques and although the couple of pieces of Cambridge Max didn’t go quite so well, they were still good practice to those coming through and we finished with some quite respectable Plain Hunt on 11 for Anne Buswell.

I am always delighted when we get a good turnout and more importantly good ringing but especially tonight, as we had a visitor - Luca from Italy – who is staying with Stephen Pettman and accompanied Mr P to the practice.

Although not the warmest night of the summer, the large crowd that went to Mannings for a drink afterwards took the decision to sit out the front of the pub on The Cornhill. We are British after all and I think it impressed our visitor from Italy!

Sunday 22nd June 2008

The morning after the night before and I felt surprisingly alright. As usual I headed into Ipswich for ringing at St Mary-le-Tower. Today I made a slight detour to Ipswich Railway Station to drop Clare off in readiness for her long journey back to Perth.

Stedman Cinques was the highlight of a reasonable morning of ringing as was the first visit of little Isabel Potts to the belfry, thoroughly enjoying this new experience.

Grundisburgh would've been a bit short but for the visit of Peter, Christine and Rosemary Hill, enabling us to ring some really nice Stedman Triples.

It was at this point I should've taken the keys for here to get in for a quarter later. However, it wasn't until I met up with Ruthie for lunch at Costa that I realised I had failed in this relatively simple task. Seeing my better half off to another quiet afternoon at work, I made a dash to Dallinghoo to pick the keys up from Gill Waterson.

It needed to be a dash as I was waiting for Peter Harper, who had kindly agreed to give me a lift to the GMC meeting at Old Newton. We needn't have worried as a small mix-up meant we were left standing outside the Methodist Chapel in sunny but very windy conditions. It also appeared we were in the way of preparations for a funeral wake to be held there tomorrow. I don't know, we're still a nuisance even when we're not ringing...

The meeting was uneventful but for Philip stamping his own style - to great success - on proceedings. Typically - and rightly - much was discussed, including a very serious proposition to get a Guild Social as we used to have, up and running again from next year in some form and another.

For some of us it was then back to Grundisburgh for the next attempt at a quarter of Royal, this time Rutland. We didn't score a quarter, but as usual it was good practice. There was some disappointment at the standard of ringing at the beginning and indeed I think we can do a lot better as a band, but we do so little 10-bell ringing as a Guild, we should should be relatively chuffed by our efforts in the end.

It had been a long day for Ruthie and me, with Ruthie also performing in the concert in the church that proceeded our attempt - though unfortunately I couldn't get back in time to see it - so we retired to hers for a Chinese whilst others went for a curry. Returning home I was stopped randomly - along with many other drivers - by the police who were checking for drink-drivers. Of course I was clean, but it served to further prolong a long day and I was very glad to see my bed in the end!

Saturday 21st June 2008

We had the pleasure of Mason's company all morning today rather than dropping him off first thing as we usually do. It was nice as what with work, I don't get to spend much time with him during the day. Kara rather kindly offered him to me all day, but it was Ruthie's grandparents Golden Wedding Anniversary today and we were having a sit-down meal for it at 1pm. Although Derek and Janet (the stars of the show) would undoubtedly have said it would be OK to bring him along, I thought it unfair to ask them at such short notice.

As a result, I dropped the li'l chap off before heading onto the Martlesham Community Centre for what proved a lovely afternoon in the company of many members and friends of Ruthie's family. We enjoyed a good buffet and others knocked back the wine, although as I was driving I couldn't partake! We also experienced an example of how small the world is, especially where George Pipe is concerned. Turns out that one of Derek and Janet's school friends is the brother of Diana's sister's husband. Hope you kept up with that! Around about 70 mingled before many of us went on to their house to continue the celebrations.

Myself, Ruthie and Clare then took the opportunity to do a bit of catching up, choosing The Mariners as our setting.

Before I finish, a word of congratulations to Mary Dunbavin who today rang her 1000th peal, rung at Horringer. Even in this day of faster mass communication and easier travel, 1000 peals is still a big achievement. Keep it up Mary!

Friday 20th June 2008

Hooray! My car is back from the dead! Having feared the worst yesterday, I received a call this morning telling me it was fixed. Even my best case scenario was that I was without a car until next week, so it was an extremely pleasant surprise. It had been just the water pump and had proved easy enough for them to fix.

I still needed picking up from work however and I was very grateful that Ruthie was able to not only pick me up from Great Glemham, but also take me to Ipswich to retrieve both my car and my son. There was nothing wrong with his water pump so it was nice to have him back too.

Ruthie had also brought her sister Clare, down from Scotland for the weekend on the occasion of Kate's parents golden wedding anniversary, which was nice.

We took her to Hollesley too as the practice ranged from handling lessons for our new learners and Jess to Cambridge Major before Mason and I left to watch more football.

Thursday 19th June 2008

Ah, smoke wafting across a sunshine breeze, excited chatter fills the air and the smell of burning enters the nostrils. I love barbecues at this time of year. Except sadly, this wasn't a barbecue. The smoke and burning was coming from my car engine and the excited chatter was coming from Mason.

Fortunately, I had nearly made it to Mum and Dad's, so I struggled on to theirs to drop the li'l man off. An immediate inspection of the damage and we took a calculated risk to get the car to the nearby garage that I have taken it to in the past.

Nick, a man I have got to know well since I got the car two years ago, inspected it briefly and concluded that the water pump was bust, but needed a closer inspection to find out more. It may even need to go to a chap he uses for certain jobs, which would prolong the time off the road. Either way, it looks unlikely it will be fixed before the weekend.

It is undoubtedly a blow, but I'm fortunate I have people who are willing to help out, something I am very grateful for. Mum took me to work, meaning I only got to work half-an-hour late whereas otherwise I probably wouldn't have made it at all and Ruthie came and picked me up.

I was to meet up with Mum, Dad and Mason at Grundisburgh practice, which we did, but sadly not a lot of others did. Stephen also had to leave early for a family engagement in Capel St Mary, leaving us with a peak of 9. It did however prove to be a useful evening for Anne Buswell, who rang the treble to Yorkshire Major very well. Other highlights included Ruthie calling Double Norwich Major and some nice Pudsey (although some may say that's a contradiction in terms).

It was then back to Ashcroft Road for Mason and me for the night as my folks very kindly put me up for the night so they could take me to work in the morning. Another day...

Wednesday 18th June 2008

Picked Mason up for our usual half a week together, before heading on to Edwin Avenue, a bit of tea and then Pettistree practice. There we were joined by David and George Salter.

Mason and I left early of course, but at least with Euro 2008 we aren't devoid of entertainment when we get home. Tonight it was provided by Russia and Sweden in the last group game of the tournament, Russia winning 2-0 to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Tuesday 17th June 2008

It has been asked of me today, 'Why ring peals?' Why indeed. Why go on ringing outings? Why ring quarters? Why ring at all? It isn't for everyone, but for many it is the most enjoyable and best way of progressing in ringing - myself included. Of course it all arose from discussion in relation to Aldeburgh. I think we need to be careful not to let this whole issue become one on peals. Yes, it is the length that has been complained about in this instance, but the principal - and potentially our art - is what is at stake. These peals have been rung regularly at exactly the same time every month for years. They're no secret and for the vast majority are a pleasure to be heard across this beautiful coastal town on a sunny day. And it is essentially six hours over a WHOLE summer that are an issue, if they even fall upon a day that's nice enough to sit out in the garden. And peals go on not that much longer than most practice nights and with (certainly in Aldeburgh's case) a lot better ringing than most practice nights by their nature. We have to be careful not to just say let's stop these peals over the summer. How long - on the same principal - before these people then say, 'let's stop practice nights over the summer?' Whilst not looking to stick two fingers at the complainants, we must be careful not to just bow to their demands.

There is a poll currently running on the East Anglian Daily Times website - www.eadt.co.uk - asking if bells are a nuisance. At the time of asking, over 90% who have participated have said 'no'. Although not exactly scientific and of course not having any bearing on the outcome of proceedings, it is a strong indication of how people - not just ringers - feel. Are - as seems the norm in modern day Britain - the views of the few going to be allowed to override the feelings of the majority? We shall have to wait and see.

Kate was elsewhere this evening, celebrating the Pettmans' Silver Wedding Anniversary in Felixstowe, so Ruthie and I went to Marlesford to help with Ufford practice. Though much appreciated, the hospitality of the Marlesford ringers is happily not needed after this week, with the return of ringing at Ufford from Sunday morning. A good bit of news after a rocky few days.

A pint in The White Lion in Ufford and it was back to Hollesley for Ruthie and me to enjoy our night 'off'. No rest for the wicked...

 

Monday 16th June 2008

More media attention from the BBC at Aldeburgh this morning, this time for the national Breakfast Show. Whilst the opportunity to put our case to an increasingly understanding and supportive public, I was a little uneasy at their desire to ring the bells at 8.30 in the morning. This is why I chose to steer clear, although it may have been a bit tight to get to work anyway. That's certainly not a criticism of those who did take part. As bellringers, we've been placed in a difficult spot, being judged by a small but potentially powerful group of people who have little or no understanding of our hobby, so it's hard to say what are the right or wrong actions. We have to quite literally - if you'll excuse the pun - play it by ear.

An interesting letter in Friday's Ringing World in relation to A.J.Barnfield's assertion that ringing is in decline. His observation that nearly two generations are missing is noticeably correct, but in a hobby that can recruit and teach people of any age, I don't think it is as terminal as he makes out. I'm also not sure that his solution to the problem - disbanding the traditional guilds and associations such as ours - is exactly the answer. Still very interesting.

St Mary-le-Tower practice was probably the most disappointing one since I took over. Despite the visit of David Rogers, a returning ringer from Thetford, we only had 11, with Cambridge Royal the highlight. It's always a shame to have less than 12 - although for the first time for a year - especially as people travel some distance to come to ring Surprise Maximus or at least on the 12. Lets hope we have a return to the heights we had last week.

You might be forgiven after today that it is all doom and gloom in ringing at the moment. But in amongst all the negatives today, a surprise positive came out. I received a call from Robert Wood, a ringer from Yorkshire who works in environmental health, offering his help and advice on the Aldeburgh issue. A top example of the family of ringing pulling together to help out where they can and why - whilst we should be prepared to compromise where appropriate - we should stand up to protect our traditions.

Sunday 15th June 2008

Despite Mum and Dad being away for the weekend, we still had 12 at St Mary-le-Tower, with a visit from Peter Bills from Devon. Some nice Rounds and Call Changes on 12 followed on from some very well struck Yorkshire Royal and Cambridge Major, before a quick lower of the front 8 at the end so Owen, David and Ralph could put new ropes on them.

I couldn't hang around as usual as I had to get to Grundisburgh, where once again we were very short. A disastrous attempt at Orpheus Doubles on the front 5 was redeemed by some Rounds and Call Changes on 6 for Peggy as she continued her good rehabilitation from a broken wrist and then some Annable's London.

A quiet afternoon which saw nothing much happen other than Ruthie and me travelling to Hollesley before I realised I'd left the house keys at her's, belied the excitement of what was to happen that evening. It has been well documented on here and throughout the Guild that we have been working up to a quarter of half-lead 8-spliced Surprise Major for some time at Ufford and Hollesley. Tonight, the latter was the scene of our arrival at this goal. As has often been the way as we've added methods, the successful quarter followed on from some lengthy failures that have merely served to strengthen our resolve and as great practice.

Well done to all, especially to Alan who has been the driving force behind these attempts and thanks to him for offering us the opportunity to ring this really entertaining stuff. This isn't the end though! We may have succeeded in the original aim, but Alan has his eyes set on bigger things as you will see. We could do with as many like Alan as we can get!

We celebrated in The Shepherd and Dog afterwards and although most had some grub, Ruthie and I had a pint before slipping away for some pizza and watching the game that has now usurped the Holland - France game the other night as the most exciting of the tournament. With three minutes to go, Turkey were 2-1 down to the Czech Republic in their final group game, thus meaning the Czechs would go through to the quarters at their expense. They had been 2-0 down and yet by the end of the game, they'd had their goalkeeper sent off and yet won 3-2. Thrilling!

A final word must go to Derek Baldry, who rang his first quarter at Reydon on Thursday evening. Congratulations Derek, the first of many I hope!

Saturday 14th June 2008

Mason happily obliged us with a lay-in this morning, a rare opportunity. We couldn't afford to hang around too long as we had to be Gressenhall in Norfolk by 12.30 for the Ridgman Trophy. Dropping Mason off at Kara's first, we made the near two hour journey and arrived in the village well on time. Finding the church was a different matter, positioned as it is a couple of miles from the village.

We had been aware for some time that we were ringing first as the draw was made a few weeks back, so we were prepared for the eventuality. However, it's still hard to be the openers as there has of course not been anyone else to listen, picking out potential problem areas to avoid. It also means you ring before the judges have had a chance to get there ear in, although good judges won't let this distort the outcomes significantly.

Ruthie and I joined the Girlings and Potts in The Swan back in the village for a bite to eat and some beer as the other four teams took up the ringing baton.

I have to admit by being slightly disappointed by the social aspect of this years contest as the vast majority of people left almost immediately after ringing. Although the locals were very hospitable and served tea and cake in the old school just yards from the church, the remote location and lack of easily accessible entertainment whilst not ringing perhaps contributed to this.

Still, it was nice to catch up with old friends and acquaintances such as John Loveless, Simon Rudd, Martin Whiteley, Jonathan and Becky Dickenson as well taking a cheeky jibe at big Norwich fan David Brown!
If I'm honest, I didn't think we'd rung as well as we could, although by no means badly, so I was pleasantly surprised when the judges Paul Seaman and Michael Purday commented on how wonderful the ringing was. The leading was 'spot on', there was 'good rhythm' and the only thing they could really pick us up on was that we dragged some of the backstrokes out at the back - something that I try to beat out of our ringers!

This was followed by various observations about other teams struggling to cope with their 3-4 places, rhythms not quite being right and going wrong in the first lead, although as usual, Bedfordshire - who are to this Eastern regional competition what Birmingham are to the 12-bell -were described as 'superb'. This raised my hopes of a top-two finish, so I was greatly surprised when we were then placed in 4th, behind the teams that had apparently struggled and even gone wrong! Having not heard the other participants I'm not in position to dispute the result and that's certainly not what I'm doing. In fact, if they'd just said we'd finished 4th, I wouldn't have been surprised by our placing, it's just the results didn't seem to match up with the comments! Well done to Bedfordshire on winning though, deserved winners as usual.

Next year it is to be held on the 20th, June, provisionally in Hertfordshire. There are 10 teams that are eligible to enter from the Eastern region, so the low turn-out this year (including 3 pull-outs this week) was a shame, so we hopefully next year will see a better attendance.

Just a word for our very own Ian Holland, who has organised the contest for the last few years, but has stepped down this year, handing over the job to Alan Winter. Good luck to Alan, but many thanks to Ian for his sterling work in often difficult circumstances.

Following the results and brief committee meeting for myself and other team reps, we headed across to Blythburgh, contender with Iken for most spectacular setting for a ring of bells in Suffolk.

A brisk but well struck quarter of Cambridge Minor was scored after an interesting chat with the local, Peggy, who despite a lack of a band at this delightful 6, has continued to try and improve herself. Keep it up Peggy! Good to see Tom back too.

After that it was homeward bound down the A12 for pizza, beer and a bit more football.

Friday 13th June 2008

Two things caught my eye after I'd completed my blog last night.

One was the sight of Alan Duncan MP, Shadow Cabinet Minister and sometime contestant on Have I Got News For You officially opening the offices at Haven Power where I worked for a few weeks up until last month. Featured on the local news, it was interesting to see many of the old faces that I got to know relatively well in my time there.

This was completely overshadowed by something else that caught my eye and was to dominate this Friday the 13th. Resident Jenny Hunt of Aldeburgh has apparently complained about the peals that - as most Suffolk Guild members and fellow Aldeburgh residents know - have been rung on pretty much every second Sunday afternoon (bar August) on the town's ring of 8 for decades. To top it off, 20 people had by all accounts signed a petition, leading to the possibility of an investigation by the council. This incident had got into the East Anglian Daily Times and come to the attention of the BBC.

As a result, us officers at the top of the Guild shared some correspondence and the BBC had contacted Philip, both to speak on Radio Suffolk and gather a band to ring at Aldeburgh for the cameras of BBC Look East as Kim Riley - their reporter - interviewed the extremely supportive vicar of St Peter & St Paul, the Reverend Nigel Hartley, for whom we should be very grateful as he has paved the way for our case.

In fact, today has turned out a lot better for us than it could've done, although we have to wait to see if it goes any further and to what extent. Perhaps it could be seen as a wake-up call. Not enough seems to go into relaying the lives of ringers and the human side of this wonderful art and therefore when something like this happens the complainants just see a bunch of menaces out to ruin their Sunday afternoon. They don't see the wonderful opportunities it offers youngsters at a time when people consider that kids don't have anything to do and are a menace. The art passed joyfully down from generations of families. The fact that for some people it is their only social outlet. Maybe we should all do more about this.

I couldn't join Philip, Bruce and the others (sorry, I didn't catch everyone that was there) that participated at Aldeburgh for the cameras in the evening as I needed to pick Mason up from Mum and Dad's, repeating yesterdays journeying.

Hollesley practice - aptly and appropriately - showed why we should protect our rights to ring bells as we have done for hundreds of years (not me you understand, although Ruthie might think so!). Anne Buswell brought a friend and her son along to practice as potential recruits and indeed they had their first handling lessons before Mason and I left early - as usual - catching the end of the most exciting game of Euro 2008 I've seen so far as Holland beat France 4 -1. Hopefully we will see more of Anne's friend and her son as we look to secure this fine art that has given most - if not all - of us so much joy.

Thursday 12th June 2008

Picked Mason up from Kara's in Woodbridge to take to Mum and Dad's in Ipswich, before arriving at work in Great Glemham, all by quarter to nine!

I did the journey in reverse after work, meaning there was just time to make some tea for us and Mason before heading out to Grundisburgh for a bit. It's the Ridgeman Trophy at Gressenhall in Norfolk on Saturday, a trophy I think we stand a real chance of winning. However, getting the band together in any number has been an impossible task. It's not anyone's fault as it was always going to be difficult to gather people together from Halesworth, Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket and Ipswich all at the same time, but it has been frustrating. Tonight was a last ditch opportunity to get people together at Grundisburgh - the closest 10 in size we've got to Gressenhall - to ring some Cambridge Royal, the test piece. We did ring some Cambridge Royal, but due to illness and previous engagements, there was only half the band. Still, better than nothing and with the strong band I am confident that the Suffolk Guild can come out victorious. We would welcome cheerleaders, but it is also the Campsea Ashe ringing festival and Don Price's walking and ringing outing, both worthwhile events to support. Indeed at one point the two events are combining. With the Annual Village Weekend at Gislingham, you shouldn't be left short of things to do on Saturday!

Left early with Mason and managed to get back to see the end of the Austria - Poland game in Euro 2008, with Austria getting a last minute equaliser to keep themselves in the tournament. Worth noting that Portugal - my tip - were the first to qualify for the quarter-finals yesterday. Beginning to wish I'd put money on them now...

Wednesday 11th June 2008

We had a sales trainer in today. I feared the worst as normally these sorts of people are oblivious to the real world, trying to teach grannies how to suck eggs, attempting to foist creative ideas that just aren't practical on an experienced workforce that expose their total lack of experience in an actual sales environment. Sanj, the guy who came in was from no such mould however. Sure, there were traits of that 'nothing is impossible', even when you know better - that's his job - but he was down to earth and seemed aware of the difficulties that we and any other salespeople face. We also discovered we had grown up two streets apart and he had gone to Westbourne, where I'd attended 6th Form. His father had also been a pioneer in curry houses in East Anglia, so that's always worth some respect in my book!

It was all very useful, but by far and away not the highlight of the day. For in the evening, it was off to the Salter's and after nearly 18 months of building up to it, time for our first attempt at the 41-Spliced Surprise Minor. After a false start, we launched into it again and despite an occasional hairy moment, a really good peal in just 1 hour 45 minutes was scored. Without sounding big-headed, I've done an awful lot in peal-ringing, having rung peals of spliced Maximus and many on 16 bells, but this achievement - and especially at the speed we did it at and the immense concentration that comes with it - probably ranks as my biggest peal-ringing moment. Everyone in the band played their part, even Mick on the treble. Without a reliable treble ringer, it would be impossible to ring, especially at such pace. Thanks also have to go to George Thoday who filled in for Katharine during her pregnancy for some of the build-up attempts.

It also highlights that the best way - indeed only way - of undertaking such a task is by learning methods properly. Many times I have been howled down for suggesting that Primrose is 6ths place Cambridge or York is merely London below the treble and Cambridge above, accused of making it more complicated, when in fact it makes it easier. What would be easier? Learning 41 different methods or a handful that then make up the 41? And when have any of you ever known me to make things any harder for myself than I have to? My intention is to compile an explanation that will hopefully be relatively easy to understand for elsewhere on this website, but for now, take my word for it - it's not actually as hard as you think!

We were also able to ring it as a birthday compliment for my Dad, a sterling servant to Suffolk ringing and whom - along with my mother amongst others - helped make it possible for me to ring such things. Although we were 22 methods short of ringing an appropriate number, it still feels fitting to give him a nod on this one.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Tuesday 10th June 2008

Reading Ruth Suggett's report on the North-West Striking Competition, it seems that her enthusiasm has won through, with a decent entry when it initially seemed apathy would triumph. Well done to Ruth for organising such a successful event and well done to the Young Ringers for winning it. It is certainly a healthy sign for the future of Suffolk ringing and as I have done before, I strongly encourage people to support this essential group of ringers in any way they can, especially in persuading other youngsters to take advantage of the pract