Young Ringers' Day, 14th July 2018

About 15 young ringers and a good number of assistant ringers met up under the tower at Boston Stump at 10am on July 14th. Having first looked up in awe at the height we were about to have to climb, we made our way (slowly) up to the ringing room. Then Mick Smith, tower captain, opened up a hatch and we were able to look down in even more awe to the church floor way below.

Chris Turner, Guild Ringing Master, took charge of the ringing here - and lots of rounds and call changes were rung, with increasing confidence each time. He told us that the high dome in the middle and the size of the ringing chamber tended to make us ring more slowly than was best on the bells. So we rang closer together and thought that we coped quite well with the bells and produced some respectable ringing.

St Botolphs's, Boston

We then went to Freiston where Alex Addy took charge of the ringing. We successfully rang some Plain Bob as well as Plain Hunt on the 6 bells. A few chocolates and biscuits were consumed here to keep up our strength, it was a very hot day and the number of steps climbed so far had sapped a bit of energy.

A picnic lunch was eaten on Freiston playing field. We were ready for that. There followed a rounders match between members of the Central branch (plus the younger Barkers) and the Rest of the Guild. The Central Branch members thoroughly beat the Rest, despite RM Chris� heroic efforts in scoring a rounder, which saw him throwing himself at 4th base in true rugby try scoring fashion. Since then he has been unable to ring and has a probable fractured bone in his arm. The dedication was admirable.

Rounders at Freiston

We then moved on to the 6 bells of Freiston where Clare Barker took charge of the ringing. To begin with, the bells were incredibly loud until someone went up to the bell chamber and closed a door. Lots more rounds and call changes were rung as well as plain hunt and plain bob.

We then joined in with Eastern Branch�s meeting at Butterwick which was followed by a great BBQ in the grounds of the Village Hall. Huge amounts of food were consumed on a beautiful summer�s evening. A quiz kept us all busy when we weren�t eating or generally socialising.

Many thanks go to Tony Barker for masterminding the whole day, and to all the adults who helped out in supporting the ringing and doing the transporting.

Sue Faull