Central Branch Conductor's Course at Blankney, 13th April 2013

I actually arrived early for once and made my way into the very pleasent little church of St. Oswald, Blankney. There were some obvious signs of activity with refreshments being prepared on the north side of the church.

Eventually a dozen or so people turned up and at 4:30pm Richard Spencer (Central Branch Ringing Master) sat them down in the pews and began instructing them on how to conduct three different pieces of ringing, namely

This was all supported with clear documentation provided by Richard, which included where to shout "That's All"

Richard Spencer instructs the learners
Trying it out in the tower

After Richard had finished, more members arrived to assist with the ringing in the tower. Everyone enjoyed tea and coffee and sat and ate their picnic in the church since it had started raining.

Once we were all suitably refreshed, we made our way up the tower so the learners could put into practice what Richard has taught them. The ringing for the next 2 hours consisted mainly of Rounds and Call Changes and Plain Bob Doubles and Minor to give the learners several attempts to practice what they had learnt. There was the odd bit of "advanced" ringing for the more experienced ringers, but mainly the emphasis was to help those learning to conduct.

Putting theory into practice at St. Oswald, Blankney

The meeting finished just after 8:00pm and the members made their way home, some of them requiring assistance to get their motorbike started (thank you to Keith & Gill Gladman for the loan of some jump leads).

All in all I would say a very successful meeting and very fruitful. There may not have been many learners on the course, but to be honest if there had been any more of them, they would not have been able to have such an extensive go at practicing what they had learnt. I think the balence was about right. I will look forward to similar course in the future.

Well done to Richard Spencer for his obvious preparation and his effective tuition.

Jonathan Clark (webmaster)