Central Branch Meeting at Swinderby/Eagle, 8th August 2015
Our Transport of Delight
All Saints, Swinderby

It was a lovely day on Saturday and a perfect afternoon for a ride out on a classic motorcycle. After having picked up a friend, we made our way out towards Swinderby, the first tower of the Central Branch meeting. We arrived (barely) at about 5:00pm having had to contend with problems with both the front and rear brakes. Upon pulling up outside the church, the bike promptly attempted to empty the contents of the oil tank onto the ground. Ah! The joys of classic motorcycles.

Ringing at Swinderby

We rang on the 5 for a while, ringing some Bob Doubles, Grandsire, St. Simons, Reverse Canterbury and some Stedman, plus some other five bell methods (Erin?) We also looked round the church which has some interesting architectural features. There are quite a few changes to the church that have been put forward to make it more usable, including the addition of toilet facilities and a proper vestry. The lack of toilet facilities was felt by a number of our members.

Tea and Cakes in Eagle Church
All Saints, Eagle

By 6:30pm I had managed to fettle the bike into some semblance of working order and we made our way over to Eagle. Here we were greeted by Derek and Margaret Phillips who were in the process of laying out quite an impressive spread of assorted cakes and biscuits and the inevitable tea and coffee. Eagle is blessed with toilet facilities much to the relief of the members. We rang on the 6 including Plain Bob, Single Oxford and Cambridge Surprise Minor.

A rare picture of Colin about to ring some Kent TB
Members take hold for the final ring of the day

We also rang some Kent Treble Bob Minor at the highly unlikely request of Colin Ward, a gentleman known in these parts for his aversion to that particular method. We can only presume that he is mellowing as he gets older! In between ringing there was oppurtunity to sit at tables in the church to eat and drink and generally socialise. The raffle and 100 club were drawn and after having rung the bells down at 8:00pm we thanked our hosts and departed for home, thankfully with no motorcycling related problems.

Jonathan Clark (webmaster)