Guild 8 Bell Striking Competition Final - 19th October 2013
St. Andrew's, Kirton Lindsey

The 2013 Guild Inter-Branch 8 bell striking competition was held at St. Andrew's, Kirton In Lindsey on Saturday 19th October. 5 teams entered this year, the only branch absent being Elloe Deaneries. The test piece was 2 courses of Plain Bob Triples, either 2 plain courses or a touch.

The day had started out looking quite miserable, but by 3:30pm the afternoon was definitely brightening up and by 4:00pm the sun had come out and it was very pleasant and warm outside. In the UMC hall across the road from the church, various members of the West Lindsey Branch were laying on a excellent cold buffet to refresh ringers and visitors alike. Meanwhile during the competition, there was open ringing taking place at Scotter and Messingham.

The competition finished shortly before 6:00pm. The Guild President (Alan Payne) brought the meeting to order with the aid of his gavel

The members enjoy tea
Ian Lloyd delivers the results

First Alan thanked Tracey (Black) and her team of ladies for providing the refreshments. He also thanked the incumbent of Kirton Lindsey for the use of the bells and also thanked whoever organised for the bells being available for open ringing at Scotter and Messingham. He then announced that the Guild Calendar was now available at a cost of £5. Anyone wishing to purchase a calendar should contact Sue Faull. Also the guild Christmas cards are available at a cost of £2 for a pack of 5. These are available from Dot Mason.

Alan then introduced the judge who was Ian Lloyd. Many people will remember Ian as a regular Lincoln ringer before he moved away several years ago. Before starting, Ian thanked his wife Anne who had helped keep track of the timings. Ian knows the bells quite well and in fact rang a peal on them 3 weeks ago. There is some odd struckness in the bells, which you need to stay on top of. Also ringing a Triples method is not as easy as people think it is. You need a good strong tenor ringer. However overall the ringing was of a very good standard, with virtually no method mistakes at all. Almost all the faults were accumulated with clips and uneven ringing. Ian then went on to the performance of the individual teams.

Band 1 practiced for 2 minutes and 57 seconds and rang a test piece of 6 minutes and 44 seconds. They accumulated 24.5 faults. Alan Payne identified Band 1 as the Northern Branch

Band 2 practiced for 2 minutes and 59 seconds, ending their practice piece very abruptly. They rang a test piece of 6 minutes and 24 seconds and accumulated 25.5 faults. Alan Payne identified Band 2 as the Southern Branch.

Band 3 practiced for 2 minutes and 53 seconds and also abruptly ended their practice piece. They rang at a very brisk pace, but rang very well with a time for their test piece of 5 minutes and 47 seconds. They accumulated 13.5 faults. Alan Payne identified Band 3 as the West Lindsey Branch.

Band 4 practiced for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. They rang a test piece of 6 minutes and 11 seconds. This was good quality ringing by all the band from start to finish, but the rules are quite clear. It's 3 minutes of practice time, not 3 minutes from going into changes, so a 10 fault penalty has been added to give an accumulation of 23.5 faults (Cue gasps of amazement and general muttering from the assembled ringers). Alan Payne identified Band 4 as the Central Branch.

Band 5 practiced for 4 minutes and 5 seconds and rang a test piece of 6 minutes and 41 seconds. They also incurred a 10 fault penalty for exceeding the practice time and accumulated 45.5 faults. Alan Payne identified Band 5 as the Eastern Branch.

So a somewhat controversial end to the 2013 Eight Bell Striking Competition. Alan Payne re-iterated the results for the members which are as follows.

The Results for The Henry Law James Shield
Position
Branch
Faults
1st
West Lindsey
13.5
2nd
Central
23.5
3rd
Northern
24.5
4th
Southern
25.5
5th
Eastern
45.5


Janet Clarke accepts the Shield
The West Lindsey Branch winning team

Janet Clarke stepped forward on behalf of the West Lindsey team to accept the Henry Law James Shield, which the Central Branch had fortunately remembered to bring with them this time!

Alan Payne thanked Ian and Anne and presented them with gifts in appreciation of their contribution. It was mentioned that Ros Knight (Elloe Treasurer) is seriously ill and in hospital so it was agreed that we will send her best wishes from the members at the meeting.

The meeting being concluded, the members began to make their way home. The previously enjoyed good weather eventually deserted Lincolnshire and was replaced with thunderstorms and torrential rain.

Webmaster
19 Oct 2013