Ringing World National Youth Contest - 11th July 2015

The Ringing World National Youth Contest took place at St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford on 11 July 2015. This was the fifth year of what has become a very popular annual event. A record nineteen teams took part including two from Lincolnshire. All team members have to be under the age of 19 on the competition day.

The Church of St. Thomas the Martyr

Each team was asked to ring a test piece of 160 rows of their choice of call changes, triples or major. The Lincolnshire Poachers were drawn to ring eleventh and the Lincolnshire Gamekeepers were drawn to ring seventeenth, both teams ringing call changes. The teams included members from all parts of the Guild with ages ranging from 10 to 19 and for some it was a new experience whilst the more experienced members included some who had rung in the first event in 2011. Both teams rang well and were proudly supported by parents and friends from Lincolnshire.

The Lincolnshire Gamekeepers

          1 - Alison Stokoe (C) (Market Deeping)
          2 - Charlotte Beaver (Billingborough)
          3 - Archie Stanley (Barrowby)
          4 - Bethan Stanley (Barrowby)
          5 - William Gray (Market Deeping)
          6 - Sophie Hatchet (Market Deeping)
          7 - Adam Muspratt (Market Deeping)
          8 - Thomas Walters (Market Deeping)
The Lincolnshire Poachers

          1 - Bridget Jones-Crabtree (Washingborugh)
          2 - Ellie Sargeant (Messingham)
          3 - Melissa Lannigan (Stow)
          4 - Nathan Williams (Belton/Epworth)
          5 - Hannah Watts (Welton)
          6 - James Taylor (Willingham)
          7 - William Cherry (C) (Grantham)
          8 - Josh Myhill (Epworth)

Before and after ringing the test piece the teams were able to ring at six other towers in Oxford including some colleges. There was also a hand bell concert, treasure hunt and refreshments and games on Christchurch school field. The exciting day was helped with hot sunshine, thousands of visitors crowding the streets and many college graduation ceremonies.

David Pipe was chief judge assisted by three "up and coming" young ringers, Rosemary Hill, Laura Davies and Tim Holmes. The marking system remained as last year with a maximum of three faults per row and the results normalised and graded similar to the GCSE examinations. Both Lincolnshire teams received some favourable comments. The Poachers showed their greater experience and were awarded a �B� grade. The Gamekeepers had a number of less experienced ringers including a last minute change owing to illness and were awarded a �C-�grade. The winners of the call change section and overall winners with an 'A*' grade were the Bedfordshire Ringers. In the method section the winners were The Gloucester and Bristol with an 'A' grade. All ringers taking part were presented with a medal.

Congratulations to both teams for the tremendous effort made and the Guild is proud of their achievement. A lot of support is needed to arrange the participation in these events and we are grateful to parents and friends who helped with transport and practices in the preceding weeks and with arrangements on the day. In particular we are most grateful to Sue Faull and Ian Till for arranging and coaching The Poachers and Jonathan Clegg and Roger Stokoe for arranging and coaching the Gamekeepers. The contest for next year has been scheduled for 2nd July in London when we hope again that teams from Lincolnshire will be able to participate.

Alan Payne