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The Cinque Ports |
Centre manager: Peter Dale Click here for recent events at the Centre (last updated 29 March 2008) |
About the Centre
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The Cinque Ports Ringing Centre is based at St Mary's Church in
Dover town centre. It was established at the end of 2002, when the octave was
rehung in a new frame and a new ringing gallery constructed. The anteroom that
leads directly on to the gallery is primarily a choir vestry, but the centre
can use it for theory classes and practical work with handbells. |
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An early picture of St Mary's, probably taken before even Peter was born (note the tram rails) |
Beginners' practices every Saturday are the most important of the Centre's efforts, and these will continue.
Unfortunately the event scheduled for 22 November, "First steps in Treble Bob", had to be cancelled due to lack of support, but other events will be announced in due course.
Beginners' practices were held on every Saturday morning in 2007, with the exception of 21 July, the Dover band's outing, and the last two weekends of the year. There were two departures from the norm: members of the public were invited to an Open Tower Morning on 3 November, and the following week's practice welcomed the band from St Margaret's, Rochester, who stayed for extra ringing in the afternoon.
The Centre ran three additional courses during the year. Two were all-day events at Lyminge: "Calling Call Changes" on 28 April, and "Gaining Ropesight" on 28 July. Both were over-subscribed, with applicants coming from across the County. The third was a more informal "Treble Bob Day" held at Dover on 6 October, when the normal morning practice was devoted to preparatory work for the afternoon's Treble Bob.
When work began in April on the heavy five at Eastry, the Centre invited Jenny Merrington and Mick Johnson to continue their training of new recruits at Dover. Assisted by Centre members, practices were held every Monday evening from May through to October, by which time the new Eastry band was ready to hold their own practices at Deal, pending the return of their bells at the end of the year. (PS: The octave are now back in the tower and are now ringing again.)
Ringers from Kent have made two visits to Flanders to meet Alfred Lesecq, the carillonneur of Hondschoote, near Dunkerque. The first was in 2005 and this year's trip was reported on p980 of the 13 October 2006 issue of The Ringing World. M Lesecq had heard much about full-circle ringing but had never actually seen it taking place, so a return trip was organised for him and wife Annie at the beginning of October.
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Alfred teaches carillonneurs using a simulator just as we train ringers at the Centre. He met some of the young ringers who gave him a demonstration of the Bagley equipment installed at Dover. Meridian TV news also covered this part of the visit, and Alfred and a number of the children were interviewed. The photo on the left shows Alfred Lesecq and Peter Dale with the young ringers of the Cinque Ports Ringing Centre: Hannah Wright, Lauren Macmillan, Shaun Ellis, Siân and Sarah Howe. Attentive observers will note that M Lesecq is wearing a KCACR tie. This was presented to him when he entertained Kent ringers at Hondschoote in September. |
These practices have been held for the past four years every Saturday morning, with very few exceptions. During that time they have helped many ringers, including one or two from as far away as the Lewisham District.
It isn't necessary to book but it would help us to know in advance if we need to arrange extra help, for touches of Grandsire or Plain Bob Doubles for example.
1. The equipment we use is:
- the front 6 bells fitted with silencers, largest 9¼ cwt
- a simulator that generates bell sounds of a natural six, synchronised with the actual bells
- a CCTV camera in the bellchamber and a monitor in the ringing room
- a camcorder.
2. Sessions are quite informal and offer a learner:
- time to gain confidence in handling a bell, much more so than is normally available to them on a weekly practice night
- help in identifying and correcting handling faults
- exercises to improve bell control
- assistance in raising and lowering a bell
- a chance to practise exceptional ringing, such as firing
- extra practice in rounds, call changes, and elementary method ringing
3. On a typical Saturday morning:
- the first half-hour is devoted to bellhandling and control techniques, either individually or working in pairs; the simulator is normally off
- the simulator is then switched on for rounds, whole-pull-and-stand, setting at backstroke, firing, and so on
- there's a ten-minute coffee break at about 11 o'clock
- the final session is for rounds and call changes, kaleidoscope exercises, and method ringing on 5 or 6 bells, according to demand
Donations of, say, £1 per hour per adult or 50p per junior are requested to cover the cost to St Mary's for the Centre's use of the bells.
For further information contact Barbara Dale (details at top of page) or simply turn up at 10 o'clock on any Saturday morning.
It was announced at the CC meeting in Harrogate (on 28 May 2005) that the Founders Prize of £500 for the ringing centre which made the greatest contribution to the teaching of ringing in 2004 had been judged to be the Cinques Ports Ringing Centre at Dover. They won because of the amount and variety of work they had done, which included courses ranging from basic skills to advanced method ringing, teaching teachers, PR work, trying out new teaching methods and working well with the KCACR.
The other ringing centres in contention for the prize were Aston Clinton, Barrow-upon-Humber, The Gordon Halls Ringing Centre and Shiplake. The judges were impressed by the large number of courses on offer. As well as congratulating the winners, they particularly wish to comment on the excellent entry from Shiplake, where very good work had been done with young people.
Congratulations to Peter and all at the CPRC.
Peter Dale sends us his side of the story.
In order to retain the status of being "recognised by the Central Council" a ringing centre is required to submit an annual report of its activities. 2004 was quite an active year for Dover and we hadn't realised just how active it was until the time came to compile the report. On the report form is a tick-box to apply for the Worshipful Company of Founders' annual prize, awarded to the centre that is deemed to have made the greatest contribution to ringing during the year.
To our amazement our speculative little tick in the box brought fame, recognition, and most importantly — money! Representatives from the Worshipful Company will be coming to see the centre later this year for a formal presentation of the cheque. In the meantime we shall be planning some form of ceremony, and deciding how best to use the £500 to further good practice in teaching ringing.
What did we do to impress the judges so much? Here are some extracts from our report that may give some idea of our activities.
Achievements during 2004 including type and frequency of courses:
- Weekly "clinics" in basic skills started in January 2004 and continued throughout the year. Only five Saturday mornings were missed for church festivals and other events. The band at St Peter-in-Thanet has now moved on to standard methods after coming regularly to the early clinics.
- We ran three pre-booked courses, in Kaleidoscope Ringing, Stedman, and Surprise respectively. The latter was held at Lyminge, the first use of a tower away from our base at Dover. A trial run of a "teaching the teachers" project has helped to establish a new band at Walmer.
- Comparatively new ideas such as kaleidoscope and other novel teaching strategies, using Bastow and Cloisters for example, are filtering through to other towers.
- In collaboration with The Kent County Association, the Centre ran a public relations exercise during the weekend of the annual Dover Regatta. Of the estimated 20,000 people at the Regatta, over 500 visited the mobile belfry.
How did we measure our success?
- 45 students representing 16 towers from four of the six Districts in the County have attended Saturday morning sessions. The 20 tutors and helpers came from 9 different towers, although it is difficult to draw a distinction as students from earlier sessions may return as helpers.
- Favourable feedback from client towers gives an informal assessment of the extent to which fresh ideas are being adopted. The Centre continues to monitor the situation at Walmer and provides assistance there when required.
The Saturday morning beginners' "clinics" have run for 18 months now and are now wearing rather thin; some new initiatives are needed urgently to regain their earlier popularity. Someone did whisper "Stedman" and "Cloisters", but don't be put off by that. We don't want to frighten away beginners, who are our prime clients, so we'll explore those possibilities very gently. Please make more use of the practice opportunities at Dover each Saturday morning. Come to learn or to help, but do come — use it, or lose it!
At 10 am on Saturday 1 October 2005 the training session began at the Centre as usual, but there was an air of excited anticipation. The Centre was to receive the Worshipful Company of Founders' prize for 2004, and the Master, Richard Martin, had expressed a wish to visit the Centre and to present the prize in person. He and his wife Pauline joined us for coffee, just as a stay was broken!
This little mishap did give them both the opportunity to climb up to inspect the bells, and to observe how efficiently steeplekeepers Bob and Bert fitted a replacement. After coffee, we were pleased to welcome Roger Booth, for the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers and Director of the Docklands Ringing Centre, and Eric Roughley, KCACR Chairman. They were able to join in the ringing and share with us their experience.
Ringers from St Peter-in-Thanet and St Mary's, Walmer, who attended the Centre regularly during 2004, were invited back especially for the occasion. They joined other ringers who had all learnt during the past three years for rounds and call changes before the presentation service at 12.30, in the presence of Cllr Kenneth Tranter, Dover Town Mayor. Surprisingly some of the band reported afterwards that they had felt particularly nervous ringing in front of the experienced ringers!
The Revd David Ridley conducted the service and Roger Booth gave a short address on behalf of the Central Council's Ringing Centres Committee. Richard Martin then spoke about the history of the London Livery Companies, before presenting Peter Dale with a commemorative plaque and a cheque for £500. Ringing continued after the service with two courses of Stedman, and the day concluded with a convivial buffet lunch. Special thanks go to Barbara Dale for organising and co-ordinating the day's events.
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Peter Dale (right) receives the commemorative plaque |
Peter Dale
Forming a new band from scratch is a long process of commitment from everyone, teachers and learners alike. The Ringing Centre is pleased to have assisted with two such projects recently, and we hope to see some of these beginners coming back to our Saturday morning learners' practices.
Twenty-one ringers took part in a day of kaleidoscope ringing at Dover on 23 February 2008. The normal Saturday morning programme of various exercises and basic methods was replaced by an introduction to kaleidoscope techniques. The afternoon session showed how to take these basic techniques further, to produce more complex kaleidoscope routines.
Although familiar to our regulars, kaleidoscope work was a new approach for many of those attending. Some seven towers from across four Districts were represented and the word is about that at least two more towers have now joined the several others who experiment with kaleidoscope ringing.
On Saturday, 10 November, the band from St Margaret's, Rochester, spent most the day at the Ringing Centre, practising basic skills of bell handling and improving their rounds and call changes. The Centre's camcorder was in use for much of the time, and at the end of the day Phil Stott was presented with a mini-DVD containing a video record of the day's activities.
The evening of Monday 12 November 2007 saw the completion of a six-month project during which the Eastry ringers came to the Centre every Monday evening, after their bells were removed at the end of April.
Jenny Merrington, member of the previous Eastry band, and Mick Johnson, former tower captain at St Leonard's, Deal, took on the task of teaching a new band in readiness for the restoration and augmentation of the heavy (18 cwt) ring of five. The bells were by no means ideal for beginners, and it is difficult when so many people want to learn together, but Jenny and Mick worked hard to sustain interest and everyone made an encouraging start.
After the removal of the bells, the new recruits accepted an invitation from the Ringing Centre to hold weekly practices there. This kept their enthusiasm going, and the extra help at the Centre meant that progress was more rapid. After six months of training in the basic skills the band reached the stage when they could visit other towers, just when Jenny moved to Cumbria!
That was considered to be a tad too far for a visit, but the availability of St Leonard's bells gave them the chance to take the first step in self-sufficiency. A trial practice at Deal under Mick's leadership on 5 November was such a good experience that it was agreed the following week's practice should be their last at Dover. A parting gift from the Centre was a mini-DVD with clips of the earlier training. This came with the news that the Eastry bell project was approaching completion, so the expectation is that there will only a few practices at Deal before they can be back in their home tower once more.
This event on Saturday 6 October 2007 was attended by students from six different towers representing four of the six Districts. The team of instructors came mainly from the Ashford and Canterbury Districts, with some welcome additional support from the County Training Officer, Jim Hardy from Beckenham.
Several of the course members came early to help with the regular learners' practice. "Kaleidoscope" work provides the basis of several of our exercises on a Saturday morning and this made for a smooth transition into the business of the day, namely an introduction to Treble Bob.
Pairs of bells performing "dodge-place-dodge" was swiftly followed by Bastow, firstly Minimus and then Minor. This led neatly into Little Bob Minor, as a preparation for trebling to a plain course of Kent. There was just enough time at the end of the day for each of the learners to treble to three leads of Cambridge, Oxford or Norwich. Apart from providing some extra interest for the tutors, the variety in this final session proved the point made earlier in the day about the ubiquitous nature of the treble's work.
It was a combination of several factors that made the day so successful and enjoyable. The students were well prepared, the tutors enthusiastic and helpful, and the sunshine was perfect for a lunch break on the seafront. Dover may be a long way away for some, but it did seem that they felt the journey was well worth it. Thank you to everyone for making it such a rewarding occasion.
One call-change "improver", six aspiring conductors, and eight tutors attended the all-day course at Lyminge on 28 April 2007. Thanks to Adrian Hackford's efforts, the bells were already silenced and connected to the simulator when we arrived. The Bagley simulator there is identical to the one at the Dover Centre.
Two basic six-bell routines had been given in advance of the course as "prep". This paid off as all the conductors had done their homework and had little difficulty in calling from rounds to queens or tittums and back again. Just before lunch a demonstration routine, one of the pieces of "extended prep", was rung on the octave.
Lunch at The New Inn at Etchinghill was a good social affair, but with some technical chit-chat between students and tutors. The afternoon session involved the extension of the morning's work to eight bells; after this the six-bell routines seemed much easier! All agreed it had been very worthwhile and our thanks are due to our hosts at Lyminge for their arrangements.
The normal Saturday beginners' practice at Dover had also been running during the morning, and at the end a small drama unfolded. Ringers may experience a lockout from time to time, but rarely a "lockin". In spite of all the usual checks, someone somehow was left behind. Oh dear, what can the matter be with these ancient church locks and bolts!
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The Ringing Centre had a portable dumbbell on loan during the period May — June 2006. Fitted with a sensor and computer interface, it came with a purpose-built supporting frame and had a very realistic ringing action. For some reason it's known as the Womble (or Wombel even). The reason for borrowing it was to teach bellhandling to primary school children, as it is far safer than a real bell. However, it also has value in Public Relations, and during its stay in Kent the Womble made nine appearances at venues in four of the six Districts. These were Benenden (Ashford) for the AGM, Cliffe (Rochester) for the ceremonial return of their bells, Chelsfield (Lewisham), with an assortment of six promotional and educational sites in the Canterbury District. The Womble first attracted much attention at the Ringing Roadshow in 2005, where it was in use throughout the day. We are now advised that the ringers' friend should really be known as the Wombel to avoid any issues from using the copyrighted "Womble". However, as he was referred to as Womble during his sojourn in Kent, we'll leave references to him as they were. |
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For those of you too young to have been around, and those of you too old to remember, the picture on the left is of what was probably the chief Womble, Great Uncle Bulgaria. Funny, really, the chap in the photo above doesn't even wear glasses. - Ed |
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Nine students attended the rope-splicing course at the Ringing
Centre on 28 January 2006. Chris and Sue Bassett from Staplehurst were the
instructors and under their expert guidance everyone managed to complete a
short and a long splice. Thank you Chris and Sue for making it such a
worthwhile and enjoyable afternoon. |
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