The Cinque Ports
Ringing Centre
at Dover
Centre manager: Peter Dale
Course secretary: Barbara
Dale
email barbaradale@fastmail.fm
telephone
01304 823217
Click
here for a map of how to get to the church.
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The Cinque Ports |
Centre manager: Peter Dale |
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The Cinque Ports Ringing Centre was established at
St Mary's Church in Dover town centre in 2003. Since January 2004 learners'
practices have taken place here every Saturday morning from 10am to midday and
are still well attended. The sound doors are closed and the bells heavily
muffled for these practices which are "rung" on the simulator. The tenor weighs 15½ cwt, but much of the training is on the front six, with a 9¼ cwt tenor. An anteroom to the ringing gallery is available for teaching ringing theory, handbell ringing and rope splicing. Our aim is to make the Centre as widely available as possible and we are happy to arrange teaching sessions for visiting groups by appointment. |
We are required to submit an annual report to the chairman of the Ringing Centres Committee and I usually mail it off directly once our management committee has adopted it. Very few others see it, which is a pity because parts of it are of local interest
Here are some of the facts and figures that I have extracted from our report for 2011. The Saturday morning practices are fairly well established by now and we ran 50 of them during the year, missing only the two weeks of Christmas and New Year. A total of 42 students attended, with support from 28 helpers and guidance from 12 tutors. The average weekly attendance was between 13 and 14 and the total number of attendances was 678, compared with 656 in the previous year.
Twenty-six towers were represented, four more than last year. Six towers that attended in 2010 didn't participate in 2011, but seven towers were new to the Centre and three others came back after a year's absence. Training levels ranged from bellhandling to Stedman Triples; commonly used teaching "methods" were Mexican Wave, Flying Dutchman, Cloister and Bastow.
What appeared at first to be a promising initiative at East Langdon eventually failed after several weeks, mainly due to illness but also to lack of local commitment. On the other hand learners from Deal did have the enthusiasm to come to the Centre each week and there is now a thriving new band at Deal.
The course "Insight into Ropesight" in October 2010 had been oversubscribed and was rerun this year for Bekesbourne and Ash-by-Wrotham. Jean Easley, one of the Centre's tutors, attended an ITTS course in Thanet and is close to becoming eligible for associate membership of the newly formed Association of Ringing Teachers.
May 2011 — ITTS Module 1 course at St Laurence-in-Thanet
We produced a promotional flyer, initially for Heritage Open Days, but copies are now available for recruitment, and for church visitors. The Centre will participate once again in Heritage Open Days this year.
Weekly learner practices will continue and afternoon practices on particular topics are available on demand. It is intended to attempt quarters on a regular basis. There is now demand for more ITTS courses and another will be held at the Centre on 27 August with two more programmed for September, to be run at Staplehurst.
This is a great milestone for the Centre, being involved for the first time in partnership with the Association in training initiatives. We hope that this relationship will develop and that more CC recognised training centres will be established in the county.
Peter Dale
Saturday 30 October 2010 was undoubtedly the busiest day that the Centre has seen since we began operating seven years ago. There were 18 ringers at the usual morning practice, four having come from as far afield as Ash-by-Wrotham.
Several bellhandling problems had to be addressed in the first hour, and those not involved in this made good use of the extra time for some bell control practice. To ensure everyone had enough rope time in the second session, we rang Doubles with three covers, and of course the ever-popular Mexican Wave involved everybody.
After what was one our highest morning attendances ever, the afternoon was even busier. Sixteen ringers had applied for the ropesight course, which was far more than our small team could manage, even with 15 extra helpers. Fortunately two towers agreed to us running the course for their applicants on a different date which then left only eight students, from five towers in the Ashford and Canterbury Districts.
This was the first time we have operated two groups in parallel, one at Dover and the other at Saltwood. Lyminge, our usual partner tower, had problems with their simulator sensors, but Saltwood has no neighbours in the immediate vicinity. Feedback from the learners has been very positive, thanks to a good team of tutors at each tower. Everyone's efforts, especially those of Barbara and Lynn for providing tea when most needed, were much appreciated.
A rerun of the course for Bekesbourne (Canterbury District) and Ash-by-Wrotham (Lewisham District) will be arranged shortly.
Learners' practices take place every Saturday morning from 10am to midday, with very few exceptions. Sessions are informal, allowing beginners much more time to gain confidence in handling a bell than is normally available on their weekly practice night.
We offer help in identifying and correcting faults, alongside exercises to improve bell control. If necessary we assist with raising and lowering a bell. Beginners may stand in for rounds on six or eight bells as appropriate for them. Steadier learners take part in activities designed to refine bell control and develop listening skills. The front six of the octave can be simulated as a natural six.
After the coffee break at 11am we try to concentrate more upon change ringing, but the time allocated to this and the level of difficulty vary from week according to the needs of those present. It isn't necessary to book but it is advisable to ask us in advance if a particular method or touch is wanted, to ensure there will be a chance to ring it.
We ask for donations of £1 per hour (50p for juniors) to cover the cost to the Centre for using St Mary's bells. For further information contact Barbara Dale (details at top of page) or simply turn up at 10 o'clock on any Saturday morning.
During 2011 we aim to be more proactive in enlisting help with Saturday mornings; it would be good if we could raise our game in method ringing. We already have promises of help for the first three practices in January; please contact me if you can offer us a Saturday morning in February or March.
Support for our courses has varied over the years; some were over-subscribed while others attracted too little interest to be viable. "Insight into Ropesight" on 30 October 2010 was our last course for the time being.
Instead of arranging courses on specific dates in 2011 we are offering "special practices" on demand to suit the client groups. Topics could include any of the following:
Already in the pipeline are two ropesight courses for Ash-by-Wrotham and Bekesbourne respectively. Please recommend us to any potential clients in your area who may benefit from our help.
Courses we have offered in the past include:
"Putting in the bobs" — for novice conductors
"Ringing and calling call changes"
"Rope splicing"
"Insight into ropesight"
"Plain and Little Bob Major"
"Kaleidoscope ringing"
and of course "First Steps" courses: in Stedman, Treble Bob or Surprise
We shall welcome requests for special practices in these subjects, or indeed any other not on the list. Groups of three would be ideal, or more depending upon the chosen topic. Practices would normally be from 1.30 to 4.30pm, on a mutually convenient Saturday afternoon.
5 July 2003 — "Gaining Ropesight"
29 November 2003 — "First Steps in Treble Bob"
29 May 2004 — "First Steps in Stedman"
27 November 2004 — "First Steps in Surprise" [held at Lyminge]28 January 2006 — "Rope Splicing" (9 towers represented)
28 April 2007 "Ringing and Calling Call Changes" [held at Lyminge]
28 July 2007 — "Gaining Ropesight"
May to November 2007 — project to train ringers for the augmented five at Eastry
6 October 2007 "First steps in Treble Bob" — six students from four Districts
10 November — special training day for the band from St Margaret's, Rochester
23 February 2008 "Kaleidoscope Day" — 21 ringers took part
30 August 2008 "Putting in the Bobs"
30 January 2010 "Calling call changes" — Faversham, Great Mongeham, Cheriton, Dover and Eastry were the towers represented
30 October 2010 "Insight into ropesight" — see item above.11 February 2006 — Canterbury District Ringing School
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