Slow down to a saunter

There’s always somewhere to be, something to do, someone to run around after.

As we head into a Bank Holiday weekend there’s opportunity for most of us to slow down, to read a book, cook a meal, go for a stroll. Slowing down, taking time to rest requires planning in our house, to create time for taking care of yourself, or space for creativity and inspiration. We have made some plans, some other things have taken over and imposed themselves on our time but there is a bit of time left for relaxation and recuperation.

Friday will be #bellringing based with both virtual (twice) and real ringing. Saturday I should be at a Central Council meeting but an opportunity arose to spend some time with R, and that trumps everything; we’re going to the Food & Drink Festival at Hampton Court Palace. That should be so much fun. Sunday is a return to all things ringing with the real thing in the morning and meetings in the afternoon/evening, with a bit of housework in between.

Bank Holiday Monday is the only day we don’t have anything specific planned. #bellringing practice has been cancelled as people generally like to have the freedom to go out or see family. I have designated this “go slow day”, the day put aside for reading, cooking and generally only doing things I want to do rather than have to do.

One way Tonya Leigh, my current indulgence podcast, suggests to help us slow down is to consider the following:

Write down all your obligations, cooking, cleaning, work, laundry, activities, everything
Go through each item on the list and ask if it is necessary. Would the world end if it didn’t happen today?
Imagine not doing each item on the list and notice how your body responds. Do you relax? Do you feel lighter?

Sometimes, I might feel more stressed at the thought of things building up. They’ve got to be done at some point and is it better to get it done and out of the way, freeing up time afterwards, or to put it off now, enjoy the free time now knowing that you’ll have to do it later anyway. Is is a false sense of security?

What do you do to help you slow down?

Calling it Round – Bryn Reinstadler

Not content with bringing the world the virtual #bellringing platform Ringing Room which has been an absolute saviour for many when we were unable to ring real bells, one half of the developer team, Bryn, has now given us the first few chapters of a new “book” entitled Calling it Round, a guide to learning when, how and what to call touches of simple methods. Best of all it’s free and available at https://callingitround.cccbr.org.uk/

Calling and conducting is something that I don’t get to practice too often. Generally, there are only one or two people who call touches in our tower, or even for a plain course it tends to be the same person. And I have to say, men! I’m not hyper feminist, but why can’t the calling be shared out more? Why can’t some of us women do it? The research in https://www.womeninringing.info/ demonstrates the gender imbalances in #bellringing that need to be addressed. I have called touches, and even a few quarter peals of Plain Bob Doubles. I have called a touch of Grandsire Doubles once, with someone standing behind me, nudging me when to shout “Bob”. I have called Bob Courses of Grandsire Caters or Cinques but only from the treble because it’s easy to see when the treble is in thirds on the way to the front.

I can call “Go” and “Stop” for things, but don’t get the opportunity, so have built in some hesitancy about knowing when to say “That’s all”, especially for Surprise methods as I’m never sure when to say it during the dodge. I cannot conduct though. I don’t know what the coursing orders should be, I can’t see what other bells are doing, I only just have a handle on what my bell is doing.

I have tried to read other books on calling and conducting but as they are all text, I find them hard to follow and the tone and language can sometimes be hard to relate to.

I say “book” but this new variation is available on line only and not intended to be released in print, although there are some calls for that. The great thing of it being available on line is that there are interactive elements. After distilling some theory in an interesting and easy manner, your understanding is then tested by some multiple choice questions, videos to watch with questions afterwards and exercises to complete.

This new resource takes it right back to the basics of even how to say “Go”, “That’s all” and “Stand”. When the calls should be made but also how to say it, speaking clearly and how voice pitch has an impact on the effectiveness of the call.

Subsequent chapters look at simple touches, learning how to call a quarter peal, conducting by way of checking the ringing, coursing orders and lots of other resources to help with understanding compositions.

The final sections on choosing the touch whether for practice night or Sunday service ringing, placing bands, giving guidance and handbell conducting give supplemental skills that every Tower Captain, aspiring Tower Captain, or person asked to call a piece a ringing should read and take note of.

I have made it known, on several occasions, about my desire to call more touches and of different methods, but also just to say “Go” and “That’s all” for plain courses. This seems to have fallen on deaf ears over the years.

With this easy to use “book” I will work through the exercises to increase my understanding, knowledge and confidence at calling. I may never reach the dizzy heights of becoming a Conductor, but at least I’ll be able to say “Go”, “That’s all” and “Stand”. I will continue to push to be given more chances to put it into practice.

More anxious about the pub than the ringing

Monday evening saw the first #bellringing on all 12 of the Cathedral’s bells for the first time since the first lockdown in March 2020. We had thirteen ringers present, and a CO2 monitor. All the windows were open, the tower stairs door and we also opened the door that goes out on to the nave roof to make sure there was plenty of air movement.

We started off with some rounds on 12. Nothing fancy, just a chance to get the back bells up and swinging and to try to get into a steady rhythm. I rang the treble, which if you’ve ever pulled a treble to twelve bells off, can be quite a feat to ensure that the first backstroke doesn’t drop. Pleased to say that there was no dropping of backstrokes.

Feeling rather pleased with that, we moved on to a bob course of Grandsire Caters. The first changes on more than eight bells since lockdown started. It was lovely. Some good striking, some not quite so good, but no method mistakes and no real disasters. Started to get a feel for it again now.

Then some plain hunting on eleven. A few scrappy leads from the odd struck bells, but none the less, good control and an opportunity for the slightly more anxious to count to more than eight.

We rang some Little Bob Royal which when rather well at the second attempt. And rang a plain course of Stedman Triples. We dropped to eight bells to give those ringing the heavier bells a bit of a rest.

Then came what I thought was actually the best bit of ringing of the evening. Half a course of Cambridge Surprise Royal. I was surprised at how well it was struck, at how everyone coped with more bells that they’d been used to. Personally, I found that easier than the previous week’s Cambridge Surprise Major. I really enjoyed that piece of ringing.

After we’d got the bells down and locked up the Cathedral, a smaller number of us went to the local pub for refreshment. That’s the first time I had been inside a pub since lockdown began. I had been outside a pub a couple of times when they first opened, but not packed inside with the locals. Luckily on a Monday night the pub isn’t usually that busy, but there were a couple of groups of people propping up the bar that we had to manoeuvre through.

It seemed a bit weird to be sitting inside without masks on, as we were drinking (well, blackcurrant and lemonade for me). Fortunately we could sit far enough away from others and we were in a small enough group of people we’d already spent the last hour and an half with.

We will still be limiting the numbers of ringers at our practice night for a little while yet, but I think early signs are good. I guess I’ll just have to get used to going to the pub again.

It’s like riding a bike, you never forget

R has been home with us for the last few days in order to attend my brothers wedding and do her duty as one of the Ushers. It has been lovely having her home. She has been well fed and watered and entertained. She has had to “endure” the Sunday morning ritual of #bellringing though.

I taught her to ring when she was about eleven years old and she carried on until she was about fifteen when school exams started to require more attention. She managed to get to a point of ringing plain courses of Plain Bob Minor, Triples and Major and was ringing simple touches of Grandsire Doubles and Triples at one point. She could also plain hunt to pretty much anything without too much trouble, including Double Norwich Court Bob Major. As she got older her heart wasn’t really in it and I don’t feel that anyone should be pushed to continue with something if they really aren’t enjoying it. We always hoped that she might return to it later in life and she had a good grounding.

She is fully aware that every time she comes home and we go ringing, that it is what we do, and more often than not she comes along too. In recent years, her only ringing has taken place if she’s been home for Christmas, or for the annual family quarter peal. Every time, she manages to ring very well without too much bother.

Obviously there hasn’t been much opportunity to ring over the past 18 months, and for two Christmases she hasn’t been home, and we didn’t get to ring the family quarter peal in 2020, so she probably hasn’t touched a bell rope for two years.

She did say that she wasn’t sure if she could remember how to do it and what to do. We started off with some call changes. She took hold of the third bell and rang very well with good striking and style. We then rang some plain hunt triples and plain bob triples with her on the treble. Again, she rang without error.

It’s a saying that experienced ringers say to those who haven’t rung for a while that it’s like riding a bike, you don’t forget. This was clearly evident as she rang with good style, rhythm and remembered what she needed to do. She didn’t need to be told at all which bells she was over or when to lead.

She may not ring again until Christmas, or even next year some time, but I’m sure next time she’s on the end of a rope, she’ll have no trouble at all.

It’s just like riding a bike!

Have you really missed it?

Monday evening saw the, albeit tentative, return to #bellringing practice nights. We are limiting attendance at the moment and monitoring CO2 flow and still wearing masks for the time being.

We had ten in attendance but only concentrated on eight bell methods so we didn’t have to get the two back bells up. For at least one person it was their first ring, other than tolling for appropriate events, in 18 months.

We started off easy with a touch of Grandsire Triples, followed by a plain course of Plain Bob Major. Then we started to get a bit more adventurous with a course odcStedman Triples and then a course of Cambridge Surprise Major. We then rang a touch of Stedman Triples and another course of Cambridge Surprise Major.

C moved the monitor to a couple of different places to see if there was much difference in the readings. We found the worst area of the room and left it there. The highest reading was about 700. The desired maximum indoor levels are between 800-1000ppm so we were well within range having both windows and the stairs door open. There is also the option to have the Nave roof door open to increase ventilation if we need to.

It was great to ring proper changes, recall how methods work and use all the visual clues that you get from rope movement, other people and the natural rhythm of the bells that you don’t get with virtual #bellringing. I suppose I have missed some decent ringing.

Ordinarily several of us would go for a drink after ringing but we needed to get back to make a phone call. I didn’t really fancy going to the pub anyway, not sure I’m up for that yet but I’m not a massive pub frequenter. I haven’t missed going to the pub at all.

Next week we should have a few more people and plan to ring the back bells up so it will be interesting to see how we get on with that as far as physically ringing as well as trying to remember the methods. We’re still going to keep things restricted for now and keep monitoring and wearing masks.

It was good to get out of the house for a bit.

Back to where it all began 29 years ago… almost to the day

C and I were asked to help #bellrinigng for a wedding at a church that currently doesn’t have a band of ringers. It’s been a while since we’ve rung there partly because of the pandemic and partly because there is no band or regular practice to support.

It seemed like it was going to be a very posh affair. We had told the vicar how much we would expect to get paid and he added a bit extra on and said that he didn’t think it would be a problem at all. When we arrived at the church there were guests gathering in morning suits and ladies in their posh frocks, high heels and hats. Apparently, the reception was being held in a marquee in someone’s garden, so presumable a rather large garden attached to a rather large house, and therefore money not a problem. The church was over garnished. There were flower arrangements at the end of every pew, huge greenery constructions and even whole trees brought in in pots. All seemed at bit over the top, but what do I know.

We, and the other ringers, went upstairs to do our bit. We rang before and after the service. During the service, there wasn’t really anywhere to go and too many steps to bother going all the way down and back up again, so we all sat in the ringing room chatting.

We reminisced about when everyone last rang there, and when the clock mechanism was brought upstairs, and who used to ring there in days gone by.

I occurred to me that C and I got together from ringing at this church when they had a newish band and several of us from elsewhere used to go over and support their practice on a Friday evening. At first, I used to get picked up in town by another ringer and after a few weeks we all concluded that I lived nearer to C, so he agreed to drop me off home after the pub.

After a few weeks of this I invited him in for a coffee. A few weeks after that we decided to get something to eat on the way home and stopped off at a Chinese for a meal, where I saw one of my work managers at that time. Then in the July I invited him in for coffee, we chatted, we chatted and before you knew it it was 4am. We went for a walk around the block to freshen ourselves up, then at 6am after lots more chat, he left as he had to get home, finish packing, then head to Worcestershire for a ringing holiday. Before he left, we had our first smooch.

He rang me every night whilst on the ringing holiday and sent me a postcard every day. He also bought me a present from every day of the trip, so when he got home, I had a lot of silly little things as gifts.

That was 29 years ago. High Easter has a lot to answer for but thank you.

Are you Make In Out or Isle of Man?

I remember when I first learned to call touches of Plain Bob Double and started with the basics of calling myself unaffected, but then ventured into different callings for a 120 that meant other bells would be unaffected instead. It was described to me as Isle Of Man. In, Out, Make. The work of your bell when a Bob is called.

When I was ready to string a number of 120s, and a 60 together to create a quarter peal, I recall my thought processes of calling the 60 first so I didn’t forget about it, then I called myself unaffected for two 120s, then each bell as I cycled through two each of Isle Of Man, Of Man Isle and Man Isle Of, then finish off with myself unaffected again for the last two 120s.

It just sounded odd to say Isle of Man then Man Isle Of, so I started to say Make In Out, which of course when you say it without commas between each word, brings a smile to the face. So, I transitioned to Make In Out, In Out Make and Out Make In, which made two out of three sound more fun. Makin’ Out and Out Makin’!

When you start to consider calls in other places, they don’t sound nearly so much fun, Wrong and Home just don’t have the same appeal.

We rang two touches of Plain Bob Doubles recently and C conducted both of them. I don’t get asked to call things, but I am capable of at least calling Plain Bob Doubles. I have said many times that I would like to try to call some Grandsire or Bob Minor. The closest I ever got was calling Bob Courses of Grandsire Caters or Cinques, from the Treble.

I wouldn’t call myself a conductor by any stretch of the imagination. I would not be able to put anyone else right, and I don’t know what the new coursing order would be when a call is made. I can put some Bobs in though. It would be nice to be able to do it more often and get some practice in.

I have just taken delivery of The Little Purple Book from The Ringing World and it goes into greater explanation of calling Bobs and Singles and I dare say if I sat down and read it thoroughly, I could have a go. I hope that when we get back to practice night ringing that I might be able to try it out a bit more often, or even on a Sunday morning when we only ring six or eight bells anyway.

I could still call a quarter peal of Plain Bob Doubles if asked: Bob, Plain, Bob, Plain, Bob, Plain. Unaffected. Unaffected. Makin Out, Makin Out, In Out Make, In Out Make, Out Makin, Out Makin, Unaffected. Unaffected.

That’s all. Stand!

When your brain refuses to engage

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I run a friends and family virtual #bellringing session on a Thursday evening. We have methods of the month, so we have four or five weeks to really get to grips with them. This has been successful to varying degrees. At the beginning of each month when we start new methods everyone is a bit tentative but its good to see that by the end of the month everyone is much more confident, and we can get plain courses round and even sometimes venture into touches.

For July I decided to try splicing two of the methods that we had previously rung rather than try to learn another new method. This was to help consolidate our learning of the previous methods and introduce some people to the concept of splicing methods together and getting to know the lead end order.

I, for one cannot recite lead end order of methods, not even the ones I know very well. Therefore, I do struggle a little when we splice some together, although I find it easier on tower bells than on virtual bells. I totally understand the theory of the place bell that you are at backstroke when the method is changed, but for some reason really struggle to see it on Ringing Room in either 5ths or 6^th place. I can see it better in 2,d 3rds and 4ths. This inevitable means that I go the wrong way, and there’s a bit of a hiatus and/or clash as the bell doing to opposite work is trying to do what they should be doing.

As with all of these new methods we are trying, I’m sure towards the end of the month it will be much improved. What was noticeable last week was that on the Thursday evening I really struggled, yet on the Friday morning at a different practice but ringing the same things, I got it so much better. Maybe it’s the difference between a practice in the evening after a day at work when my brain isn’t in gear, to first thing on a Friday morning, when its all fresh and keen. I don’t know.

It was lovely to see our “sometimes” visitor Will this week who we haven’t seen for a couple of months. He has an open invitation to come along when he can, so we never know if he’s going to show up or not, and he takes pot luck on what methods we are ringing, but it expert enough that it doesn’t matter to him. Apart from C and myself, he’s never met any of the others in our Thursday night group in person, but it’s lovely that everyone is welcoming and friendly, and he joins in with the post ringing chat. We’ve had some cracking conversations.

As with real ringing, there’s an element of apres ringing, in a virtual pub instead of the real thing, but C and I do take the opportunity to crack open a bottle of beer. It’s almost like the real thing.

Like so much else we are waiting for the chance to get back to real ringing, practice nights, quarters and peals… and the pub!

An unusual networking opportunity

C and I, as cathedral bellringers, were invited to a lunchtime event hosted by the Dean for local business and cathedral groups. It was the first event of its kind and entitled “How are we”? The idea was for people to meet, have a short guided tour of the cathedral from the Dean then just chat over a spot of lunch. No sales pitch, no begging, no religious conversion therapy, just chat about how things are going as we crawl out of this pandemic.

C and I were slightly bemused to have been invited, but I later found out that several of the cathedral groups were also invited as part of the cathedral community. It seemed we were the only ones to pitch up though.

There were about 30 people from the local council, businesses, retail and corporate. The tour started outside the south porch with the Dean explaining a little bit of the history of the building and pointing out where ancient met modern. Inside we went to St Peter’s Chapel, where the Dean mentioned the space that gives opportunity for quiet reflection or intimate conversation. He did mention, as it’s the chapel where all the war memorials are, that the bellringers (and thus pointed us out) were working with the cathedral to update the bellringers memorial.

He then moved us across to St Cedd’s Chapel and explained a bit about Cedd and how he brought Christianity to the heathens and the Chapel at Bradwell. Moving into the centre of the nave, the Dean pointed out some more architecture and art (apparently our cathedral is known as one of the most modern art cultured cathedrals). He extolled the virtues of the vast open space and possibilities of different use. As we moved up to the Alter he spoke of the Bishop’s seat, the only reason we are a cathedral. I thought of Air Force One at that moment and how the US President’s plane is only called Air Force One when the President is on board and if they move to a different plane, that one changes its moniker. If the Bishop’s seat was somewhere else, so would the cathedral be.

It was really interesting to hear some stories about how different parts of the building had evolved over time. I had taken a few photos of the group listening to the Dean as we wandered around.

A sandwich lunch had been provided with tea and coffee and it wasn’t long before I assumed my usual position in pouring cups of hot beverage, wiping surfaces down, offering sandwiches around and refilling cups. The person who has organised the event was trying to do everything herself so it seemed the obvious thing to do to help. I knew where things were in the kitchen and not afraid to make myself useful, even though technically I was a guest. The relief on her face was palpable. She was trying to network with people, make sure the Dean stayed out of trouble and sort the refreshments out. C busied himself chatting with the cathedral architect and someone else and seemed happy enough.

As the event started to draw to a close, I started to gather up empty cups and abandoned plates and take them to the kitchen where one of the vergers started to load the dishwasher. The Dean said his thank yous to everyone for coming and there seemed to be genuine appreciation of the event and desire to do something similar again. The lady who’d organsied it was worried that it wasn’t going to be successful but given that nobody seemed to be in a terrible hurry to leave and were happy to continue networking and looking around, I told her that I thought it had been very successful.

Oddly, it was probably something that I would never have bothered to go to previously. It just so happened that I had the day off work and C and I both thought it wouldn’t hurt to do a bit of networking. I suggested that if they wanted to do something similar again, we could offer tours of the bell chamber, do a bit of demonstration ringing and get people to have a go. Worth a try!

When things don’t take as long as you think they should

I have taken a couple of days off work to put together the flower, non-edible parts of a wedding cake that I’m commissioned with. I’ve got another couple of days booked of to actually make and decorate the cake nearer the time.

I was eager to get on with it but needed the wire cutters which C told me required cleaning. He still hadn’t finished in the shower before I made a start on covering the dummy cakes, and sorting through the silk flowers to arrange them. I wanted to get on with it and be sure that I had enough flowers and that they would attach and fit properly. I needed those wire cutters. Come on. Get on with it.

The other problem was that the smaller of the cake dummies hadn’t been delivered yet so that might have meant starting, stopping and starting again.

It seemed to take an age for C to get ready, then find the wire cutters and start to clean them. Come on. I wanted to get on with it.

As it happened, it all went smoothly. The icing went on the larger dummy, to make sure that if there were any visible gaps, they’d be the same colour as the rest of the cake. There were more than enough flowers so I made a couple of posies that could sit on the cake table at the venue. It was easy to slot them all together and into the dummy.

It wasn’t long after I’d finished the first one, when the smaller dummy arrived courtesy of Hermes. That meant I could crack straight on with it, and now knowing what I knew from the first one, it was quicker and easier to assemble the second.

From start to finish it actually only took an hour. And I had two days booked off for this. But it wasn’t the only thing that didn’t take as long as I thought it would today.

It is NHS, Social Care and Frontline Workers Day, a day to celebrate the 73^rd birthday of the NHS and give thanks to all those who have done so much to help us during this pandemic, and to remember those who lost their lives because of it. As part of that event, we were asked to ring bells at 8pm.

C was on a zoom call, so I went down to chime a bell for five minutes by myself. (We have guidelines about lone working, and I’d signed in and out, messaged C when I arrived and again when I left). In order to make sure that I arrived in plenty of time, get parked, get into the cathedral and set up ready to chime, I left home at 7.40pm and drove there. I signed in at 7.44pm! Now I’d have to wait around for quarter of an hour.

I was just contemplating whether or not to chime before the clock struck 8pm, as its been running three minutes late recently, or wait until it struck, three minutes late, then start chiming. As I was decided what to do, I heard the mechanism run and the clock actually struck at 8pm on the dot. Someone had obviously set it right again. I chimed my bell for five minutes, before signing out, locking the door behind me, and messaging C to tell him I was on my way home.

It didn’t take me as long to get there as I thought it might. Five minutes chiming didn’t take long, roughly five minutes, I’d say, then it didn’t take long to get out of the building and back home. C was still on his call when I got back.

I now have a day to myself tomorrow without the worry of trying to put cake elements together. I’ve done my #bellringing bit for the NHS. What to do next?