We welcomed all 16 teams, their supporters and many of the ringing community to the historic city of York for the third annual Ringing World National Youth Contest.
As well as the Contest itself, which took place on the excellent light ring of eight at St Lawrence’s, we arranged a full programme for the day including ringing at four of the towers in the city centre (the 6 at St Olave’s, the 8s at St Martin’s and All Saints’ and the 10 at St Wilfrid’s), a mini-ring of 8, handbell workshops and a Treasure Hunt.
A competition was run to write a report of the day and the winning report as published in The Ringing World. The winning report was written by George Vant of Essex Young Eagles and he wins a Kindle and a years subscription to The Ringing World for his report. Runners-up were Caroline Pawley (Bedfordshire), Ellie Sergeant (Lincolnshire Poachers) and Marcus Ham (Bath & Wells) who all win a years online subscription to The Ringing World
Report
In the morning at approximately 9am, all the teams including us (Essex Young Eagles) went to St Helen’s, Stonegate. This church is very historical as a place of worship has stood on this site for over a thousand years. Inside we checked in at the information desk and received our wrist bands which most people thought were cool! We also got given booklets with all the events and times when the teams were up for their piece (we were 4th). During this, further into the church was a Mini Ring, The eight bells were originally installed in The Black Bull Inn at Frosterley, Durham but they were replaced with a new ring of 12 in 2011. They were the ring of bells used for the first ever peal rung by rope and wheel in a public house on 14th December 2005. Not many of the Essex Eagles were keen to ring on it but I really wanted to have a go. Then we set off for St Lawrence’s Church and walked through the main part of town; I noticed lots of towers along the way which happened to have a ring of 3 bells but unfortunately were unringable. During the walk we passed through one of the main gates into the city, which was surrounded by the ancient stone walls surrounding the city. It was a amazing sight to see!
When we arrived in the churchyard we noticed that there was a small bell tower standing on its own! I read the notice stuck on the tower saying this was the last remaining part of the previous medieval church. Unfortunately it did not have any bells! The main tower holding the light peal of 8 was very tall and magnificent. The sound of the bells gave the impression that they were much bigger than they were. Before our turn to ring we had our team photos taken. After that we went up the narrow staircase into the ringing chamber. It was rather warm up there but had enough space to fit us and still have some breathing space. We also noticed a small bell in the the chamber which dated back to 1400. We started off with some rounds and a few call changes so people could get used to the bells. I rang on bell 6 which, after a few rounds, I noticed was odd struck. I was eventually able to ring closer at handstroke to counter the odd struckness. After a few sage comments from our conductor, who rang the 7th, we went straight into our piece. We started off with some nice rounds and rang at a fairly quick pace, which seemed to be good for the bells; then we went into the first set of call changes. Half way through some people missed a call and clashed with other bells, which we knew would result in the deduction a lot of points. After a few more errors we got it back and carried on – towards the end we maintained a good pace and ringing standard. After we finished we all heaved a big sigh of relief as it was over! And we could now enjoy the rest of our day. Our ringing supporter and manager was very pleased with our performance and I will mention our results later.
Shopping or grabbing? – no contest!
After that my team and friends all walk off and went shopping, I had no intention of shopping as I wanted to get some tower grabs. Myself, manager and 3 supporters went off to have a nice drink before going to the first open tower. The first tower we went to was St Martin-le-Grand, which had a nice peal of 8. From the outside the bells sounded amazing as they were well tuned and were rung by the York band. When we walked in they started the focused method session for Yorkshire Surprise Major. Unfortunately I don’t ring any Surprise methods yet, and to add the pressure I barely ring on 8 bells because my home tower, Layer-de-la-Haye, has a ring of 6 and is surrounded by a lot of other 6 bell towers. There are a couple of 8 and 10-bell rings but, due to lack of ringers, they usually only ring on 6 there too. During these focus groups barely any young ringers could actually ring the methods and I found it daft that 8 teams rang call changes and only 4 rang Bob or Grandsire Triples. But luckily the person running the session allowed us to ring some Bob Triples so I could get a grab! I rang very reasonably but again not as confidently as I would on 6. Then they started more Yorkshire and at that point I left …
On the way to lunch we quickly stopped by St Helen’s, Stonegate again so I could ring on the mini ring. I had a go at 2 bells without much success but after ringing the 6th of the mini ring to call changes it became easy to master. Then we rang Bob Minor on the back 6 and I rang the tenor! Unfortunately there were two inexperienced ringers on the 2 and 3 and I had to try hard to keep a steady pace. Then after we went to a nice pub for some lunch as the food provided didn’t look so appetising.
We then went onto All Saints Church and again they were in a focused session which happened to be Bristol Surprise Major which I had no idea how to ring. Again barely any young ringers ringing it so I began to wonder what was the point of it! Luckily the Tower Captain asked what I wanted to do and I rang some Bob Triples and eventually Bob Major. After that we moved on.
The last tower I rang that day was St Wilfrid’s Church with a reasonable 10. Luckly we had just got there before the “focus” which was Yorkshire and Bristol Royal. The person in charge seemed very strict as he said we had to quickly ring before the methods started. I did 2 sets of call changes on the 9 and then had a good go at Plain Hunt on 9! Then after that I went back to St Helen’s and had a go at Change Rining on Handbells which was great fun! I rang 5-6 to Plain Hunt Minor which was good fun! Then finally after a good look at the Minster we went into St Michae-le-Belfrey to get the results!
The results
It turned out we came joint 4th which we were very pleased about. The judge said that the beginning and end changes were the best they heard all day but unfortunately the piece was let down by some change errors. He even said the pace was good and we had great potential.
To summarise I got four tower grabs, rang on a mini ring and did some method ringing on handbells, so I had a really great day! The temperature even got up to 30°C which was excellent – to me it was more like a holiday than a competition!
Here is the full results list:
Call Change Category:
| 1st | Team 16: Bedfordshire | A (80%) |
| 2nd | Team 7: Derbyshire Dingers | A (78%) |
| 3rd | Team 2: Sussex Young Ringers | B+ |
| 4th = | Team 4: Essex Young Eagles | B |
| Team 10: Worcester Young Ringers | B | |
| Team 12: Lincolnshire Poachers | B | |
| 5th = | Team 6: The Blue Lines | B- |
| Team 14: Bath & Wells | B- | |
| 6th | Team 1: Lichfield & Walsall | C |
| 7th = | Team 3: St Martin’s Youths | C- |
| Team 5: Les Beaux Belles of South Lincolnshire | C- | |
| 8th | Team 8: Vectis Youths | D |
| Method category: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Team 9: The G. & B. | A- |
| 2nd | Team 11: Oxford D.G. | B |
| 3rd = | Team 13: Suffolk Young Ringers | C |
| Team 15: Yorkshire Puds | C | |
After another night in the Hotel and a Sunday morning ring at the Minster we had a 3½-hour journey back to Essex. This was my first and unfortunately last (due to my age) opportunity for competing in this great competition. However hopefully next year I will still be able to come and support the Essex Young Eagles at Worcester!
by George Vant, Essex Young Eagles
Press Information
Judges
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Simon LinfordSimon comes back to judge the Contest for the third and final time. He is from Birmingham, where he rings at the Bull Ring, is Master of the St Martin’s Guild, and is a member of the Birmingham band in the National 12 Bell Striking Contest. He has rung in more striking competitions than he cares to remember, and has judged enough to have been author of the recent Central Council book on how to judge a striking competition. He is hoping that this will be used to good effect today. |
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Helen BeaumontI learnt to ring in 2006 at Northchurch in Hertfordshire, and soon got hooked, ringing regularly at three local towers. When I started university in York in 2009 I got involved with the York Colleges Guild, ringing my first peal in November 2009, and turning my hand to roles such as Secretary, Ringing Master and Handbell Master. I also started ringing at St Wilfrid’s, learning to ring on more than eight bells. In 2012 I became a member of the Society of Royal Cumberland Youths, and the York Minster Society of Change Ringers. Four years after moving to York, I’m about to graduate with a Masters in maths, and absolutely no idea what I want to do in the future, apart from more ringing of course! |
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David LeeseI started learning to ring age 10, initially at Stranton, Hartlepool. After 6 months my family moved and I joined the band at Easingwold, a fine 8 in North Yorkshire. I rang there regularly for 8 years, 2 of those as Tower Captain. Following 3 years at University in Durham, I moved into York where I ring regularly at the Minster and St Wilfrid’s. I’m fortunate that I now regularly get opportunities to ring things that I thought would never have been possible in my early years as a learner. I’ve managed to chalk up (more than enough) peals in a wide variety of methods, from Plain Bob Doubles to Bristol Suprise Maximus and have been a member of the York band in the last 4 National Twelve Bell Contests. |
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Ryan MillsI started learning to ring at the age of 9 in Wigston Magna, Leics, and continued to ring around the area until I left for the University of York in 2011. I rang my first peal in 2010, and during 2011 I was part of a local peal band, where I learnt the majority of the Royal that I know. Also in 2011, I captained the Leicester team for the first RWNYC, while I was still young enough, which was a fantastic day out. On moving to York I immediately started ringing wherever I could, which has enabled me to improve my ringing at all stages, 8-bell through to 12-bell, in terms of both methods and striking. I became master of the York Colleges Guild in 2011, and have since been heavily involved in ringing with and teaching ringers of my own age. I am currently also a member of the York Minster Society of Change Ringers and of the band at St Wilfrid’s, York. |
