thomascooper

Thomas Cooper Striking Competition

The striking competition this year took place at Morville, near Bridgnorth, on

the recently installed (2009) ring of 8 bells with its pristine ringing chamber.

The ringing chamber being an example to all of what we should try to

emulate in our own tower.

A dry afternoon enhanced the setting of the Morville Estate for all to

enjoy either as ringers or listeners. Arrangements had been made allowing

us to walk around and see the well kept gardens whilst listening to the bells.

With afternoon tea in the church, provided by the local ringers and

friends, meant that everyone had something to occupy them whilst the

competition took place.

Six teams participated in the competition, representing five of the

districts, with Church Stretton being allowed to enter two teams.

There was a slight change to the rules this year with each team

being allowed up to 5 minutes practice ringing, previously it had been 3

minutes and then when starting, being allowed to ring as many rounds as

they wished before going into the test piece to ring two plain courses of

Grandsire triples.

The competition judges this year were David Beacham and David

Franklin they both knew Tom Cooper who was a very good striker.

Those who knew him will be sad to hear that David Frankilin died

during November.

In their introduction they commented that they were impressed by

the standard of ringing and overall it was an impressive performance. The

judges each marked similarly by recording the number of faults they both

agreed on the first and last but sometimes ranking those inbetween is more

difficult.

Church Stretton A team came first in the competition with 26 faults. They

were the last band to ring in the afternoon, their practise beforehand was

very good and the test piece was a carefully rung piece. There were one or

two loose leads but nevertheless the judges were impressed by the

consistency of the rhythm.

The winning band

1.Laura M. Davies;

2. Neil Bennett (C);

3. Paul J. Lewis;

4. Jill Danby;

5. Richard J. Danby;

6. Richard D. Blagrove

7. Anthony S. Braben, and

8. Ann C. Bennett.

Other district bands position (faults) were,

2nd . (33) Hereford. In the practice beforehand there was some

bunching at the beginning but once sorted out it sounded very promising. In

their test piece there were very few clips though the leading bell didn’t always

appreciate how slow the tenor could be at backstroke. Being the first band to

ring it was a good piece to set the standard for the day.

3rd . (61) Church Stretton (B team).This team rang slightly faster in

the practice than the previous team (Hereford) but it improved as it went on. In

their test piece it started off better than Hereford it then became rather rushed

with some clipping but very competent ringing.

4th . (72) Bridgnorth. The initial practise had quite a lot of drive,

some bunching but then slowed down too much. In the test piece their confi-

dence seemed to slip away and they ran out of steam towards the end of the

first course.

5th . (76) Ledbury. Threre appeared to be no general agree-

ment in the practice about leading but when good it was very good. Similarly in

the test piece there was lack of agreement in leading at hand stroke, the sec-

ond course slowed up and became a bit choppy.

6th . (83) Leominster In their practise they were very careful not

to hit each other and the rhythm suffered a little. The rounds, before the test

piece, considerably improved and most of the faults were rhythmic faults with

some bunching and a few stray leads.

Our thanks to Rev Nicky Seabright for taking the service and the

organist Alison Foxall.

Many thanks to Ian Rowe, the Morville ringers and their helpers for the

excellent afternoon teas, the nett profit of £60 from the sale of teas was

donated by them to the bell restoration fund. Their warm welcome and

hospitality made it an enjoyable competition for us all.

We would welcome another member to our small committee if interested

PLEASE let us know.

Next year the competition will be a 6 bell competition, the method will be 180

Plain Bob Minor (Tenor called 3 times at home) on Saturday 8 th October.

Please be prompt with your entry. We do have to have a closing date to be fair

to all those involved in making the final arrangements.

Alec Osbaldiston. Colin Ward.