Life Members: The Revd J C Baldwin, Miss D E Colgate, W F Moreton, H W Rogers, The Revd Preb J G M Scott, D G Thorne.
Honorary Members: R I Allton, A E M Bagworth, A P S Berry#, Mrs S Bianco, Mrs G Cater, R J Cooles, J C Eisel, Mrs K Flavell, E G H Godfrey, W A Hibbert*,
A D Higson, R A Lewis, Mrs H L E Peachey, C Ridley, Miss J Roberts, Mrs J M Rogers#, R J Walker, B Ward*, Mrs P M Wilkinson.
Ancient Society of College Youths: S Linford*, P A B Saddleton, A N Stubbs, A W R Wilby.
Australian & New Zealand Assn: I McCulloch, L R Reynolds.
Bath & Wells Dio. Assn: Miss J Bunyan*, Mrs C A Hardwick, M R T Higby, J R Taylor.
Bedfordshire Assn: P J S Albon, K Lewin, Mrs W Piercy.
Beverley & District Society: P S Andrews, M J de C Henshaw.
Cambridge Univ. Guild: P J Earis*, S C Farrar.
Carlisle Dio. Guild: J J Proudfoot, Mrs M Snape.
Chester Dio. Guild: P Dyson, C M Orme, P Robson*, P Wilkinson#.
Coventry Dio. Guild: M Chester, M J Dew, D Travis*, H M Windsor.
Derby Dio. Assn: J A Cater, Mrs P A M Halls, Mrs G Hughes, P Mehew.
Devon Association: P J Pascoe.
Devonshire Guild: L E Boyce, J M Clarke, M G Mansley, D J Roberts.
Dorset County Assn: D R Bugler, A Keen, C M White.
Durham & Newcastle Dio. Assn: C M Richardson, H Smith*, R R Warford, Mrs B M Wheeler.
Durham Univ. Society: M Williams*.
East Derby & West Notts Assn: A Dempster.
East Grinstead & District Guild: R A Grant.
Ely Dio. Assn: G E Bonham, Mrs A Carpenter, M B Davies.
Essex Assn: J Armstrong, F J P Bone, A G Semken, D L Sparling, J Waters*.
Gloucester & Bristol Dio. Assn: D Harbottle, Prof A Newing, R Shipp, B D Threlfall, R K Williams.
Guildford Dio. Guild: Mrs B R Norris, C H Rogers, M J Turner.
Hereford Dio. Guild: J H Croxton, A Fortey*, Mrs J Lawrence*, Mrs J Mason.
Hertford County Assn: A F Alldrick, G A Duke, G T Horritt, B C Watson.
Irish Assn: C Holliday*, Ms J Kelly*.
Kent County Assn: P R J Barnes, P H Larter*, Mrs C M Lewis, F W Lewis, D C Manger.
Ladies Guild: Mrs H Aslett*, Miss F Cannon, Mrs A R Caton.
Lancashire Assn: G Blundell, Mrs J Kelly, Mrs A E Pettifor, E Runciman, S D Woof.
Leeds Univ. Society: N J Green.
Leicester Dio. Guild: Mrs C N J Franklin, J R Thompson, B G Warwick, Mrs W M Warwick.
Lichfield & Walsall Archd. Society: S Franks*, S Hutchieson, J F Mulvey.
Lincoln Dio. Guild: Mrs S Andrews, K Buckingham, A R Heppenstall, L G Townsend.
Liverpool Univ. Society: S J Flockton.
Llandaff & Monmouth Dio. Assn: P S Bennett, J C Parker, Mrs P Penney*.
London County Assn: G S Barr, R G Booth.
Middlesex County Assn. & London Dio. Guild: R Bailey, F T Blagrove, G E J A Doughty, A R Udal.
National Police Guild: The Revd B F Peachey.
North American Guild: B N Butler*, A F Ellis, D F Morrison, P A Trotman.
North Staffordshire Assn: F Beech, Mrs J Beech, P W Gay.
North Wales Assn: G P Morris*, D Stanworth.
Norwich Dio. Assn: Mrs E M Baines, Miss V Bate*, Miss T Crowder#.
Oxford Dio. Guild: W Butler, K R Davenport, J A Harrison, Mrs B May*, T G Pett, M K Till.
Oxford Society: B J Stone.
Oxford Univ. Society: P D Niblett.
Peterborough Dio. Guild: A Chantler, D J Jones, D Kingman, Mrs E J Sibson.
St David's Dio. Guild: J H Prytherch.
St Martin's Guild: Mrs S J Warboys.
Salisbury Dio. Guild: A J Howes, A C D Lovell-Wood, J Newman*, A P Nicholson, R J Purnell.
Scottish Assn: S Elwell-Sutton*, Ms T Stoecklin.
Shropshire Assn: A W Gordon, F M Mitchell.
Society of Royal Cumberland Youths: J S Barnes, I H Oram, A J Preston*, D E Sibson.
Society of Sherwood Youths: P Hawcock.
South African Guild: Mrs J M Webster.
Southwell Dio. Guild: A B Mills, Ms M J Stephens, R E H Woolley.
Suffolk Guild: S D Pettman, The Revd Canon L R Pizzey, D G Salter, A R Smith.
Surrey Assn: J D Cheesman, P Flavell, J Hughes, R J Wallis.
Sussex County Assn: A R Baldock, Mrs C M Baldock, Mrs M E Oram, Mrs J Peel*, H F Pettifer.
Swansea & Brecon Dio. Guild: P C Johnson, Mrs H J Rose.
Truro Dio. Guild: N R Mattingley, Mrs H L Perry, R J Perry, D R Pope.
Univ. Bristol Society: Mrs C Rodliffe, R M Wood.
Univ. London Society: M Trimm*.
Veronese Assn: P Avesani, Dr A M Hodge, R G T Morris.
Winchester & Portsmouth Dio. Guild: M J Church, R H Routh*, A P Smith, P A G Watts, M J Winterbourne.
Worcestershire & Districts Assn: C M Povey, A Roberts.
Yorkshire Assn: A R Aspland, N Donovan, Mrs D M Rhymer, A J Smith, Ms A D M Thorley*.
Zimbabwe Guild: R McAnulla (alt. member).
The Chair was taken by the President, Michael Henshaw.
The Revd Lawrence Pizzey led the Council in prayer.
The Hon Secretary, Ian Oram, reported that 65 societies were affiliated to the Council with 202 representatives; there was one vacancy. The Transvaal Society, although still affiliated, currently had insufficient members to be entitled to representation. There were 7 Life Members and 21 Honorary Members. All subscriptions had been paid.
The Hon Secretary reported that he had received a certificate signed by the Master and Secretary of the Society confirming that the Society met all the requirements of Rule 4, sub-clause 2; that in accordance with that Rule the application was reviewed by the Administrative Committee, which had recommended affiliation. On a show of hands 199 members voted in favour, with 3 against and 9 abstentions. The application was declared successful but unfortunately there was no representative of the Society present.
The President gave a warm welcome to new and returning members (indicated by * and # respectively in the list of those present). It was noted that Betty Baines now represented the Norwich Diocesan Association instead of the Ladies Guild.
Apologies had been received from Howard Egglestone (Life Member), Doug Nichols and Mike Stone (Australian and New Zealand Assn), Mervyn Way (Devon Assn), Jean Sanderson (Ely DA), John Couperthwaite (Guildford DG), Julia Lysaght (Irish Assn), Michael Wilby (St Martin's Guild), George Dawson (Southwell DG), Stewart Holbeche (Worcs & Districts Assn) and Anne Phillips (Zimbabwe Guild). Further apologies were presented from Anna Thomson (Veronese Assn). An alternate member was present from the Zimbabwe Guild.
Members stood in silence as the Hon Secretary read the names of members and former members of the Council who had died since the last meeting: Teddy Barnett (Kent CA 1945-1947, Hon Member 1948-1951, Life Member from 1952, Council Secretary 1952-1964, Vice-President 1969-1975, President 1975-1981); Gordon Benfield (Yorkshire Assn 1957-1965); Cyril Wratten (Gloucester & Bristol DA 1960-1986, Life member from 1987, Council Secretary 1971-1993); David Buckley (Bath & Wells DA from 1981); and Frank Price (Oxford DG 1966-1971). The Revd John Baldwin led members in prayer.
The Minutes of the meeting held on 31st May 2004 had been published in The Ringing World of 30th July 2004. The Hon Secretary reported the following errors: on page 733 in the third column, in item 14 (c) line 2 after the word "of" insert "one of" and in line 3 add an "s" to "predecessor" and after "David Beard" insert "author of the composition programme BYROC". After the corrections were made the Minutes were approved and signed by the President.
Beryl Norris explained that, although the Committee could not be elected before that day's meeting, a working party had been looking at the Terms of Reference, and in elaborating on these had produced a Work Plan, which had been circulated to members. She acknowledged contributions from Phil Gay and Jim Taylor.
David Stanworth referred to the information being sought from member societies and asked that the numbers of unattached members be included. In view of the recent article in The Ringing World by Don Morrison, David Manger suggested this would be an appropriate opportunity to raise the profile of quarter-peal ringing. Bruce Butler asked that the work covered the whole ringing community, not just the UK. Chris Rogers warned against trying to achieve too much. Responding, Beryl confirmed that the working party was aware of the amount of work to be done and the plan set down how this would be tackled.
The President noted that the matter was discussed in the Administrative Committee, which appointed a small working group to look at the matter; the result of that work was Motion A.
The Hon Secretary referred to item 14 (j) of the last meeting and reported that the conductor of the peals had provided alternative names, respectively Wink, Unacceptable and Whatever.
Regarding a possible amendment to Decision (C), as Julia Lysaght could not attend that day, the matter would be deferred until she was able to present a Motion in person.
9. Annual Report of the Council
(RW 6th May 2005, p424)
The Hon Secretary noted that, arising from a recent Society Annual Meeting, there were changes to the Appendix to the Annual Report: at the end of the first paragraph there were 202 Representative Members and only one vacancy; and in the second paragraph again 201 became 202 and there were 33 new members, of whom four had been members at some time in the past. Two corrections to the list of long-serving members were made: to John Anderson's name should be added "President 1999-2002" and the name of David Buckley (Bath & Wells DA), elected 1981, should be added. Adoption of the report was then proposed by the Hon Secretary, seconded by the Vice-President, Derek Sibson, and agreed.
10. Accounts for 2004
(RW 6th May 2005, pp424-425)
In presenting the Accounts, the Hon Treasurer, Eric Godfrey, noted that the Independent Examiners had been able to give an unqualified report. He drew attention to the main variances in the Statement of Financial Activities, adding that the bulk of the net difference between income and expenditure related to the payments of grants from the Bell Restoration Fund; further detail on these and other points were shown in the Notes to the Accounts.
The Hon Treasurer proposed the adoption of the Accounts. In seconding, Harold Rogers complimented the Hon Treasurer on the preparation of the Accounts and also thanked the Independent Examiners for their work.
Chris Rogers expressed concern that again the General Fund was showing a deficit for the year. The Hon Treasurer acknowledged that interest rates had a major impact on the Fund: not so long ago they had contributed to surpluses; more recently several initiatives by the Council had placed demands on the Fund: the 2003 Roadshow, the Towers and Belfries measuring equipment, the library shelving and the Child Protection leaflets. These costs plus significant rises in insurance premiums meant that affiliation fees were no longer sufficient. A working party had commenced investigations into the Council's funding and work would continue.
Adoption of the Accounts was then agreed.
The President noted that the Hon Treasurer was now standing down after 8 years in that position, during which he had also dealt with the grants from the Founders Company and the accounts for the Millennium Grants Company: the Council was very grateful. (Applause).
11. Central Council Rescue Fund for Redundant Bells (Registered Charity no. 278816)
(RW 22nd April 2005, pp374-375)
Adoption of the report and accounts was proposed by Bob Cooles, who thanked the ringers of Escrick for voluntarily raising funds to repay the insurance and storage charges incurred by the Fund. The Trustees were keen to expand the role of the Fund. The Revd John Baldwin seconded and adoption was agreed.
Seven Honorary Members would complete their three-year term at the end of the meeting: of these five and four others were elected as follows: Barrie Dove, who had pioneered a conducting course for the Education Committee, which wished to continue to develop that; Janet Edwards, who had expressed interest in joining the working party for the proposed Tower Stewardship Committee; John Eisel, the Library Steward; Alan Frost, for his valuable experience as a respected architect for churches; Eric Godfrey, so that his years of experience as Treasurer may continue to be available to the Council and who was continuing as a Director of the Millennium Grants Company; Andrew Higson, for expertise in bellfounding matters; William Jones, who had worked on the development of the tower movement equipment and would develop the technology further and train others in its use; Chris Ridley, to continue his work for the Council's Library; and Robin Walker, who provided considerable administrative assistance to the Hon Secretary. One vacancy remained unfilled.
President - Derek Sibson, who had been proposed by Eric Godfrey and seconded by Jane Wilkinson, was the only nominee. The President declared him elected.
Vice-President - Tony Smith, who had been proposed by Michael Church and seconded by Gail Cater, was the only nominee. The President declared him elected.
Hon Secretary - Ian Oram, who had been proposed by Derek Sibson and seconded by Jane Sibson, was the only nominee. The President declared him elected.
Hon Treasurer - Derek Harbottle, who had been proposed by Angela Newing and seconded by Roy Williams, was the only nominee. The President declared him elected.
Hon Assistant Secretary - there were no nominations.
In accordance with Rule 11 the retiring Officers continued in office until the business of the meeting was concluded.
Jeremy Cheesman was proposed by Kate Flavell and seconded by Alan Ellis. Richard Wallis was proposed by Robin Grant and seconded by Mike Winterbourne. There being no other nominations, the President declared them elected.
Chris Rogers proposed on behalf of the Administrative Committee:
"That the following becomes Decision (H) of the Council's Decisions:
'RINGING ALLIANCES. That, where it appears beneficial so to do, alliances should be formed between the Council and ringing organisations not affiliated to the Council, including those with traditions of ringing other than in the English style, for the purposes of mutual support, fraternity and cultural understanding. Where it is appropriate, the Council will encourage the development of change ringing in new regions.'"
Chris asked that the title of the Decision, Ringing Alliances, should be added to the Motion. The paper setting out the proposal stressed that this was not another form of affiliation; the main benefits would be the encouragement of the development of change ringing in new geographic regions and the sharing of a common interest in bell music. The particular circumstances of a proposed alliance would be considered by the Officers and the Administrative Committee would make a recommendation to the Council. John Harrison seconded.
Laith Reynolds asked whether a new foreign tower would come into the scope of the proposal; Chris responded that this was just one of the situations it was hoped to cover. Mike Davies approved the idea in principle, but in the paper it was stated that the Administrative Committee would take decisions to form alliances on the Council's behalf: if that were the case, Council could then reject that decision. Robert Perry supported this point; it was agreed that the Administrative Committee would make a recommendation to Council, which would then make a decision.
The motion, including the title, was put to the vote and carried.
Andrew Wilby proposed and Chris Povey seconded on behalf of the Administrative Committee:
"That a Committee be appointed as defined by the following rule changes:
That the new Committee be added to the list of permanent Committees of the Council, specifically by addition to the end of Rule 14 (ii) of the words:
'(p) Tower Stewardship'
with terms of reference defined through addition to the end of Rule 15 of the words:
'(xvii) The Tower Stewardship Committee. To support the good management of towers by promoting best practice and good governance; to inform and make available advice on the roles and responsibilities of tower officials; to monitor regulatory issues that might affect the local parochial organisation and to act in support of the interests of tower officials in consultation with the authorities whenever necessary.'"
Giles Blundell supported the motion for the Council to do work not presently covered by another committee but he wanted action now: the Council's rules prevented anything happening for at least another year. Tina Stoecklin shared these reservations, but also favoured this support for the tower captain; qualified and correct "legal" advice was needed and it would be best to appoint people to deal with particular issues. Kate Flavell also supported the motion and pointed out that work was already taking place, citing the tremendous amount of time spent on the Child Protection issue; the Council's structure may need improvement, but the appropriate people to make the proposal work could be assembled now.
The motion was then put to the vote and carried by the necessary two-thirds majority.
The President noted that the Rule change could not come into effect until the end of that meeting; however a working group was already in place and others had expressed in interest in joining the group, which would develop the proposal ready for election of the Committee next year. Those who had already volunteered for the working group were Bob Cooles, Mike Davies, Janet Edwards, Kate Flavell, Alan Frost, Chris Povey, Judith Rogers, Mary Snape and Andrew Wilby; Colin Holliday offered his experience of work on Health and Safety.
Tony Smith proposed and Peter Niblett seconded on behalf of the Methods Committee:
"That Decision (E) D.2 (e) be amended to read:
'If a non-Little Plain method with double symmetry and either one plain hunting hunt bell or two or more principal hunts, all of which are coursing, has the same number of leads in the plain course as the corresponding method with no internal places below the hunt bell or principal hunts, they shall have the same name but with the prefixes "Double" and "Single" respectively.'"
After Andrew Aspland had suggested that the word "respectively" needed clarification, Tim Pett proposed and Andrew seconded an amended wording, which simply changed the order of the words of the proposal. Arnold Smith asked whether the amendment preserved the effectiveness of the original motion: Tony replied that he thought not and urged members to vote against the amendment, as the Committee had taken much care over the wording of the motion. On being put to the vote, the amendment was defeated.
Ian McCulloch then asked if the words "non-Little" could be deleted, to which Tony replied that this could not be done, without altering the intention.
The motion was then put to the vote and carried.
Tony Smith proposed and Peter Niblett seconded on behalf of the Methods Committee:
"That the word 'immediately' be deleted from Decision (G) B.7."
Robin Woolley opposed the motion, because in his view the Committee had made the fundamental error of believing that it had perfectly translated into writing what was in its mind.
The motion was put to the vote and carried.
16. (a) Report of the Stewards of the Carter Ringing Machine Collection
(RW 15th April 2005, p350)
Adoption of the report was proposed by Alan Bagworth, seconded by Barry Ward and agreed.
The President paid tribute to one of the retiring Stewards, John Anderson, who was no longer a member of Council. John had been President through the Millennium celebrations; it had been a pleasure to work with him and he was thanked for all his work for the Council. (Applause).
Alan Berry was proposed by Alan Bagworth and seconded by Stef Warboys. Barry Ward was proposed by Alan Bagworth and seconded by Stef Warboys. There being no other nominations, the President declared them both elected.
17. (a) Report of the Steward of the Rolls of Honour
(RW 15th April 2005, p350)
In proposing adoption of the report, Andrew Stubbs was pleased to report that the work on the supplement was now complete and available for inspection that day, prior to its return to St Paul's Cathedral. As mentioned earlier in the meeting any decision on a further volume would be deferred until next year. Michael Church seconded and adoption of the report was agreed.
Andrew Stubbs was proposed by Michael Church and seconded by Stef Warboys. As there was no other nomination, the President declared him elected.
18. Report of the Administrative Committee
(RW 22nd April 2005, pp373-374)
Adoption of the report was proposed by the Hon Secretary, who thanked Robert Lewis and The Ringing World staff for the speedy way the publication of all the Committee reports was dealt with; referring to the last item of the report, he noted that there had been discussions with the compositor to find ways to reduce his setting-up time and this had already proved beneficial and would continue. The Vice-President seconded.
The President spoke briefly about the meeting with English Heritage on 19th May; no new cases of difficulty had been reported. There had been much discussion on the ongoing changes within English Heritage: the President read an encouraging statement from English Heritage, in which continuing dialogue with the Council was welcomed; a report of the meeting would appear in The Ringing World in due course.
Several speakers commented on the De Minimis Rules from which it was clear that variances between dioceses would continue, often at the whim of each archdeacon. Perhaps this was something the Towers and Belfries Committee should pursue.
Tina Stoecklin asked what progress had been made on the matter of the relationship between the Council and The Ringing World: the President replied that the incoming President would be taking this forward.
Adoption of the report was then agreed.
19. Committee reports
(The reports were published in The Ringing World issues of 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th April 2005. The relevant page numbers are shown against each report).
In proposing adoption of the report Tony Smith noted that the new edition of Rung Surprise, Delight, Treble Bob and Alliance methods containing methods rung to the end of 2004 was now available and the XML specification was on the Committee's website. Peter Niblett seconded.
In answer to a query from Robin Woolley on Cawston Little Bob Maximus, Tony agreed that Robin's understanding was correct, as the method had not been related to Cawston Little Bob Major before the Decisions were amended last year.
Adoption of the report was then agreed.
The following members were proposed, seconded and elected to fill the six places on the Committee: Roger Bailey, Philip Earis, Peter Niblett, Philip Saddleton, Tony Smith and Robin Woolley.
Adoption of the report was proposed by Don Morrison, seconded by Richard Allton and agreed.
The following seven members were proposed, seconded and elected to serve on the Committee: Richard Allton, Paul Flavell, Ashley Fortey, Stuart Hutchieson, Philip Larter, Don Morrison and Philip Saddleton. Three vacancies were left unfilled.
(c) Peals Analysis (pp399-401)
In proposing adoption of the report, Phillip Barnes paid tribute to Jeremy Cheesman, who had been a member of the Committee for 21 years but would not be standing for re-election, following his appointment as an Independent Examiner. Phillip drew attention to the last paragraph of the report, which suggested that the Council might set up a working group to examine the recording of historic peals: perhaps the Administrative Committee could examine this? Michael Orme seconded.
Referring to the section of the report on Peals not complying with the Decisions on Peal Ringing, Roger Bailey asked whether the meeting last year had decided to include such peals. Phillip confirmed that it had so decided.
Adoption of the report was then agreed.
Eight candidates were proposed and seconded to fill the 7 places on the Committee. After a ballot the following were declared elected: Phillip Barnes, Stephen Elwell-Sutton, Mike Orme, Robert Perry, Tim Pett, Michael Trimm and Martin Turner. The unsuccessful candidate was June Kelly.
Adoption of the report was proposed by Jane Wilkinson, who drew particular attention to the paragraph in the report on the BBC Blue Peter programme, as a result of which 30 enquiries about ringing had been received. Jane added that she would not be seeking re-election as Chairman of the Committee. Judith Rogers seconded and adoption of the report was agreed.
The following nine members were proposed, seconded and elected to serve on the Committee: Bruce Butler, Alan Chantler, Simon Farrar, Robert Lewis, Bobbie May, Judith Rogers, Adrian Udal, Stef Warboys and Jane Wilkinson. One vacancy was left unfilled.
The meeting adjourned for lunch at 12.45 p.m. and resumed, after the Annual Meeting of The Ringing World Limited, at 3.18 p.m.
The President referred back to the Report of the Stewards of the Carter Ringing Machine Collection and regretted that he had omitted to thank Alan Bagworth, who had been a Steward since 1982.
Jane Wilkinson noted an error in the Public Relations Committee report: in the fifth paragraph it should be the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
In the absence of John Couperthwaite due to illness, Derek Jones proposed the adoption of the report. He noted two new publications, the Rung Surprise Supplement (to end 2004) and Getting It Right, a booklet giving guidance for Officers of Ringing Societies. Derek Harbottle seconded and adoption of the report was agreed.
The following four members were proposed, seconded and elected to serve on the Committee: John Couperthwaite, Derek Jones, Beryl Norris and Barbara Wheeler. Two vacancies were left unfilled.
In proposing adoption of the report, Derek Sibson made one addition, due to the publication only the previous Friday of a peal on October 23rd, 2004 of 5042 Miele S.Max. by the ASCY. Derek drew attention to the last paragraph of the report about categories of record peals. The website was functioning well thanks to Richard Allton; compositions of first peals in methods and of old record peals were still required and should be sent to Richard. Richard Allton seconded.
After apologising for the late submission of the ASCY peal, Simon Linford asked whether the Committee had given thought to reviewing the notice provisions for record peals: could notice be given online; and was fresh notice needed for rearranged attempts after a lost attempt? Derek responded that, as requested by Council, the Rules were reviewed 5 years ago, at which time several record peal organisers expressed satisfaction with them; however the new Committee could again review. Tony Smith was pleased to note that the report now included Minor, Doubles and Minimus.
Adoption of the report was then agreed.
The following four members were proposed, seconded and elected to serve on the Committee: Richard Allton, Frank Blagrove, Ben Duke and Michael Trimm. One vacancy was unfilled.
Adoption of the report was proposed by Philip Watts, who highlighted the points made in the first paragraph of the report; and again asked for responses on the redundancy survey from territorial societies outside the British Isles - only ANZAB and the South African Guild had replied. John Baldwin seconded and adoption of the report was agreed.
The following seven members were proposed, seconded and elected to serve on the Committee: Andrew Aspland, the Revd John Baldwin, Bob Cooles, Alan Frost, Julian Newman, the Revd John Scott and Jane Wilkinson. Two vacancies were unfilled.
In proposing the adoption of the report, Gail Cater was able to report that the winner of the first Founders Prize for the Encouragement of Young People had been awarded to Wethersfield and local towers in Essex, because of the ongoing nature of their project, the involvement of the young people themselves and the way they made ringing fun. Gail also announced that from five entries the winner of the 2004 Founders Prize for Ringing Centres was Cinque Ports, Dover; the standard of all the entries was very high, with Shiplake being a commended second. The Committee would like to see more emphasis on recruitment and teaching of young people and training trainers. Roger Booth seconded and adoption of the report was agreed.
The following members were proposed, seconded and elected to fill the eight places on the Committee: Christine Baldock, Roger Booth, Gail Cater, Alan Frost, Norman Mattingley, Barry Peachey, David Pope and Ernie Runciman.
Phil Gay was thanked for many years' work on the Committee.
(i) Towers and Belfries (p349)
Adoption of the report was proposed by Chris Povey: he noted that Hugh Pettifer and Phil Watts were not standing for re-election and thanked them for their work on the Committee. Jim Taylor seconded and the adoption of the report was agreed.
Seventeen candidates were proposed and seconded to fill the 14 places on the Committee. After a ballot the following were declared elected: Peter Bennett, George Dawson, Adrian Dempster, Alan Frost, William Jones, Chris Povey, Andrew Preston, Hugh Routh, the Revd John Scott, Adrian Semken, Arnold Smith, Bernard Stone, Jim Taylor and Harry Windsor. The unsuccessful candidates were James Clarke, John Croxton and Bob Purnell.
(j) Bell Restoration (pp347 and 349)
In presenting the report for adoption, Kate Flavell said that investigations into European funding were proceeding very slowly due to bureaucracy but efforts continued, albeit not optimistically. The Council's Bell Fund mainly relied on legacies and the Committee was grateful to The Ringing World and member societies for regularly publishing notices on this. Peter Bennett would not be standing for re-election to the Committee; he was thanked for his work. New members were needed for the Committee with particular skills in financial and charity tax knowledge and professional fund-raising experience.
Adoption of the report was proposed by Kate Flavell, seconded by Carol Hardwick and agreed.
The following ten members were proposed, seconded and elected to fill the ten places on the Committee: John Barnes, Ken Davenport, Kate Flavell, Andrew Gordon, Carol Hardwick, David Kingman, Ian Oram, Laith Reynolds, Jackie Roberts and Robin Shipp.
The meeting then adjourned at 4.17 p.m. and resumed at 4.45 p.m.
Adoption of the report was proposed by Brian Threlfall, who asked that members who had filled in biography sheets years ago updated those sheets; many of the photographs on file were "black-and-white" and could no doubt be improved. Seconding, Pat Halls regretted that living past members were reluctant to respond to her queries.
Robin Walker asked if the biography sheet was available on the website; Brian replied that was not presently the case, but it would be arranged. Adoption of the report was then agreed.
Before proceeding to receive nominations Angela Newing and Martin Turner indicated that they would not be standing for re-election.
Six candidates were proposed and seconded to fill the five places on the Committee. Before nominations were closed a proposal to increase the size of the Committee to six was accepted and therefore the following were elected: Pat Halls, Julia Lysaght, Jane Mason, Dinah Rhymer, Deborah Thorley and Brian Threlfall.
In proposing adoption of the report John Harrison referred to the section on Publications and noted that the booklet Getting it Right was on sale that day and the master of a new booklet on rope splicing was now with the printers. Giles Blundell and Mike Winterbourne would not be standing for re-election and were thanked for their work on the Committee. Ernie Runciman seconded.
Tina Stoecklin asked whether the Code of Practice mentioned in the report was additional to the Teaching Best Practice scheme being devised by the Ringing Centres Committee; Roger Booth from the latter committee confirmed that their scheme built on the Education Committee's Code.
Adoption of the report was then agreed.
The following eleven members were proposed, seconded and elected to serve on the Committee: Barrie Dove, Stuart Flockton, John Harrison, Geoff Horritt, Catherine Lewis, Frank Lewis, Simon Linford, Martin Mansley, Heather Peachey, Pip Penney and Ernie Runciman. One vacancy was unfilled.
(m) Information and Communications Technology (p375)
Adoption of the report was proposed by Mike Chester, who wanted to thank publicly Andrew Craddock for his valuable contributions over many years; he also paid tribute to the work of Bill Hibbert and Fred Bone for their work on www.peals.co.uk. Don Morrison seconded.
Ashley Fortey asked about the maintenance of the BYROC program: the Vice-President responded that he had an amicable arrangement with the Beard family, whereby the program would be available from the website when a few technical problems had been resolved. These he hoped to resolve by the time of the Roadshow. Adoption of the report was then agreed.
The following six members were proposed, seconded and elected to fill the six places on the Committee: Alan Chantler, Mike Chester, Don Morrison, Tina Stoecklin, Mike Till and Peter Trotman.
In proposing adoption of the report Bill Butler noted that there had been a lot of interest in the proposed CD of The Bell News and he regretted the delays in completing the project. The badge catalogue was now available on the website. Seconding, John Eisel confirmed that Jean Sanderson would be continuing her work with the Friends of the Library, but subscription collection would be handled by Chris Ridley. Adoption of the report was agreed.
Appointment of the Steward of the Library 2005-2008: John Eisel had been proposed by Chris Ridley and seconded by Bob Cooles. As there was no other nomination, the President declared him elected. Thanks were accorded to John and his wife for the care of the Library.
In addition to the Steward who is an ex officio member of the Committee, seven candidates were proposed and seconded to fill the other 5 places on the Committee. After a ballot the following were declared elected: Mike Davies, Paul Johnson, Chris Ridley, Jean Sanderson and Michael Williams. The unsuccessful candidates were Alan Ellis and David Kingman.
The President thanked Bill Butler, who had not sought re-election, for his chairmanship of the committee.
The following five members were proposed, seconded and elected to fill the five places on the Committee: Phil Gay, Alison Hodge, Andrew Howes, Beryl Norris and Jon Waters.
The President reminded members that invitations had been accepted for future years as follows:
Carol Franklin outlined plans for the visit of the Council to Leicester in 2006.
The Hon Secretary reported on attendance at the meeting as set out in the table below.
The President sought agreement for the ballot papers to be destroyed and this was given.
Robert Wood moved that the Council recognised the achievement of the members of the Ancient Society of College Youths who rang 50,400 changes of Treble Dodging Minor on handbells and congratulated the band on its performance; Simon Farrar seconded - this was carried with acclamation.
Mike Chester referred to the discussions on "chat-lists" about rule changes only taking effect at the end of the meeting. He asked that the Administrative Committee should look at the relevant Rule so that any change could take immediate effect. This was agreed.
Hilary Aslett asked that future agendas should use Christian names in place of initials.
Harold Rogers thanked the President for the genial and friendly way he had conducted the three meetings of his presidency; and then thanked all the Officers for their work. (Applause).
Following a brief adjournment to enable the newly appointed Committees to elect a Chairman or a convenor, those so elected were announced:
The President stated that under Rule 14(iii) the Committee comprised the Officers of the Council, the Chairmen of the other Committees, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Ringing World Limited (Jackie Roberts) and 12 elected members. Fourteen candidates were proposed and seconded and a ballot was held. As it would take some time to count the votes and almost all the business of the meeting had been completed, the President proposed that the result of the election be published on the hotel notice board, in the next issue of The Ringing World and on its website: this was agreed.
(Post-meeting note: the following were elected: John Armstrong, Roger Booth, Michael Church, Bob Cooles, Barrie Dove, Alan Frost, Robert Lewis, Angela Newing, Chris Rogers, David Sparling, Adrian Udal and Andrew Wilby. The unsuccessful candidates were Giles Blundell and Anthony Lovell-Wood.)
The President moved a comprehensive vote of thanks to all those involved in the Council's visit to Harrogate: to the Organising Committee comprising Neil Donovan, Andrew Aspland, Bob Cater, Anne Deebank, Barrie Dove, Peter Kirby, Dinah Rhymer, Arnold Smith and Deborah Thorley; to Joanne Mason for providing flowers; to all the members of the Yorkshire Association who had willingly given assistance on the Help Desk at that day's meeting and throughout the weekend and acted as Stewards and Tellers that day; to the curate of St Wilfrid's Church, Father Paul Greenwell, for taking the Service of Holy Communion that morning; to the Vicar of St Peter's Church, the Reverend Canon Tony Shepherd, for the Songs of Praise service on the Sunday afternoon; to all those involved in the organisation of the Sunday evening Reception and Dinner and especially the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Right Reverend John Packer, and the Mayor of Harrogate, Councillor Caroline Bayliss, for their welcome; and to the incumbents and ringers of the churches who had made their bells available to Council members. The President added his personal thanks to the Hon Secretary, to his wife, Julie, and to all the members for their support. The motion was accepted with applause.
The President declared the meeting closed at 6.21 p.m.
| Members | |||
| Societies | Present | Absent | |
| Fully represented | 54 | 167 | - |
| Partly represented | 11 | 23 | 12 |
| Not represented | 1 | - | 1 |
| 66 | 190 | 13 | |
| Life Members | 6 | 1 | |
| Honorary Members | 19 | 2 | |
| 215 | 16 | ||
The Ringing World, July 22, 2005, pages 689 to 693, corrections May 19, 2006, page 491
(Archivist's note: also absent were David Riley (Norwich DA) and Simon Wilmshurst (Worcestershire & Districts Assn))