1989 CENTRAL COUNCIL MEETING:
OFFICIAL REPORT

The Central Council’s 92nd annual meeting took place in the Grand Hotel, Colmore Row, Birmingham, on May 29 and was opened promptly at 10 o’clock with prayer lead by the President, the Revd. Dr. J.C. Baldwin (Llandaff & Monmouth DA).

After the Secretary, Mr. C.A. Wratten (Life Member), had drawn attention to some minor typing errors in the agenda for the meeting, the latter went on to report that 69 societies were currently affiliated to the Council, of which only one - the S. Derbyshire and N. Leicestershire Association - had insufficient members for it to be represented at the meeting. The remaining 68 societies had, between them, 184 representatives on the Council. There were in addition 9 Life and 22 Honorary members of the Council, giving a total membership of 215 at the start of the meeting.

He reported that all subscriptions had now been paid.

Apologies for absence

The Secretary said that apologies had been received from Mr. F.E. Collins (Life Member), Mrs. O.D. Barnett (Honorary), and Messrs. A.N. Brock, W.T. Cook, S.J. Flockton, Canon Hart, Messrs. D. Hird, A. Howes, P.T. Hurcombe, M.J. Lodwick, J.L. Millhouse, Canon Orland, and Messrs. D.F. Riley, D.D. Smith, D.W. Bleby and W.H. Jackson (representative members). He added that the two latter represented overseas societies (ANZAB and the North American Guild respectively) and, as was now allowed under the Council’s Rules, were being replaced at the meeting by alternate representatives of their societies.

Affiliation of societies

Two societies had applied to affiliate to the Council - the Guild of Medical Ringers, and the South African Guild.

Before the first was proposed, Mr. J.F. Mulvey (Lichfield) questioned the Secretary’s inclusion of a supporting paper on behalf of the Guild among the papers sent to representatives before the meeting. He feared it might have prejudiced the discussion, since there was no opportunity for those who might oppose the application to circulate their views in the same way; and wondered whether it might have set a precedent for the future.

The Secretary said that he had accepted a request from the Guild’s secretary, Dr. Frances Cranfield, to include a summary of the Guild’s history and activities since it was purely factual and he considered it could help members to reach an informed decision. The summary had been provided at no cost to the Council, he added.

Mr. R.K. Williams of the Worcester and Districts Association then proposed the Guild’s affiliation. He said that the Council’s rules were not explicit about the type of society that might be affiliated, but a precedent had been set when the National Police Guild joined forty years ago, and this had been reinforced when the Railwaymen’s Guild had affiliated in 1967. The Medical Guild was of the same kind, and its representative would be able to contribute to the same degree. He believed an injustice had been done to the Guild when its application was rejected last year, and there was now an opportunity to remedy this.

The motion was formally seconded by the Hon. Secretary.

Mr. G.A. Halls (Derby) commented that he had to admire any society that refused to take no for an answer; although he noted that it must be in the nature of a medical Guild always to seek a second opinion (laughter). He had been grateful for the handout, but wondered what the Council could offer the Guild other than status; or what the Guild could offer the Council. The emphasis of the Council’s work was moving away from technical matters to such things as training and bell restoration, and he wondered whether any society that met only twice a year could contribute much on such matters. If the Medical Guild were accepted, what other societies might seek affiliation on the same terms, he wondered. Equally, if the Guild application was rejected, ought the Police and Railwaymen’s Guilds to continue to be affiliated? He concluded by emphasising that any lack of support should not be taken as a condemnation of the Guild or what it did for ringing - it merely indicated lack of support for its being affiliated to the Council.

After the President had reminded members that the motion would require 133 votes to succeed, he asked those in favour to indicate accordingly. He then announced that, since only 55 members had voted in favour, the application had been unsuccessful. Only some fifteen members voted against the application, the majority of those present abstaining.

The South African Guild was proposed by Mr. F.E. Dukes (Irish), who reminded members that, following the affiliation of the Transvaal and Zimbabwe societies in 1988, the southern tip of Africa was the only area of the world where change-ringing was practised that was not affiliated to the Council. The South African Guild had been formed last year from members of three bands (in Grahamstown, Durban, and Capetown) each some hundreds of miles from the other, but who met regularly for practice and striking competitions. He urged the Council to welcome the new society.

He was seconded by Mr. T.J. Lock (Middx), who said that the society enjoyed the support of the church authorities. In accepting the application, the Council would also be supporting those ringers from Britain who had emigrated to South Africa and were there carrying on the traditions set out in the Council’s Objectives.

Prof. R.J. Johnston (Yorkshire) expressed concern at an apparent proliferation of small societies in southern Africa and the lack of any central, umbrella, organisation which might represent all African ringers. Following this theme, both Mr. C.H. Rogers (Guildford) and Mr. P.M.J. Gray (ANZAB) enquired what the relationship was between the South African, Transvaal, and Zimbabwe societies. Mr. A.W.R. Wilby (ASCY) pointed out that, under the Council’s rules, each society was considered to be non-territorial; and in any case, Zimbabwe was a separate State.

Mr. R. Bailey (Middx) noted the difficult political situation in South Africa, commented that any ringing society should promote the fellowship of all ringers, and wondered whether the South African Guild was racially integrated; if not, he feared the Council would be supporting apartheid if it accepted the application. Mr. L. Reynolds said that the South African towers were open to all, and it was essential for the Council to support the work of Christians in that country. Mr. Dukes said that there were, of course, dealings between the three societies in Africa, as there were between societies in this country; and that the South African Guild was a Christian body open to all, regardless of colour.

The motion was then put to the meeting, and was carried by a comfortable margin.

New members

The Secretary read the names of eleven new members - Messrs. A.S. Hudson (Irish), R. Bailey (Middx CA & London DG), J.A. Harrison (Oxford DG), A. Howes (Salisbury - absent from the meeting), P.P. Belgeonne (S. Africa), D. Gilmore (Surrey), Mrs. A. Davies (Transvaal), Sig. P Avesani and A. Consolaro (Verona), the Revd. G. Galley (Yorkshire), and Mrs. V. Grossmith (Zimbabwe); as well as that of the alternate member of the North American Guild, Mr. D.J. Trumpler.

Welcoming them, Dr. Baldwin said he hoped they would enjoy their membership of the Council and would be able to contribute to its work.

Mr. Belgeonne thanked the Council most warmly for accepting his society’s application, and said that the decision would provide a tremendous boost to the morale of ringers in South Africa.

Losses through death

Members stood in silence as the Secretary read the names of members of the Council who had died since its last meeting: Revd. D. Burnett (Truro, 1954-68); J.A. Hoare (Swansea & Brecon, 1946-7, 1973-81; St. David’s, 1947-9, 1951-7); H. Chant (Barnsley & District, 1946-51; Honorary since 1975); A.V. Davies (Winchester & Portsmouth, 1960-75); F. Ainsley, (Durham & Newcastle, 1948-60); Mrs Rita Dukes (Irish, 1962-6); and J.W. Bramley (Salisbury, since 1987).

The Very Revd. Gilbert Thurlow, a former President of the Council, then led the meeting in prayer.

Nomination for Life membership

Mr. F.E. Dukes of the Irish Association had been proposed for Life membership of the Council by Mr. E.A. Barnett (Life), a former Hon. Secretary and also a past President of the Council. Mr. Barnett spoke of Mr. Dukes’ long record of service to the Council since joining it in 1945, including lengthy periods of active participation in the work of a succession of committees. In recent years he had been best known for his work as the Council’s liaison officer with overseas ringers. He also spoke of the welcome and assistance Mr. Dukes freely gave to any ringers visiting Ireland, including the Council itself when it met there in 1958.

Seconding, Mr. A.F. Bogan (Irish) spoke of Mr. Dukes’ contribution to the Irish Association since joining it in 1929 and to ringing in Ireland. He had been the Association’s Secretary for 44 years, its Treasurer for 41 years, and had run the Irish Bell News virtually single-handedly from 1951 to 1987.

On being put to the vote, the motion was carried unanimously and amidst applause.

Mr. Dukes thanked his proposer and seconder and the Council for the honour it had done him. He said that he likened the representative members to the elected members of the House of Commons, and Life Members to members of the House of Lords; it might consequently seem appropriate for Dukes to move to the Upper House (laughter). He went on to speak in particular of his overseas liaison work, and his delight that all overseas societies were now affiliated to the Council. He would now have to think up something else to push for the benefit of ringers overseas, he said (applause).

Election of Honorary Members

Six of the present Honorary Members completed their elected period at the end of this meeting, while the death of Harold Chant and the resignation of David House had left two vacancies. There were thus eight places available to be filled.

The President said that two of those retiring - Mrs. O.D. Barnett and Mr. J.R. Mayne - did not seek re-election; and confirmed, in response to a question, that all eight vacancies did not have to be filled.

Six names were then separately nominated for election. They were Mr. R.J. Cooles, whom his proposer (Preb. Scott) described as having a rare combination of talent, expertise, and hard work in his work for the Rescue Fund and on the Committee for Redundant Bells, and who was seconded by Mr. H.W. Egglestone; Mr. S.J. Coleman, proposed by Mr. E.G. Godfrey (Surrey) and seconded by Mr. C.J. Groome (Peterborough) so that he might continue his work on the Education and Administrative Committees and on the survey of ringing; Preb. J.G.M. Scott, a past President of the Council and a very active member of the Towers and Belfries Committee, proposed by Mr. A.J. Frost (Honorary) and seconded by Mr. J.R. Taylor (Glos & Bristol); Mr. C.K. Lewis, proposed and seconded by Dr. P.L.H. Brooke (Cambridge Univ) and Mr. F.T. Blagrove (Middx CA & London DG) as a most experienced contributor to the work of the Methods Committee; Mrs. Stella Bianco, proposed by Mr. Groome and seconded by Prof. Johnston, in recognition of her administrative work in support of the ringing survey; and Mr. M.H.D. O’Callaghan, treasurer of the Rescue Fund for Redundant Bells, who was proposed by Mr. D.E. Sibson (SRCY) and seconded by Mrs. Jane Wilkinson (Honorary).

As required by the Council’s Rules, the election was by means of a ballot. The votes were counted by tellers from the St. Martin’s Guild, and later in the meeting the President was able to announce that all six had been elected. (Applause)

Minutes of the last meeting

Adoption of the Minutes of the 1988 meeting at Whitehaven, which had appeared in The Ringing World of March 17th, was proposed by the Secretary and seconded by Mr. Groome. They were adopted without comment.

Secretary and Treasurer’s report

Mr. Wratten moved the adoption of the following report, and was seconded by Mr. Groome.

The report was adopted without comment.

1988 Accounts

Mr. Wratten introduced the accounts by explaining the main differences from the previous year, noting in particular that the final cost of the survey of ringing was likely to amount to between £4,000 and £5,000. He added that the loan to the Rescue Fund towards the purchase of Kirkheaton bells had now been repaid.

No questions were raised, but acceptance of the accounts was deferred until members had had an opportunity to discuss in detail the Library and Publications Committees’ reports and their associated funds.

Motions

The first of the motions on the agenda, proposed by Mr. P.F. Warren of the St David’s Guild and seconded by Dr. D.R. Marshall of the North Wales Association, sought to reduce from 75 to 50 the number of members a society must have to entitle it to a representative on the Council.

Mr. Warren said that his Guild’s area encompassed at least a quarter of Wales, and that towers were often far apart. Membership inevitably fluctuated - three years ago it had been 60, but at present it was 110 - and when a small society such as his went through a bad patch it was a particularly demoralising blow to lose its right to a representative on the Council if membership dropped below 75; this was just when it needed all the support it could get. He therefore hoped members would support the motion.

Dr. Marshall reminded his listeners that the motion that had been passed in Birmingham just a hundred years ago had advocated representation from every ringers’ society. It was not a question of multiple representation, about which the Council was evidently concerned, but of ensuring that all areas of Britain in which ringing took place continued to be represented. It was not a panic measure, but showed forethought for the future.

The proposal encountered a mixed response. Mr. F.C. Pearson (Derby) said that it was important to encourage small societies and see that they did not fall by the wayside, but Mr. D. Trumpler (N. America) felt that the requirement to have 75 members provided a welcome stimulus. He was not however supported by his fellow NAG representative, Mrs. M. Winter, who said that a society really needed the Council behind it when the going got tough.

After the President had emphasised that the proposed change to the Rules did not alter the membership requirements for affiliation, only those for the representation of societies already affiliated, Mr. P.J. Sanderson (London Univ) questioned whether the proposed change offered a complete solution: he proposed rather that the Administrative Committee examine the Rules relating to the representation of territorial societies at the Council’s meetings - a suggestion that was seconded by Mr. O’Callaghan.

Mr. D.A. Frith (Lincoln) thought this proposal was too significant to be treated as an amendment, but the President rejected this argument. He also rejected a proposal from Mr. Blagrove that the original motion be put to the vote, on the grounds that an amendment had now been formally proposed and, seconded. Mr. R.J. Perry (Truro) expressed concern about the implications of the amendment for most affiliated societies, and urged that it be treated warily. It would be preferable, he considered, to deal with the original, very specific, motion. Mr. Halls however was equally wary about setting a precedent by reducing the number of members needed to qualify for a representative.

After Mr. F.B. Lufkin (Essex) had urged that, if the Administrative Committee did consider the matter, it should report back to the Council before taking any action, Mr. Blagrove pointed out that the Rules did not define which ringing members of a society should count towards the requisite membership. The Secretary said that he had always interpreted this part of the relevant Rule (5.i.a) as meaning resident members; he believed that this was its intention, but accepted that the wording might be interpreted otherwise.

Mr. P. Border enquired whether the discussion was now about affiliation or representation, and when told by the President that it was the latter, suggested that it was illogical to de-couple the two.

The President then put the amendment “that the motion be remitted to the Administrative Committee for consideration, and to report back at next year’s meeting on the matter of the minimum qualification for representation at meetings of the Council” to the meeting. The amendment was carried by a clear majority, and was similarly endorsed when proposed as a substantive motion.

The second motion concerned the extension of methods and, as its proposer (Mr. A.P. Smith, speaking on behalf of the Methods Committee) explained, sought to do two things - to incorporate the rules on extension among the Council’s formal Decisions, and to propose the wording of the new Decision. The latter was based on the original Report on Extension that had been adopted by the Council in 1953 and amendments adopted in 1972 and 1988, and sought to provide a coherent, unambiguous and clear set of rules in a format suitable for a Decision; it did not introduce any significant changes, nor would its adoption affect names already accepted by the Council.

He was formally seconded by Dr. Brooke.

Mr. Warren enquired whether any attempt had been made to provide a formal specification for the rules and to test them rigorously and mathematically to preclude any ambiguity. Mr. Border said that the proposal dealt only with methods, and wondered whether the committee had also considered the extension of principles. Mr. G. Dodds (Hertford) noted that the original, 1953, report had been translated into a computer program, which had subsequently produced some rather unexpected extensions; had anything similar been done with the proposed rules, he asked, and had anything been done on methods with “irregular” leadends?

Mr. A.J. Cox (Bristol Univ) said that the Committee had last year agreed to examine the wording of certain parts of the rules that were then passed, but these were now repeated unchanged. He went on to say that the formula was satisfactory as far as it went, in that it reduced method extension to a set of pseudo-mathematical formulae. Its weakness was that it treated all methods as sequences of four-change blocks (the cross-sections), whereas not all methods were constructed in this way: Bristol, for example, consisted of a mixture of six-change and two-change blocks, and its extension followed a quite different logic. He felt that alternative possibilities should be considered before attempting to formalise the existing rules.

Mrs. M. Winter agreed that there were many ways of extending methods, and it was not always possible to define a right way; but Dr. Marshall said that somebody had to make a decision - the committee had put forward a clear and workable proposal.

Mr. R. Bailey thought the requirement for methods with Plain Bob leads to extend to methods with similar leads, with a parallel requirement for those with non-Plain Bob leads, to be too constrictive, and proposed deletion of that part of the draft Decision. He was seconded by Mr. R. Baldwin (Hertford). Mr. P.J. Tremain confessed to not understanding the bulk of the proposal, but said he was in principle prepared to accept the advice of the committee established to deal with such matters. Nevertheless he found himself worried about accepting anything that implied that Plain Bob Doubles and Minor, or St. Simons Doubles and St. Clements Minor, were different methods, as this seemed to do.

Replying to the debate, Mr. Smith thanked members for their comments. The formula had not been checked with mathematical rigour, but had worked well over a number of years. The committee had considered principles, but felt it would be too much to include them in the present motion; it had also considered at length the question of non-Plain Bob leadends but had been unable to discover a satisfactory codification and had therefore limited itself to preserving the traditional distinction between the two types, while relaxing the previous rules. On Mr. Tremain’s point, he said that the bulk of the draft dealt with extension by two bells at a time, and therefore did not affect extension from Doubles to Minor, or Minor to Triples.

Mr. A.J. Cox then proposed that, in order to avoid ambiguity, section B.1.(a) of the proposal be amended to read “There shall be two coursing hunt bells in the extension which hunt to one position further from the lead than the hunt bell does in the parent.” He was seconded by Mr. M.C.W. Sherwood (Honorary), but Mr. Smith said that his committee would accept the proposal as a clarification to its draft.

After Mr. Bailey’s amendment had been defeated in a vote, the original motion (modified as suggested by Mr. Cox) was passed by a large majority.

The third motion was similarly proposed on behalf of the Methods Committee by Mr. Smith and seconded by Dr. Brooke. Mr. Smith said during 1987 his Committee had received a number of letters questioning, among other things, the value of recognising more than one variation in an extent of Doubles. Doubles variations had first been recognised by the Council in 1968, and the current Decisions said how they might be included in an extent or round block. The proposal would restrict Doubles variations to being used in extents or round blocks by themselves, and not with any other variation or method as at present. This would both make the Decision easier to understand and apply, and help to distinguish between the really meritorious peals of Doubles, such as those rung last year by the Hereford and Suffolk Guilds (in 80 and 101 methods respectively), and those which combined a few methods with a few calls to produce a dazzling number of variations.

He recognised that the motion might be controversial, and urged members to consider carefully before voting. Only if they considered there was a problem, or that any problem that might exist could not be satisfactorily dealt with by careful scrutiny before any peal was included in the Council’s Analysis, should they support this radical solution, which he suggested would bring long-term benefits to Doubles ringing.

Dr. Brooke said that the motion would not affect what was rung, only how it was reported. If for example St Simon’s and St Martin’s were rung together in an extent, whether with standard or non-standard calls, it would be reported as comprising these two methods; if St. Simon’s were rung on its own, with standard or non-standard calls, then either the method or variation name could be used in reporting the performance.

Mr. D.C. Jackson (Winchester & Portsmouth) said that Doubles variations filled a gap between basic and more advanced methods. Doubles were rung by many, and the use of variations encouraged their development by extending the repertoire. In his own area many bands aimed at being able to ring 44 methods/variations in a quarter-peal, using for example the four St. Martin’s group methods with a Winchendon Place bob to ring four variations in a 120. If the motion were passed, this would no longer be acceptable. He proposed that it be amended to read “Up to four Doubles variations only may be included in an extent or round block”.

Mr. B. Peachey (Police) pointed out that 120 Bob Doubles could be rung with up to three different singles: how could this be one variation?

At this point it was announced that lunch was ready, and the President adjourned the meeting, having noted that there were others who wished to speak on the motion.

When the meeting re-opened, Mr. D.A. Frith (Lincoln) said that Doubles ringers had been “mucked about” by the Council for the past twenty years. Doubles variations were a very useful learning aid, and he seconded Mr. Jackson’s amendment.

Mr. G.A. Dawson (Southwell) thought both motion and amendment equally preposterous, since any single variation could be defined in a mere 20 changes; and Mr. Smith added that he did not think the amendment would be an effective or satisfactory piece of legislation.

The amendment was then overwhelmingly defeated on a show of hands; and so in its turn was the original motion.

The final motion for discussion proposed the establishment of a small committee to make plans for some project to mark the Council’s centenary in 1991 by advancing the cause of ringing during the next decades, to report to the Council next year, and if its plans were approved to work with the host society and the Council’s other committees to ensure the project was given suitable emphasis at the 1991 meeting.

Its proposer, Mr. J.S. Barnes (SRCY), said that the media interest which he hoped would be evoked by the Council’s centenary in 1991 would provide an opportunity to promote and advance ringing and to raise its public profile. It was an opportunity that should not be missed, and something should be done which would enable every ringer and guild to benefit from the work of the Council. The results of the recent survey of ringing indicated areas where work was needed, and would need to be taken into account.

The idea had been discussed with the Council’s officers, the Administrative Committee, and with his own committee, and a number of suggestions had been made as the result of the letter he and his seconder (Mr. J. Freeman - Life member) had sent to The Ringing World. These ranged from the establishment of a permanent home for the Library, through the establishment of a national bell restoration fund, to the provision of active support to guilds in the promotion of training and education. Whatever was finally decided upon, it would need to enthuse the Exercise.

Seconding, Mr. Freeman said that the number of Council Committees had doubled since he first joined the Council, the new ones having been set up in reaction to changing circumstances. The proposal offered a chance for the Council to take the initiative for once. The Council’s membership had also changed, he said, and he thought it now more professional in its work. He also believed the Council now had members with the imagination to formulate a worthwhile project and to see it through.

The present meeting would be remembered for its outstanding organisation, he felt sure. He hoped it would also be remembered as the start of something which would make as much impact as Arthur Heywood’s motion a hundred years ago.

After the motion had been approved by a large majority, the President invited nominations for the new committee’s five members. Following a series of exchanges: Messrs. Barnes, Groome, J.W. Hughes (North Wales) and F.C. Pearson, and Mrs. Bianco were elected, with Mr. Barnes to serve as convenor.

Central Council Rescue Fund for Redundant Bells

The report that was proposed by Mr. Cooles read as follows:

Trustees’ reports

In the absence of the Trustee of the Council’s Rolls of Honour, Mr. W.T. Cook (ASCY), his report was proposed by Mr. A.W.R. Wilby (ASCY):

The two books of Illuminated Manuscript lists of the names of ringers killed in the two World Wars, and the display cases containing them, remain in good condition in their present location in the approach to the ringing room of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Trustee turns a page regularly once a month. The books have been admired by the many visitors to St. Paul’s ringing room.

The report was seconded by Mr. Groome and agreed without discussion.

The report of the Trustees of the Carter Ringing Machine was proposed by Mr. Bagworth:

Mr. Bagworth thanked those who had helped to arrange what had proved to be a very successful visit of the machine to Birmingham, where there had now been a request from the museum authorities that it be allowed to remain on display for a further month. This was now being arranged. He added that Duffield Maximus and two versions of Carter’s Cinques had been rung during the public display the previous day.

After he had been seconded by Mr. W.H. Dobbie (Honorary), Mr. Peachey suggested that Birmingham might provide a more appropriate home for the machine than London, while Mr. R. Bailey commented that the machine was no longer on public display in the Science Museum and enquired whether arrangements could be made to make it more accessible. Mr. Tremain said that he had seen the machine the previous day for the first time and had been fascinated by it; he suggested that a small handout should be produced, explaining its history and workings.

Mr. Bagworth confirmed that the machine had not been on public view for some 20 years, the Science Museum preferring to have a succession of displays of more modern items. He acknowledged Mr. Tremain’s point, and said that the trustees would see what could be done about preparing a handout.

Committee reports

Administrative Committee

Adoption of this, the first of the committees’ reports, was proposed by Mr. Wratten and seconded by Mr. M.J. Church (Honorary):

Updating the report’s reference to work on the various Codes of Practice, Mr, J. Freeman (Life) said that as a result of the April meeting mentioned by the Secretary a joint committee had been established to progress matters. The Council’s representatives would be the Secretary and himself, and there would be two representatives of the Council for the Care of Churches and one each of the bellfounders and English Heritage. No date had yet been set for the committee’s first meeting. In preparation for that meeting he would however welcome the Council’s endorsement of the working group’s draft, which had appeared in The Ringing World.

A show of hands confirmed members’ approval of the draft, and the report was then accepted without further discussion.

Towers and Belfries Committee

In proposing his committee’s report, Mr. J.R. Taylor (Gloucester & Bristol) made three points: the 1989 seminar, which was being arranged by Frank Mack and would be very practical, would be held on October 7th in Warwickshire or Berkshire; Mr. A.J. Frost (Honorary) would be succeeding him as chairman of the committee as from the end of the meeting; and he expressed his gratitude to all those - Council officers, the other Council committees, and above all the members of the Towers and Belfries Committee - who had helped during his term of office

Mr. Frost seconded, and in turn thanked Mr. Taylor for his inspiring leadership over the past three years. He added that the committee would be looking for new blood in future.

The committee’s report was then adopted without comment:

Bell Restoration Funds Committee

The Committee had reported as follows:

Mr. Barnes said that, as far as he was aware, the Barron Bell Trust had not yet made any grants, but he would welcome any information to the contrary. He thanked those who had taken part in the two surveys mentioned; said that he would welcome copies of any appeal brochures or leaflets that might be produced by parishes; and said that he could provide on request copies of a brief statement prepared by the committee on the case for restoring bells for full-circle ringing. He moved the report’s adoption.

Seconding, Mr. E. Billings (Peterborough) noted that a preliminary report on the results of the Bell Restoration Funds survey had been given to members at the start of the meeting, and said that replies to the questionnaire were still awaited from the North Wales, Shropshire, and Worcester & Districts associations.

Several members questioned the preliminary report’s comment that societies should be more willing to consider making grants from capital, and Mr. Groome said that the Peterborough Guild had been told by the Charity Commissioners that its bell restoration fund was a Capital Fund, and that the Guild could therefore only make grants from the interest it received.

Mr. Billings said that the report was still only a preliminary one, and that the answers so far received had not yet been fully analysed. It was therefore not possible to comment in detail. But income to restoration funds generally continued to be, as it had for many years, roughly double the level of grants being made.

The report was then adopted.

Committee for Redundant Bells

The committee’s report, which was proposed without amplifying comment by Mrs. Jane Wilkinson (Honorary) and seconded by Mr. P.A. Corby (Life), was accepted without discussion.

Peals Analysis Committee

Introducing the report, Mr. C.H. Rogers (Guildford) first corrected some of the figures in the version that had been sent to members before the meeting. He then referred to the letter about peals of Doubles rung during 1988 that had appeared in The Ringing World of May 12th, saying that the Committee proposed to recognise those which had simply been incorrectly reported, but that he would be moving a motion concerning the remainder.

Dr. T.G. Pett (Oxford DG) said that he had been asked by the conductor of the White Waltham performance to give the band’s view. In addition to what was said in the committee’s report, when the Council had liberalised the rules concerning peal ringing at Reigate in 1986, it had agreed to change the original wording of “true and complete 720s” to “true and complete extents”; and this change, the band believed, had been intended to cater for methods such as Little Bob.

He was supported by Dr. Marshall, who pointed out that the Ringing World Diary said of Little Bob Minor that “480 changes is the extent in this method”; by Mr. W. Butler (Oxford DG), who said that the peal had been rung in good faith; and by Mr. R. Bailey, who asserted that ringers should ring what they liked, and that the Council should recognise what they rang (applause).

Mr. J. Harrison (Oxford DG) felt the Diary reference was very significant, and urged that the peal be accepted and that the definition of “extent” be carefully considered.

Mr. Peachey, however, was worried that acceptance of 480 changes as the extent of Little Bob Minor would set a precedent for ringing peals of such methods as Bastow Little Court Minor. Mr. A.P. Smith said that the meaning of “extent” depended on the context in which it was used: the Decision mentioned was talking of the extent of changes possible on a given number of bells, as opposed to the “extent” of some other characteristic - for example, “the extent with the 6 in 6ths”.

Mr. Rogers noted what had been said, but believed that the band had been deliberately trying to exploit the ambiguity in the wording of the Decision - a suggestion strongly denied by Mr. Blagrove - and said that to accept the peal would be contrary to an earlier Council vote not to recognise a previous “peal” Consisting of 480s of Little Bob Minor.

His motion “That the ‘peal’ of Little Bob Minor by the Oxford D.G. at White Waltham on 9 January 1988 be not accepted” was approved by 79 votes to 64.

Mr. Rogers then proposed, and Mr. J.D. Cheesman (Surrey) seconded

“That the report of the Peals Analysis Committee, as amended, be adopted, subject to the submission by the Committee to the 1990 meeting of the Council of a report on the acceptability of the following peals of Doubles:

Mr. P.W. Gay (N. Staffs) questioned whether Mr. T.F. Collins, a non-member of the Council, could be a co-opted member of the committee, as shown on its printed report; and Mr. Wilby regretted that the committee had omitted from its list of notable performances the peal of Doubles that had been rung by members of the St. Martin’s Guild on the back five bells at St. Martin’s, Birmingham - the heaviest peal of Doubles yet rung.

Mr. Rogers explained that Mr. Collins had been a member of the committee during his time on the Council, and had offered to continue working for it after leaving the Council; he accepted that “co-opted” was technically incorrect. On Mr. Wilby’s point, the list was, he said, a very subjective one and not intended to be comprehensive.

The report was then adopted.

Records Committee

Mr. Sibson proposed the report after having made a number of corrections to the version that had been sent to members. Two peals rung on 10 December by members of the Middlesex CA & London DG (of Amnesty Surprise Major and Offspring Surprise Major) had had to be omitted, he said, as it had not been possible to discover what had been rung, while the original name of the peal rung by the Dronoldore Society on 5 June (Rotherham) was having to be changed.

He was seconded by Mr. J.R. Mayne (Honorary).

Mr. A.P. Smith deplored the use of names that sounded alike for methods that were only approximate extensions of one another, and proposed that the band who rang the peal of Superlatyve on 20 April be asked to find an alternative name for their method. He was seconded by Dr. Pett, and the proposal was approved by 62 votes to 40. Mr. Sibson commented that Queenscliff Surprise Maximus, rung on 29 February, bore no relation to Queenscliffe Surprise Major, but the point was not pursued.

Mr. Peachey wondered whether the peals of Amnesty and Offspring ought to have been omitted from the Peals Analysis, and Mr. Blagrove added the Master of the Middlesex Association would be as interested as the Committee to know what had been rung that day. The conductor of both peals (Mr. R. Bailey) was present, but did not comment.

The amended report was then adopted.

Methods Committee

The Committee’s report was accepted without comment after having been proposed by Mr. A.P. Smith and seconded by Mr. C.K. Lewis (Honorary):

Education Committee

The report’s adoption was proposed by Mr. R. Cater (Winchester & Portsmouth), who said that Education Committee members had also assisted at a “management” day in Cannock and a handbell day in Swansea. This year’s School would be held at Pershore on 1-3 September, and in 1990 and 1991 would be in Northamptonshire. He repeated his thanks to the Worcester Association, and also thanked two ringers who were no longer on the committee - Ron Thorne and Steve Coleman - for their work.

Seconding, Mr. M.J. Tyler (Honorary) said that copies of Bells in Your Care would be sent to incumbents and churchwardens within the next few months. After Mr. Church had said that he would be interested to know what the leaflet said and that its text should perhaps be published in The Ringing World, he said that it would be an amended version of that already given to ordinands, copies of which had been given to all members last year. He nevertheless accepted the point about giving it wider circulation through The Ringing World.

Mr. D.R. McLean (Norwich) asked for more information on why work on the Recruiting Package had stopped. The Survey was showing that more ringers needed to be recruited, and the Council should be prepared to spend money on this, he said. Mr. D.J. Roberts (Devon G) added there was a need for advice on how to streamline progress from handling a bell to ringing a quarter-peal.

In reply Mr. Cater said that the Recruiting Package, which had been with the committee since 1980, had been estimated as costing something like £6.50 a copy, and the Publications Committee had assessed that it would consequently not be a viable product. Since recruiting was in some senses a public relations matter, perhaps the Public Relations Committee might like to consider what should now be done? He ended by saying that the most productive area for education work was at grass roots level; the Committee could not hope to work at this level throughout the country, and it was therefore trying to encourage and assist Guilds to do even more for themselves.

The report was then adopted.

Peal Compositions Committee

Mr. R.C. Kippin (ASCY) said that the committee was hoping to produce the Ringing World Compositions for 1988 referred to in the report of the Publications Committee, and also to run a half-day symposium in the Midlands later in the year at which composers would be invited to present papers on developments in composition; details would be sent to The Ringing World in due course. He proposed the adoption of the committee’s report, and was seconded by Mr. A.J. Cox.

Mr. Butler asked whether, in view of Mr. Kippin’s first remark, there had been a change of policy about Council publications: hitherto they had all been handled by the Publications Committee. Mr. Kippin replied that the Publications Committee had not thought the booklet a viable proposition in view of the limited number of sales of Ringing World Compositions for earlier years. His committee was consequently experimenting to see whether a viable product could be produced.

The report was adopted by the Council without further comment.

Computer Coordination Committee

No questions arose from the next report, which was formally proposed by the committee’s chairman, Mr P. Church (Beverley), and seconded by Mr. G. Dodd (Hertford).

Biographies Committee

In proposing the following report, Mr. T.J. Lock (Middx CA & London DG) said that the committee was seeking a successor for Mrs. Joyce Dodds, who had written up past members’ biographical details for a number of years but was now looking to hand over to someone else. He was initially seconded by Mr. A.T. Collins (Winchester & Portsmouth), but after Mr. Butler had questioned whether it was in order for him to, effectively, second his own co-option to the Committee, Mr. Groome seconded the report’s adoption in his stead.

The Revd. M.C.C Melville (Universities) asked what the current position was about microfilming the committee’s biography sheets, and Mr. Groome enquired what the timetable was for production of the Biographies of Famous Ringers that was mentioned in the report.

Mr. Lock said that no steps were currently being taken to arrange microfilming; the cost had at one time been estimated at about £300. He had been in touch with the Publications Committee over the Biographies and was looking to that committee to provide a timescale. The main author was Dr. J.C. Eisel (Honorary).

In spite of a question from the President, Mr. Melville declined to make a formal proposal about microfilming the biography sheets, and the report was then adopted.

Library Committee

The Library’s report was proposed in Mr. Cook’s absence by Miss Jean Sanderson, and seconded by Mr. D.J. Jones (Peterborough). It was adopted without debate.

Publications Committee

When he proposed the report, Mr. W.J. Couperthwaite, Chairman of the committee, said that two Education Committee publications were nearly ready for sale. In reply to a question from Mr. A.P. Smith, he said that he had that day received copies of the Rung Surprise supplement mentioned in the report. He also accepted a suggestion from Mr. Jackson that the committee should consider publishing a pamphlet on the current insurance situation, covering such things as public, liability and personal accident cover, but wondered who would write it. He was seconded by Mr. D.J. Jones.

Mr. Tremain enquired what had happened about the Ringers’ Atlas that had been mentioned in the committee’s previous report, and Prof. Johnston replied that it was now in the press and should be available about mid-November. It was now a private venture, and he was trying to arrange for copies to be made available to readers of The Ringing World at a special pre-publication price.

After Mr. P.M.J. Gray had commented on the erratic pattern of sales when one year’s figures were compared with the next, Mr. Couperthwaite said that there was always a surge of demand for new publications when they first appeared, and that others sometimes went temporarily out of print during the course of a year.

There being no further questions on the committee’s work or its report, the latter was then adopted by the Council.

The President then invited questions on the Library and Publications Funds. Mr. H.C. Charles (Norwich) wondered what constituted the Administrative costs shown in the latter, and Mr. Butler enquired what the explanation was for the marked drop in sales income since the previous year. Replying, Mr. Wratten said that storage charges now had to be paid for the stock of Council publications, and that the Council also paid towards the costs incurred by the Ringing World office in preparing orders for despatch. As for the drop in sales income, the previous year’s exceptionally high figure had been almost entirely due to the appearance of the first part of the Ringing History.

The Council’s accounts as a whole were then adopted, this having been proposed by Mr. Wratten and seconded by Mr. Groome.

Public Relations Committee

This was the last of the fourteen committee reports considered by the Council in what was proving a lengthy day’s business. Its adoption was proposed by Mr. Wilby and seconded by Dr. A. Newing (Honorary):

Dr. Newing formally proposed that Mrs. Bianco and Mr. Coleman, both of whom had been elected Honorary members of the Council earlier in the meeting, should be elected members of the Committee. Mr. Wilby seconded, and this was agreed. The report was then formally adopted.

The President concluded this part of the Council’s business by thanking all committee members, on behalf of the Council, for their work during the past year (applause).

Future meetings

The Secretary summarised the invitations that had already been accepted or noted by the Council, and reminded members that an invitation had been received during the year from the Shropshire Association for the 1996 meeting.

Mr. Dukes, speaking on behalf of the Irish Association, then invited the Council to hold its 1998 meeting in Ireland, when the Association would be celebrating its centenary. The invitation was greeted with applause, and formally noted.

It was also agreed to accept the invitation for 1993 from the Llandaff and Monmouth DA.

Mrs. C.A. Bedding (Bath & Wells) said that her society was looking forward to the Council’s visit in 1990, when it would be marking its own centenary. The meeting would be in Wells, where the Association would be holding its centenary service in the Cathedral on the Sunday, and the reception would be in Glastonbury. It would not be possible to provide a headquarters hotel such as they had enjoyed in Birmingham, but accommodation details would be provided as soon as possible. (Applause)

Any other Business

Preb. Scott praised the excellent organisation of the weekend and the chairman’s conduct of the meeting; but pleaded for the seating to be arranged in a semicircle in future so that speakers from the floor could be better seen and heard.

The Secretary said that during the meeting the Council’s membership had increased by one society and one representative. 56 of the 69 affiliated societies eligible to send representatives had been fully represented at the meeting, 10 had been partly represented, and only three were not represented. In total 170 representative, 21 Honorary, and eight Life members had been present, the resulting attendance of 199 being the highest in the Council’s history. The total compared with 77 when the Council last met in Birmingham, in 1945, and with 45 at its 1892 meeting in the city.

Concluding the meeting, the President warmly thanked, on behalf of the Council, all those who had contributed to the undoubted success and enjoyment of the weekend - the incumbents and tower captains of the churches where members had rung; the staff of the Grand Hotel, and those of Birmingham Cathedral where corporate Communion had been celebrated that morning; the St. Martin’s Guild and in particular its organising committee for their work and welcome; and the Secretary and Vice-President for their assistance. He also thanked those who had reached the end of their period of membership of the Council for their contributions to its work and to ringing. (Applause).

After Mr. E.A. Barnett (Life) had thanked the President for his conduct of the meeting, he declared the meeting closed.

It was then nearly 5.30.

THE RINGING WORLD LIMITED

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Although the accounts show a loss of some £4,000 on the year’s working, this is accounted for by the Board’s deliberate decision to use some of the Company’s accumulated profits from previous years in three particular areas of benefit to the paper and its readers.

Firstly, and most importantly, the Board authorised an increase in pages in order to clear the growing backlog of quarter peal reports (for which donations had already been received and credited in the 1987 accounts). It is pleasing to report that we have succeeded in making the quarter peal backlog a thing of the past, so that the paper is significantly more up-to-date and newsworthy. We record our thanks to our team of out-workers in setting quarters for their hard work and prompt attention to the work passed to them.

Secondly, the Board has invested in the future of the paper by promotional activities such as the publication of a free Belfry Planner to all our readers, and the insertion of a Ringing World subscription form in every Diary sold.

The third item of extraordinary cost arose from the Board’s decision to participate in Australia’s Bicentennial celebrations by sending the Editor to the ANZAB Annual Meeting and Festival in April. He was able to report back to our readers his first-hand impressions of ringing in Australia. We are extremely grateful to Anne Carpenter for the excellent job she made of deputising for the Editor during his month away from the office.

Although sales of the Diary were marginally lower than our inaugural production the previous year, this was expected, and The Ringing World Diary made a useful contribution to our overall income.

Despite having had to increase the price of the paper in order to meet rising costs and provide additional pages to print the increasing number of peal and quarter peal reports, our readers clearly support the policy as sales have been maintained and are showing signs of beginning to rise. We are extremely encouraged by this support and would thank all those who contribute to this continuing success of the paper by either buying the paper, making donations, or, most importantly, contributing copy to the Editor. In addition, members of the Company can promote the paper at every opportunity.

H. W. EGGLESTONE

The Ringing World, July 7, 1989, pages 619 to 629, corrections July 28, 1989, page 696

Report on Overseas Liaison for 1988

The Overseas Liaison report for the year 1988 is based on the relevant items which appeared in The Ringing World. Ringing Towers, The Clapper, S.A. Ringing Circle and Look-to as well as those which were taken from letters, newspaper and magazine cuttings received from overseas friends. Some good people who went overseas and joined the ringing in the various countries were helpful too, with reports following these visits. The writer therefore acknowledges the use of the material concerned and expresses his gratitude to the respective Editors and correspondents. Apologies are offered to those who might feel aggrieved about the omission of any item they consider worthy of mention but not included because it may not have come to our notice, or was inadvertently omitted.

Central Council Meeting, Whitehaven: It was a red-letter day for the Verona, Italy Society, the Transvaal Guild and the Zimbabwe Guild, when all three became affiliated to the Council. The Italians were strongly represented in Whitehaven as were the A.N.Z.A.B and N.A.G. societies. The Transvaal Guild apologised for the non-attendance of their representative and the Zimbabwe Guild awaited the outcome of the voting before deciding to appoint a representative, however, it was a great pleasure to see the Hyde family all the way from Harare there as observers.

The overseas display appeared on the day of the Council meeting and it covered all areas, but particular attention was given to “Italy”, “Transvaal” and “Zimbabwe” on account of their applications for affiliation to the Council membership. The press cuttings from Victoria, B.C. and Durban, S.A., attracted close interest, as did the Hobart dedication material. Copies of the S.A. Ringing Circle, Look-to, and the service of the christening of the bells in St. Paul’s, Maryborough, Queensland were exhibited for perusal.

Communications: Communications with all areas of ringing overseas continued to occupy the Overseas Liaison during the year, who is grateful to all concerned and appreciates the receipt of very helpful information and good advice from abroad, as well as from U.K. ringers who travelled to overseas ringing areas. Visits by “home” ringers are shown in the various reports to be very welcome in maintaining the close bonds of friendship which now exist. In turn, overseas ringers coming to the British Isles are made very welcome wherever they go. Mutual benefit must, of course, be the result of such contacts.

Of particular importance in 1988, was the Australian Bi-centennial Year celebrations, which caused three officially organised tours composing of ringers and friends from these islands, and some from overseas to go to Australia to join in the celebrations. Independent of these tours a few specialised tours also took part. New Zealand, too, was welcome to some of the participants who extended their “bicentennial” visit.

Australian Bi-Centennial Year 1988: The principal overseas event of the year was the Australian Bi-centennial Year celebrations. Various projects were organised by A.N.Z.A.B. in collaboration with the state bodies. These included additional rings of bells, augmentations, major restorations of existing rings, welcoming facilities for visiting ringers and the organised tours from the U.K. Although it was mainly an Australian event, New Zealand also benefited from the touring parties, because some of the participants went there to ring at the individual towers.

The benefit to the Exercise, of course, was enormous. What with new methods being rung to peals, the new friendships formed and the additional bells provided, we must extend our gratitude to the A.N.Z.A.B. committees and to the organisers of the tours for their foresight and planning and the ultimate completion of the venture. Congratulations to all concerned. The Ringing World graciously gave plenty of space to the reporting on the events throughout the year and therefore it is not intended to repeat them in this report.

The year was opened with the ringing of bells in Australia at dawn on the 1st January. Would we be correct in saying that it was St. Paul’s, Maryborough, QLD. who first saw the rays of the rising sun? The honour for the first bells to ring in 1988 must go to St. Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne who commenced a successful peal of Plain Bob Major at 00.35 hours on 1st January! Then on the last day of the year, the new ring of bells at Christ Church, Claremont, W.A. finally drew the curtain at dusk on a most eventful and successful year in the history of Australian bell-ringing.

Additional Rings of Bells, Augmentations and Restorations: One of the themes of the Australian Bi-centennial Year was to provide additional rings of bells, to augment some of the existing rings and to execute major restoration work on some of the older rings which had become difficult to handle. New rings were installed and dedicated at St. John’s Cathedral, Brisbane; St. Saviour’s Cathedral, Goulbourn; St. Andrew’s, Brisbane and Christ Church, Claremont. There is also some speculation about possible additional rings and in fact, bells are available awaiting their installation in the respective places, perhaps in our next report, we can throw some light on this subject.

Major restoration works were carried out at St. Mary’s, Darling Point; St. Clement’s, Yass and St. Patrick’s R.C. Cathedral, Melbourne.

In the U.S.A., the new ring of bells for Trinity Cathedral, Little Rock were dedicated and have already been “pealed”. Further, there is to be a three towers festival there from 7th to 9th April 1989. The bells of the Nancy Hanks Centre (O.P.Q.) Washington, were out of action for some weeks whilst some major repairs were carried out by Taylor’s of Loughborough.

The D.I.Y. works at Durban, South Africa, towers continued and it is pleasing to note that these installations are now in good health, thanks to the devotion to the task by Eric Webster, Jane Grant and others. St. George’s Cathedral, Grahamstown required some attention to the tower and work on the bells. In fact, it is understood that there are proposals being considered to have a major job put in hand in the not-too-distant future. It is interesting to learn, that the Very Rev. Paddy Glover, formerly of St. George’s, Parktown, now Dean of Bloemfontein, is so keen on having a ring of bells in his cathedral, that a fundraising fete was held. Hopefully, the Dean’s dreams will turn into reality.

Peals and Quarter-Peals: The appended table of peals and quarter-peals rung in the various countries has been complied from those published in The Ringing World (up to and including 16/2/89) The Clapper; Ringing Towers and S.A. Ringing Circle. Undoubtedly, in some areas, the figures included will not agree with the final totals prepared by the local officers concerned. The table is intended to reveal to readers the extent of change-ringing practised overseas and it is very encouraging to note the advantages being made particularly in the N.A.G. and A.N.Z.A.B. areas. The major changes compared with last year, are of course, in Australia and New Zealand, where large increases in peals and quarters were seen in 1988.

The U.S.A. shows a small reduction in successful attempts, whilst Canada and Zimbabwe had no tower bell peals recorded, but there was one handbell peal rung in Quebec.

South Africa, mainly through Transvaal, increased its quota of peals and quarter peals.

The “Others” peals were all in Hong Kong with a first of Yorkshire Surprise Major in Asia. The quarters were in Hong Kong and two in the Solomon Islands both being of Minimus in hand.

The Zimbabwe quarters were all rung at Harare Cathedral.

Methods In Australia, the peals covered a total of 69 methods, variations and splicings from Doubles to Maximus and included plain methods up to Alliance and Surprise. Perth headed the peal list with a total of twelve to their credit, and they were followed closely by St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney with ten attempts. New methods rung for the first time were “88 Alliance Maximus”, “Perth S. Major”, and “Bi-centennial Alliance Major”, and in the quarter-peal range “Queen’s Head Doubles” and “Claremont S. Minor” were firsts in Australia.

New Zealand’s 32 methods, variations and splicings ranged from Plain to Surprise and included Doubles to Maximus. Hamilton was the only tower there not to record a peal. At Christchurch Cathedral five peals were scored and it included the first of Cambridge Surprise Royal in the country. The first peal on the eight bells of Papanui Church was one of Plain Bob Major. Auckland topped the quarter-peal list with 55 rung during the year in a wide variety of methods.

All of the peals in Africa were rung at St. George’s, Parktown and included the first of Lincolnshire S. Major in Africa. In all five methods from Minor to Major were used in. the attempts.

Sixty-seven methods, variations and splicings from Doubles to Royal were used in the U.S.A. The 100th peal on the bells of Advent Church, Boston gave it the honour of the first church outside the British Isles to have reached that milestone. First peals in Advent S. Major and Houston S. Major were scored, as well as one of 8888 of Plain Major in 2 methods at Houston and one of 9968 of Little Bob Major in hand. Advent also headed the tower league with 27 peals.

Ringing Courses. Education: Ringing Courses were reported as having been held in Kalamazoo, U.S.A.; Melbourne and Sydney, Australia and at Quebec in Canada. Doubtless these commendable projects brought some success and encouragement to the respective organisers.

A Ringing Course organised by Chestnut Hill College, resulted in five out of six beginners being recruited for ringing at St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, Philadelphia. The President of the N.A.G., John King is keen on Educating ringers and urged the Guild to “take affirmative responsibility to spread its talent around to nurture ringing in places in which help would be welcome”. During the month of January, the two weeks intensive ringing course for beginners at Washington D.C. brought some rewards even if only three of the participants survived the course.

The Houston and Texarkana Societies, and the good “old reliable” Marie Cross gave unstinted assistance in training ringers for the new ring at Little Rock Cathedral.

Many other courses have probably been held. So to all those known and unknown teachers and instructors who gave of their time to these events we owe our deepest gratitude and encouragement in the very important job of teaching beginners, helping ringers to advance in change-ringing and producing conductors.

Public Relations: The annual open-day at Washington Cathedral was a popular success. Nearly 100 visitors learned about campanology and the names of potential ringers were recorded. A two-week intensive beginners course was arranged for late in October.

The Durban Branch of the South African Historical Society visited the tower of St. Mary’s Church, Durban and were rewarded with a talk by Jane Gant on the facts of campanology. Then later on the Natal Society for Gifted Children paid a visit on a similar exercise, and as they were “gifted”, three recruits to ringing resulted.

Grahamstown held its open-day on 5th March when members of the public visited the Cathedral tower. Demonstrations of the ringing and an exhibition of bells and ringing were part of the event. Almost 300 people came along - the oldest was an octogenarian and the youngest was but six months old. There was also some coverage about Grahamstown ringing in the local press and on the radio during the National Arts Festival.

Publicity: The dawn ringing on 1st January in Australia for the opening of the bi-centennial year received a lot of publicity in both the press and on the air, via T.V. and radio. The band which rang a peal at Geelong were interviewed by the local press and photos taken immediately the attempt concluded. Not far away in Melbourne and following a peal of Grandsire Caters at St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Age photographed the band and featured them on the next morning. The same paper also showed the bells of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne being removed for transhipment to the U.K. for retuning and new fittings.

An article on the sound control arrangements at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, in the Sydney Morning Herald seems to have backfired, because subsequent complaints about noise pollution from the bells of at least two other towers followed this publicity.

The local press in New Zealand’s Christchurch gave prominence to the 70 years as a ringer of Nelson Sloan with an account of his ringing career. Also in Christchurch, Ashley Smith, who was disabled, took part in a quarter-peal and his photograph appeared on the front page of The Press, along with a write-up about him and the quarter.

The memorial weekend (27th May) in Quebec received some advance publicity, including a printed notice on the bulletin board at the Bibliotheque. Also the Editor of the Quebec newspaper roused the P.R.O.-to-be of the N.A.G. for an interview and an article did appear. In Boston, the Advent Church bells were heard during Independence Day performance of the Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture in each year and sometimes they come over on T.V.

The Journal of the Institution of Highways and Transportation published a report on the visit to Italy by the Malvern ringers under the title “Bellringing in North Italy”.

St. George’s tower, Parktown, Johannesburg was invaded by a film crew from S.A.B.C. They filmed members of the team and ringing and the final production appeared in Sundown.

Tedelex Talk, a South African business magazine, included some notes about Eric Webster - staff member - and the Durban ringers. A coloured photograph of the team at the ropes accompanied the notes. The Natal Mercury wrote about the appeal for funds to repair St. Mary’s Church, Durban bells. A photograph showed one of the bells, under which were Jane Gant and two other ringers. The Sunday Tribune - To-Day supplement gave a full page to the ringers of St. Mary’s, Durban and it included three coloured photographs of the ringers, the church and the bells.

Publications: Ringing Towers, the official journal of A.N.Z.A.B. increased its circulation from four issues a year to six issues. The standard of production was not diminished as a result, but it seems to have been a “wee bit” too much for the Editor, Susan Tonkin in her already busy life. She maintained a very high standard right up to the last and eventually handed over Editorship to Peter W. Whitehead from Christchurch, N.Z. to whom we send our good wishes for the future. Thank you, Susan for your good work and for including periodically, extracts from the Overseas newsletters.

The N.A.G. journal, The Clapper, also had a change of Editorship, Richard Anderson resigned in 1987 but remained as a member of an editorial committee. Now, however, a new Editor-in-chief in the person of Jessie Ravage from Philadelphia has been appointed and has already shown what can be done in continuing the standards set by predecessors. The paper has published Overseas Newsletters in full since the editorship of Elizabeth Davies and for this attempt to keep in touch with the ordinary ringer we say a sincere thank you, and also for an interesting, friendly and newsy publication. Best wishes go to Jessie on her assumption of the mantle of Editor.

In South Africa, the S.A. Ringing Circle continues to make its appearance quarterly. Great credit is due to the four areas who in turn produce the issues. It too, is a very friendly magazine and conveys much news about the African ringers, keeping them closer together. Keep up the good work.

One issue of Look-to from Zimbabwe came to hand and again it contains much detailed information about the individual members of the Guild, including a query about a proposal to set up a Branch of the Guild in the U.K.! It is a delightful newsletter and we eagerly look forward to “look-to”.

Three issues of Overseas Newsletters were distributed to all bell-ringing areas abroad during the year. The Clapper reproduced each one in full and Ringing Towers included extracts from them because of space limitation. In this way the individual ringers were communicated with and the writer is grateful for this ready cooperation in our efforts to get at the “grassroots” ringers with world-wide news.

Miscellaneous: Australia - St. Paul’s tower in Maryborough, Queensland celebrated its centenary in 1988 and on Easter Sunday a special service of the baptism of the nine bells took place, when each bell was given a name. The 4th bell was named “Ted” in honour of the present captain, Ted Klupp, who commenced ringing on the 22nd January 1928. He has been the mainstay of the tower for over 60 years. Five of the other bells were named after previous tower captains. Congratulations to Ted and gratitude is expressed to him for the care of, and attention to the ringing of, the bells in Maryborough.

We must pay a tribute to Jack Cummins of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney who was so closely involved with a major sound control system following complaints about the noise levels from the bells. The exercise he was engaged in was most instructive and the technicalities of the project were so successful that the tower was able to rank second in Australia for the number of peals rung in 1988 - ten in all.

Canada - We learn that Michael Batten, immediate past-President of N.A.G. has moved to Vancouver and is now in training for the ministry of the church. We wish him well.

Lahore - The six bells in Lahore Cathedral hang in two levels and have not been rung full-circle within living memory. At present they are chimed by Ellacombe apparatus. Notice has been given of a proposed visit by ringers to Lahore with a desire to rehabilitate the ringing and if possible to have a ring on the bells. It is however understood that they do not ring because of tower sway. Hopefully, if such a visit should materialise the nucleus of a resident band will be left behind for regular ringing, if safe to do so, in the future.

Italy - Thanks are extended to George Morris for his help in the preparation of the Italian ringing note. His report is reproduced in full and it relates the activities of the Associazione Suonatori Di Campane A Sistema Veronese which reads:

The first highlight of the past twelve months was the affiliation of the A.S.C.S.V. to the Council at the last meeting. However there has been no slackening off in activity in Italy - in fact just the opposite. There have been many visits to Italy by individuals and groups. The second leg of the youth exchange programme was a huge success and was enjoyed by all. What a week that was. A number of augmentations have taken place. Two that I know of are the monastery at Frassino from six to ten and St. Felice a Fortunato in Vicenza from five to nine. A great deal of teaching of new bands has taken place in previously silent towers. In Lonigo there is a new ring of bells with a new band of ringers. Probably the most important activity however is the negotiation between the various ringing systems with the aim of settling up an all embracing association. This last project is very thrilling as it gives much food for thought. This short report shows that there is a huge enthusiasm from all parts of the exercise in Italy.

Kenya - The condition of the bells in St. Thomas’s Church, Kilifi is such that some major repairs will be necessary to enable the bells to be rung again by teams of ringers. We have no information on the present situation there as regards any progress towards repairs being put in hand.

New Zealand - The G.O.M. of Christchurch, Nelson Sloan, celebrated his 83rd birthday and was rewarded with the publication of his photograph in The Ringing World. The occasion also marked his 70 years as a ringer. Although he has not been very well for some time, he did manage to take part in a quarter-peal recently. Congratulations to Nelson and long may he continue with his great interest in Christchurch and its bells.

South Africa - We learned with the regret of the death at the age of 75 years, of Arthur W. Payne of St. George’s, Parktown, Johannesburg. He was a greatly respected founder member of the Transvaal Guild and came to S. Africa from Devon where he learned to ring. It is good to know that G.O.M. Cyril Chambers has recovered sufficiently from his illness to be able to handle a bell again.

U.S.A. - Dr. Arthur T. White, Professor of Mathematics at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, was named to receive the University’s Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award and whom we congratulate on this achievement. In his busy life he does manage to practise ringing whenever possible. His mathematical genius has been brought to bear on the exercise in connection with method compositions.

Zimbabwe - Since the departure of the indefatigable Margaret Gendall from Kwe Kwe her successor as tower captain is Stanley Dube, who is concentrating on raising the standard of ringing with call-changes. A number of new members have been recruited. It is hoped that this remote outpost of ringing will continue to make progress. In Harare Cathedral much attention is given to Doubles methods, Stedman Triples, Cambridge S. Major, D. N. Court Bob, as well as the more common Plain methods. All are practised regularly.

Thanks: Once again a genuine thank you to the officers in the various ringing societies overseas and to the individual ringers, who through their hard work and enthusiasm ensure that the bells are kept ringing and progress is maintained in change-ringing.

To the Editors of the Overseas journals and newsletters gratitude is expressed for the hard work they put into their respective publications, which means so much in communicating with the bellringers in their respective areas.

David Thorne, Editor of The Ringing World, deserves the highest praise for both taking part in the bi-centennial tour of Australia and New Zealand and for the inclusion of so much Overseas news. Almost every issue had something from abroad.

Again, the letter writers were most helpful in keeping the Overseas Liaison up-to-date about many aspects of their respective domains and it was a real pleasure to hear from each and every one.

On behalf of the Central Council in general, and the Public Relations Committee in particular, a sincere thank you to you all.

FRED E. DUKES

The Ringing World, April 7, 1989, pages 319 to 321