The Guild Master - Rachael Barber, supported by the Vice-Master - Peter Niblett, Hon. Gen. Secretary - Steve Castle, Hon. Gen. Treasurer - Robin Milford and Minute Secretary - Tony Smith, opened the meeting at 10.16 a.m. and Barry Fry said a prayer. The Master welcomed those present and encouraged members to claim travelling expenses. She thanked the outgoing principal officers - Pete Jordan, Allan Yalden and Helen Woolford, Peal Recorder - Edd Colliss, and Safeguarding Officer - John Davey. She also thanked Hugh Routh who had stood down as Bell Adviser to the Portsmouth DAC (and been succeeded by Roger Barber) and asked members present to introduce themselves.
The other members attending were Roger Barber (A&P Exec Rep.), Roger Booth (Winchester Exec Rep.), Ian Carey (Peal Recorder), Michael Church (CC Rep.), Margaret Downer (IoW Exec Rep.), Barry Fry (BRF Trustee), Mike Hopkins Till (CC Rep.), Andy Ingram (Education, Teaching Hubs), Pete Jordan (Immediate Past Master, Striking Competitions), Steve Lutener (Basingstoke Exec Rep.), David Mattingley (BRF Trustee), Viv Nobbs (PRO), John Palk (Report Editor), Simon Poyser (A&P Sec. proxy), Bruce Purvis (Librarian & Archivist), Matthew Wilks (Portsmouth Exec Rep.) and guest Andrew Glover (Webmaster).
Apologies for absence had been received from Charlotte Colliss, Lizzie Colliss, Martin Barnes, Nici Collins, Lucy Hopkins Till, Sallie-Louise Ingram, Micki Nadal and Mary Tester.
The Hon. Gen. Secretary read the following names and the Master asked members to stand while Barry Fry said a prayer.
| Gerry Faulkner | Arreton | |
| Mary Floyd | Chale | |
| Sue Froome | Wolverton | |
| E Nora Pointer | Sherfield English | |
| Richard Uzzell | Alderney | |
| Margaret Carter | formerly of Winchester Cathedral | |
| Pauline Weston | formerly of Brading |
The minutes of the meeting held on 19th March 2022 were proposed by Michael Church, seconded by Matthew Wilks, approved nem. con. and signed by the Master as a true record.
Safeguarding Officer. Dan Graham was elected on the proposition of the Master, seconded by the Vice-Master.
Central Council Representatives. Steve Castle was elected on the proposition of Tony Smith, seconded by Mike Hopkins Till. A further vacancy remained unfilled.
Neale Fray of Shedfield, Theo Getty of Alverstoke, Viv Nobbs (née Ball, formerly Stacey) of Ryde, Susan Savage of Romsey, and Paul Trend of Lyndhurst would complete fifty years’ ringing membership in 2023.
Peal Recorder - Nil.
Librarian and Archivist - £350.
Report Editor - £80.
Public Relations Officer - £275.
Education Committee - Nil.
Striking Competitions Committee - £342.
Belfry Stewardship Committee - Nil.
Communications Committee - £400.
Teaching Hubs Committee - Nil.
Young Ringers’ Group - £285.
The bids were approved en bloc on the proposition of Ian Carey, seconded by Michael Church.
A Budget for 2023 prepared by the Hon. Gen. Treasurer had been added to the online meeting papers but had not been seen by all members. The Hon. Gen. Treasurer said TSB had not yet completed the transfer of the account and so he was still unable to make payments. Tony Smith said the expenditure on the Annual Report should include printing and not just the Report Editor’s expenses. Viv Nobbs said there should be more items anticipating expenditure on training and supporting the Districts. Roger Booth said the Central and District Funds had been increasing by about £3,500 per year and with the inflation rate at about 11% we should spending more for the benefit of the members. Roger also thought we were spending too much on insurance compared with other societies. However, Andy Ingram said the level of cover might not be the same, Michael Church pointed out that we are one of the largest societies and the Vice-Master said that the members see insurance as a benefit and we should be careful of reducing cover.
David Mattingley provided brief updates on the outstanding grants: Ecchinswell completed and awaiting sign-off by the Belfry Stewardship Committee; Brading no update; Twyford completion expected by Christmas; Hawkley completion now expected in the New Year; Newton Valence completed, signed-off by the BSC and the cheque is in the post; and Ropley ongoing.
Four new grant applications had been received:
St. Mary the Virgin, Andover. Believed to be the first ‘refurbishment’ since the bells were fully rehung in a new frame by Taylors in 1947. Dismantle and clean the ball races of the main bearings, re-grease and re-assemble, or if unduly worn replace as deemed necessary. Re-bush all clappers and reshape clapper balls to remove flat spots. Manufacture new sets of pulley units. Replace the stays on the 2 & 3 refitting the refurbished Hastings toggles. Secure loose shrouding joint on the tenor wheel. Total cost of £9,000. The Trustees recommended a grant of £1,300.
St. Mary, Portchester. Refurbishment of the three bells, including removal of their cast in crown staples, replacement of all the fittings dating from 1888 with the exception of the wheels, rehanging on wooden headstocks with roller bearings. Tightening of frame ironwork. Masonry work to build in the ends of the timber beams supporting the bell frame in order to stabilize the frame. Provision of sound control. Total cost of £19,000. The Trustees recommended a grant of £800.
All Saints, Basingstoke. Temporarily stand the 9th bell on timbers in its pit and dismantle its fittings as required. Remove the headstock and bearing assemblies, lower them to the ground and transport them to Works. Remove the existing gudgeons from the headstock and carefully machine the gudgeon sockets of the casting to remove the damaged surface and to allow correct accurate fitting of two new fixed steel gudgeons of the correct dimensions turned in true alignment. Securely fix the new gudgeons into the headstock casting. Refurbish and regrease the existing bearings, fitting new seals, and fit them to the new gudgeons. Transport the headstock to the church, hoist it into the tower and refit it to the 9th bell. Rehang the bell with all existing fittings in the bell frame, securely bolting the bearings to the bearing tables. Set the 9th clapper up for even clappering and leave the bells in good order for full circle ringing. Total cost of £4,000. The Trustees recommended a grant of £500.
St. Edward the Confessor, Netley. The Warner eight cast in 1886 will be retuned, quarter turned and rehung with all new fittings in a strengthened frame. Sound control will be installed which should increase the likelihood of an occasional peal. Total cost of £83,000. The Trustees recommended a grant of £12,000.
In each case the chosen contractor is Whites of Appleton. The grants were proposed by David, seconded by Pete Jordan, and agreed.
Mike Hopkins Till said he and Lucy were teaching a band at Ecchinswell. Viv Nobbs said the costs at Brading had risen from the £105,000 when the grant was approved in March 2018 and suggested that the tower could make a new grant application. Roger Booth appealed for more attention to be paid to cash flow.
The Master understood that the transfer of the deanery of Guernsey to the Salisbury diocese was completed on 9th November, and the Deans of Jersey and Guernsey were made canons of Salisbury Cathedral at a service on 17th November. Accordingly, the principal officers had determined that the rule changes passed at the 2020 AGM (Motion A) should become effective on 17th November. Viv Nobbs was preparing an article for The Ringing World. The Master suggested the transfer could be marked by quarter peals and Tony Smith said that some performances had already been rung and linked on BellBoard to the event Channel Island move to Salisbury.
The Master thanked Peter Sheppard and Andrew Glover for all their work. Andrew Glover said the treatment of archive material needed further consideration. Simon Poyser asked for consideration to be given to the use of social media.
The Hon. Gen. Treasurer said that Christine Knights-Whittome recent supplying of Guild sweatshirts and polo shirts had produced a surplus of £136.48 and Christine would like this to go to the Young Ringers’ Group. This was proposed by the Master, seconded by Simon Poyser and agreed nem. con.
Pete Jordan read a paper with the Committee’s plans for 2023 (see Annex) and made an appeal for new committee members.
| 4th March 2023 | Education course - Plain hunt | |
| 18th March 2023 | Executive Committee Meeting | |
| 1st April 2023 | SEECON Youth Striking Contest - Caterham | |
| 22nd April 2023 | Education course - Plain Bob | |
| 20th May 2023 | Inter-Tower 6-bell & Novices’ striking competitions - Basingstoke District | |
| 10th June 2023 | Inter-District 8-bell striking competition - Andover District | |
| AGM - Andover District | ||
| 8th July 2023 | RWNYC - York | |
| 9th September 2023 | Essex Trophy - Walthamstow | |
| 16th September 2023 | Inter-Tower 8-bell striking competition | |
| 7th October 2023 | Education course - Treble Bob | |
| 4th November 2023 | Education course - Plain hunt | |
| 18th November 2023 | Executive Committee Meeting |
Roger Barber said the Alton & District was planning an Open Day in aid of Ropley bells, possibly on a Bank Holiday weekend next year.
Mike Hopkins Till said that he and Lucy were on the Central Council Volunteer and Leadership Working Group, Lucy was convener of the Education sub-group and he had been assigned to a project focussing on improving striking.
Viv Nobbs mentioned the ART Awards and “Things to ring for” including the King’s Coronation. She thanked towers for volunteering as a venue for potential media filming, and Lizzie Colliss for the excellent Newsletter. She would be standing down as PRO at the next AGM. Michael Church said this week’s issue of The Ringing World advertised a “Ring for the King” online Teaching Forum on Sunday 27th November at 7.30 p.m.
Andrew Glover said that while populating the new website he had cross-checked contact details on the website with the Annual Report and found many discrepancies. He appealed to everyone to help keep the contacts up-to-date. The Master said the Hon. Gen. Secretary should be the primary point of contact for updates.
There being no further business, the Master closed the meeting at 11.53 a.m.
[Robin Milford conducted the draw for the W&P 200 Club the following morning at Botley church before service ringing. The winners were as follows (given by club number, name and prize amount)
28 Peter Hill £23.00; 31 Wendy Ling £9.20; 19 Roy & Ann LeMarechal £4.60; 14 Rosalind Brandwood £4.60; 15 Viv Nobbs £2.30; 9 Margaret Winterbourne £2.30.]
Over recent years, entries for Guild striking competitions have been in decline. The 8-bell Inter-Tower competition has often had only one entry and the 10-bell Inter-District competition no interest at all.
There is considerable work which goes into organising these events on behalf of the Striking Competitions Committee and local towers, in particular finding judges can be a challenge. It is also disappointing for local tower members if a competition at their tower is cancelled at short notice and they have arranged refreshments etc.
Following last year’s Inter-Tower 6-bell competition there were a number of posts on Facebook, with some quite constructive thoughts which have been considered by the Striking Competitions Committee and we are proposing the following changes to the 2023 programme as a result.
The 10-bell Inter-District competition which over recent years has had little or no support will be shelved until further notice.
There were complaints that with the 6 and 8-bell Inter-Tower competitions at the same time this prevented bands from entering both if they had sufficient ringers. It is therefore proposed that the 8-bell Inter-Tower competition will move to the September slot vacated by the 10-bell.
The Inter-Tower 6 and 8-bell competition rules will remain largely the same, however we will be reviewing how we can make the bands more flexible by allowing a limited number of ringers to ring with more than one band from the same tower. This may perhaps allow a tower to enter a method and call changes team. We will also review the requirements for the call changes to be rung.
To encourage new recruits it is proposed to hold a new Novices’ 6-bell competition on the afternoon of the 6-bell Inter-Tower competition (with suggestions for pub lunch venue etc.). This would allow experienced ringers from the morning competition to stay to ring with and support their learners. Teams could be from a single tower or two towers combined and our thoughts at the moment are that they should include at least 2 ringers with less than 2-years’ experience (beyond that the ‘normal’ 6-bell competition will still allow them to enter but at a higher level). The competition will be Call changes, and again, the rules on what is required to be rung will be reviewed to make it realistic. We also will probably be looking for judges from within the Guild for this competition to make it less daunting to the learners, We hope you will all try to encourage the novices in your districts to come along and have some fun.
It is proposed that Certificates will be awarded for ALL teams entering in ALL competitions
If the Novices’ competition proves successful we will be looking for a name for the competition. This could perhaps be the subject of a Guild wide competition. Also perhaps to look for someone to sponsor a suitable Trophy.
Whilst it is impossible for the Striking Competitions Committee to keep an eye on all entrants and what they are ringing we hope that individual teams will abide by the spirit of the rules.
Pete Jordan
Convener, Striking Competitions Committee.
Nov 2022