Three Guild competitions were held during 2001 - the 6 and 8 bell tower contests were hosted by the Portsmouth District on 18th May and the 8 bell Inter-District contest was held on the morning of the AGM.
The six bell competition was held at Purbrook, giving many of the ringers a chance to ring on the bells for the first time. The judges were Stuart and Barbara Piper and David Hope from Worcester. The eight bell competition was held at Soberton was judged by Robin Walker and Mark Wilson from Aldershot (and the Ambergate Campanile). Lunch for both events was provided in Purbrook church hall - thanks must go to ringers from Purbrook and Catherington in helping with the catering - with the results following.
David complimented the tower on the quality of the new installation, commenting that they were very easy to ring but being quite light they needed controlling to produce good striking. He continued to say that sitting outside the vicarage on a sunny day and listening to some excellent ringing was a very agreeable way to spend a Saturday morning. They thought is was good to have so many teams of various levels entering with bands ringing call changes through to Surprise Minor. The results were:
| Tower | Drawn | Peal | Faults | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catherington | 3rd | 2:29 | 21 |
| 2 | Southampton Univ | 6th | 2:24 | 33 |
| 3= | Upton Grey | 2nd | 2:43 | 39 |
| 3= | Hawkley | 7th | n/a | 39 |
| 5 | Hursley | 1st | 2:36 | 43 |
| 6 | Bishopstoke | 4th | 2:15 | 50 |
| 7 | Selborne | 5th | n/a | 59 |
The Master presented the cup to Mark Esbester of Catherington and certificates to the 2nd, 3rd and 3rd placed bands. The absence of a third placed band in the eight bell contest coincidentally providing an additional certificate for the two tied teams.
Robin reported that the quality of the ringing in the eight bell contest had been very high with both bands only receiving minor ½ mark faults throughout the test pieces. Both bands rang Grandsire Triples although the 2nd team choose Yorkshire as their practice piece. He then announced the following results and test piece times:
| Tower | Drawn | Time | Faults | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hursley | 2nd | 6:36 | 6 |
| 2 | Winchester | 1st | 6:42 | 9 |
The Master presented the cup and certificates to the band captains and went on to thank all the judges, the hosting towers and everyone concerned in the day’s organisation.
The eight bell Inter-District was held at Milton-on-Sea on the morning of the Guild AGM. The judge was our own Guild Master who commented that since he was judging the contest, chairing the meeting and taking the service - he might as well make the teas and do the washing up! Once again we had a lovely summer day allowing the bands to sit outside and enjoy the ringing.
The results were given at the end of the AGM later that day, the Master reporting that all the bands had rung well and the ringing had been pleasing to listen to. He observed that the best teams had been kept to last with the three final bands having very close scores. The results were:
| District | Drawn | Faults | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Winchester | 6th | 24 |
| 2 | Alton and Petersfield | 5th | 25 |
| 3 | Portsmouth | 7th | 27 |
| 4 | Christchurch and Southampton | 1st | 69 |
| 5 | Isle of Wight | 2nd | 89 |
| 6= | Channel Islands | 3rd | 100 |
| 6= | Andover | 4th | 100 |
The Shield was presented by Bob Cater who thanked all those concerned. He commented that is was good to see so many Districts involved and hoped that this will continue with the contest now becoming a regular feature of the AGM weekend.
| Income | Expenditure | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| £.p | £.p | ||
| Balance b/f | 2.78 | Administration (stationery, postage etc.) | 12.20 |
| Six bell | 7.00 | Tea/lunch | 4.10 |
| Eight bell | 2.00 | ||
| Inter-District | 14.00 | Balance c/f | 9.48 |
| £25.78 | £25.78 | ||
Andrew Byford