STRIKING COMPETITIONS COMMITTEE

A suggestion to move the Inter-Tower competitions back a few weeks was adopted this year, but in the end, the June 4th date proved unpopular, and the competitions were postponed due to lack of entries. The competitions were rearranged for October 8th, and I accept that there should have been better communication of the new details around the Guild, as it became apparent nearer the date that the message had not been received everywhere from the AGM after we again suffered from lack of entries; so my apologies are due for that. In retrospect, trying to fit in major Guild events with all the District calendars at a late stage was never going work well, and ultimately the competitions were cancelled.

In 2006, these events will return to the usual 3rd Saturday in May, and hopefully will attract as many entries as 2004.

The Inter-District 8-bell Competition was held at St. Peter Port as part of the Channel Islands Ringing Festival and judged by Roger and Rachael Barber. The event was made all the more interesting when it transpired that members of several bands had been stranded on Alderney overnight due to fog and bad weather during their tour of Jersey and Alderney the previous day. Fortunately everyone made it back and, apart from a slight change to the running order of the bands, the competition went ahead as planned.

The highlight of the year was the inaugural Inter-District Junior Competition held at Shedfield on September 3rd. This was a 6-bell event for ringers 18 or younger, and was judged by Toby Arkless. It was unfortunate that 2 of the 4 entries had to withdraw in the week before the competition, but we went ahead and the day was thoroughly enjoyed by all. It was great to see some young talent taking part and I’m sure that in most cases the attending parents were more nervous than the ringers! I am hoping that this competition will be held again in 2007.

Andrew Byford