We had many special occasions to ring for during 2005, I am sure that every one and every tower did their best but even so the total was down on the previous year. This year we have had none of these occasions and as a result, the position is even worse, being down by nearly 14.5%. In 2001 we managed 653 quarters, so why have we dropped 35% over 5 years?
Two Districts, Portsmouth and Winchester, improved their totals. The former may have been due to late publication, and due to no fault of theirs. And the latter may be due to competition where New Alresford was trying to keep their position in the National League table for Hampshire, and also by Romsey (with their restoration appeal in progress) ringing 13 more than in 2005. 69 towers had no quarters rung in them; some have been “silent” for a number of years.
The table below shows each District’s figures as extracted from The Ringing World during 2006.
| District | Total | (+/-2005) | Leading towers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alton and Petersfield | 40 | (-20) | East Meon | 10 |
| Andover | 14 | (-18) | Highclere | 4 |
| Basingstoke | 43 | (-12) | Basingstoke, both towers | =13 |
| Channel Islands | 84 | (-26) | Guernsey, Vale | 24 |
| Chrischurch and Southampton | 70 | (-11) | Southampton, St Mary | 12 |
| Isle of Wight | 16 | (-14) | Arreton | 13 |
| Portsmouth | 72 | (+18) | Alverstoke | 9 |
| Winchester | 83 | (+12) | New Alresford and Romsey | =21 |
Data provided by Alan A J Buswell