Our first venue in 2006 was All Saints, Basingstoke on the 20th May, with the tower competitions returning to the 3rd Saturday in May. At the beginning of the week there were five entries for the 8-bell competition but unfortunately this subsequently dropped to three. Perhaps more disappointing was that I only ever heard from one 6-bell tower, resulting in that competition being cancelled. Joining the bands, and braving the typically English weather, were judges Chris Rogers from the Guildford Guild, assisted by Terry Collins from East Meon.
Chris gave the results as follows:
| Tower | Score | Drawn | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hursley | 91 | 2nd |
| 2 | Basingstoke | 84 | 1st |
| 3 | Catherington | 80 | 3rd |
Chris commented that all of the ringing was of a high standard, with not much separating the teams, before presenting the cup to Christine Hill of the Hursley band.
An even closer result was in store for us at the Inter-District competition on the 1st July at Ringwood held, once again, on the morning of the AGM, and coinciding with the church fete. The judges were Doug Boniface and myself and, with Doug being unable to stay to the afternoon, it was left to me to announce the following results immediately before the AGM in Christchurch:
| District | Score | Drawn | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alton and Petersfield | 44 | 1st |
| 2 | Winchester | 45 | 2nd |
| 3 | Portsmouth | 51.5 | 6th |
| 4 | Christchurch and So’ton | 72 | 3rd |
| 5 | Channel Islands | 86 | 5th |
| 6 | Andover | 101.5 | 4th |
A close call, with Alton and Petersfield just clinching it, and Roger Barber stepped forward to accept the shield from the Guild Master.
The last event of the year was the 10-bell event held on Saturday the 2nd September at Whitchurch - a new venue for this event. Our judges were Paul Flavell and Robin Leale from Kingston who, after giving some helpful comments on each of the test pieces, announced the results as:
| District | Score | Test piece | Speed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Winchester | 65.3% | Grandsire Caters | 3:20 |
| 2 | Andover | 60.6% | Plain Hunt Caters | 3:29 |
| 3 | Alton and Petersfield | 56.9% | Grandsire Caters | 3:09 |
Well, that’s it from me. My best wishes to Adam Greenley who has taken over the committee for 2007.
| Income | Expenditure | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| £.p | £.p | ||
| Balance b/f | 42.68 | Administration | 4.40 |
| Competition entries | 18.00 | Judges’ expenses | 11.50 |
| Profit on teas/ food | 3.66 | Balance c/f | 48.44 |
| £64.34 | £64.34 | ||
Andrew Byford