After some low figures in recent years, we are back on our feet again with an amazing increase of 156. Mind you, there was a backlog of quarters published in The Ringing World held over from 2007 which helped and there were more towers ringing 10 or more - 16 as against 11 in 2007. This still leaves many towers silent and forgotten. I get the impression that when we have quarter peal events, the organisers sit back and wait for the results to come in rather than seeing before hand if such and such a tower is attempting a quarter, and if not, to try and do something about it. This way, hopefully, more towers should be rung.
An explanation of the table below was given in the Report for last year so this will not be repeated, save to say that these figures were extracted fromThe Ringing World during 2008. A few comments. The two Basingstoke towers seem to be in competition as St Michael scored one less than All Saints’, however the District seems to have a large number of “silent” towers. The Ascension, Bitterne Park, Southampton, seems to be a popular tower following its aumentation to twelve. On the Isle of Wight the number is down. The Portsmouth District had only two “silent” towers (Portsmouth St Mary’s being at present not available). In the Winchester District, Bishopstoke did not quite double last year’s number and a number of other towers performed well, Lockerley being one who scored two in 2007 and 15 this year.
| District | +/- on 2007 | Total | Towers rung | No. per Tower | % Towers rung | Leading tower | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alton & Petersfield | 11 | 50 | 13 | 2.25 | 61.9 | East Meon | 14 |
| Andover | 7 | 61 | 16 | 2.75 | 69.56 | Longparish | 9 |
| Basingstoke | 16 | 68 | 12 | 3 | 54.5 | Basingstoke, All Saints | 18 |
| Channel Islands | 8 | 66 | 7 | 9.5 | 100 | Guernsey, S Michael | 19 |
| Christchurch & Southampton | 35 | 104 | 17 | 5 | 80.95 | Southampton, Ascension | 19 |
| Isle of Wight | -7 | 22 | 8 | 1.5 | 57.14 | Arreton | 6 |
| Portsmouth | 24 | 74 | 14 | 3.75 | 89.47 | Catherington | 13 |
| Winchester | 62 | 150 | 19 | 2 | 66.33 | Bishopstoke | 45 |
| Totals | 156 | 595 | 106 | 2.75 | 67.5 | ||
Alan A J Buswell