STRIKING COMPETITIONS COMMITTEE

Competitions in 1999 saw a change from the usual routine to accommodate the wishes of the Channel Islands District. The six and eight-bell tower contests were held concurrently at the two Liss towers on Saturday 15th May in the afternoon and the eight-bell Inter-District at New Alresford on the Friday evening before the Guild AGM , thus enabling some Channel Island ringers to attend two major Guild events in one visit.

The change of routine did not seem to affect the turnout for the two tower competitions with the numbers comparing well with previous years. The weather stayed dry and warm allowing both judges to sit comfortably in gardens adjacent to their respective towers out of sight and in clear hearing of the bells. During the afternoon tea and biscuits were served by Charlotte Colliss ably assisted by Edward and Matthew. At the conclusion of the ringing all concerned gathered in St Mary’s Church at Liss where the Guild Master welcomed everyone and introduced the Judges.

Andrew Stubbs, a very well known Birmingham based ringer, thanked the Guild for asking him to judge the six-bell competition and said that he had had an interesting and enjoyable afternoon. The ringing was of a good overall standard and no ringer should feel any shame regarding their performance. His marks for each piece of ringing were purely for striking faults and not for speed or impression. He gave detailed accounts of each test piece and the following results.

The Guild Master presented the cup and first place certificate to Mark Esbester from Catherington. Over the years the six-bell trophy has been won by very few genuine six-bell bands, Catherington, who won in 1997 as well, have joined Fawley in 1976, Eling 1977, Steep who triumphed in 1980 and 1981 and Binsted in 1986. Second and third place certificates were presented to Hursley and Southampton University respectively. Subsequently, at the AGM after considerable discussion it was agreed that as the University ringers chose not to be Guild members, if they or other ringers in this position should want to enter Guild Competitions, they are welcome to compete but are not eligible for the glittering trophies on offer, rather like scratch teams. It was further agreed that this year’s results should stand but the Shanklin/Whitwell team would receive a commendation certificate for their fourth place.

Mike Uphill, yet another well known ringer, from London, started his assessment of the 8-bell competition by saying that Andrew Stubbs was a hard act to follow and how much he liked Liss’ “superb” bells, telling us about his previous visits to the tower and the ringers there. His comments on each test piece were presented in a humorous and interesting way. Unusually, one team he thought had over used the free practice rounds and had gone off the boil. In another he liked the touch so much that he asked for the figures. The team ringing fourth were described as “the big boys”, presumably for ringing Superlative and not the stature of the ringers in the scratch team. The other teams rang Grandsire Triples.

The Guild Master presented the cup and first place certificate to Tony Smith of the Hursley team and certificates to the second and third teams. He thanked the judges for their time and expertise and to all concerned with a another successful Guild event. The ringers at Hursley are emerging as a new super team that came very close to winning both competitions with fourteen ringer in action on the day and probably some more at home. Well done Hursley!

The eight-bell Inter-District competition did not fare quite so well. Due to a number of reasons, not all down to moving to a Friday evening, there were five teams competing out of a possible eight. We were all very pleased to see a team from the Channel Islands joining in for the first time and also the ever present team from across the Solent. The teams were set 224 changes of any major method(s). The Isle of Wight’s unusual choice of Grandsire Major ensured that the five teams each rang a different method. Our old friends Margaret and Tom Chapman hid away in the back of the Church at New Alresford and cast a critical ear on the evening’s ringing. The weather stayed dry and warm just long enough to have a friendly unrushed competition with the results outside in the churchyard. Tom marked and reported on the striking and Margaret the overall impression of each touch.

The Guild Master presented the Shield to Mark Esbester of the Portsmouth District, whose team won for the third year running. The evening ended in the usual way with much discussion over the time and venue of next year’s competition. There was a very strong feeling that ferry time tables would be required.

Andrew Stubbs mentioned in his comments about the six-bell competition that he had listened to a lot of single bells being rung during the preparations for each test piece. This has not been commented on before, but we believe is fair comment and the Committee will review the rules. The rules will also be amended to take account of decisions made at the Guild AGM. With so much discussion and interest shown in striking competitions at the AGM, we hope there will be plenty of entries for next year.

John Colliss