The York Colleges Guild of Bellringers
Dinner Day Weekend 2005 - 24th-26th June
Hand bell ringers past and present
(l-r)(back) Rosie Lee, Hilary Blake, Caroline Cheesman, Lizzy Usher, Charlotte Elkington, Karen Owen, Emma Greenhill
(front) Emma Tatnall, Cath Gajewski
Dinner day is always one of the highlights of the YCG calendar and this year was destined to be one of the best yet - especially for yours truly as it would be the final year I would attend as a student. Luckily the hard work and dedication of the committee made the weekend enjoyable for all of those who attended.
Friday evening saw ringing at St Laurence's (7-3-24 in A). The presence of several past members allowed more advanced ringing that is often achievable at YCG practices; with triples and some major being rung. The ringing was of a high standard all evening and provided a welcome opportunity for many to practice method ringing on larger numbers.
Not unexpectedly the ringing was followed by a drink (or two) in the Victoria, which was surprisingly busy following the re-appointment of the old landlord. The conversation soon slipped to a level far to low to mention here but those present will know what I mean and those that weren't aren't really missing anything.
Saturday morning dawned a dull and overcast day; however our spirits dampened neither by the weather nor by the 9:00 start, we made our way to Bishopthorpe (14-0-20 in F#). Special congratulations should also go to Michael, who managed to be the first to arrive by using the buses (one must have been on time for a change!) A high standard of ringing was achieved by all; for those who had not rung here before it was also an excellent chance to ring on (in my opinion) the nicest sounding bells in York.
Following the ringing we travelled the potentially dangerous journey through Dringhouses (chav central) from Bishopthorpe to Acomb (10-3-26 in F#). The ringing at Acomb appeared to be of a slightly lower standard to that achieved at Bishopthorpe but I think that was due to the bells being of a very different tone to those rung previously. It was at Acomb our only (potential) accident occurred; Andrew (who has only recently been persuaded by Rachel to take up ringing) missed his sally. Luckily (for the YCG bank account at least) no harm was done to the bell but Andrew did have a nasty looking bruise on his arm.
We then headed back into town for the last of our morning towers at St Martin's (10-1-23 in Ab). Despite the bells at St Martins being difficult to handle the ringing was of a high standard. We were also graced with the presence of a number of tourists who wandered into the church to have a good look at the ringers!!
Luckily the weather picked up by lunch time meaning that the idea of having a picnic lunch was not out of the question. Many members embraced the idea of a picnic - especially Lizzy who was able to use her new picnic set (from John Lewis). While some of us headed off to ring for a wedding (on a very oddly struck bell) the others had an enjoyable lunch in the museum gardens followed by a relaxing game of frisbee for a good measure.
Following lunch we moved to St Wilfrid's (18-1-21 in F) to work off some of our lunch. The ringing was impressive despite being stuck with an oddly struck bell which eventually refused to strike at all due to a dodgy clapper.
The final ring of the day should have been at St Olaves (9-0-14 in Ab), however due to a communication error no one was around to let us in. It was agreed that we had done enough ringing for the day and that we would retire to our homes, hotels etc to prepare for the evening's activities.
The dinner was held at the Elmbank hotel on Blossom Street. The hotel seemed awfully posh and there was a slight worry that they would not appreciate the raucous hubbub that the YCG usually carries with it. However everyone behaved themselves very well and the meal was nice (although I think that that pudding left a lot to be desired!!)
The infamous Master's Speech was conducted between the main and dessert, untraditionally this was not presented by the ringing master this year. This is because the YCG does not have a ringing master at present due to his resignation because of the stresses and strains of the job. Despite this we were blessed with a very well presented speech (I believe aided by a bit of Dutch courage) by Caroline Cheesman (acting ringing master) and Arthur Reeves (treasurer).
The rest of the evening was whittled away playing with the water bombs provided in the party bags (one wonders if the hotel may have regretted putting us in room containing a water colour painting) and playing silly games (which I am informed Arthur won hands down?!).
We realised that it was probably time to leave when the staff started coming in looking at their watches and attempting to tidy up. A plan to infiltrate the wedding party's disco was concocted however it was decided that it was not a good idea as we would all stick out like sore thumbs so reluctantly we departed for home.
Sunday morning saw some of us (those who are committed) ring for morning services. However for those who could not handle the early start the first official appointment was lunch at David Potter's house. Christine had kindly offered to cook for us despite being in Towcester for the 12 bell striking competition the previous day.
Following a delicious lunch we made our way to the Minster (59-1-23 in Bb) to work off some of it at least by climbing the stairs! The ringing was of a superb quality - especially as a large proportion of the band had not rung at the Minster before. The regular Minster ringers also impressed us with some excellent touches of Grandsire triples.
After the ringing David kindly invited everyone to his house to have a spot of afternoon tea before saying goodbye to old friends for another year before returning home.
This years dinner day was a very memorable event and it is at this point that special thanks should be given to all of those people who made it possible. Nicci Staves and Helen Edge who acted as the dinner day reps did a super job of organising the particulars of the day and finding the hotel for the evening meal. Kevin Atkinson the YCG secretary organised a varied and interesting set of towers to ring at over the weekend despite not being able to attend much of the ringing himself as he had to revise for his pending exams. Thanks also go to Arthur Reeves who organised the money before during and after the event - despite a reasonable amount of flapping. Last, but by no means least Caroline Cheesman must be acknowledged for her tireless support of the committee in the run up to the weekend and in YCG activities in general.
Debbie Spinks
Maff and Charlotte
Caroline and Michael
Caroline and Arthur making their speech, with Michael and David in the foreground
Michael and David
Kevin, Debbie, Arthur, Caroline and Michael
Arthur, Caroline and Kevin
Arthur, Debbie and Kevin