The York Colleges Guild of Bellringers
Dinner Day Weekend 2007
Group Photo
This year’s dinner day began on Friday 15th June. We battled through the torrential rain to St Wilfrid’s for some general ringing. Allen was worried that he and Nicola would have to ring five bells each for some Royal, but luckily the rest of the ringers managed to tear themselves away from the tantalising delights of a York Branch Practice run by Mr Matthew J. Jones himself. With expert help from a plethora of past members (and a few hangers on) we surpassed ourselves ringing Superlative, Bristol and Cambridge Major, along with the piece de resistance of Yorkshire Royal. Having just about dried off we decided that a restrained pint or two was worth venturing into the rain for. The upper room in the Yorkshire Terrier was booked, as last year, and a merry night was had by all.
An early start is never usually a good idea after a heavy night of drinking, especially when the super-organised Daisy is setting the time. Nevertheless everybody made it to campus and a convoy of slightly dazed ringers set off along the yellow brick road to Huntington. With the cobwebs blown off we proceeded to Barmby Moor and then to Stockton-on-the-Forest for food. This consisted of several platters of sandwiches and chips, which were very tasty, but sadly not enough to satisfy a hoard of hungry ringers (mentioning no names, Kevin and David Denbigh). The rest of us took cover when David tried to sweet talk the slightly fierce landlady into providing an extra bowl of chips! After ringing and a fire at Stockton we split up and headed into York for ice cream, sticky buns and ringing at the Minster.
After a brief break (and a quarter for some) we rendezvoused for dinner at the Novotel on Fishergate. We got to see the flooded river and play in the playground before sitting down to eat. This year saw the reintroduction of the sweepstake for the Master’s speech, which led to a struggle between people wanting Allen to carry on for longer and those who wanted him to sit down quickly. Luckily no-one was hurt in the resulting carnage, although Allen was keeping a tight hold on the lectern for support. Following the food the fun began in earnest with games organised by Jenni and co. To get everyone in the mood we started with paired ‘Who’s on my Face’. It took a while to get everyone tied up but eventually we all worked out who we were. After this excitement and a large quantity of Port, Rob did his usual trick of making close head contact with the wall. Nicola, after first laughing and collecting photographic evidence, was none too pleased at having to take him home. Other games featured during the evening were ‘The Hula-Hoop Game’, ‘Dr Dr’, ‘Swinging Oranges’, ‘Musical Chairs’ and the customary bell line dancing. Char was very disappointed that no-one else wanted a go at apple bobbing, but the apples provided her with a good food source for the next few weeks.
Sunday began with service ringing for some and much needed sleep for a few others. David and Christine kindly provided a stunning lunch, which was appreciated by everyone, particularly those who were not still hung over. We finished the meal with rousing choruses from The Sound of Music Medley, accompanied by Christine and Jonathan Bowler. Look out for Matt’s recording, soon to be posted on YouTube, we hope (not!). People headed off in dribs and drabs, including David and Christine and other members of the twelve bell team. Left to our own devices we stopped David and Kevin from ransacking the kitchen and played tunes on handbells until it was time to head off for non-ball games in the park, evensong ringing and the YCG practice at Spurriergate.
Our thanks go to Jenni and Matt for organising the dinner, Daisy for organising the ringing and David and Christine for a splendid lunch.
The End!
Allen Eccles
Charlotte Elkington
Karen Owen