Troyte Ringing Centre
Registered Charity Number 1179374
News
TRC High School Band
Members of the Troyte Ringing Centre High School Band continue to make steady progress. This month Gil achieved level 2, receiving his certificate & badge. Millie achieved level 1 and was awarded her certificate, badge & The Ringer's Guide to Learning the Ropes book.
Sheila Scofield
TRC Young Ringers Easter Event
Tyler, Patrick, Elizabeth, Millie, Tommy and Gil outside Huntsham Church
During the Easter holiday the Bampton Bell Club and Tiverton High School group
came together for a joint practice on 9th April at Huntsham. Thanks to support
from 8 experienced helpers the Young Ringers all achieved new goals in their
ringing targets using the Learning the Ropes scheme. The Bampton Young Ringers
not only rang for the first time in a new tower but also had their first
opportunity to ring bells independently in rounds. The Older Young Ringers were
able to support the younger ringers and demonstrate skills required in level 2,
such as call Changes, whole pull and stand, place making and ‘Twinkle, twinkle
little star’.
During the morning we were able to present Tommy with his ‘Level 1’ LtR
certificate, badge and ‘Ringer’s Guide to Learning the Ropes’ book. We were all
given a nutritious boost by Jenny’s Chocolate cake at half time, when this photo
was taken.
Sheila Scofield
1st Quarter Peal for Jonah
Congratulations to Jonah for ringing his first Quarter Peal on Wednesday 19th February. Bellboard Link
Jonah (centre) and the QP Band
Jonah started ringing in 2022. Having missed the
opportunity to join the Bell Club in the Primary school due to lockdowns he
asked that we could teach him and his friend whilst attending Tiverton High
School. He and Gil were instrumental in our starting up THS Bell Club, meeting
at Tiverton St Paul’s each Tuesday during term time.
Jonah has made steady progress using the Learning
the Ropes scheme. Half-term was a chance for him to ring at Huntsham and ring
the treble to Plain Bob Doubles. Thanks go to those who helped throughout his
development and on the day, especially to Fergus who organised and called the
Quarter Peal.
Sheila Scofield
TRC Young Ringers perform at Christmas
Our young ringers from Bampton Primary and Tiverton High After-School Bell Clubs have rung for two Christmas events at Bampton and for the High School Carol Concert in Tiverton.
On Friday 6th December they rang for the Christmas Lights switch-on in Bampton at 6 00pm. On Tuesday 10th nine youngsters with adult helpers rang before the Primary School Nativity and Carol Service in St Michael’s. The youngsters ringing for one or both occasions were:
Elizabeth, Ellora, Fennick, Patrick & Tyler (Primary School group)
and
Gil,
Jonah, Millie, Tabitha, Tommy (Tiverton High School group).
The primary pupils started learning at autumn half term and were ringing backstrokes with an adult, while the high school students are now able to ring both strokes on their own.
Congratulations to The High School Young Ringers who rang Call Changes for the Tiverton High School Carol Concert at St Paul’s on Wednesday 18th December. They have been making such progress using St Paul’s bells on the simulator and this was their first live performance on the bells.
Ringers from L-R: Tommy, Gil, Isla, Jonah, Jameela and Tabitha
Well done everyone who rang for Christmas!
Les and Sheila
From 'After School Bell Club' to 'Level 5 Learning to Ropes'
Congratulations to Eddie on achieving level 5,
the highest award on the Learning the Ropes scheme.
Eddie started learning to ring at the After School Bell Club at Bampton in September 2017.
With a short break due to Covid restrictions he returned to ringing in late 2022.
At each level from mid-2023 he has completed ringing targets, including Quarter
Peals to complete levels 3, 4 & 5.
The final Quarter Peal for level 5 he rang inside to
Plain Bob Minor. He is now a regular member of the Bampton band where he calls touches.
He also helps with the new members of the After School Bell Club, both at Bampton and Tiverton.
He was presented with his certificate and badge at the Teddy Parachuting at Bampton on August Bank Holiday.
Photo at the teddy parachuting at Bampton on Monday 26th August.
All the TRC ringers helping with the parachuting including the Town Crier who opened the event.
Sheila Scofield
TRC Parachuting Teddies
August Bank Holiday Monday 2024 saw the annual event at Bampton where children & adults of Bampton bring their teddies and
other soft toys to be launched from the top of the tower, tied to a parachute.
The weather was almost perfect for the event, dry and a light breeze, with the occasional gust. We had to retrieve a few from the
porch roof and the yew tree, but most made an elegant landing.
Mike W, Fergus and Eddie on the roof had a fantastic view of the crowds below
Mike W, Fergus and Eddie on the roof
Ann, Jenny, Carla, Florence and Moira tied parachutes onto the
bears and various other creatures,
reassuring their owners that they would be ok
Chris, Tommy, Gil and Tabitha carefully placed the bears with parachutes & safety lines into the basket to be
raised up to the roof, 2By2. Then holding onto the safety line, they helped to guide them down safely
Janet retrieved the teddies and returned them to their owners,
directing them to the certificate writers, Mike H and Louise.
Les rescued a few from precarious situations using a ladder
Sheila Scofield
A Successful Week for Fergus
Not content with calling his first quarter peal of Minor on the previous Wednesday
evening, Fergus has followed this up this week with his first peal on the
morning of Friday 23rd August:
Details of the peal are:
Guild of Devonshire Ringers
Huntsham, Devon
All Saints
Friday, 23 August 2024 in 2h 50m (8–0–27 in A♭)
5040 Plain Bob Minor
Composed by: R Bailey
1 Michael Hatchett
2 Richard C Shere
3 Sheila J Scofield
4 Fergus Kettleborough
5 Leslie E Boyce
6 John R Martin (C)
First peal - 4. 50th peal - 5. This peal included a first peal ringer on bell 4.
The Peal Band
Fergus began his ringing career in January 2015
and is a graduate of the Bampton Primary After-School Bell Club. He rang his
first quarter peal in November 2017 and has rung 18 further quarters since. He
completed Learning the Ropes Level 5 in June last year.
Having just completed his A-levels, Fergus is
taking a gap year before going to Liverpool University where he hopes to develop
his ringing further. The peal on 23rd August was also the 50th for Les Boyce and
the first on the bells by an all-North East Branch band since their restoration
in 2005.
Les Boyce
Welcoming the Toze Family to Bampton
The Toze family outside St Michael’s after meeting the ringers
The bells of St Michael’s, Bampton were rung by
local ringers on 14th August in a special quarter peal in memory of former
resident, Tony Toze, and to welcome his son, Jonathan, and family on the
occasion of their visit to the town. Tony and his brother, Mike, were ringers at
Bampton in the 1950s and early 60s before they emigrated to Australia in 1965.
Such was Tony’s enthusiasm for bellringing that in Australia he was largely
instrumental in getting the bells in Brisbane Cathedral rehung for English-style
change ringing in the 1980s.
His brother Mike, now in his 80s, is still an
active ringer there. Relatives of the family are buried in Bampton churchyard.
After the quarter peal we met the Toze family for coffee in the church and
Jonathan told us some more about his father and a bit of the history of the
family in Bampton. The same evening the Bellamy family - John, Peter, Mary and
Alice – got in touch to say that they had learnt to ring at Bampton and were
close friends of the Toze family. They thanked us for ringing the quarter.
Details of the quarter peal are:
Troyte Ringing Centre
Bampton, Devon
St Michael and All Angels
Wednesday, 14 August 2024 in 45m (14–0–3 in F♯)
1260 Doubles (3m): 480 St Simon's, 480 St Martin's, 300 Plain Bob
1 Jenny Jones
2 Sheila Scofield
3 Fergus Kettleborough
4 Mike Ward
5 Leslie Boyce (C)
6 Chris Bolt
In memory of (Reginald) Tony Toze, who died in October 2020, former resident of Bampton. Rung on the occasion of the visit to Bampton of his family from Australia. Also for the 150th anniversary of the Guild of Devonshire Ringers.
The Band: (l to r) Sheila, Mike, Jenny, Les, Fergus. Missing: Chris
Les Boyce
TRC trial bespoke Foundation Skills sessions
Our learners at Bampton & Tiverton St Peter’s had
started ringing for services and doing well, but we found that we needed to give
them more rope time as they became ‘improvers’. Both towers have very busy
practices with lots of ringers at different levels which consequentially means
that the ‘improvers’ weren’t getting sufficient time to develop their skills and
fine tune their handling.
During May we set up three sessions of 2 hours each, using Tiverton, St Paul’s
bells on the simulators. Using all the fun activities in the Learning the Ropes
(ART) scheme in the level 2 targets, we gave 5 improvers some bespoke practices
to develop their skills, ready to move on to Plain Hunt.
Activities included:- Place making, dodging,
whole pull and stand, facing out of the circle, ringing after a bell at the
opposite stroke, pulling off in reverse rounds, switcheroo, ringing up & down
between 2 bells, calling themselves down to lead in call changes, …. And lots
more.
There was lots of laughter, discussion and REFRESHMENTS. Everyone made
significant progress. We will definitely do this again.
Sheila Scofield
Satisfied Customers from the East Devon Branch
Raising and Lowering Practice at Huntsham
On Saturday 23 September Lesley Houghton and I ventured up to
All Saints at Huntsham for an extended practice in raising and lowering in peal.
L to R: Sheila, Annie, Lesley, Les
Les Boyce and Sheila Scofield, of the Troyte
Ringing Centre, aided by five other excellent ringers, tutored, supported and
guided us through, willingly sharing their wealth of ringing knowledge and
expertise. Places on the session were limited to four, which resulted in plenty
of rope time for us all, with attention being given to help us individually with
our own particular difficulties.
Initially we were ringing just three bells, but
by the end of the morning we were all raising and lowering on the six more
confidently than we had been three hours previously. The outing was much enjoyed
by us both and I hope that I’ll remember at least some of the very valuable
lessons in practice.
Annie Ashton
Reproduced from the December '23 issue of Ringing Round Devon
