Articles
Coventry District Secretary’s Report 2012
We held our District ADM in March at Coventry Cathedra, following afternoon ringing at Stoke St Michael. Chris Worley stayed on as District Chairman and Bob Taylor agreed to become the new District Ringing Master. Joy Pluckrose agreed to assist with the Secretary’s role and I was persuaded to stay in post with a share of the responsibility. Rodney Swallow, Andrew Alldrick and Benedict Kimpton were elected to the District Committee, Benedict being the District Representative on the Education and Training Committee.
The Guild AGM in April was held in our District at Kenilworth with Leek Wotton Bells available after tea.
In May we held our District Six Bell Striking Contest at Ansley. Five bands entered the contest and the standard was good. Allesley won the method ringing section, with Wolvey placed second: the call change section being won by Stoneleigh for the second year in a row. We hosted the finals of the Guild Six-Bell Competition at Honiley in September.
Ringers were asked to ring for the opening of the Olympics in July at 8.12a.m. 12 towers in our District are known to have rallied to the call: Well Done!
In August we were welcomed back to Fillongley Vicarage for the second year running for our District Barbeque. Ringing was held beforehand at Astley and Fillongley (the more enthusiastic members walking between the towers) and the weather held out for a pleasant evening. Our thanks go to the Vicar and the local ringers for hosting us.
The District Outing, held in September, included ringing at Grendon, Polesworth, Tamworth, Whittington and Kingsbury. It was good to welcome ringing friends from other districts on the day, too. Thanks to ‘The Alldricks’ for their hospitality which rounded off the day.
The Inter District Striking Competition was held at Bedworth in October: we entered 2 bands and were placed 2nd and 5th.
We held a quarter peal week in November. A number of ‘firsts’ were scored and ringing included a couple of ten bell quarters and 8 Spliced Surprise Major. We ended the week with a meeting and ringing at Allesley.
Warwick District hosted the Annual Carol Service in December and we were able to join them at Napton.
During September and October bi-weekly training sessions were held at Walsgrave, led by Benedict and Bob. Aspiring ringers of all ages found them beneficial and hopefully this will become an Annual Event.
Ringing meetings have been maintained throughout the year and overall attendance has been good. However it seems that the traditional format for meeting is less popular and moving forward I think we need to focus on ringing meetings with more social events.
My thanks go to the committee for their work over the year especially Bob Taylor for the enthusiasm he has brought to the Ringing Master’s role and to Joy Pluckrose for doing the bulk of the organisational work over this year.
Claire Kimpton – Coventry District Secretary
