Ringer Ollie's Outing to Kent 2019

Описание: And here it is, back by popular demand, the outing to Kent 2019 and on the 6 year anniversary of me becoming a member of the Sussex County Association of Change Ringers.

We started the day at Ashford (St Mary V). One of my favourite 10's! The bells handle ok but you do need to be on the ball to get good striking out of them. We rang some basic things but struck them well getting some superb Call Changes and Plain Hunt on 9. Thank you to Mark for allowing us to ring here.

Next we went on to Newchurch (SS Peter & Paul). An ok sounding ground floor 6. Although the bottom half of the tower is leaning out we rang some Call Changes, St Simons and some Plain Bob Minor. A nice village 6.

And then, as a bit of a joke tower, Burmarsh (All Saints). Errrm, what can I say? The bells sounded nice when struck well but with a treble which randomly drops half way down with no warning and the awkward positioning of the 2nd and 3rd ropes, made for an interesting ring. We got a well stuck touch of Grandsire Doubles rung before the treble did it's thing as we entered rounds. A fun little ring.

We then stayed in Burmarsh for lunch at the Shepard and Crook Pub, expertly chosen by Chris. The food was brilliant and the atmosphere was great as we discussed upcoming events and geared up for an afternoon of ringing.

After lunch we moved onto New Romney (St Nicholas). An old fashioned 8 which I loved. The bells went well but I found they tend to drop down if you don't pull just hard enough. We rang some well struck Grandsire Triples and Plain Bob Major (although not filmed).

And then for the second to last tower of the day, Lydd (All Saints). An amazing sounding Gillett & Johnston 8. They handle well and are definitely rewarding. We rang some Grandsire Triples and Call Changes mostly, as we just wanted to strike them well. I'm definitely going back. One interesting thing I noticed was that even though it is a tower ring, it has a brick floor!

And then, for the tower we were all looking forward to, Brookland (St Augustine). This was a tick off the bucket list for most of the ringers here. The bells are rung in the Detached Wooden Campanile (I call it the pinecone tower) to the side of the church. The ringers used to have to stand on mud to ring until the floor was concreted over! The bells don't get rung regularly but the villagers like to hear them so we rang some well struck Grandsire Doubles, St Simons, Plain Bob Minor and Reverse Canterbury Doubles. Apart from their odd struckness we all enjoyed our time here and are all wanting to come back!

And there we have it, the 2nd Ringer Ollie and Friends Outing. More are planned for the coming months so stay tuned for that. Thank you to everyone who attended and the towers for letting us ring their bells.

NOTE: On my outings we aim to enjoy ourselves and we don't worry too much about the striking and getting things wrong. After all, we are all learning. Please don't comment about the striking. Thanks