The Reading branch team won the Oxford Diocesan Guild (ODG) 10-bell competition on Saturday 24 November 2018. It took place at St Nicholas (10 bells, 21-2-1), Newbury. Four other branch teams (from a total of 15 ODG branches) took part. They were: Old North Berks (ONB) and East Berks and South Bucks (EBSB), who tied in second place, Newbury, who came fourth, and Banbury, who came fifth.
The competition judges were John and Hilda Ridley, and the faults for each team were as follows:
Reading 17, EBSB 30, ONB 30, Newbury 46, Banbury 92
So, a resounding win for Reading! Many congratulations to the team:
The judges said that Reading had the slowest pull-off of the day but quickly settled into some very good ringing – slightly slower than the rest of the teams but very consistent and a pleasure to listen to. They rang Plain Bob and Little Bob Royal.
The Reading team had representatives from four towers: Caversham, Reading (St Mary & St Laurence), Shiplake and Tilehurst. Special congratulations to Tom Sherwood, aged 15, who was ringing in the 10-bell competition for the first time. The last time Reading won, in 2016, his sister Anna was in the team. In 2017 Reading was disqualified because of a miscall – but the judges were complimentary about the ringing.