| Home | Officers | Diary | Towers | Training | Services | Newsletters | Documents | Events | History | Links |
Sonning Deanery Branch hosted the competition at Shottesbrooke, and a Shottesbrooke team represented the Branch in the competition.
The judges were Matthew and Debbie Turner.
| Position | Team | Branch | Score | Order of ringing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tilehurst | Reading | 25% | Rang 2nd |
| 2 | High Wycombe | East Berks & South Bucks | 32% | Rang 8th |
| 3 | Hook Norton | Chipping Norton | 33.5% | Rang 6th |
| 4 | Shottesbrooke | Sonning Deanery | 35.5% | Rang 1st |
| 5 | Long Crendon | Central Bucks | 38% | Rang 9th |
| 6 | Wantage | Old North Berks | 41.5% | Rang 7th |
| 7 | Faringdon | Vale of the White Horse | 42.5% | Rang 3rd |
| 8 | Bucklebury | Newbury | 57% | Rang 4th |
| 9 | Old Marston | Oxford City | 79% | Rang 5th |
The Shottesbrooke band (and helpers)
Before the main competition a raising & lowering competition was held at Binfield, judged by Robert Newton.
Points were awarded with 50% for the raise and 50% fo the lower, with each broken down 10% for the start/stop, 35% for the main rise/lower and 5% for the top rounds.
| Position | Team | Score | Order of ringing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hook Norton | 82% | Rang 1st |
| 2 | Wantage | 71% | Rang 3rd |
| 3 | Thame Valley | 66% | Rang 2nd |
The competition was held at Stoke Poges, judged by Chris Ridley and Croline Prescott.
The Sonning Deanery team had members drawn from Wokingham All Saints, Easthampstead and Barkham/Arborfield.
The test piece was 224 St Clements Bob Major and the scores were given as a percentage.
| Position | Team | Times | Score | Order of ringing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Berks & South Bucks | 9m19 | 91% | Rang 3rd |
| 2 | Reading | 9m26 | 89% | Rang 5th |
| 3 | Newbury | 9m19 | 82% | Rang 7th |
| 4 | North Bucks | 9m47 | 79% | Rang 6th |
| 5 | Sonning Deanery | 10m5 | 78% | Rang 2nd |
| 6 | Windsor Castle | 9m48 | 76% | Rang 1st |
| 7 | Oxford City | 9m37 | 72% | Rang 4th |
The band in ringing order L-R
The competition was held at Shottesbrooke and judged by Marcia Dieppe. She said it was good to see so many team keen to compete and commended them. She noticed that several teams had difficult with the 4th
| Position | Team | Faults | Method | Comments [order of ringing] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shottesbrooke | 32 | Plain Bob Doubles | [Rang 7th] Very confident. Slightly faster than . Occasional close leads or not quite getting into 2nds after leading |
| 2 | Wokingham All Saints | 36 | Grandsire Doubles | [Rang 5th] Very steady, nive even ringing. Some faulkt free blocks |
| 3 | Easthampstead | 48 | GrandsireDoubles | [Rang 8th] Confident. Some small trips. |
| 4 | Arborfield & Sonning | 49 | Called changes | [Rang 4th] Even ringing. Nice spacing. Transitions generally OK. Blocks at the end with 2nd leading and Rounds good. |
| 5 | Wargrave | 78 | Rounds | [Rang 2nd] Problems with the middle bells and with handstrokes. |
| 6 | Hurst | 89 | Rounds | [Rang 1st] Problems with 4th.. A few faults. Last part was better. |
| 7 | Elementary | 102 | Rounds | [Rang 3rd] Some issues with leading and Tenor. Some good rounds. Controlled speed |
| 8 | White Waltham | 115 | Rounds | [Rang 6th] Settled down. Some leading faults. Some problems with the middle bells not really settling. |
The teams (standing clockwise from front right) – click for larger images.
 Shottesbrooke |
 Wokingham All Saints |
 Easthampstead |
 Arborfield & Sonning |
 Wargrave |
 Hurst |
 Elementary team |
 White Waltham |
 The judge at work |
 Trophy presented to the winner |
The competition was held at Tilehurst on 20th January, having been postponed from November 2023. It was judges by Pat & Robert Newton.
The congratulated the teams on working hard and commented on the importance of competitions to enhance what is a public performance.
| Position | Team | Faults (per 100 rows) | Method | Comments [order of ringing] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reading Branch | 18.3 | Grandsire Triples | Lovely beat. All bells working together. The middle was a bit ragged. [Rang 3rd] |
| 2 | Reading St Mary | 24.0 | Grandsire Triples | Brisk and enjoyable. Good even beat.risk and enjoyable. Good even beat. [Rang 5th] . |
| 3 | Wokingham All Saints | 41.5 | Grandsire Triples | A bit rushed. Good rhythm. One or two serious errors. [...] Didn't recover. [Rang 2nd] . |
| 4 | Arborfield & Sonning | 43.0 | Plain Bob Triples | First course was the best. Some bells slow coming to lead leading to syncopation [Rang 4th]. |
| 5 | Hurst | 73.2 | Rounds | Kept going. Most clean rows were at handstroke. Front and back bells held together well to keep the beat going. [Rang 1st] . |
The competition was held at Sandhurst, judged by Steve Wells. He commented that judging wasn't difficult since no teams shone, and all teams had problems with the Tenor, which appeared to be odd struck
| Position | Team | Faults | Method | Comments [order of ringing] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wokingham All Saints | 49 | Grandsire Doubles | [Rang 1st] Quite rhythmic. Leading good. Problems with the Tenor. Settled in the second half. Better towards the end. |
| 2 | Branch mixed team | 84 | Plain Bob Doubles | [Rang 3rd] Less rhythmic. Lumpy in places. Problems with the Tenor. Problems in the middle of some rows and some leads. |
| 3 | Sonning | 95 | Plain Bob Doubles | [Rang 2nd] Less rhythmic. Problems with some leading and in the middle of some rows. Problems with the Tenor. One clash, sorted out. |
The teams – click for larger images.
 Wokingham All Saints |
 Branch mixed team |
 Sonning |
 Trophy presentation |
As part of the Branch programme to develop elementary ringers, two quarter peals were organised to help three members, Jan Glen (Binfield) , Julie Greenway (Wokingham All Saints) and Jennifer Moynihan (Arborfield) ring their first quarter peals.
Jane Mellor, Jan Glen (1st), Nigel Mellor, Andrew Mitchell, John Harrison, Julie Greenway (1st) – See details
Katie Thomas, Jennifer Moynihan (1st), Nicola Lee, James Moynihan, Nigel Mellor, Rob Needham – See details
The competition was held at Wokingham All Saints on 19 November, judged by Vikki Bulbeck. She did not announce the actual scores but commented that the gap between the first two teams was very small.
| Position | Team | Method | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tilehurst and Friends | Grandsire | Took a while to settle, especially in the rounds. A bit stilted in the early changes of the method – front end and back end not working together as a band. Then clicked – and improved a lot. Much better in the middle and the second half. Wonderful team work to work at the problem and improve so much. |
| 2 | Wokingham All Saints | Grandsire | Settled quickly and confidently. Worked well together to maintain an even rhythm. A couple of rough patches. A couple of very good patches – very good roll ups at the end. One tiny method mistake. |
| 3 | Reading St Giles | Grandsire | Leading a bit rushed, so disrupted the rhythm. A little choppy. Gapping in the band leading to backing up into the Tenor's space. Some individual rows very good. I hope it was a good teaching experience for all involved and please keep entering. |
| 4 | Sonning Deanery Elementary | Rounds | Very nervous start – did improve. Very hard to concentrate on rounds for so long – ask any wedding band waiting for the bride. All tried really hard – clashes and errors were corrected. Well done, very brave, come back next year. |
The teams – click for larger images.
 Sonning Deanery Elementary |
 Reading St Giles & friends |
 Tilehurst & friends |
 Wokingham All Saints |
The competition was held at Goring on Thames, a nice light eight but with some odd-struckness commented on by the judges Kate & Paul Flavell. It was a lovely sunny day to enjoy listening to the ringing, and the excellent tea and cakes provided by the Goring ringers.
The Sonning Deanery team had members drawn from five towers within the Branch, and came a creditable 4th – just outside the top three by a margin of 1%.
| Position | Team | Score | [order of ringing] (equivalent peal time) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EBSB | 84% | [Rang 8th] (2h55) |
| 2 | Reading St Mary | 82% | [Rang 2nd] [2h52] |
| 3 | Banbury Branch | 79% | [Rang 9th] (2h50) |
| 4 | Sonning Deanery | 78% | [Rang 6th] (2h53) |
| 5= | Newbury Branch | 75% | [Rang 1st] (2h47) |
| 5= | Vale of White Horse | 75% | [Rang 4th] (2h49) |
| 7 | Reading Branch | 74% | [Rang 5th] (2h50) |
| 8 | Oxford City Branch | 69% | [Rang 7th] (2h50) |
| 9 | Goring on Thames | 68% | [Rang 3rd] (2h42) |
The band in order of ringing, clockwise from front right: Jane Mellor, Steve Wells, Barbara Wells, Pam Elliston, Janet Menhinick, Nigel Mellor, John Harrison, Simon Farrar.
The competition was held at Tilehurst – judged by Colin Newman. He commented that the bells were odd struck and tended to drop, so all teams had done well.
| Position | Team | Faults (normalised) | Method | Comments [order of ringing] (equivalent peal time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Almost Tilehurst | 28 | Yorkshire | Very good. (Obviously knows the bells.) Occasional half faults. Mistake in penultimate lead cost them dearly - didn't settle after. [Rang 4th] (3h00) |
| 2 | Almost Reading St Mary | 33 | Plain Bob Triples | Ringing fast was a prpoblem. Clean opening rounds. Kept falling over each other throughout. [Rang 6th] (2h54) |
| 3 | Sonning Deanery All Comers | 58 | Grandsire Triples | Generally consistent. Periods of dropping or not correcting odd struckness. [Rang 1st] (3h14) |
| 4 | Almost Reading St Giles | 62 | Triples | Rounds settled well. last 10 rows clean. Backstrokes of the little bells interrupted the rhythm, which tended to fester. Relatively good. Few crashes. [Rang 3rd] (3h21) |
| 5 | Wokingham All Saints | 98 | Call changes | Suffered from backstroke leads.Little bells [not correcting] odd struckness. Better rhythm when some bells were leading. [??] [Rang 2nd] (3h21) |
| 6 | Sonning Deanery Elementary | 152 | Rounds | Struggled with the bells. Obviously a novice band. The ringing improved. It's difficult to ring Rounds for a long time, Improved after half way. [Rang 5th] (3h24) |
For the first time since 2011 the Branch entered a team in the Guild 10-bell competition, which was held at Warfield and judged by Louise Booth and Peter Joyce. They commented on the fact that although the bells were not hard to ring, some of them were odd struck.
They marked: 0 for clean row, 1 for a hesitation or error and 2 for a clash or mistake.
| Position | Team | Faults | Comments [order of ringing] (equivalent peal time) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reading | 29 | [Rang 1st] Consistent ringing, no mistakes, mainly clips and gaps in some rows. Back bells worked well together. Leading consistent, good rhythm. (3h5) |
| 2 | EBSB | 40 | [Rang 3rd] Plenty of potential, better ringing in between the lead ends. Nice and confident. Good rhythm but with some gaps and leading inconsistent. (3h7) |
| 3 | Sonning Deanery | 69 | [Rang 5th] Reasonable rhythm but some times the front and back bells rang with a different speed. Trip at end, recovered well. No pattern of clips or gaps. (3h4) |
| 4 | Old North Berks | 85 | [Rang 4th] If it had all been as good as the last 2 leads! Some good but some rushed ringing, particularly front bells. The ringing was better when the back bells were on the front. Recovered well from a trip. (3h8) |
| 5 | Newbury | 102 | [Rang 2nd] No real method mistakes, improved as it went on, but with one mistake towards the end, some rows rushed, some slow. (3h8) |
| 6 | Banbury | 103 | [Rang 6th] If only it had been like the last few leads! Most faults were caused by hesitations. Maybe because the ringing was slower hesitations led to more faults. Maybe there was too much focus on rope sight rather than rhythm. (3h17) |
The band in order of ringing, clockwise from front right: Vinnie Sullivan, Jane Mellor, Steve Wells, Nigel Mellor, Janet Menhinick, Jon Tutcher, John Harrison, David Sullivan, Simon Farrar, Tony Gordon
All Saints Wokingham represented Sonning Deanery. The competition was held at Chalfont St Peter, with judges Linda Georgiades & Louise Booth. They scored 0 for a clean row, 1 for a clip or unevenness, 2 for a crunch, ie a maximum of 480 faults. They commented on the 'nice old bells', noting that 4, 5 & 6 were odd struck. They said all teams rang the second half of their test piece better than the first half.
| Position | Team | Faults | Method | Comments [order of ringing] (equivalent peal time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abingdon | 38 | Doubles | [Rang 5th] Tenor kept a lot closer, with the others in danger of [holding?] up. Well [??]. (3h4) |
| 2 | High Wycombe | 40 | Doubles | [Rang 6th] Nice piece. Few uneven rows. Tenor kept pushing in to keep an even rhythm. (3h3) |
| 3 | Drayton St Leonard | 44 | Doubles | [Rang 8th] Treble & Tenor the best of the day, which helped set the rhythm. Slower speed made uneven rows more pronounced, and harder to recover with odd struck bells. (3h17) |
| 4 | Thatcham | 48 | Doubles | [Rang 7th] Struggled with the open handstroke leads. (~3h9) |
| 5 | Wokingham All Saints | 50 | Doubles | [Rang 1st] Open handstroke leads good. Tenor had difficulty keeping a steady beat. (3h9) |
| 6 | Woughton on the Green | 78 | Doubles | [Rang 4th] Few trips. Let down by the first 30 rows. Then recovered. Treble ringer helped to keep it together. (3h3) |
| 7 | Aylsbury | 98 | Minor | [Rang 3rd] They wondered whether ringing Minor was over ambitious. Recovered from some hairy moments. Parts were good. (3h8) |
| 8 | Oxford St Giles | 135 | Doubles | [Rang 2nd] Really good attempt. Difficulty getting a rhythm. Few method mistakes. Kept going and recovered from trips. (3h13) |
Team (Tenor – Treble): Kristin Fitch, John Harrison, Jon Tutcher, Stephen Smith, Nigel Mellor, Jane Mellor
The competition was held at White Waltham, judged by Martin Turner and Janet Menhinick. They commented on the nice bells – easy to hear inside and outside – and that with most teams there was a tendency for the Tenor to be a bit slow.
The judges did not award faults for each team, so just placed them in order
| Position | Team | Faults | Method | Comments [order of ringing] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wokingham All Saints | – | Grandsire Doubles | [Rang 4th] Better speed [than previous teams]. Tenor set a good beat. Some leading uneven. One bad patch too some time to recover |
| 2 | Twyford | – | Call changes | [Rang 6th] 9m30. Very good Tenor. Nice ringing all the way through, but a panic near the end got quite a few faults |
| 3 | Wargrave | – | Call changes | [Rang 7th] 9m18. Good Rounds at the end - a lot of them, which was nice. Some excellent patches but bad patches took several changes to recover. |
| 4 | Sonning | – | Call changes | [Rang 3rd] 9m40. Much better [than previous teams]. Occasional trips. Improved. |
| 5 | Roped in young ringers | – | Call changes | [Rang 5th] 8m15. Very good Tenor. Some slow handstrokes caused the bells to pile up. Generally good. Middle part had quite a few faults. Good Queens. |
| 6 | Young ringers (south) | – | Call changes | [Rang 2nd] Rang for 9m30. Tenor tended to be late. Some leading upset the rhythm. Rounds at the end was good. Generally not too bad. |
| 7 | Arborfield | – | Plain Bob Doubles | [Rang 1st] Sounded an inexperienced band. Tenor set a good beat. Fired out at one point. Well done for starting again. The second attempt was better. |
The teams – click for larger images.
 Wokingham All Saints |
 Twyford |
 Wargrave |
 Sonning |
 Young Ringers South |
 Roped In Young Ringers |
 Arborfield |
Six students attended the course, most of them with no prior experience of rope splicing. With the guidance of course tutor John Harrison, they all completed a splice, which most took away with them as souvenirs.
This was an exploratory session focused on striking.
Each touch was measured using Cirel and the resulting displayed information was interpreted with advice on how the participants could strike more accurately.
After the even all participants provided feedback – Read the report.
All but five of the Guild's branches were represented so there were ten teams. Wokingham All Saints represented Sonning Deanery.
The competition was held at North Marston on 6 October, judged by Jill Austin & Sue Marsall, assisted by Sharon Mills. The judges commented on the lovely sound of the bells, the long fraught and the tight rope circle.
As usual the judges commented on each performance, but these are not included – the quality of your scribe's handwriting when trying to keep up mean the legible bits were very incomplete.
| Position | Team | Faults | Method | Order of ringing | Quarter peal time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | High Wycombe | 17 | Grandsire Doubles | Rang 6th | 44.5 |
| 2 | Wallingford | 19 | Grandsire Doubles | Rang 7th | 44.5 |
| 3 | Drayton St Leonard | 24 | Grandsire Doubles | Rang 5th | 47 |
| 4 | Tilehurst | 31 | Grandsire Doubles | Rang 9th | 43.5 |
| 5 | Wokingham All Saints | 33 | Grandsire Doubles | Rang 8th | 44.5 |
| 6 | Thatcham | 34 | Grandsire Doubles | Rang 10th | 44.5 |
| 7= | Old Marston | 42 | Grandsire Doubles | Rang 3rd | 45 |
| 7= | Stewkley | 42 | Minor | Rang 1st | 43 |
| 9 | Shenley & Loughton | 49 | St Martins Doubles | Rang 2nd | 43.5 |
| – | Faringdon | – | Grandsire Doubles | Rang 4th | – |
The team (Treble to Tenor): Jane Mellor, Julie Goodchild,Nigel Mellor, Jonathan Goodchild, John Harrison, Kristin Fitch
The competition was held at Finchampstead – judged by Ian Thompson, assisted by Emily Mellor. The judge commented on the purpose of competitions – to encourage listening with a more critical ear - and to enjoy the ringing. All teams had made a good effort.
All teams rang Doubles, which puts a particular emphasis on Tenoring. He also stressed the importance of a good pull-off.
| Position | Team | Faults Total (rounds/method) | Method | Comments [order of ringing] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wokingham All Saints B | 49 (6+43) | Grandsire Doubles | [Rang 1st] A very good piece. The Tenor set a good rhythm but the others weren't listening, though they gradually got the rhythm. It would have been better without three trips that cost 8-9 faults. However, this team did know how to get out of a mess without wrecking the rhythm.. |
| 2 | Finchampstead | 93 (8+85) | Plain Bob Doubles | [Rang 3rd] The Tenor set an excellent beat – metronomic – it was a pity the others didn't follow it. If they had the striking would have been better. Some were ringing to the Tenor but the others were ringing to the method. |
| 3 | Wokingham All Saints A | 148 (20+108) | Plain Hunt Doubles | [Rang 2nd] A less experienced band with quite a bit of unsteadiness and they didn't know how to get out of a mess. The Tenor tried to help others in trouble (the curse of metronomic ringing). The team seemed to relax in the middle and produced better striking than the anxious start or the tiring finish. |
The teams – click for larger images.
 Wokingham B |
 Finchampstead |
 Wokingham A |
The competition was held at Twyford – judged by Ken Davenport & Jackie Roberts. The judges heard each bell clearly and detected no obvious odd struckness in the bells, though the Tenor seemed to need pushing.
| Position | Team | Faults per 100 rows | Method | Comments [order of ringing] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reading J | 23 | Triples | Mostly good ringing with a few minor faults throughout. [Rang 4th] |
| 2 | Tilehurst | 34 | Triples | Good even ringing especially in the middle. Two major patches of crunching but good between. [Rang 3rd] |
| 3 | Reading C | 36 | Major | Good consistent Rounds. A few leads were a bit at. Got better, and recovered from a minor kerfuffle. [Rang 2nd] |
| 4 | Wokingham All Saints | 58 | Triples | Speed varied, especially the middle stretch. Probably better ringing faster. Raced a bit towards the end with a few more errors. Good leading. [Rang 1st] |
The winning team (L-R): June Saint, James Champion, June Wells, Stephen Rossiter, Stephen Smith (2), John Wells, Martyn Jordan (Not in picture – Peter Ellis).
Only nine branches entered a team so there were no heats. On the day two withdrew leaving seven. The competition was at Penn, judged by Doug Hurd and David Phillipson. Sonning Deanery was represented by a team from Wokingham All Saints, with one ringer from Sonning (which would have represented the Branch but could not raise a team). The results were: Drayton St Leonard 17, High Wycombe 22, Tilehurst 31, Hungerford 41, Wokingham 85, Bloxham 98. Aylesbury only rang half of the test piece and was disqualified.
The competition was at Shiplake (hosted by Reading Branch) – judged by Tim Pett & Bobbie May. Two teams from each branch entered. The results were: 1st Reading Branch 6.9, 2nd Tilehurst tower 10.6, 3rd Sonning tower 18.4, 4th Wokingham All Saints tower 22.1. (Scores are faults per 100 rows.)
Only eight branches teams entered a team so there were no heats. The final was at Chalgrove, a non too easy 16½ cwt 6, judged by Nick & Lindsey Brett from Linslade. Sonning Deanery was represented by Wokingham All Saints. All teams were close together except the first two and last. The results were:
High Wycombe 93.8%, Thatcham 92.8%, Woughton on the Green 87.0%, Faringdon 86.2%, Wallingford 85.6%, Drayton St Leonard 83.8%, Wokingham 83.1%, Caversham 72.3%.
The Wokingham team: Kristin Fitch -6, John Harrison - 5, Jonathan Goodchild - 4, Nigel Mellor - 3, Jane Mellor - 2, Julie Goodchild - 1.
What does a ringer do when getting married at a church with no bells? Joyce Crockford hired the Charmborough Ring for the wedding to David Goodwin and invited along plenty of ringers.
 The assembled ringers |
 Posing ready to ring |
 Joyce ringing after the wedding |
See also: Pictures on the Charmborough website
Five teams entered the 6-bell competition at Waltham St Lawrence, judged by Kath Firman and John Manley, on a sunny April afternoon.
The judges complimented the teams on some enjoyable ringing. They commented that entering a competition can be nerve racking, but it is good if it helps us to improve our striking since members of the public that listens to our ringing may not be able to recognise a method but they can tell the difference between good and bad striking.
| Position | Team | Faults | Method | Comments [order of ringing] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wokingham All Saints | 30 | Grandsire Doubles | Consistent. Did very well. One small method mistake didn't lose much because it was quickly recovered. The bells are challenging, especially 2 & 3 which seemed odd struck. [Rang 5th] |
| 2 | Easthampstead | 34 | Plain Bob Doubles | The fastest ringing. Enjoyable. Back bells set a good stable speed. Very few big faults but quite a few minor ones, mostly leading. [Rang 2nd] |
| 3 | Sonning | 36 | Plain Bob Doubles | Slower ringing. No method mistakes. Benefited from consistent leading. Most faults were in the middle, especially at backstroke. [Rang 3rd] |
| 4 | Waltham St Lawrence | 40 | Call changes | A number of very good bits. Generally improved as it went on. Listen to the leading. Need to work hard to place the bells at the changes [Rang 4th] |
| 5 | Arborfield | (60)* | Plain Hunt Doubles | Bad luck not completing the touch. Some excellent rows, especially Rounds and Back Rounds. Try to get a good hunting speed. [Rang 1st] * Estimated score based in incomplete touch. |
The 8-bell competition was held at All Saints, Wokingham on 18th October and was the first joint contest. Three teams entered, two from Sonning Deanery Branch and one from Reading Branch. The judges were Robert Newton (High Wycombe & Aston Rowant) and Peter Mackie (Stoke Poges). They commented favourably on all three teams' ringing. They also felt that all three Tenor ringers had difficulty maintaining a steady, precision rhythm.
| Position | Team | Faults per 100 rows | Method | Comments [order of ringing] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sonning | 11.44 | Plain Bob Triples | Rang at a measured pace. A shaky start but settled down well. Each course better than the previous one. [??] Nice to listen to. [Rang 3rd] |
| 2 | Wokingham All Saints | 11.71 | Grandsire Triples | Brisk. Very confident but all the time a bit ragged. [Rang 2nd] |
| 3 | Caversham & Shiplake | 20.15 | Grandsire Triples | Rang fairly steadily. [??] bells dropped a bit at the start. A serious trip in the 6th lead. Some problems turning round at the front / leading, and some bunching in the middle. [Rang 1st] |
 Caversham & Shiplake |
 Sonning |
 Wokingham |
 The tower |
Wokingham All Saints represented the Branch (after Arborfield, which won the Branch competition declined). Wokingham was drawn to ring first in the heat at Brightwell cum Sotwell, where the bells were easy and all teams rang well. Judges Doug Hird & Nikki King placed the bands: High Wycombe 8.5, Wokingham 11, Thatcham 13, Abingdon 15.5, Woodstock 16. The first three went on to the final at Aston Tirrold where the bells were much more challenging – all odd struck – not to mention the distraction of lots of flies.
The judge, Mike Wigney from Chiswick, commented that the bells were "clearly quite a challenge. No-one found them easy. The Treble was a problem for everyone and more than 50% of the Faults for all bands came from the Treble, but all the other bells were odd struck too". He placed the teams:
| Place | Faults | Team | Comments |
| 1st | 14 | High Wycombe | Really obvious when the Treble clipped. Settled down to become a very pleasant piece of ringing. |
| 2nd | 15 | Thatcham | Judge was disturbed by Ted the dog for a lead, but didn't think it impacted the score! Best Treble ringing. Quicker than other bands but Tenor got a little over eager. |
| 3rd= | 19 | Wokingham | First Band to ring a completely clean (faultless) Lead. Settled down as it went along - quite good by the end. |
| 3rd= | 19 | Drayton St Leonard | First 60 changes took a while to settle, but each successive 60 better than the previous. |
| 5th | 21 | Hanslope | First team to keep the 1st Treble Backstroke after pull-off away from the Tenor. Again, each successive 60 better than the previous. |
| 6th | 60 | Caversham | Less experienced band. Couple of fairly major incidents, but came through. Treble too close and other bells too wide over it. |
Five teams entered the 6-bell competition at Arborfield, judged by Chris Griggs and Mike O'Hagan, on a typical April afternoon – bright sunshine and sharp showers
The judges commented on the good overall standard of the ringing.
| Position | Team | Faults | Method | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arborfield & Barkham | 44 | Rounds | Back bells good. Important to keep the leads right and prevent problems rippling back. Most faults were at backstroke. |
| 2 | Wokingham All Saints |
46 | Grandsire Doubles | Confident start. Felt rushed at times. Method mistake was quickly recovered. Occasional quick handstrokes. |
| 3 | Sonning | 49 | Plain Bob Doubles | Confident. Slower. Better control with a good framework. More perfect rows but more trips. |
| 4 | Twyford & Hurst | 52 | Plain Bob Doubles | Quicker. Tended to run away a bit, not helped by quick handstrokes. |
| 5 | Easthampstead | 56 | Plain Bob Doubles | Good general impression. Quite a few clips but no major faults. |
Only the winning team was photographed.
Seven students attended the course, most of them with no prior experience of rope splicing. With the guidance of course tutor John Harrison, they all produced at least one successful splice, and some more than one, which they took away with them as souvenirs.
Click on the images for larger pictures.
If you are interested in attending any training course, see the training page , where you can sign up for courses on different subjects.
The Date Touch at All Saints Wokingham on New Year's Day 201 was again rung by a 'rainbow band' with ringers from six different towers. The touch was 2014 Cambridge Surprise Major, composed and conducted by Ander Holroyd). (See: published details )
The band was: 1 - Sue Sargeant (Warfield) 2 - Barbara Wells (Easthampstead) 3 - Janet Menhinick (Sandhurst) 4 - Rebecca Woodgate (Seattle) 5 - Alan Barsby (Eversley) 6 - Steve Wells (Easthampstead) 7 - Ander Holroyd (Seattle) 8 - John Harrison (Wokingham) |
 The Band in order of ringing (Clockwise from front right) |
Five teams entered the 6-bell competition at Sandhurst St Michael, judged by Alan Barsby & Dave Pearce, on a sunny spring afternoon
The judges commented on the difficulty of the bells (odd struckness) and on the importance of regular leading – a clear handstroke gap and no gap at backstroke.
| Position | Team | Faults | Method | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wokingham All Saints B |
16 | Plain Bob Minor | Nice piece of ringing. |
| 2 | Easthampstead A | 21 | Grandsire Doubles | Good leading & crisp backstrokes. Some mistakes but didn't upset the rhythm. Overall nice. |
| 3 | Sonning | 27 | Plain Bob Doubles | Quick handstrokes & the Tenor pushing, but the rest managed to keep up. The second half settled. |
| 4 | Wokingham All Saints A |
50 | Plain Bob Doubles | Changes a bit uneven Treble fast going to lead & Tenor could have pushed it on a bit. |
| 5 | Easthampstead B | 52 | Rounds | Some difficulty coping with the odd struck bells. |
Click on team images for larger pictures.
 Easthampstead A |
 Easthampstead B |
 Sonning |
 Wokingham (All Saints) A |
 Wokingham (All Saints) B |
The Date Touch at All Saints Wokingham on New Year's Day 2013 was rung by a 'rainbow band' with ringers from six different towers. The touch was 2013 Plain Bob & Gainsborough Little Bob Major, composed and conducted by John Harrison. (See:published details )
The band was: 1 - Steve Smith 1 (Wokingham) 2 - Mhairi Miller (Wokingham) 3 - Rebecca Woodgate (Seattle) 4 - Alan Barsby (Eversley) 5 - Andrew Elliston (Sonning) 6 - Steve Smith 2 (Shiplake) 7 - Graham Slade (Hurst) 8 - John Harrison (Wokingham) |
 The Band in order of ringing (Tenor left, Treble right) |
The 8-bell competition was held at All Saints, Wokingham on 20th October, judged by Doug Beaumont & Ann Osborne of Caversham. Two towers entered a team, and the Chairman entered a combined team, selected from those present, to make three teams in all.
The judges commented that having three teams made judging easier. They felt the bells were a good choice, being not too easy. They gave a maximum of two faults per row: 1 for a minor disturbance and 2 for a bigger problem.
| Position | Team | Faults per 100 rows | Method | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wokingham All Saints | 7.5 | Grandsire Triples | Fairly fast. Good ringing with occasional clips. A couple of larger problems, possibly caused by lack of concentration. |
| 2 | Chairman's combined team | 10 | Stedman Triples | Largely good. 678 had a problem in Rounds (7 holding up at backstroke?). Once into changes it was a nice piece with few large errors. One larger hesitation & clip when someone drifted off the path? |
| 3 | Sonning | 15 | Grandsire Triples | Rather slow. Easing along the Tenor backstrokes would have helped, and made it a bit faster. A steady stream of small clips & hesitations, but few big trips. |
Five students attended a course on rope splicing, a useful skill that looks deceptively easy, but as they all found out requires care and practice to get it right. Most of them made several false starts, but with guidance they all managed to complete reasonable test pieces, which several of them took home as a reminder of the course. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures, so you can't see them at work.
If you are interested in attending any training course, see the training page , where you can sign up for courses on different subjects.
For the first time in many years, the Branch entered a team in the Guild 10-bell competition. A total of eight teams entered – itself a record. The Branch team was placed 7th out of 8, which was a creditable achievement given that most of the team are not regular 10-bell ringers.
|
 |
Three teams entered the 8-bell competition at Twyford on 15th October, judged by Tim Pett and Bobbie May.
The judges made some general comments that applied to all teams. Leading was good, and in all teams Treble and Tenor rang well. Most faults were in the middle of the row. All teams seemed to have problems with the 4th. The judges scored each row: 1/4 for a minor blemish, 1/2 for a major blemish and 1 for a clash.
| Position | Team | Faults per 100 rows | Method | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wokingham & Sonning | 22 | Grandsire Triples | A bit uneven. Front 4 bells tried to ring faster than back 4 bells. A bit choppy going into changes. A method trip towards the end caused a lot of faults, but it sorted out and came round. |
| 2 | Easthampstead | 31 | Rounds | There was lots of 'syncopation', which generated many small faults, but there were few clashes. Initially the front 4 bells were ringing slower than the back 4, but after a while they were the other way round. |
| 3 | Twyford | 39 | Rounds | The bells seemed to group 123, 456, 78. The ringing was too fast, and 78 were probably trying to slow it down. There were no complete clashes. |
Click on team images for larger pictures.
The competition was followed by a good general practice.
 Wokingham & Sonning (2 missing) |
 Easthampstead |
 Twyford |
Six teams entered the 6-bell striking competition at Waltham St Lawrence on 16th April, judged by Ken Darvill and Peter Mackie.
The judges were impressed that all teams improved as they went on, and commented that all teams The bells sounded very nice outside.
| Position | Team | Faults | Method | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sonning | 38 | Plain Bob Doubles | Very pleasant. A bit 'trippy' |
| 2 | Wokingham All Saints B |
43 | Cambridge Minor | Suffered some quick leads and slow blows in 5ths place. |
| 3 | Arborfield | 69 | Rounds | Improved as it went on. |
| 4 | Wokingham All Saints A |
96 | Rounds | Improved as it went on. Treble did well. |
| 5 | Easthampstead | 102 | Rounds | Improved as it went on. Treble did well. |
| 6 | Sandhurst | 145 | Plain Hunt Doubles | Bad start. If the had been happier they would have had fewer faults. |
Click on team images for larger pictures.
 Arborfield |
 Easthampstead |
 Sandhurst |
 Sonning |
 Wokingham (All Saints) A |
 Wokingham (All Saints) B |
Three students made very good progress in this important practical skill on the course held at Finchampstead under the tutorship of John manley.
Many bands celebrated St George's Day (23rd April) in response to a nationwide initiative appeal for special ringing , endorsed by the ODG . Two quarter peals were rung, at Hurst and Eversley (out of our area, but a mainly ODG band). Two quarter peal attempts were lost, at Sonning and Wokingham. There was general ringing at Arborfield, Easthampstead, Finchampstead, Sandhurst, Twyford and White Waltham.
All four students had no prior experience of rope splicing, but under the watchful eye of course tutor John Harrison, they all ended the evening having produced a neat splice, which they took away with them as a reminder of having done the course.
Click on the images for larger pictures.
 Four students + an onlooker |
 Mhairi Miller |
 Simon Graves |
 Joyce Crockford & Simon Mabbott |
If you are interested in attending any training course, see the training page , where you can sign up for courses on different subjects.
Five teams entered the 6-bell striking competition at Shottesbrooke on 17th April, judged by Jim and Helen Diserens.
Judges general comments – Very varied ringing. Congratulations to the bands that got together a team and entered. Bands that ring Doubles should put their strongest ringer on the Tenor if possible (though it might not always be possible). The Tenor can make or mar the piece. The bells sounded very nice outside.
| Position | Team | Faults | Method | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wokingham All Saints |
18 | Cambridge Minor | A joy to listen to. Obviously an experienced band. The odd irregularity. Maybe marked more strictly than the less experienced teams. |
| 2 | Easthampstead | 24 | Grandsire Doubles | A good rhythm with the occasional irregularity. Nice ringing |
| 3 | Sandhurst | 44 | Grandsire Doubles | Erratic leads caused most faults. Cartwheeling or open leads are acceptable, providing it is consistent. A reasonable rhythm. |
| 4 | Sonning | 58 | Plain Bob Doubles | Settled a bit, but then got scratchy. The knock-on effect [see below] led to many faults |
| 5 | Twyford | 67 | Rounds | A valiant go. Some was quite good at the times when it settled.. It was a nice slow pace, and he was quite impressed. There was a knock-on effect if one bell held up or pulled in, a mark of an inexperienced band. It is vital to keep the rhythm. The Tenor rang very well. |
Our congratulations to Twyford for entering a team with one member who has only been ringing 7 months, and two who had not rung outside their home tower before this week.
Click on team images for larger pictures.
 Easthampstead |
 Sandhurst |
 Sonning |
 Twyford |
 Wokingham (All Saints) |
Branch competitions are open to teams from any Branch tower (or combined teams, see competition rules ). Dates of competitions are in the Branch diary .
Will your tower enter a team in the next competition?
The course was led by John Davidge and Len Palfrey, of the ODG Towers & Belfries Committee. Initial instruction and demonstrations were at All Saints Wokingham. After an excellent lunch at the Duke of Wellington in Twyford, the students were 'let loose' on the bells at St Mary's Twyford, armed with check sheets of things to look for, to see how much of what they had learnt they could put into practice. The pictures below show both tutors and students hard at work.
Click on a thumbnail to see the full size picture.
 Tutors and students |
 Checking a clapper |
 Checking a rope |
 All hard at work |
 The tutor explains |
 Checking a headstock |
 The tutor explains |
 Using checklists |
If you are interested in attending any training course, see the training page , where you can sign up for courses on different subjects.
| Back to Home Page | Back to Top |
| Page updated on 14-October-2024 |
 |
© Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers (Sonning Deanery Branch) 2010 |  |
 |
