Staplehurst Bellringers Report October 2021

As those who read this column regularly will know, our philosophy is to encourage the next generation of ringers who will take over from us when we become too old to ring. As part of this, we regularly welcome the Kent Young Ringers to practice together (under adult supervision) on our bells. That practice bore fruit in a big way on Saturday, 11th September, when the Kent Young Ringers won the National Youth Ringing Contest in Worcester. This is the second successive time they have brought the trophy home to Kent, and our heartfelt congratulations to them.

Meanwhile, the grown-ups back in Kent were winning their own competition when they beat the other teams from the Home Counties to win the prestigious Essex Trophy – also for the second consecutive time. As we reported last month, the competition was held here at Staplehurst, so the Kent team did have the advantage of being on home soil.

At the moment, there is no additional ringing scheduled for October, and we should just be ringing for the 11 am Sunday services and for normal Tuesday practices. However, this might change at short notice as bands whose visits were cancelled during the pandemic are rescheduled.

At the risk of repeating myself, can I remind everyone that we urgently need to recruit and train new ringers to replace those not returning following the pandemic, so if you are interested in learning to ring, please contact Tower Captain Sue Bassett on 01580 891917 for details.

Roy Barclay
Tower Secretary