* TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NORTHERN DISTRICT

Thank you all very much for the Gift Token that you gave me on my retirement; I shall be looking through the books in Smiths to find a good read.   I have enjoyed the privilege of being District Master and would like to thank you all for the help and support that you have given me during my years in office.

With my very best wishes,

Marian Wood

* Saturday Morning Ringing School
To all students and helpers, 
A very big THANK YOU for the generous gift and flowers presented to me this Saturday 14th November. 

I did not realise there were vouchers in there as well until I opened the envelopes. 

What a surprise! Once again thank you all very much.

Marian Wood. 

* District Quiz Night

60 District ringers and friends crammed into Kelvedon Church Hall on Saturday 7th November for a really great evening under the control of MC John Elliott and Quizmaster Revd. David Reynish.  

At half-time the Kelvedon catering team served up a delicious supper while the teams struggled with cryptic London station names.

We are pleased to say that  £397 was taken from ticket sales and a raffle, from which £135 has been sent to the EACR Bell Restoration Fund.

* Braintree Ringing Outing 20th JUNE

For our outing this year we were joined by friends from St. Michael's and other towers. As we assembled we were transported back to our youth as the school bus turns up to  take us on our day out to Norfolk. Thanks to Maurice and Kath Downs [Rayne] for guiding us along the country lanes as the school bus had no SatNav.

We arrived at our 1st tower the 15cwt 8 at Blofield [not to be confused with 007s adversary]. They were a good ring and a good start to our ringing. As we left the tower our deputy master was seen with the masters handbag. The patronage of St Andrew and St Peter Blofield is with the Master and Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. The present building is on the site of a Norman Building and was completed  during the years 1420-1440.

Then on to Reedham, not via the ferry even our school bus was too big. The 6 at John the Baptist are on plain bearings and although only 8cwt they are a very challenging ring, but none the less enjoyable. The Church used to be thatched  and caught fire and had to be rebuilt and refurbished. I think we all agreed that it has one of the finest modern stain glass windows.

It was packed lunch time some at the church others back at the coach.

Now onto Saxlingham Nethergate to an 8cwt 8 this time in a very small ringing chamber a good experience. The fourteenth century square tower houses a one handed clock dated 1794. As we left the master was seen at the kissing gate with the past master.

Our arrival at Forncett St Peter was announced by posters around the benefice of 7 Churches, and we have been invited to go back to ring in August. The bells are a very enjoyable 13cwt 6. The church building has so many notable features that I find it difficult to do it justice in a few words other than if you are in the area go and see for yourself.

Off we go to our last tower of the day the 10cwt 6 at Long Stratton. A nice ring better than I remember. A good end to our ringing day. St. Mary the Virgin holds fond memory's for my wife Pat having been born in Long Stratton, she was Christened and Confirmed in this very historic church with a good Christian tradition.

Now it is Scole to quench our thirst and have a very convivial evening meal.

During the day we had good ringing on challenging bells and visited some interesting churches and places. A member of the party expressed our thanks to Debbie Hill for arranging such an enjoyable day.

And so back on the school bus and home

Peter Smith

* Great Dunmow Practice Night

Please note that Great Dunmow and Great Easton practice from 8pm on alternating MONDAY evenings; Great Dunmow do not practice on Wednesdays as in the 2008 Annual Report.  Please phone Jim Brown on 01371-870234 to check at which tower they will be practicing if you are intending to visit.

* Wales in Essex:

What is Wales in Essex you may ask? Well for the past few years we have spent the Spring bank holiday staying at David and Laura Childs home in Wales and ringing the bells near to Builth Wells.

This year we decided to have the Childs family come to stay and ring in Essex, so WALES IN ESSEX.

On Friday 22nd May we all travelled to Kenworthy Road [yes even those who live just round the corner] to assemble for the weekend. The ring was to be divided between social and formal.

Saturday was all social and was concentrated round in the Colchester area. With the help of Bridget and Betty [our 2 SatNavs] we found our way to St Leonards at the Hythe and even somewhere to park. Then on to Thorington where we were admonished for parking next to the florist's car. Great Bentley was our last ring before lunch back at Thorington. After a very pleasant lunch we went to All Saints Shrub End before our last tower of the day at Layer-De-La-Haye.   Back at Kenworthy Road we formed an orderly queue for the showers in the process of dressing for an excellent evening at the White Hart Hotel.

Sunday was mainly formal ringing. So it was up early for a healthy breakfast and off to Canewdon to ring for the visit of Bishop Laurie of Bradwell to their morning service. We battled our way across and against the Southend Air Show traffic to ring in the glass bell tower at Basildon for a Baptism Service, and so to lunch at Herongate. After a tasty and relaxing lunch we were on our way again this time to Theydon Garnon, Nazeing and North Weald where we had to wake the Vicar to get in to ring the bells.

Arriving back at Kenworthy Road we found a buffet nicely prepared for us by Clare, she left ringing early to go to a shower [not like we queued for on Saturday but a baby one]. As we consumed the tasty meal the evening turned, not surprisingly, into a typical ringers occasion, much banter, leg pulling and laughter.  

Monday we were up and packed our bags and then off we went again. 1st to Toppesfield for a tower grab for most. Our next stop was at Great Yeldham to ring for their Flower Festival, one of us won on the raffle. We finished the morning at Belchamp St Paul lunching at Knowle Green. The last tower of the weekend was Steeple Bumpstead where we had 3 generations of the Childs family ringing together for the first time.

It was time for our "thank you"s to Lin, Richard and Clare Ould for their amazing hospitality and to Peter Smith for organising the tour. Now to say our goodbyes - hugs, kisses, and handshakes and smiles that outshone the sun.  We rang on a vast variety of bells needing different skills to ring them well [which we did] and giving us so much enjoyment. Of the many highpoints of the tour outstanding for me was to see the improvement made by Jodie, Ruth and Richard well done.

THIS WAS A TRULY WONDERFUL CHRISTIAN WEEKEND

* Quiz Nite 8th November

Our Annual Social & Quiz Night took place at Kelvedon Parish Church Hall: a very good night was had by all. The evening raised £356 for the Association Bell Restoration Fund: Well done all!

* EACR Open Towers Day - 25th August (Bank Holiday Monday)

This was a really busy day, with some teams racing round up to 15 minutes before the advertised opening times at each tower!  

The event started at Great Dunmow at 9.a.m. with the other Towers opening in turn for an hour or so throughout the day, with the last tower being Coggeshall at 6 p.m.

District Organiser Maurice Downs has written to say:

"On behalf of the Association, I would like to thank all the Stewards for the help and support you gave to the success of the Open Day fundraising event on Bank Holiday Monday.

As a result, I was able to pay £1,172.50 into the bank, some of which was also Gift Aided. This goes to support the donations the Association is able to offer from the Bell Restoration Fund when work related to bells is done."

Well done and thanks to all!

* Annual Striking Competitions - 2008

Congratulations to the teams from Coggeshall and Rayne for coming 1st and 2nd in the District heat - they went on to represent the District at the Association Competition.

Congratulations to the band of youngsters from Wickham St. Paul for winning the Call Change Competition.

  Changes

     The Judges were Paul and Anne Bray from Kirby Cross

      Many thanks to all the ringers (and supporters) who turned out 
      on a rather damp evening to take part in this event.

Finals

Congratulations to the team from Coggeshall who went on to come 4th in the Association 6-bell Striking Competition Final, and to the team from Rayne for coming 9th, this event being held at Henham in the North-Western District.

At the Inter-district 8-bell competition held later in the evening at Hatfield Broad Oak the Northern District team did really well, coming 3rd ringing a plain course of Superlative Surprise Major. Well done to both the team and Maurice Downs for organising the preparations: we last won in 1993 - we CAN do it again!.

The judges for both Association competitions were Chris McCarthy and Owen Claxton.