National 12-Bell Contest Eliminator

After a few months preparation, The Minster hosted the National 12-Bell Contest Eliminator on the same day as heats at Hursley in Hampshire and Melbourne in Derbyshire.  On Friday 24th March a team of Minster helpers assembled to clean and tidy the church.  Reg and his little team had to stop the church clock chiming so that it did not interfere with the judging.  In the church the team assembled tables, marked up the flipcharts for the order of ringing after the draw and the results at the end, set up the television screen that shows the bells, put up the price list and arrange the vestry for the judges.

Contest day was Saturday 25th; a lovely bright day (with a few showers) and we opened up at 9 o’clock and cakes started to appear!  By 10.30 the church was filling up and coffees were being served and cakes were starting to be eaten.  The draw took place at 11 o’clock and our interim vicar, who was a fantastic help, welcomed the contestants with a prayer then drew the names of the towers out of a hat, which showed which order they would ring. 

It then went fairly quiet for a few hours.  Ringers wandered in and out and stood outside listening to the ringing – particularly the Birmingham band who were expected to win. 

The ringing finished at 3 and results expected after 4.  At that point it got busy again on the tea stall.  The judges appeared at 4.15 and one gave a description of each piece of ringing, and the other judge then gave the results.  As expected Birmingham won and Exeter and Bristol also qualified for the final.  The Cheltenham team came forth – a fantastic result for our first attempt.

We were delighted to be able to donate just under £350 to the Friends of the Minster to be spent on the Prayer Chapel, which needs some work.

Exhausted but happy we finished just after 5 o’clock.  I would particularly like to thank Cath & Anson Jack, Reg & Isabel Hitchings, Michael Bishop, Mike Hartley, Andra Knight, Mark Davies and Steve & Gail Jones plus all the other people who donated cakes and helped on the rota.  Thanks must also go to Rachel Hargreave in the church office and Rev Louise Brown who took a day of bell ringers in her stride.

Liz Coke – Captain of The Minster Bell Tower