NEW RINGER FOR SUNDAY

On Sunday the 6th of December, Rupert joined us for a 5 minute ring at the begining of the service. Since he rang so well and was so relaxed we asked him to ring for a little longer. Very nice striking, very impressive ringing, well done Rupert.

TEAM SERVICE

On Sunday 29th November we had a team service at Shaftesbury St. Peter's, which meant that ringers from all the parishes could get together and ring together. Jill and John Hunt welcomed us to the tower and we had ringers from Motcombe, Margaret Marsh, Melbury and Shaftesbury. Dominic rang well in rounds and call-changes and we interspersed bob minor, stedman and reverse canterbury with rounds for the inexperienced. Thanks go to John and Jill Hunt for inviting us all and leading the ringing.

STEDMAN DOUBLES

Quarter peals of Stedman Doubles are few and far between so congratulations go to Carol Bracey for ringing her first quarter of Stedman on Friday, 6th November. We were ably assisted by John and Gill Hunt and Ali Yearsley (also a first in method). Hugh called the quarter which was a first for him too.
This quarter was rung half muffled for Remembrance Day.

1. Alison Yearsley
2. Carol Bracey
3. Gill Hunt
4. John Hunt
5. Hugh Walmesley White (c)
6. Jan Walmesley

First in method for 1,2 first calling 5

A CRACKING DAY OUT IN SOMERSET

On Saturday we all set off to deepest, darkest Somerset for our annual tower outing. The first tower was at Dowlish Wake, set on a rise with lovely views. These were lovely bells that we took some time to settle into, but they were very enjoyable nonetheless.

Seavington St Mary was the second tower, an atmospheric redundant church that we have passed on the old A303 for many years. It was a real pleasure to finally go inside this landmark church and ring. Here we had some help from the lady that let us in to ring some Minor.

Back to Dowlish for a pub lunch, and a chance to catch up with Gary and Manda and Laurence while enjoying our lunch.

Our third tower was very well hidden in some lovely countryside, Chaffcombe, where due to a tardy finish to lunch we needed local help to raise, then we rang his favorite method (grandsire), which went well.

Lastly we rang in Chard; we don't do a lot on eight bells so it was good to have the opportunity to try something different. A highish window to look out of and a big first step down out from the tower kept Manda amused.

The outing was a great success and well-organised by Robert. Thank you to everyone for coming along and making our Somerset sojourn so enjoyable.

GUILD QUIZ NIGHT

The Guild quiz, hosted by Robert Wellen, was held at Motcombe village hall on 29th August. Liz catered for the evening with help from Sylvia, Jill and Sheila, and we enjoyed a meal of coronation chicken, meringues and coffee in the interval. Some of the Motcombe quiz team were busy in the kitchen which left Dennis, Jill and Liz to answer the questions on the first two rounds. The rest of the team gathered together for the next few rounds until our master stroke of playing the joker on the motoring round. Dennis showed his expertise and we scored a maximum of 20 points! At the end of a fun evening we came second which is our best place yet. Well done to our quiz team!

WEDDING QUARTER PEAL

On 29th August, after a shaky start, we rang a quarter peal for a wedding in Motcombe church. The method was Grandsire Doubles. Luckily for a 4 o'clock wedding there wasn't too much hot sunshine beating in through the west window as I had forgotten the fan!

1. Sylvia Charles
2. Jan Walmesley White
3. Carol Bracey
4. Judith Williamson
5. Hugh Walmesley White (C)
6. Dennis Jenkins

BRANCH STRIKING COMPETITION 2009

The Mere branch striking competition was held at Bourton this year, on bells which required good striking and concentration. A record equalling number of 6 teams entered and we were pleased to ring slightly less erratically than the other teams and come first (by only one point!). It was good to have such pressure and encouraging to hear the improvement in the other bands. Congratulations to our team and supporters.

1. Sylvia Charles
2. Carol Bracey
3. Liz Biles
4. Jan Walmesley White
5. Laurence Odell
6. Hugh Walmesley White

NEW RINGER JOINS SUNDAY BAND

On Sunday the 12th Dominic rang for the whole service touch without a fault and with very good striking, congratulations.

QUARTER PEAL ACHIEVEMENT

Congratulations to Carol Bracey for ringing her first quarter peal of bob minor on an inside bell. The quarter took place at Mappowder on 14th June and was organised and called by Judith. The ringing went well and generally the striking was good. I expect the ringing was improved after having had a very good pub lunch.

1. Jenny Kennet
2. Carol Bracey
3. Hugh Walmesley White
4. Jan Walmesley White
5. Judith Williamson (c)
6. Robert Wellen
   

BELLRINGER ON A BIKE

On Sunday 21st June 2009, the British Heart Foundation held its annual London to Brighton sponsored cycle ride. 27,000 brave souls set off from Clapham common and amongst the throng was our own Sylvia Charles. Sylvia and Primrose completed the 54 mile course and
raised funds for the British Heart Foundation and St. Mary's church, Motcombe.


Sylvia and Primrose setting off.




At the end of a long ride, Sylvia with her well earned medal.

CHRISTMAS DINNER

We held our annual Christmas Dinner in January this year for a change. We all met at the King's Arms at East Stour and enjoyed an excellent meal in good company. Hugh's quiz was won by Shaun and Christopher and it was fun to meet up with Laurence, Gill, Shelia and Mike. Here we are, all dressed up in our finery.

CHRISTMAS 2008

The highlight of our Christmas ringing is a quarter peal attempt for the carol service. This year our tenor ringer had to pull out a few days before but luckily Dennis stepped into the breach and rang the tenor for his first quarter peal. The ringing went well and we joined the congregation for carols by candle light, followed by mince pies and mulled wine.

1260 changes of Grandsire doubles

1. Hugh Walmesley White (c)
2. Liz Biles
3. Sylvia Charles
4. Jan Walmesley White
5. Judith Williamson
6. Dennis Jenkins

REMEMBERANCE QUARTER PEAL

Congratulations go to Sylvia for ringing her first quarter peal of grandsire on Friday 10th November 2008 following a course run the previous Saturday morning. This was Sylvia's first attempt and with the bells muffled for Remembrance Day, the striking sounded good too.

1. Shelia Porter
2. Jan Walmesley
3. Sylvia Charles
4. Judith Williamson
5. Hugh Walmesley White (c)
6. Roger Alford
   

MOTCOMBE'S ANNUAL OUTING 2008

On 25th October, 15 ringers and 2 companions embarked on the Motcombe outing to four towers between Andover and Romsey. The outing had been expertly arranged by Robert to enable Gary, Manda and Laurence to join us for the day. We also welcomed Christopher and Julie from Donhead St. Mary.



It was a very successful day with each tower an improvement on the previous one. We started at Broughton, a quiet, sleepy village with lots of traffic. A nice ground floor ring with an impressive glassed-in ante room.
East Tytherley had lovely bells and it was nice for our tower to have the experience of ringing on 8. Another ground floor ring where we hunted on eight and tried grandsire triples.




After an excellent lunch we made our way to Lockerly. We had trouble getting into the tower before some lateral thinking from Dennis turned up the missing key. The bells rang very well when kept close.



Sherfield English was an interesting tower and with John Buchan in mind, we climbed the 39 steps to the ringing chamber. Again an opportunity for us to experiment on 8 bells which were good to handle. Here we finished off our day with a perfect course of Cambridge Minor, so with good spirits we went off to the pub before heading home.