Round our way, a New Year's Day bell ringers' outing seems to be traditional.
It is an opportunity to ring at some new towers, but above all it is a social event, when ringers get together, compare Christmas trainers and new bags and generally "catch up". You can gauge the extent to which local ringing has perked up over the past year in that on last New Year's outing (1/1/22) attendees were scarcely in the low teens, and this year we were more than double that figure, plus a number of parents and partners who could be seen as potential recruits rather than tower clutterer-uppers. We were a jolly group, although it was colder inside than out and nearly everywhere we went the ropes were damp, slimy and short. The only place where they were not, they were new, fat and short. I prefer the damp ones to the fat ones. Boxes upon boxes were demanded and retrieved from odd corners.
Lunch was plentiful with our table strewn with plates of picked-over ribs. It resembled a scene from The Flintstones. Full tummies and hard-to-handle bells are not a winning combination, at least not for me, who ended up, yet again, in "rabbit caught in headlights" mode, unable to trust that I am able to handle anything and scanning the circle of ropes for the least objectionable bell to try and control. Small children have more success than I do, which is dispiriting but I am becoming inured to the humiliation.
It was good to see people and at least our home bells will be greeted as much-loved friends come today's practice, which may have to be postponed due to a Norwich home game. It was also lovely to be welcomed so warmly in one particular tower where coffee and biscuits were handed out with a smile by local church members, one of whom confided in me that their bells have probably not been rung "properly" more than half a dozen times since they were re-hung 40 years ago. They were very excited by all these ringers swarming over their pews and it reminded me that for some congregations, when ringers come through we are an event and something to be celebrated, however ropy our ringing might be. They even had a notice on the church board advertising our visit - but that might have been a warning to shut windows, rather than to listen out for us.
Apparently it is possible to link New Year's ringing to the Festival of Bells on Bellboard, which is predominantly an American initiative that celebrates all things ringing at this important ringing time of the year. They have a slick and informative website and the UK has been selected as their 2023 Spotlight Nation. The organisation highlights the rich bell ringing traditions and bell making heritage of our art. You can find them at https://www.bells.org and it is worth a look.
I do not know how you would list an entire outing, but it probably deserves a mention because New Year's ringing is of the very essence of bell ringing. If we wish to celebrate the community of ringers as well as the performances, then there is nothing more community spirited than what we achieved on our chilly traipse around some Norfolk/Suffolk towers - a motley group from primary age to pensioner, from absolute beginner to 1000-pealer, from 3 months experience to 70 years and still counting. It was not so much about the ringing, it was about the ringers.
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