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Charles Woodd organised the churches for us to ring at, and all the Hemel ringers plus a dozen or so others (ex-Hemel ringers and various friends including “rivals” from Redbourn & Apsley) started off for our annual outing day.
The early starters left at 7:30am and went to Burford for breakfast at a Little Chef, (some – the unlucky ones that didn’t breakfast - not only missed a breakfast but got caught in an awful traffic jam round Oxford). After that we went to ring at the church for an hour, where the stragglers all caught up, then along the Windrush valley to Great Barrington to ring again before lunch at The Fox, in a beautiful situation by the river. The weather decided to be kind so we sat outside for an hour or two.
After a bit of a dash to Cirencester we rang first at Watermoor (co-incidentally one of our ringing guests had got married there), then at the Parish church which has 12 bells and was a new experience for some. A trip to the top of the tower gave us magnificent views over the town and country around (and Charles & Amanda’s house).
That took too long, so we really had to motor to get back to Thame in time for our 6:00 scheduled ringing, but most of us made it. (Mr Crawley’s short cut delayed him by 40 minutes!).
Finally on to the evening refreshment at the Seven Stars at Dinton. Yours truly had nagged all morning to get everyone’s menu selections and phone them in, and the pub was ready for us and got all the meals right! (even the bill added up to roughly what was collected). Most of us got home before 10:30 after a tiring but happy and successful outing, and most of us made it to ringing at 9:00 the next day.
A lot of organisation goes into a successful outing, everything has to be pre-arranged with the local churches (and pubs), journey times worked out, everything re-confirmed, etc etc. Charles did us proud.
Some ex-Hemel ringers enjoying lunch. (l-r: Nigel Childs, Alex Thornton, Tim Younger)
Mr Crawley’s the only one with a drink, no wonder the rest look miserable.
Maybe the’ve got 7 straws
Practicing essential skills
Was the swan hungry, aggressive, or just didn’t appreciate suede?
Serious concentration ringing the method “Watermoor” at Watermoor. New to everyone and quite tricky to remember, especially after lunch.
View from the top of Cirencester tower
After dinner (N)
After dinner (S)