On Saturday April 14th members of the Branch met at Over for the annual 6 bell striking competition. The weather was very kind to us as it was a lovely afternoon, very rare so far in 2018. David Jones from Neston on the Wirral was our judge and he settled himself in the churchyard in the sun to listen to five teams.Giving his verdict, David made a few general comments, he felt that ringing the back 6 of an 8 was not an easy thing to do. It was difficult to establish a good rhythm and reach agreement on speed between the front and back bells.
First to ring was Witton, they started rather nervously and struggled a little bit with their practice but they improved in the test piece and the ringing was getting better as the test piece progressed, David gave them 84 faults.Middlewich rang next. They started their practice with some crisp rounds but David thought that possibly some nerves crept in and the test piece did not maintain a steady rhythm with the bells stretching out. This band was awarded 54 faults. The third band to ring was Grappenhall. They started their ringing with some sedate rounds and managed to maintain a good rhythm throughout. The faults came in clusters but overall it was an impressive piece of ringing and David awarded them 25 faults.The fourth band to ring was Weaverham, They confused David by stopping abruptly during the practice, this was due to problems with the clock hammer but no damage was done. The pull off at the start of the test piece was the best of the day and lead to a brisk pace which slowed a little but finally settled as the band seemed to agree on the speed for a good piece of ringing. This band was awarded 24 faults.The last band to ring was Stockton Heath with a bit of help from their friends. They struggled to settle at the start of the ringing but it improved significantly and the middle part of the test piece was quite nice. David awarded them 65 faults.
The final result was therefore;
First – Weaverham 24 faults
Second – Grappenhall 25 faults
Third – Middlewich 54 faults
Fourth – Stockton Heath 65 faults
Fifth – Witton 84 faults
All bands were thanked for entering and David was thanked for giving up his time to judge our competition.