Aine Widdicombe is a young ringer at Bredwardine, Herefordshire. She started ringing aged 11, along with her friend, Cressie.

On Sunday 13th November, she rang in a quarter peal of Grandsire Doubles, half muffled for Remembrance Sunday, at Whitney-on-Wye, a delightful ring of five- this completed her set of quarters for Level 5 (doubles pathway) of Learning The Ropes.

Not only has Aine shown a natural aptitude for ringing, she has also worked hard to achieve good striking and has become a reliable and essential member of the local band. Along her ringing path, she has rung in several more quarters, including a few firsts for other ringers, attended a couple of the Hereford ringing courses and also rang the treble to a full peal in honour of her 13th birthday. As she is in the middle of her mock GCSE exams, achieving Level 5 is all the more satisfying.

Aine receives her certificate, at a  Bredwardine practise

During the summer, a group from a different parish- Brinsop- asked to be taught to ring ready for the restoration and re-hanging of their medieval bells. As I had no-one to help and Aine had expressed a wish to learn to teach- I jumped at the assistance offered and all credit to Aine, she did really well. By the end of the course, the group were ringing up & down and handling the bells well- they also got to see a stay break- not their fault though! They are now ringing at a tower closer to their home village.

Steve, Tim, Abby, Aine & Pete- ringers from Brinsop

The local band wish Aine every success with her exams and can’t wait for them to be over, so we can have our superstar back.