I first saw the 50 things booklet at the ART conference in March and at first glance thought it would be good for the youngsters in our ringing school.
50 Ringing Things Booklet
However, on closer inspection I realised it is appropriate for all ages and my competitive nature kicked in and myself and my friend, without realising, each bought one for ourselves and one for each other as a present, so we now each have two each! It then turned into a competition as to who could fill theirs in the quickest, although it doesn’t have to be done in competition with anyone and it can be more of a personal challenge. I am in the fortunate position of being in an active ringing area in Northampton. We are a designated ART Teaching Hub and there are 4 ringing sessions each week of different levels; I am responsible for running some of these as well as overseeing the running of others; I am also on our local branch committee.
These various activities mean I have quite a lot of opportunity to fill in my 50 things book. However, the more you fill in, the trickier it becomes to find the next thing to fill in!
One of the things I like about the book is that you can only fill in one item per activity, so if I called a quarter peal at a Cathedral on a bell weighing over 16cwt, I would have to choose which one to tick off. Here’s where strategy comes into play, which one am I likely not to do again in the near future, that’ll be the one I choose!
First Bronze Certificate Awarded – Jennie Higson of Northampton
The book has generated a lot of discussion in our post ringing pub sessions, for example, how much of a practice counts as part of a practice in the item “run all or part of a practice”? Thanks to Midland trains causing the ringing master to be late a week ago, I was able to run part of a practice which was then my 15ththing enabling me to get my bronze certificate! Several of our ringers now have their copies on order, it’s a fun thing to do whatever your level of ringing, there is something for everyone. We are going to be awarding these books as prizes when our learners achieve their LtR Level 2 certificates. I am pleased to have achieved my bronze certificate, let battle commence for the silver!