Ten ringers, six of whom had learned to ring since July 2018 especially for this Ringing Remembers event.  All the learners were able to ring under supervision and unassisted, mixed in with more experienced ringers  for Rounds and Call Changes.   The six were so pleased and composed for me, Roger Fox  their tutor ( following Learn the Ropes  format) this  Ode for ODCOMBE.

Lest we forget. The Bell Ringers’ ode
Roger’s poster showed us the way
And for once the pub didn’t lead us astray
New ringers were needed across the land
And “The Clangers” were ready to lend a hand
September arrived, and we all started ringing
Plenty of practice, but not hearing much dinging
Mufflers were on, thank goodness for that,
And Roger observed there was too much chat
We practised in earnest two times a week
Handstrokes and Backstrokes, trying not to speak!
Eager to learn, we never came late,
So we all understood that sometimes we’d wait
(The ringers’ book says always come early!)
One week to go, we are ringing in rounds
All around Odcombe they are hearing our sounds

(Natives don’t like it)

We’re just beginners. Starting to get it,
Let’s hope on the day, we won’t forget it
Remembrance and Armistice on the same day,
“Ringing Remembers”, has shown us the way
All those that ring will give it their all,
And the bells of our Churches will continue to toll
The bell ringers past we will never forget,
And the new skills we’ve learnt we’ll never regret,
The bells will keep ringing whilst we are here,
And those that were lost will always be near.

Odcombe Bell Team