Welcome to the Banbury
Branch
News Page for 2008
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If you would like to see the minutes from this years meetings please click on the links below
Minutes for Tower Reps meeting September 2008
Minutes for Tower Reps meeting January 2008
Minutes for the April AGM 2008
Minutes for the Half Yearly meeting October 2008
North Oxfordshire Ringers Clothing available
Latest News
Branch loses one of its well known ringers
Sadly, only three
months after celebrating his 80th birthday, well known local ringer Cliff
Wightman passed away in the Horton Hospital, Banbury aged 80. His funeral
was attended by approximately 150 people. Besides his many friends there
were also representatives from bellringing, scouting and work. St. Mary's
bells were rung half muffled before and after the service.
Born and educated in Suffolk he worked for a short time in local
government and finished his National Service with the RASC before moving
with his wife Joan to Oxfordshire. He worked for Bodicote Rural District
Council before joining Aplins Solicitors in Banbury as a legal executive
retiring after 40 years with the firm.
Besides his ringing interests Cliff was very well known in the local scout
movement. He started the 2nd Banbury group and then the 1st Banbury.
Finally with 6th Banbury he instigated the building of the scout hut at
Banbury School. He was also a District Commissioner for scouts and County
Commissioner for cubs. His other hobbies included badminton, swimming,
table tennis and walking.
Cliff rang at St. Mary's Banbury for 55 years and was well known at other
towers where he liked to help out. After Sunday morning ringing at Banbury
he regularly rang at Adderbury. Cliff 
attended
many Branch ringing activities such as outings, social events etc. He also
enjoyed ringing in quarter peals and, although his total was modest by
today's standards, he rang in at least 38 peals of which 22 were for the
Oxford Diocesan Guild and 16 for the Oxford Society. A peal in memory of
Cliff and other faithful Banbury ringers was rung on November 29th. (See
peal page)
The picture shows Cliff on the right reminiscing with other Banbury
Ringers
Ron and Anne Thorne celebrate 50 years
On Saturday Augu
st
30th Ron and Anne celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary and to mark
the occasion Bodicote tower rang a quarter peal and some of their friends
from the Branch went down to Devon and rang a peal on the six bells of
Warkleigh where Ron and Anne are regular ringers. Ron and Anne retired to
Devon after living in Bodicote for many years. Ron was both Banbury Branch
Secretary and Guild Master and after their retirement many of their
friends from the Branch and local ar
ea
have kept in touch through ringing weekends etc. The peal was a new
experience for all the band as Devon tail ends are at least two feet
longer than necessary for method ringing and are spliced so that they
cannot be adjusted. Added to this was a new set of ropes specially for the
occasion. Long tail ends, bouncy ropes, fluff and a hot morning made the
peal memorable.
After the peal the band were entertained to lunch by Ron and Anne and can
be seen outside their home. For details of the peal see the Peal page.
Peal Board in memory of Abbott
On Friday 1st
August a small group met at Great Tew church to dedicate a peal board
to the memory of Abbott Conway.
Branch Chairman Rev. Sue Burchell dedicated the board and gave thanks
for all Abbot had meant to us. She remembered his music, ringing,
friendship and the help he had given to her in training for the ministry.
A
quarter peal of Grandsire Triples followed in which Abbott's daughters
Catherine and Sarah rang.
We then retired to a very empty vicarage to join Margaret for
refreshments and to say farewell as they move to Bloxham. A toast was
raised to all the good times the ringers had spent with the Conways in the
vicarage and to remember Abbott. For quarter peal details see the Quarter
and Peals page.
On August 3rd the Rev. Janet Chapman, vicar of Banbury, took her last service before moving north to Birmingham to become a canon at Birmingham Cathedral. During Janet's time at Banbury she has given the ringers a great deal of support. To mark the occasion and to wish her and her family all the best for the future a peal was rung on Wednesday July 30th by some of the members of the Wednesday night practice band. It is planned to mark the occasion with a peal board. For peal details see the Peals and Quarters page.
A bit of needle on the Branch Outing
The July outing
this year was to the Redditch area. First tower of the day was Beoley and
then on to the Needle Museum at Redditch. Here we had a fascinating guided
tour of the Need
le
Mill with an explanation of how needle making was done. We lunched here
and had time to go round the museum at our own pace as well as look at the
artefacts in the visitors centre from Bordesley Abbey. Ringing in the
afternoon and early evening took place at Ipsley, Bromsgrove, Stoke Prior
and Feckenham. After the final tower an excellent meal was had at the
Lygon Arms at Feckenham. Thanks go to Roger and Myrtle for yet another
excellent outing.
Steeple Aston knocked off top spot
The Branch Striking Competition and Barbecue was held at Bodicote on June 14th. and was judged by David and Marilyn Floyd. After a three year run at the top Steeple Aston were relegated by just one point to second place by Bodicote 'A'. In third place was Tadmarton. Congratulations to Bodicote on winning and hosting a splendid barbecue.
On
June 11th well known local ringer Cliff Wightman celebrated his 80th
birthday. To mark the occasion a quarter peal was arranged at Banbury for
the evening of the 11th. Cliff has rung at Banbury since 1953 and has been
a regular member of the band. He has also helped out on practice nights
and Sundays at a number of other towers in the Branch. Although Cliff had
intended to ring sadly ill health meant that he was unable to take part.
The band and I'm sure all that know him wish him a speedy recovery and we
look forward to seeing him ringing once again. Quarter peal details can be
found on the Peals and quarters page.
At the Guild AGM on May 17th, the results of the sponsored ringing for the Guild Bell Fund were announced. The shield was awarded to the branch who raised the most money per head of the branch membership. Congratulations to Chipping Norton who came first. Oxford City were second and Banbury third. Well done to all those who participated in raising money
Work
started on the bells when they were taken out in May ready for re-hanging
and augmentation to six. Over the coming weeks they will be tuned and
rehung together with the new bell in a new frame. Bob Reeves will be
making the rope guides following on from the ones he made and designed at
Banbury and Cropredy. In the picture the bells can be seen outside the
church after removal from the tower.
Kineton Bells - Handbell Concert
As part of the fund raising for the augmentation of Kineton bells there is a handbell concert in the village hall on October 4th. Tickets are available to ringers before they go on sale to the general public. If you have not seen a handbell concert this is an opportunity not to be missed. For details click on the link below.
Handbell concert in aid of Kineton bells
Ringers at Kineton are busy trying to raise money to augment their bells from 6 to 8. On Saturday June 21st they are having a ringing day with 31 towers in the area open for ringing. These include some towers in our Branch. One tower at which people may not have rung is the 3 at Drayton. This is also an ideal opportunity to ring at new towers close to our Branch without having to travel a great distance. Click on the link to download the days programme.
Kineton Bells Project - Open Day
As
many of you may be aware Hanwell bells are to be rehung and augmented this
year. A new bell was recently cast for Hanwell at the Whitechapel Bell
Foundry and is called the "Beecroft
Bell". The picture
shows it in its mould where it was to stay over the weekend to cool off.
A film crew from Channel 5 were filming a documentary on the bell making
process the week it was cast. The Beecroft Bell will feature in the
programme "How do They Do It?", which will be shown in early
April.
In recent years
February has been the time when there has been some sort of Branch event.
For 2008 it was decided to have a sponsored quarter peal day in aid of the
Guild Bell Fund. It it was also hoped that as many ringers as possible
would achieve a first quarter peal in a method new to them.
On Saturday February 2nd quarter peals were attempted across the Branch at
Banbury (2 quarters), Bloxham, Bodicote, Steeple Aston and Mollington.
Five were successful. One was also rung a week earlier at Bodicote. The
Cropredy band had a general ringing session for which they gained
sponsorship.
In
the evening 50 ringers, family and friends gathered in Tadmarton Village
Hall for a jacket potato supper. During the evening a photographic picture
show of past events (using previously unseen photos!) was run on a
continuous loop.
After the meal, 
certificates
were awarded to those who had a achieved a first and prizes were given for
a 'Guess the Tower' picture competition and guess the weight of the cake
competition. The cake was made by Alison Varney and won by Alison
Saunders. The total money raised was £758.50. Of this £446 was gift
aided which means another £124.88 can be claimed back from the tax man.
Thus making the final total £883.38 Congratulations go to all those
involved in making the day such a success.
Please note that the Surprise Practice on February 14th is now at Steeple Aston and the Branch Dinner will be held on March 15th at the Horse and Groom, Milcombe
The New Year began
with a good turn out at Banbury to ring on New Year's Day for what has
become an annual event. 2008 also looks to be a busy year within the
Branch.
On February 2nd
there is the Branch Quarter Peal Day and a Social in the evening. The
Social will include a picture quiz related to Branch towers and a
continuous slide show of many unseen recent (and a few not so recent)
photographs of Branch people and events.
February 19th is
the re-dedication of Cropredy bells to which all Branch members are
invited.
Another major event this year will be the re-hanging and augmentation to 6
of Hanwell bells.