St Andrew’s and South Ockendon bell ringers entered 2 teams for a striking competition designed to encourage new bell ringers to take part.
Each team consisted of 6 ringers of which the majority were new recruits having never taken part in such a competition before.
The competition was held at Dagenham Parish Church with 4 teams from the SW District of Essex taking part. Each team had to ring for between 5 and 8 minutes whilst the conductor moved the bells to different positions (Call Changes).
Despite lots of nerves and apprehension, both of our teams successfully completed their test pieces and finished in 2nd and 4th places, losing out to Epping in 1st place. All have resolved to take part again next year.
The photo shows some of the ringers who took part:
L – R: Rosemarie Edwards, Terry Thornhill, Rose Kaziro, Steve Sampson, Michelle Long, John Stephenson and Jane Harper.