Bledhan nowydh da!!
This month sadly saw the passing of Dilys Rowe, Tower Secretary at Zennor. A half muffled QP was rung there in her memory which included Philippa’s first QP inside. Another at Truro Cathedral was scored in which the Tenor was rung by Jemma Hoare. Well done to both of you.
Many ringers throughout Cornwall rang out the old year and rang in 2024. This is a great tradition to keep alive as in the majority of towers it’s the only time you are allowed to ring so late! It was great to see that Gulval were able to ring in the New Year, something that had not happened there for many years.
On Sunday, 21st January I received a message from Hayley asking if I was still ok for the QP at the Cathedral that evening. As I was texting her back she rang me to say the conductor was unfortunately sick and could I conduct it… a bit of learning during an extended walk in the afternoon… we managed to score a very well struck QP of Grandsire to welcome the 14th Dean of Truro, Simon Robinson. I did not recognise one member of the band and when chatting afterwards found out that Andrew Palk had taught Simon to ring! Great to have him in the band to mark Simon’s installation.
A QP was rung at Withiel in memory of Tony Liddicoat, Tower Captain, and mainstay of village life there.
Another successful bell maintenance course took place in the Northern District at Marhamchurch and Week St. Mary. My thanks to Sue for organising the event and also to those who attended.
Several Guild events are coming up this year so please make sure you watch the Calendar on the TDGR website and look out for the emails on the mailing list if you have subscribed.
23rd-26th February will mark the first ever TDGR Call Change Peal weekend in memory of Doug Elliott and John Purdey. As I have previously mentioned, Tuesday, 26th February 1974 a band achieved 1260 call changes in 2h15m. Shorter compositions composed by these two can be found on the website so please attempt to ring them during that period.
St. Columb Major ringers marked Phil Tremain’s 25 years as Tower Captain by presenting him with a picture of the church. Well done Phil and thanks for your dedicated service.
And finally, subs are now due so make sure you get the forms signed and back to the respective District Secretaries as soon as you can.
Keep ringing!
Owen Borlase
Guild President
