M1: 24 Mar 2018 - Edington

We arrived in Wiltshire on a spring morning in March to attend an ART Module 1 Day Course at the stunning Edington Priory church. We were told it was built in the 1360’s by the Bishop of Winchester to glorify his birthplace and he did a fine job! I think we were all initially surprised by how many attendees were milling around being plied with tea, coffee and cake but, when we arrived in the enormous ringing chamber, kitted out with projector, screen, computer simulator and 10 tied bells I realised we were all going to have an enjoyable and educational day.

Our friendly and excellent course Tutor, Moira Johnson, broke the training down into a series of short and manageable exercises with the bells down and the attendees paired up to practice the exercise on a tied bell. One acted as the student and the other the pupil, with role play and role reversal helping us get to know our partners better and build confidence in the handling skills we were learning.

I think we all left Edington inspired and encouraged with the techniques we learned and appreciative of the wonderful home cooked catering supplied by the Edington ringers throughout the day.

The important thing now is to practice our skills at our local towers as we have two years to convert our training into accreditation.

Andrew Goldthorpe