ART Conference 2022 speakers
Mike Banks
Sound control inside and outside of your tower
Mike worked 33 years for Rolls Royce as a senior engineer managing new advanced gas turbine engineering programmes for applications on land, sea and air. One of many requirements for these engines was an acceptable in-service noise level and so he became familiar with the basic requirements of noise control. Being an enthusiastic bell ringer, Mike was able to apply this knowledge, when he retired, to solving bell installation noise problems. He has been directly involved in the successful design, manufacture and installation of sound control systems in 5 Derbyshire churches and advised on several more in the county.
When he served for 6 years as a CCCBR Committee Member on the Towers and Belfries Committee he was able to advise nationally and ran two all-day sound control seminars, one in the Midlands and the other in London. Since then Mike has continued to advise nationally and have been able to help many towers both large and small.
Jon Bint
Devon Call Change ringing and Devon Call Change Masterclass
Jon learnt to handle a rope at St Michael the Archangel in 1976 under the then Tower Captain, Percy Rice.
As a mature student, Music Honours graduate from University of Birmingham 1997; Master of BUSCR 1994-95, two NUA titles, gaining special mention both times tenoring to Grandsire Doubles. Jon has been part of two peals in 1997 and 2017. Jon met his wife, Ruth, whilst teaching her to ring in Drewsteignton - he then continued to teach three of their four children to ring, the other one partway there. Jon and Ruth are now proud grandparents, with a grandson, age 17 months.
Jon is currently Tower Captain at Chagford & Drewsteignton. As well as 'heavy metal' he works in the HGV world!
Julia Cater
Teaching ANYONE to ring heavy bells
Julia was taught by her mother, Gail, as a 7 year old at Winchester Cathedral. She rapidly advanced as a ringer including participating in a number of early young ringers' peals. University in Birmingham exposed her to a new level of methods, striking and brought interest in ringing heavier bells. After graduating she rang with the Cumberlands in London, and participated in many record-breaking women's peals. A decade or so later, "life" took priority with her focus being on career and raising a family. However, she continues to be an active bellringer and takes pleasure in teaching bell handling locally and participating in her local Guild committee as well as helping her own children learn. She is passionate about everyone having the right bell handling to be able to ring wherever they want in the circle.
Jim Crabtree
Ringers and bells – how do we work with "The Church"?
Jim's home tower is Attenborough just outside Nottingham. He has been ringing for around 50 years with a good part of that as tower captain. Over the last 30+ years he has also been involved in other church roles such as churchwarden and PCC secretary. Within the Southwell and Nottingham Guild Jim has held a number of posts - currently being Guild Chairman and a Trustee of the Bell Fund. These various roles have brought him into contact with a number of schemes, 1/4s & peals, ringing for special occasions, a variety of clergy, the faculty system, other towers requesting advice, church architects, the PCC, the Diocesan Advisory Committee and the local authority, etc.
Tony Crabtree
Ropes and how to avoid them breaking and Rope splicing workshop
Tony started ringing as a teenager at Attenborough, Nottingham and later moved to Exeter, being a member of the local band at the Cathedral and other towers. Through his work, the former British Rail, he then moved to Shrivenham, near Swindon where he subsequently restored and augmented the bells to ten. He has led several other major restorations and augmentations in the Vale of White Horse and elsewhere.
Tony is Chair of the Towers & Belfries Committee of the Oxford Diocesan Guild (ODG) and is also ODG Deputy Master. He is a member of the CCCBR SMWG and a Member, Mentor and Assessor with ART.
Sonia Field
Building and rebuilding a band… lego blocks and jenga
Sonia began tower bell ringing in 2012, several years after her two sons had become proficient ringers. She became a full member of ART shortly before the first lockdown, by which time she was organising foundation skills practices. She moved this training online during lockdown to maintain the learning momentum and enthusiasm of newer learners. As a result, the eKenton band was created. eKenton now provides in-person training, often using towers that would otherwise be silent.
Sonia is also helping to build a band at All Saints, Harrow Weald where she is Ringing Master. She has a few other ‘ringing hats’, one of which is supporting Matt in CCCBR’s Recruitment and Retention sub-workgroup of V&L.
Alan Frost
Architects and their roles with ringers and bell towers
Alan has a wealth of experience with Donald Insall Associates and has particular experience as an architect in charge of conservation and adaptation of major historic buildings, including Windsor Castle Fire Restoration; Somerset House and Crossness Pumping Station, London; Raby Castle, County Durham; Liverpool Town Hall; House of Lords’ ceiling at the Palace of Westminster; Kelmscott Manor (Society of Antiquaries); and especially churches, including St Mary-le-Strand, London;St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, London; St Luke’s Church, Chelsea; St Michael’s Cornhill, London; Saffron Walden Parish Church.
Other activities and responsibilities include: Consultant on bells to the Oxford, London and St Albans Diocesan Advisory Committees; Consultant for church lighting and sound amplification on the St Albans Diocesan Advisory Committee; Member of the SMWG Committee of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers; and Editor of the Tower and Bells Handbook, published by the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers.
Andrew Kelso
The Essex way
Andrew was taught to ring by Chris Frye at Dunblane Cathedral in 1986. He went to “finishing school” in Edinburgh, initially with the UEGCR, and later as Ringing Master at St Cuthbert’s. Work took him to Newcastle and then London, which provided new ringing opportunities and friends.
He later moved to Essex in 2013 where he is tower captain at St Peter’s Goldhanger. He became Master of the Essex Association in 2018. His particular ringing interests include teaching, peals and handbells.
Matt Lawrence
Building and rebuilding a band… lego blocks and jenga
Matt started ringing in Walsall as a teenager in the mid 1980’s when a school friend persuaded him to have a go. Although he has been ringing for over 30 years it is only since moving to Lilleshall, Shropshire in 2013 that he started (out of necessity) teaching people to ring. Building and developing the band at Lilleshall resulted in a particular interest in recruitment and retention. He is currently the recruitment and retention lead for CCCBR’s Volunteer and Leadership Group and has helped develop the Recruitment and Retention Workshop in partnership with ART. He is also a member of the ART/CCCBR Survival and Recovery steering group.
Clare McArdle
The LtR Advance Call Change scheme
Clare learned to ring, aged 12, in the 1970s at Harborne in Birmingham and has rung there ever since. From a young age she began helping with teaching there, but it wasn’t until much later, when she became Tower Captain at Harborne, that she really developed her teaching skills.
A varied career began with 15 years making stained glass windows, followed by 19 years as a front-line paramedic with West Midlands Ambulance Service. Clare now works as a freelance First Aid Instructor and has been working part time in the NHS vaccination programme.
In 2013 Clare came up with the crazy idea of a bell ringing school to centralise training in Birmingham and spread the load and responsibility of teaching, thereby supporting towers without teachers and distributing new ringers to towers within the St Martin’s Guild. Having presented the idea, she was surprised, but extremely grateful, that it was immediately supported by key figures in the Guild and thus the Birmingham School of Bell Ringing was born.
Clare's involvement with ART came about in 2012, when one of the ringers at Harborne asked Clare to mentor her through Module 1 of the teaching course. Having attended the course and mentored several teachers Clare became an ART Assessor and subsequently, in 2017, a Tutor for ART. She joined the Management Committee in 2019 and has a special interest in the Learning the Ropes Scheme.
Peter McMaster
How secure are the tower and your ringers?
Peter has worked as a Counter Terrorism Security Advisor for over a decade and hold Licentiateship and Graduateship City and Guilds qualifications in Counter Terrorism Security Management. He has worked on the current British Standard for Mail Screening and Security (PAS 97) and contributed to the National Crowded Places Guidance for Counter Terrorism Security. Peter's work has covered the range from major events such as the 2012 Olympics to individuals at risk of being specifically targeted. He asks to please rest assured that his security advice is aimed at providing proportionate and reasonable support.
Graham Nabb
Ringing up and down in peal and 50 Ringing Things – a tool to develop skills and motivate
Graham learned to ring in 1964 in Somerset and was involved in teaching handling as a teenager. Moves for work him to Southampton and eventually back to north Somerset followed by a final move to Birmingham in the '90's. Retirement to Kineton followed where a ringing centre was established.
Graham became involved with ART, assisting with its formation and as a Tutor. He has run courses throughout the UK and was Chair of ART for three years. He has assisted in the development of a number educational resources for ART.
Colin Newman
Engaging and retaining young ringers
Colin learned to ring at Chigwell Row in Essex at the age of 10, becoming tower captain at the age 16 and District Master at the age of 19. Alongside his duties as tower captain and District Master, much time during his formative years was spent with the band at Dagenham, practising for and attempting (mostly successfully) peals of 23 Spliced Surprise Major under the guidance of Dr John Armstrong.
Colin has been actively involved with the Ancient Society College Youths since the mid 90s, serving through the stewardships on 2002 and 2003, and then as Master in 2004. He is currently an ASCY representative on the Central Council.
Following a move from Essex to Berkshire in the early 2000s, Colin is now a member of the Tilehurst local band which holds an improvers as well as a general practice each week, he serves as Reading Branch Ringing Master and is the coach of the ODG Young Ringers team that won the 2019 Ringing World National Youth Contest.
Colin gets involved in all levels of ringing from teaching of basic handing skills to ringing peals of Surprise Maximus, getting the most pleasure from observing others develop and achieve high standards.
Philip Pratt
Rope splicing workshop
Philip has been a keen bellringer from the age of 11 and is currently the steeple keeper at St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol.
A primary school visit to the rope walk at Chatham dockyard ignited an interest and curiosity in working out how a bellrope could be made. Having done an engineering degree, Philip worked for two bellhangers before setting up his own rope business, Avon Ropes, in 2007. With no prior experience in this field, he designed and built the machinery required to make a bellrope. Philip and his team at Avon Ropes produce high quality bellropes that can be found on bells around the world. Philip was the first to introduce zero stretch Dyneema rope to bellringers. They also produce chiming ropes, mini light pull bell ropes and Yorkshire tail ends. Avon Ropes also undertake bellrope repairs, extending the life of used bell ropes. More recently Avon Ropes has started manufacturing Big Wilf’s Velcro fastening muffles and other leather goods such as garter sleeves.
Philip lives in Bristol with his ringing partner and young son.
Arthur Reeves
How can we be the best teacher for our students
Arthur learnt to ring at Theale, West Berkshire, in the late 1990s. He continued to develop his ringing when he joined York University, where he rang both his first quarter peal and peal. He joined the band at St Wilfrid's York, which gave him the chance to develop his ringing on higher numbers. Arthur began ringing in Birmingham when he moved to the midlands to begin his teacher training, joining the bands both at the Cathedral and St Martin's-in-the-Bullring. Arthur organised Birmingham's summer school, teaching a group of young people to ring over the course of one week in the summer holidays. Since then he has undertaken leadership positions within the St Martin's Guild, first as Ringing Master and currently as Secretary. He is both an ART tutor and Birmingham School of Ringing tutor. He also sits on the CCCBR Youth and Schools workgroup. Outside of ringing, Arthur is a teacher of History and Politics.
Tom Ridgman
Keeping the tower and bells in good condition
Tom Ridgman is a mechanical engineer who learnt to ring in Lancashire in 1987. After moving to the West Midlands in the early ‘90s he was introduced to a group organised by John Cater who were carrying out maintenance and refurbishment projects in the Derbyshire area. A further move to Cambridgeshire in the mid ‘90s brought him in contact with the Huntingdonshire Church Bell Restoration Society (HCBRS) run by Chris Higgins which carried out similar, but more ambitious projects, where the relevant PCC had no funds to spare for the bells.
He has been the Bell Advisor to the Ely Diocesan Association of Church Bellringers (EDACBR) since 2009 and has merged the activities of the HCBRS into the Association Bells sub-committee which is mainly focussed on inspections, maintenance and training of steeple keepers with the help of 4 District Bell Advisors.The current large project is the installation of a frame and 6 new bells in St Clements Church Cambridge for a new Association ringing centre.
David Roskelly
What does what in the bell chamber and Getting your bearings – a hands-on opportunity to explore of a bell installation close up
David learned to ring at St. Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh while studying for a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He assisted with the augmentation at the Cathedral and the re-hanging of the bells at St Andrew and St George's where he later became steeple keeper. David's final year project was a study of clapper behaviour in change ringing bells. After graduating in 2009 he moved to Malvern in Worcestershire and shortly after became steeple keeper at Great Malvern Priory. He joined the CCCBR towers and belfries committee and is now a member of the Stewardship and Management workgroup and has worked on various CCCBR publications and training events.
David is a professional pipe-organ builder and has worked and rung in churches from Inverness to Auckland.
Jen Saunders
Building resilience and breaking habits
Jen Saunders is a workforce transformation specialist with
over 15 years of experience in management consulting advising organisations in
how to redesign their workforce, increase performance and embed change. She is
passionate about the role of reskilling in building resilience both for
organisations and for individuals as they adapt their careers to the changing
nature of work.
Chris Sharp
Promoting equality and diversity in the tower
Chris was Director of HR for a local authority before specialising in equalities in the University sector. For eight years prior to retiring in 2015 he was leading a small equalities unit at the University of Leicester. One focus of his work centred on the better representation of women in science, maths, engineering and medicine. He was chairperson for some of the national awarding panels for Athena Swan, an award scheme for the University science community. Toward the end of his time at Leicester Chris developed a partnership between the University and the United Nations. They were chosen to become one of ten universities worldwide to be invited to join the UN partnership known as HeForShe.
Chris learnt to ring in 1963 and down the years enjoyed peal ringing both in hand and tower. On arriving at 1000 peals he had rung exactly 500 in hand and 500 tower bell peals. Chris' home tower is Belton (5) in Lincolnshire.
David Smith
Teaching with unusual methods
David resumed ringing in 2006 in Brisbane after a gap of about 35 years, having emigrated from UK in 1980. Since then he has held various offices in ANZAB including President 2015-2017, has been a Central Council rep since 2016, served on the CRAG reform team and is currently nearing the end of a term on the Central Council Executive.
He has been an ART tutor since 2015, one of the first outside UK, and helped introduce ART and LtR into Australia and New Zealand. David also writes The Education Column, published regularly in The Ringing World.
In the outside world, he taught mathematics for many years, has set up and run several publishing and IT companies, is a singer and a keen skier.
Nick Wilkins
From no bells to eight in two, not so easy, stages
Nick is a retired Chartered Surveyor and in 2012 was instrumental in the installation of a light ring of six bells at Farnborough, Kent (tenor 2.5cwt). Despite the Covid epidemic he obtained PCC approval, secured funding and submitted a successful Faculty application in 2020 for the augmentation of these bells. This was by way of the unusual ‘Top and Tail’ addition of a new treble bearing the name of John Barnes, a new tenor (3.5cwt) and the retuning of the 4th of six down half a note to become the 5th of the octave. The two additional bells were installed in the Spring of 2021 and after a slow resumption of ringing due to Covid the bells are starting to be well used and are very popular as they are easy to ring.
Robert Wood
Sound control inside and outside of your tower
Alan and Ken Yalden
Rope splicing workshop
Hayley Young
Activating Cornwall
Hayley was taught to handle by her father Paul Barton, she rang at
Dursley in Gloucester as a teenager and rang with the band at
Loughborough whilst at university. She is now Truro cathedral Ringing
Master and TDGR Guild Secretary and aspires to be a good 12 bell
ringer!
Hayley sees her role in ringing as motivating people to do something, helping them to make a difference. She feels it’s time for her generation to take responsibility for the future of ringing, 'We don’t have loads of time on our hands, but what we do have is the ability to make what we do fun and a passion to move things forward'. If everyone who feels the same way can take on something small it will make an impact. Traditionally the focus has been on the hardware, and bells are totally awesome, but now it’s time for the people, positivity and playing to our strengths.