Congratulations to our Bellringers!

In the world of bellringing, striking competitions (where teams of bellringers compete to ring the most accurately struck piece of ringing) are the most competitive and exciting thing we undertake, and of those, it is striking competitions on 12 bells that are the pinnacle of skills and technical challenge.

Last Saturday saw the first South East 12-Bell Striking Competition. With a National Competition starting in 1975, regional competitions are a more recent phenomenon. A London 12-Bell was started in 2009, and then followed by the North-West in 2017, and the South-West in 2018.

Having one in the South East has, therefore, been a long time coming, but no one has previously taken the initiative to set one up. However, having hosted a very successful ‘eliminator’ for the National Contest in 2024, Peter Sheppard (recent Tower Captain at Portsmouth) decided to set one up in the region. A year of planning, with a committee of members from 12 bell towers around the region, culminated in teams entering from Canterbury, Hursley, Guildford, Reading, Southampton, Sussex County and of course Portsmouth, with Guildford taking the trophy and the local team coming a very credible second. The Judges (Tom and Hannah) come from Bromley and Southwark Cathedral, very ably assisted by Craig using bellringing's own version of HawkEye - HawkEar. This software helps to measure the smallest of inaccuracies in rhythm.

The new trophy was donated in memory of Mavis Whitehead, a member of the Portsmouth Cathedral congregation and ringer until her death in October 2023. Ian Carey spoke fondly of her prior to the winning team being announced and also presented a bottle of sherry and peanuts - two of Mavis's favourites.

 The Cathedral bar specially stocked Bowman's beers at the request of the local ringers, and the PCCA also provided catering for the event, which was very well received and allowed them to raise £528.

The feedback from all attendees was glowingly positive and we are already looking forwards to next years and we are proud to have started a competition that looks like it will have a strong legacy in the area in years to come.