THE ANNUAL JOURNAL OF THE GUILD OF RAILWAY RINGERS JANUARY 2013 Including: WINTER TOUR DETAILS - LEAMINGTON & WARWICK DETAILS OF 2013 TOURS AGM REPORT & MINUTES FROM 2012 NEWS & REPORTS FROM 2012 PAGE 2 A MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY,CHRIS MEW Firstly, a very Happy New year to all our members and others who have supported the Guild activities during 2012. We haven’t got the distractions of the Jubilee or the Olympics this year so hope that there will be good attendance at the scheduled meetings which are as follows:- February 23rd - Warwick and Leamington area (see page 3) April 27th - Basingstoke area (along the old Basingstoke & Alton Railway) July 13th - Guild AGM on Severn Valley Railway September 7th - Southend on Sea area Please come along and make these days successful and we are always open to suggestions for additional outings or practices. The autumn meeting held last September visited towers in West Yorkshire and included Dews- bury 8 (now a Minster) and Huddersfield where we found the 10 quite hard work. This was fol- lowed by Brighouse 8, Mytholmroyd 8 where our skills were tested ringing the 3rd without a stay AND Yorkshire tail-ends! Final tower was Todmorden a light 6cwt 8 which were probably the best bells of the day. All the trains ran to time and it was interesting seeing Brighouse served by HST in the form of a Grand Central service to Kings Cross. Huddersfield church (above) - where the ring of 10 were found to be hard work! Mytholmroyd (left) where the band had to contend with Yorkshire tail ends and a broken stay on the 3rd! Peter Munday examines someone else’s handiwork! PAGE 3 WHEELTAPPER A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN,CHRIS BASSETT Firstly I would like to wish all members a very Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you at future meetings. The programme for 2013 as agreed at the AGM 2012 in Brighton is as follows:- February 23rd –Warwick and Leamington (organiser Chris Mew). April 27th –Basingstoke –Alton (organiser Martin Boult) July 13th –Severn Valley Railway (organiser Russell Maiden) September 7th –Southend (organiser Peter Rayner or Gerry Bacon) Attendances at Guild meetings appears to have fallen over the past year, one reason was definitely the Royal Wedding which meant a change of date for the April meeting. As to other reasons, it could be due to a general result of the recession or the actual numbers of railway ringers within the industry and heritage railways falling. It is up to us all to encourage new members and to bring along friends to our events as they are always pleasurable and enjoyable days out. To make ringers more aware of us I am in the final stages of going live with our website, I will dis- tribute details to all members via the Secretary as soon as the website is launched. At the next AGM on the Severn Valley Railway in July, the Guild will need to agree its meeting pro- gramme for 2014. If we start now, there will be plenty of time for you to research potential venues. Please give this some careful thought and research where you would like to go and the public trans- port accessibility. Bring along a rough plan of your proposal for discussion at the AGM (or send it to the Secretary by the end of June). For your assistance, please refer to the “Guidelines for Tour Or- ganisers” (see page 8). As I have now been in the post of Chairman for nearly 20 years, I think it is about time someone else took up the reins. Please have a serious think on this subject and if you can think of some one suit- able then approach them (twist their arm if need be!!) and bring their name forward at the AGM. Chris Bassett. GUILD WINTER MEETING TO LEAMINGTON & WARWICK - SATURDAY 23RD FEBRUARY 2013 The first meeting this year will be to Warwick and Leamington –details are: Train to Warwick (NOT Warwick Parkway) - Marylebone dep 0906; Reading dep. 0910; (both change at Leamington); Birmingham Moor Street dep, 09.34 or 10.15 (both direct). IMPORTANT NOTE – Train tickets can be purchased with “Plusbus” facility for Leamington /Warwick area at £3.30 which can then be used on buses. WARWICK, St Nicholas 8, 15 cwt Warwick St Mary 10.45 –11.30 WARWICK, St Mary 10, 24 cwt 11.45 –12.30 Lunch Weatherspoons , Warwick Square also real ale at Boars Head, Lakin Road. Train Warwick dep.14.04 Leamington Spa arr 14.09 Bus No 67 from Leamington Parade to Lillington Post Office LILLINGTON, St Mary 8, 9 cwt 15.00 –15.45 Bus No 67 return from Post Office to Leamington Parish church LEAMINGTON SPA , All Saints 8, 12 cwt 16.15 –17.00 Trains from Leamington Spa: To London Marylebone 17.03 (arr 18.47); 17.48 (arr 19.16) To Reading 17.00 (arr 18.07); 17.38 (arr 18.39) To Birmingham New Street 17.12 (arr 17.48) It would help if you could tell the Secretary if you are coming to the meeting. LONDON UNDERGROUND 150 CELEBRATIONS &MALLARD’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF SPEED This year will see a number of “Anniversaries” the first of which has already taken place –the opening of the world’s first underground railway from Paddington to Farringdon on 10th Janu- ary , 1863. To mark the 150th anniversary a railwaymen’s quarter peal was rung at St Giles in the Fields, London on 12th January. St. Giles in the Fields, London WC Saturday 12h January 2013 1260 Grandsire Triples 1 - Richard Casserley 2 - Nick Cant 3 - Robin Grant 4 - Edward Mould 5 - Chris Bassett 6 - Chris mew (cond) 7 - Stephen Jakeman 8 - John Manley Arranged by the Guild of Railway Ringers to mark the 150th anniversary of the world’s first un- derground railway opened between Paddington and Farringdon on 9th January 1863. One of particular interest to all LNER and steam enthusiasts is the 75th Anniversary of Mallard’s record run in June 1938. The National Railway Museum is marking this with a line of 6 preserved A4 pacifics and a photo of a previous parade of 4 of them is shown below: PAGE 6 APEAL AT CREWE WITH CJBOWEN - COOKE ESQ ON THE 6TH! Going back into archives, in 1906 a perhaps unique peal was rung at Christ Church , Crewe by a band made up entirely of employees of the London and North Western Railway. The details are as follows and what is more remarkable that it included C J Bowen-Cooke (below) the Loco Superinten- dent who was later responsible for the design of the “George Fifth” and “Claughton” passenger classes and development of Webb’s 0-8-0 freight locos. On Saturday December 13th , 1906 At Christ Church , Crewe in 2 hrs 59 mins (Tenor 21 cwt) 5040 Grandsire Triples (Holt’s Ten-Part) Joseph Kettle Treble S Harding 5 Richard T Holding 2 C J Bowen-Cooke, Esq. 6 Richard Langford 3 Rd.Thomas Holding, sen 7 Albert Crawley 4 John Dentith Tenor Conducted by R T Holding , senior GRR MEETING ORGANISATION GUIDELINES DATES OF MEETINGS Dates of forthcoming meetings shall normally be decided at the AGM and are to remain set unless outside influences prevent the date being maintained. GUIDELINES FOR ORGANISERS When organising a meeting the following must be taken into consideration: - The initial meeting point must have National Rail access or by public transport from the National Rail Network. A heritage railway / museum / other means of transport (i.e. Tram etc) at the venue, whilst desirable is not obligatory. Other non-railway related places of interest / attractions can be offered as part of the meeting itinerary. A favourable balance towards time spent ringing/number of rings of bells against time spent at Non- ringing activities should be achieved. Consideration must be given to walking time, distance and elevation between points in the itinerary to ensure that all members (with varying levels of fitness) can keep to the time schedules. Consideration should be given to the provision of additional vehicular transport e.g., car sharing, taxis, mini-bus hire, public bus timetable or coach hire. The overall charge to those attending (to include administration, Ringing World adverts (for possible costs then consult the Hon Treasurer), tower fees and transport if provided) if possible should be kept to less than £15 per person per meeting day. VENUES FOR MEETINGS At the AGM or later at any non business meeting, the proposer must give an outline of the Meeting Plan to- gether with estimated administration / transport costs and the name of the organiser, before any proposition can be voted upon by the membership. Propositions with Meeting Plan can be sent at any time to the Hon Secretary. COSTINGS As far as possible all meetings should be self funded. However, financial subsidy may be available if additional transport is needed. Contact with the Hon Treasurer in advance of the arrangements publication date to check if a subsidy can be made for the event from Guild funds. PUBLICATION / ADVERTISING OF MEETING ARRANGEMENTS Final arrangements of a meeting must be in the hands of the Hon Secretary at least 8 weeks prior to the meeting date. The Hon Secretary will place relevant adverts in the Ringing World, Campanophile and circu- late to the membership. Information will also appear in “The Wheeltapper” if an edition is imminent. PAGE 8 WHEELTAPPER 2012 AGM HIGHLIGHTS The 2012 Annual General Meeting was held on July 7th in Brighton with 16 members attending. Considering that it was July the weather on the day was very dismal with periods of showers.