Report of Cambridge outing by Sam Canning
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On July 4th the Master, Greg organised an outing to London for the under-30s so we could experience ringing on some 12s other than GSM, with the RBS trophy in view.
The first tower was St Giles-without-Cripplegate. The medieval church stands out quite a bit amid the concrete angles of the Barbican estate, the merits of which Kate was keen to impress upon us. For the English student the chief interest is that this is the resting place of John Milton. The 34cwt ring took some getting used to but once we did, some good ringing was produced. Ringing here was Call Changes, Plain Hunt, Grandsire and some plain courses of Erin, the method for the contest in September.
After lunch at the Crosse Keys (the only place to have lunch on an outing to the City) was St-Mary-le-Bow. I had rung here before, but this was my first opportunity to ring there with an experienced 12 bell band around me, so I was able to truly appreciate how magnificent they were for the first time. Plenty of us got to ring the 40cwt tenor and get some experience with a much heavier bell than usual. It goes well but is tricky to set – no-one got it first time! We stuck to Plain Hunt and Call Changes here – not including Whittingtons sadly. We attracted an audience who were excited to hear Bow bells. After a conversation with them ringing may have a new recruit.
We then walked down to St Magnus the Martyr by London Bridge. These bells are closer to what we are used to being a friendly 26cwt ring. We therefore felt able to push the boat out a bit with Bristol and Cambridge Max as well as Grandsire and Erin. We scored the competition test piece at the first attempt without much hassle, which bodes well for the performance at Solihull in September. Then it was on to curry.
Thank you to Greg for organising and the London churches for their hospitality.
Sam Canning
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