March Country Meeting 2005

Pettistree, Suffolk

Linda’s fall, or why you should always bring your sunglasses to a Country Meeting

When Simon Holden told me we’d have to take an 8 am train from Liverpool Street in order to be on time for our peal attempt in Ipswich, I began to reconsider my decision to attend the SRCY Country Meeting in Suffolk. What student in her right mind decides to get up before 7 am on a day with no lectures for something that is supposed to “fun”?

Doubts aside, I meet Simon and Penny Sharpe at the station around half past seven, and we, along with Liz Hibbert, board the train to Ipswich. Our journey is punctuated by three sets of worries: mine (will I really be able to ring a 12-bell peal?), Penny’s (will everyone really show up for their scheduled peals?), and Simon’s (will he really learn the blue lines for his peal the next day?). Our arrival at St. Mary le Tower is without incident; while getting there, I make a mental note of shopping available in the town. Although the ringing room is a little colder than ideal, our peal begins without incident. After about twoand-a-half hours, we are all shaken awake by Linda Garton’s unbelievably graceful descent from her twobox pile into the middle of the ringing chamber. I decide I will just keep ringing until “stand!” is called, and start thinking about the shopping I’ll be doing soon. Linda manages to keep ringing, kick the top box into the right place, and ascend to her original spot. She flashes us her trademark smile and asks for help in finding her place. The tenor ringer obliges, and Linda settles back in more quickly than the rest of us. Her husband, the conductor, admonishes us for the subsequent giggles and trips. “The entertainment’s over,” he says. “She’s back on the box now.” We come back into rounds in 3 hours and 26 minutes, not bad considering all the excitement.

Lunch is a bit of a blur, but we have some, along with beer (for most) and lots of discussion about what towers we will visit the afternoon, and how we will get there.

Linda’s car is my transport for the afternoon. Signage in Suffolk does not live up to our expectations, and we play more games of “spot the tower” than we’d planned. There is good ringing at the four towers we manage to visit, and I am pleased to be running into familiar faces.

The last tower of the afternoon is Pettistree, which also serves as the setting for the Meeting. An army of very nice people provide us with coffee, tea, and biscuits as we settle in for the day’s main event. Approximately 66 members are present for the meeting. Although I have only been to two previous meetings (and no country meetings), it seems to me that this one follows the standard pattern. Notable parts include the Secretary reading to us from the pulpit, the Master’s unbelievably bright pink-and-green rugby shirt (where are my sunglasses when I need them?), the absence of nominees for membership, and no mention of the table at St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

Post-meeting, we move en masse down the road to The Three Tuns, our home for drinking and buffeting for the evening. After much eating, chatting, and drinking with old friends and new, the time for heading back to London arrives. Richard Hobbs has kindly agreed to transport me from Suffolk to the tube, and I perform a good imitation of a bad passenger by sleeping the entire way. I crawl into my bed many, many hours after leaving it, tired and happy after a very good day. Many thanks to Stephen Pettman and the others who organised this Country Meeting and surrounding activities.

Haley Barnett

View photos from this event in our gallery.

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5 peals so far have been rung for the Society March Country meeting.