July Country Meeting, Saturday 9th July 2022
Event has now expired
This year’s summer country meeting will be held in Royal Hillsborough Northern Ireland.
The back 8 bells at St Malachy’s were cast by Thomas Rudhall in 1772, though a few have been subsequently recast, and thus the Hillsborough ringers are celebrating the 250th anniversary throughout 2022
The village of Hillsborough was awarded Royal status in 2021 during Northern Ireland’s Centenary year, the first village or town in Northern Ireland to receive the honour.
As is usual the event will cover three days of peal attempts, general ringing preceding the meeting and a meal on the Saturday evening.
Please sign up now for what promises to be a fantastic weekend.
Peals and Event Programme
Peals are on Thursday 7 July, Friday 8 July and in the morning of Saturday 9 July. The suggested pub for Friday evening is The Hillside, 21 Main Street, Hillsborough, BT26 6AE; and for those staying in Belfast, The Crown Bar, 46 Great Victoria, Belfast, BT2 7BA. The Crown Bar is ideally located by Great Victoria Street station for those staying in Lisburn.
Meeting
The meeting will be held at St Malachy’s Church Hall at 17:00. with general ringing at St Malachy’s from 15:30 – 16:30.
Evening arrangements
15:30 – 17:00 Light refreshments available at St Malachy’s Church Hall.
17:00 Business meeting held in St Malachy’s Church Hall.
19:00 (approx.) Social evening and quiz at The Hillside, 21 Main Street, Hillsborough, BT26 6AE
The quiz starts at 8:30 pm
The evening meal should be booked in advance and menu choices can be submitted on the online form or provided directly to the Master no later than Thursday 30th June.
Sign ups for peal attempts should be made by Thursday 30th June. The sign up deadline for the meal is Thursday 30th June. See the "Sign Up" section below for further details on how to sign up for the meal.
Menu (set menu is 2 or 3 courses (£23 and £27)
The set menu including the vegetarian option is listed below:
Starter
- Chicken Wings - Homemade hot sauce, carrot, celery and garlic aioli.
- Caesar Salad (v) - Gem lettuce, cherry tomato, herb croutons and aged parmesan.
Main course
- 8oz Lisdergan Beef Burger - Toasted Bun, bacon, red onion marmalade, Irish Cheddar, gem lettuce, pickle, beef tomato and triple cooked chips.
- Traditional Beef Lasagne - Mixed leaf salad, pink slaw and garlic sourdough toast.
- Crispy Beer Battered Haddock - Charred lemon, tartar sauce, pea puree, curry sauce and triple cooked chips.
- Vegan Squash and Chickpea Katsu Curry (v) - Cardamom and coriander scented rice with poppadum.
Dessert
- Deep Filled Bramley Apple Pie (v) - Fresh custard and strawberries
- Raspberry, White Chocolate and vanilla ice cream (v)
Sunday service ringing
Members and guests will be welcomed at the following towers on Sunday morning:-
09:30 – 10:00 – Belfast, St Mark
10:00 – 10:30 – Belfast, St Thomas
10:30 – 11:00 – Ballylesson, Holy Trinity
11:00 – 11:30 – Belfast, St Donard
Other ringing times can be found on the IACR website https://bellringingireland.org but it’s recommended to check in advance.
Transport
Private car hire is recommended and please inform the master if you’re sharing a car for peal slot logistics. There is no railway station in Hillsborough, the closest being in Lisburn, a short taxi or bus ride away. Hillsborough has a regular bus service from Belfast. Timetables and a journey planner can be found on https://www.translink.co.uk, the transport operator for Northern Ireland.
Taxi services
The recommended taxi provider is Value Cabs – Telephone: 028 9080 9080.
(Quotes from Hillsborough to Belfast City Centre)
4 seater - £26
8 seater - £30
Other major taxi provider is - FonaCAB – Telephone: 028 9033 3333.
(Quotes from Hillsborough to Belfast City Centre)
4 seater - £28
6 seater - £39
Other local taxi services may be obtainable from behind the bar.
Accommodation
Hillsborough
Kilwarlin Cottages (self catering) - https://kilwarlincottages.com
Dunhill Cottage (B&B) - https://www.dunhillcottage.co.uk
Arthur Street Guest Cottages (self catering) - https://arthurstreetguestcottages.co.uk
Belfast
There is a broad variety of hotels and B&Bs available in Belfast City Centre.
Location map
Sign up
Logged in members can sign up for the evening event. (If you can't see the link to sign up here, and you have a log-in to this site, you can log in here, then you can sign up; alternatively by ticking the paper list on Wednesday or please email Penny Sharpe the Assistant Secretary.)- Peal attempt(s): signup has now expired
- Evening event: signup has now expired
Payment
You can pay Claire Roulstone the Honorary Treasurer directly, by cash or cheque (£27 3 course or £23 2 course meal per person). Alternatively, you can pay by telephone banking or online banking
Please notify Claire Roulstone the Honorary Treasurer, if you have paid by telephone banking or online banking.