The Ancient
Society of
College
Youths
The Ancient
Society of
College
Youths
When the Romans arrived at Chester in AD 71 (or thereabouts), they built a military fortress — "Castra Deva" — to keep out the marauding savages. Thankfully no similar precautions were needed to protect the (entirely friendly) invasion of ASCY members who descended on Chester for this year's UK Country Meeting, held over the first weekend of July.
Following the very successful "international" Country Meeting in New York in May, our current Master (Graham Bradshaw) was keen to hold the UK counterpart in the county where he spent his youth. Of course, Cheshire is also the ancestral home of the Society; Brereton Hall being the seat of Lord Brereton, the Society's first Master. Chester itself is an attractive destination, with splendidly-preserved Roman remains jostling with the mock-Tudor architecture of the "Rows" many bustling shops, bars and restaurants in the city centre, and pleasant walks along the River Dee for those wishing to escape the hubbub. All things considered, an excellent venue and long overdue an "official" Society visit. To mark the return of its prodigal son, an ASCY peal was rung on the Wednesday beforehand at Chelford, where Graham learnt to ring.
The business meeting.
Thursday and Friday followed the now-traditional format of peal attempts in the Chester area. The task of co-ordinating these attempts fell to the Junior Steward (Katie Town), who coped manfully with the usual raft of last-minute drop-outs and band changes. The Treasurer's indisposition on Thursday (possibly due to a surfeit of Stedman, brought on by a short break in Cornwall) led to an unfortunate mix-up at Over, where the band met one short. A mechanical failure brought the attempt at Runcorn to a premature end; something was clearly amiss when even Roy couldn't get his bell out of negative territory. The other attempts — at Prestbury and Daresbury — were scored and were dedicated to the memory of Ken Lewis, one of Cheshire's most famous ringing sons and a Society member for over 50 years, to mark the centenary of his birth. The evening saw a large group slake their thirst at the Brewery Tap, which served excellent food and a range of well-kept ales, including the Spitting Feathers local brew.
Friday morning saw the stress levels rising again, with a delayed start at Wrexham before the Treasurer (now recovered) arrived to steer us through a stately peal of Spliced S Royal, with Andrew Wilby on the tenor. (Chris Kippin complained afterwards that he is regularly teased for his "measured" tenor ringing. Don't worry Chris, we gave Andrew plenty of stick as well.) The afternoon saw the glorious bells of Eccleston put to good use for an eponymous peal of Spliced, while an audience including the Tower Captain tended the Duke of Westminster's lawns. Other peals were rung at Middlewich, Thurstaston, Woodchurch and Port Sunlight. The evening hostelry (the Bear and Billet) had a cider festival on, but thankfully they had been warned and also laid on more traditional fare for the beer-drinking majority.
Saturday saw the focus switch from peals to open ringing. With the temperature rising, a large crowd met at Chester Cathedral's detached tower to sample the ring of 12. Easy to handle, difficult to hear was the general verdict. Two of the membership candidates acquitted themselves well in Stedman Cinques, and a touch of Phobos and Bristol was rung successfully. A march round the Roman walls took us back to the Bear and Billet, where the early arrivals were in time to catch the end of the British Lions' victory over Australia. Most of the party seemed pleased, except David Bleby (a welcome visitor from Adelaide) and Phil Goodyer. The attractions of the pub proved too much for many and a fairly select group made the short walk across the river to sample the tricky 19 cwt eight at Handbridge, where the Junior Steward — now entirely calm — put us through our paces.
The focal point of the day was the Business Meeting, held in the St Mary's Centre — the former Parish Church of St Mary-on-the-Hill, a fine Grade 1 listed building now used as an education centre and a venue for concerts, exhibitions and conferences. Brian Harris (another famous son of Cheshire with over 50 years' Society membership) graced us with a memorable welcome, laced with charm and wit. With his tongue firmly in his cheek, he listed numerous reasons for visiting Chester and informed us that the western side of the Town Hall tower has no clock face, "so we don't have to give the Welsh the time of day" He recalled the Cheshire band of the 1950s that first rang "Jack" Pitman's series of Spliced S Major peals and noted with approval that several College Youths had taken part in the recent Pitman peal day. After applauding Brian's bon mots, we elected five new members: Sharon and Jemma Mills of Shelford (Notts); Mark Collings and Liam Craddock of Liverpool; and Andrew Rawlinson of Weaverham. We also remembered James Rich of Holsworthy (Devon), a long-standing member who had died recently.
After the meeting, a few hardy souls braved the vertiginous ladder to grab the bells of St Mary's, while the rest headed off to scrub up and change for the evening's festivities. The Leverhulme Room at the Roodee Racecourse proved to be a fine dinner venue, with excellent views over the sun-kissed turf. Around 70 Members and friends sat down to a tasty meal, washed down with copious quantities of Cheshire Cat ale. Simon Linford arrived hotfoot from York with news of the National Young Ringers' Contest, just in time for the main course and allegedly without a bed for the night. Graham pronounced a (commendably brief) vote of thanks and the rest of the evening swiftly became a blur as we caught up with old acquaintances, made new friends and put the world to rights. The weekend was rounded off in style on Sunday, with a band defying sore heads to ring a peal at the St Mary's Centre while others got home just in time to see Andy Murray triumph at Wimbledon. Quite a weekend all round.
It only remains to thank all those who played their part in making the event such a success: Graham for sowing the seeds and making most of the arrangements; the Secretary (David House) for filling in the gaps; and the local ringers for putting on a great show and making us feel so welcome. The Society's stock in the North West has risen considerably in recent years and I’m sure it won't be too long before we return there.
Details of the peals rung during the trip are linked from this BellBoard event.