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Final Contest

Worcester Cathedral

Saturday June 24 2006

Test Piece: 252 Stedman Cinques

Judges: Mark W Regan (Chief), David J Dearnley, Stanley Jenner

An extract of the winning test piece can be heard here (opens in pop-up window)

The final of the 31st National Twelve-Bell Striking Contest for the Taylor Trophy was held at Worcester Cathedral on Saturday 24 June.

The eliminators had been held on 25 March, when all the home bands had taken full advantage of ringing their own bells and had qualified alongside some regular finalists. At Norwich the other two qualifiers were previous winners York and odds-on favourites and 14-times winners Birmingham. First-time qualifiers Southwark also went through on their own bells behind the two well-fancied London Societies, the College Youths and the Cumberlands. Bristol had qualified in first place at St. Mary Redcliffe, but the surprise result here was in second, where Stockton-on-Tees made it to their first final on their first attempt, with St. Paul's the final qualifier.

The competition final was held at Worcester Cathedral for the first time, which as the fifth-heaviest ring of bells in the world are renowned not only for their splendid sound, but for their awkwardness to ring. Questions had been asked as to whether they would prove too great a challenge, but in the eliminators all the finalists had already proved themselves more than capable on heavy bells.

Worcester Cathedral and ringers put on an excellent spread in College Green, with two hot food stalls, winetasting, teas and coffees and pastries and other refreshments, a big-screen tv for the easily-distracted and the all-important beer tent.

But before (good idea) the beer started flowing the draw was made at 10.30 in College Hall. Robin Hall, chairman of the Twelve-Bell Contest committee, introduced the acting Dean of the Cathedral, Canon Alvyn Pettersen. Alvyn welcomed us all warmly to Worcester and pointed out some of the other activities taking place on the day in and around the Cathedral, before making the draw. The dreaded first slot went to York, followed by St. Paul's, Birmingham, College Youths, Bristol, Stockton-on-Tees, Cumberlands, Southwark and Norwich.

The 108 competitors, an impressive quarter of whom were ringing in their first Final, and their several hundred supporters and friends then gathered on the Green for a highly enjoyable day of listening, talking to friends and taking refreshment. Meanwhile the four judges, chief judge Mark Regan with David Dearnley, Stan Jenner and Maggie Whiteley were holed up nearby with the very difficult task of separating the bands.

Those trying the same task on College Green had an even more difficult time of it thanks to the size and resonance of the bells and some of the surrounding buildings, but there were spots of clarity to be found by many very keen listeners and recorders.

Doing some recording of their own was a BBC camera crew, in attendance throughout the day. They were making a documentary on 'peculiarly English' competitions and had been following the pre-final preparations of Birmingham and the College Youths, including filming at several practices. Given the quality and pedigree of the other bands this concentration of focus (though some bands had asked not to be filmed) was felt by many to be putting all their eggs in two baskets.

The touch for the final was 252 Stedman Cinques, following the usual pattern for the competition where Cinques are rung on heavy bells and relatively straightforward Maximus methods on the lighter twelves. Churchyard judges could even try to follow every change as the entire touch was printed in the excellent and comprehensive programme on sale.

The first band, York, sounded understandably nervous to begin with but soon settled down and produced some good ringing. The second, third and fourth bands brought out the keenest listening on the Green as three of the most-fancied teams followed each other. Comments from the ground suggested that the College Youths might have pipped a perhaps-over-speedy Birmingham with some fine ringing, though it was clear that both teams and St. Paul's were in with a strong chance after good performances. In the post-match interviews CY ringers were pleased with their competition touch. The Brummies were also content with the standard they managed but were well aware of the quality of the competition.

As more teams finished ringing and were therefore free to enjoy the range of liquid refreshments at its fullest the Green took on a more relaxed feel - helped by some excellent weather. The BBC circulated throughout the day interviewing competitors and other attenders. The onlookers divided between those desperate to get in camera-shot and those equally desperate to stay out. Some of us didn't mind as long as we were always filmed holding a pint, for reputation's sake.

Fortunately this was easy to achieve thanks to the high quality of the beer, expertly arranged by Chris Brookes. The beer tent took some heavy punishment but with good timing the eleven different beers on tap, all from Worcestershire breweries (Cannon Royall, Malvern Hills and Teme Valley), ran out only at the end of the afternoon, and there remained plenty of bottled beer, as well as cider and perry for those who like to live dangerously. During lunch as the crowd got steadily more relaxed the standard of ringing stayed high, even if the standard of listening deteriorated somewhat. Somewhat fortunately England's second-round World Cup match hadn't end up clashing with the competition, to the relief of football lovers and haters alike.

Meanwhile, inside the circular Chapter House there were stalls displaying various ringing wares and also the Ambergate Campanile, which was busy all day with some tinkling ten-bell ringing (a startling contrast to the booming competition ringing). Other Worcester towers also held open ringing on the day. Jim Wheeler's wooden tenor clapper (as fitted to the cathedral tenor) on display interested many steeple-keepers, though there aren't too many who have bells heavy enough to need one.

Then the last band came down from the tower and the judges had an hhour and a half to do their sums before the results were announced. Those who had managed to concentrate on all the ringing were of the opinion that it was still between St Paul's, Birmingham and the CY's, but ringers from all the bands expressed satisfaction - or relief - that they'd managed at least a decent standard.

At 5pm everyone - except a hardened few still refreshing themselves - packed into College Hall to hear the results. Naturally the judges weren't ready yet. Rumours that they were watching the end of the Germany v. Sweden match are unproven at this time. The BBC were getting anxious as they apparently were starting to run out of batteries for their cameras, something we can all relate to.

As the tension among the contestants rose to a peak, finally the judges appeared to relieved applause. Chief Judge and Cathedral Tower Captain Mark Regan gave an overview of all the ringing, saying that the day had been not just a striking contest, but a real test of ringing, given the weight and go of the bells. The generally high standard of the ringing had justified the decision to hold the final at the Cathedral, but that given the quality of many of the ringers competing, he'd been a bit surprised that the ringing hadn't been even better. He thanked the many people who had helped in the organisation of the day, particularly Chris Brookes for the beer and Chris Phillips for steeplekeeping.

David Dearnley gave brief remarks on all the bands in order of ringing. The first off (York) had started nervously and never really managed to get going; St Paul's didn't settle in straight away but was very enjoyable; Birmingham sounded confident, but the pace felt forced and it occasionally ran away from them; the College Youths were measured but let down by inconsistencies; Bristol had a good start but then suffered small inaccuracies; Stockton-on-Tees had inconsistent leading in the first course but were good in the second course; the Cumberlands were similarly unsettled in the first course then better in the second; Southwark's ringing had a good structure to it but too many bad blows; and Norwich had a tough time but were starting to settle by the end.

Then Stan Jenner read out the results with Robin standing by to translate the places into names. At the lower end York's eighth place was no doubt disappointing given their pedigree as the only other recent winners apart from Birmingham. Stockton received a lot of warm applause for coming in sixth, a recognition of their achievement in doing so well in their first year in the competition and perhaps a reaction to some negative comments which have been heard regarding their formation and entry. Fifth place went to Bristol and fourth to the Cumberlands (to predictable - but jocular - cheers from some College Youths).

Now we were at the heart of things, the remaining bands tense with anticipation. Third place went to the band which rang third - Birmingham! There was a certain amount of surprise as the churchyard rumour had placed them higher. With Birmingham accounted for, perhaps a majority of those present were convinced the CY's had won it. But the announcement came that second place went to the band which rang fourth - which was the College Youths. And so St Paul's were the winners. Cheers from St Paul's, a certain amount of shock for the CY's. This bit of the documentary could make interesting viewing.

So in the end the - slightly artificial - hype about the tense contest between Birmingham and the College Youths was punctured by the winners being the laid-back St Paul's band, one member of whom described himself as 'not bothered about being in the College Youths band because they take it too seriously'. The St Paul's Master, Paul Mounsey, definitely a laid-back individual, accepted the Taylor Trophy with six other members of the winning band, the rest presumably still refreshing themselves on the Green. St Paul's have now won the competition three times.

So there was surprise but no scandalised outrage at the final placings, it being understood that the judges will always view - and hear - things a bit differently, cloistered away as they are from the weight of popularly expressed opinion, concentrating hard on every row. For those interested in what the BBC makes of the competition the documentary should be shown on BBC4 sometime next year. Though first they may have to do some 'pickup' shots in St Paul's.

The whole day was very well organised and highly enjoyable and thanks must go to the Cathedral and the local ringers for a job well done, and a high target set for future finals. Thanks also to the 12-Bell Contest organising committee for a competition which seems to grow in popularity every year.

Stuart Nelson

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