What a year this has been!
This is the time where I would usually be writing a report following the Annual Striking Competition. It was scheduled to have been held at Eaton on 5th December, but due to the ongoing pandemic that has dominated the majority of 2020, it was of course cancelled. Who could have predicted at the beginning of the year when we met in January to hold a dedicated training session on Cambridge Minor that our planned calendar of meetings would be turned upside down. We did manage to hold our February meeting at Hoby and our March meeting at Hose before the realisation of the pandemic hit the UK. Initially, many of us thought that the first lockdown would be over after 3 weeks and then we could resume ringing again as normal. How wrong could we have been?
As lockdown was extended, more bell ringing meetings were cancelled including ringing for the VE day anniversary celebrations. As we headed into the summer, restrictions were easing but not enough to allow ringing to resume and hence our annual outing was also cancelled. The summer seemed to fly by and the nights started to get darker. It was now clear that the ringing meetings for the rest of 2020 would be cancelled.
During the summer, some ringers were fortunate enough to ring for the occasional service or wedding in their local towers with reduced numbers and social distancing. This is where it was convenient to have multiple bell ringers in one family or household reducing the risks of transmitting the virus. Sadly, this was not a viable option for other towers and their bells remained silent.
This is also the time of year when the Society publishes the towers we intend to visit in the following year. Needless to say, there are no plans yet. We are so close to bringing the pandemic to manageable levels but until it is safe to do so, ringing as a Society will be on hold.
As a vaccine is being rolled out across the nation, we are hoping that normality will resume by the spring in 2021. When it is safe to do so, we will be able to ring together again. There may be some changes to our ringing practices, but we will all just have to wait and see what the “new normal” brings us.
On behalf of the Society, I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year.