Tower Meeting 29th April 2016
Louisa and Nick decided that regular meetings are required to discuss bell ringing issues during the year. We thought that they should take place approximately every other month, and that they should be open to anyone belonging to the tower that wishes to attend. The first tower meeting was held in the “Indian Ocean” restaurant on 29th April with Chris, Louisa, Janice, Lyndsey, Nick, Sammi, Natalie and Simon. A summary of what was discussed is as follows. 1. Painting the Frame. Nick and Mark had previously discussed painting the frame, but a date hadn’t been set. We agreed that we would try to get as many of the band as possible who are prepared to climb the “ladder of doom” to be around to help over the next bank holiday weekend, 28th-30th May. Action: Mark to look into purchasing some suitable paint and brushes (red oxide paint?). All: It’s a big job, so we’ll need to draw up a rota. Most importantly, once someone has squashed themselves into a corner, they won’t want to come out until they’ve painted all they can reach. So they will need a constant supply of paint and perhaps mugs of tea! 2. Ringing Simulator. We are all agreed that having a ringing simulator would help our band to progress, as it would allow us to hold practices whenever we wish. In principle Nick has already worked out how to connect magnetic door alarm switches to a cheap Arduino board to feed the serial port of a PC. Mark has already donated a suitable PC. Nick noted that touch-screen PC monitors cost up to £200 for a cheap model, which would be fine for our tower. Everyone at the meeting agreed that the money would be well spent, subject to Natalie confirming that we have the funds. The money would be drawn from the ring-fenced account held by the PCC. Action: Natalie to talk to Vernon, and Nick to source a PC monitor. Nick and Mark to discuss installation of the sensors and wiring. 3. Future Practices. It has been noted that some people in the band are frustrated at their personal lack of progress, although all agreed that the reason mostly is that our practices are very popular. A possible solution to the problem has been put forward, which is to hold a Sunday evening practice on the fourth Sunday of each month, primarily to promote change ringing for the local band, i.e. not for visitors. Janice has agreed to run these practices, which is good news as she is a very experienced Ringing Master for the Central Bucks Branch. Action: Janice and Nick will have a meeting to discuss who will be invited and Janice and Louisa will be given access to the ringers’ email account as that would help. 4. BBQ. We have been struggling to fix the date for our forthcoming BBQ, although we’re all pleased it’s going to happen. To avoid clashes with dog show and Young Ringers striking competition events we have realised that we have to change the date. The current proposal is for 12 June, although dates in the middle of July and end of September are also available. Comments on the 12 June date would be most welcome. We discussed how much we should charge, and decided that between £3 and £5 would be quite reasonable, just to cover costs. We also thought it would be a nice idea to extend the invitation to all members of the church congregation. Action: Lyndsey has agreed to book the hall and carpark, cost out the food and arrange tickets to be sold to the band and congregation. However she will be asking for help from the rest of the band. 5. Publicity and Recruitment. Natalie briefly demonstrated our new web site, which people agreed seemed really good. Louisa and Chris said they would find out how the web site could be added properly within the church’s own web site. Louisa said she would find out how we could get notices at the church gates, and also in the church magazine. Sammi asked if we could have a mobile “sandwich” notice board that can be positioned wherever we wish. Action: Chris will find out how to update the church web site. Louisa will work out how to advertise in the church magazine and will ask for permission to put notices at the church gates. Lyndsey will check with “Pin Stripes” in Eaton Bray about a “sandwich board” advert. 6. Conducting Courses. Peter in particular had remembered that we were due at some point to have a Stedman Triples conducting course. Several people expressed interest, but thought the scope could be increased to cover more general calling of methods from Plain Bob Doubles upwards. Lyndsey, Simon and Natalie have recently attending a conducting course run by the Association of Ringing Teachers which was helpful. Action: Simon, Natalie and Lyndsey agreed that they would put something together. 7. Date of Next Meeting. Friday June 24th, venue and time TBC.
Kind Regards,
Nick
