We had a visitor this week, someone who is experienced in both tower bells and handbells. Lian from Washington, DC joined us for an evening of ringing. With Lian, we had 5 ringers, and rang a bit of Bob Royal, which we don’t get to do very often.

I didn’t get a full bio from her, but from what I remember, Lian started ringing in London a few years back. Her first few experiences were watching and driving ringers on a tower tour before she was actually given a rope to pull. In Washington, DC, she rings at the National Cathedral, and is also in a handbell group. In handbells, she is quite a bit more experienced than we are, having rung methods that we have only heard of (or which Jane has only rung in a tower).

On Monday, we rang a plain course of Bob Royal with the smaller bells, finally succeeding after three attempts. We then reduced to ringing Bob Major, and worked on speed, finishing a couple of plain courses with different people. We then finished the evening ringing Plain Hunt with the bigger bells, “under the crystal” where the acoustics are especially fine. We again worked on speed, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We hope to see Lian again.

In fact, if you are ever visiting the San Diego area, we would love to ring with you. Just email us (at this blog). We normally rehearse on Monday evenings, but with as little a day or two notice, we can normally gather enough people to ring at any time.