SUA 2011 - Cambridge

The UL attended an eventful and thoroughly enjoyable SUA which, I have been reliably informed, may even have been as good as when we hosted it last year (I know… shocking!). For those people who decided to accept the President’s Challenge, the event started early (11.30am), while those of us who are taking sensible degrees had to attend Uni. By 18.30 the main UL contingent were on the train and, since there was no music available, provided a live performance of Christmas carols and UL songs (in practice for the ringers’ Carol Service on the 28th November). With a nearly empty carriage at Cambridge it was decided that our services were no longer required and it was time to find some bells.

The first tower of the weekend was St Bene’t’s, where the UL rang, among other things, a bob course of Cambridge Minor with only three calls. As we are such a friendly lot we swiftly went to meet some of the other university societies (strangely we found them in the pub…).

After Andrew made it clear to the manager that he didn’t like the pub because one UL member wasn’t allowed in due to having no ID, he was invited to leave. The UL moved next door to celebrate the completion of the President’s Challenge with some small glasses of unknown multi-coloured liquids. Peter then decided that we should call it a night and (after Harry had cleaned up the floor on Poodle’s behalf) move to the Church Hall.

The UL had a credible result in both the eight bell and six bell striking competition. The UL scratch band came second in the 8-bell striking competition with “the best and worst ringing of the day”, having rung “ULSCR” Uxbridge, London, Superlative, Cambridge and Rutland spliced. While the eligible UL teams came a respectable fifth and eighth. In the six bell team we also had some further respectable results coming fourth and tenth with eligible teams.

Some members of the UL decided to grab St Edward’s where the locals, to some members’ disgust, were ringing whole pull everything. Ryan, tactful as ever, loudly voiced his opinion, resulting in a tower official “speaking” to him.

Following results and a short wait for the band to set up, the Ceilidh started, but not without a comment from the CUG (whilst they were holding a glass of orange juice): “Please be reminded and cautioned that beer DOES contain alcohol, UL!”

Fun was had by all at the Ceilidh, although during some/most of the dances Hills looked incredibly confused and lost (video to be uploaded shortly!).

Sunday was an early rise to vacate the hall by 9am and so we went to find bacon, sausage and egg baguettes prior to the ringing at GSM.

The event was finished off by a very quiet train journey home…

Our thanks go to the CUG for an unforgettable weekend!

(SUA striking competition results will be uploaded shortly)

by Ben Meyer

On a very wet and grey Friday afternoon, Steph and I braved the national rail system to navigate our way to Cambridge for the annual Southern Universities Association (SUA) ringing weekend. After a mad dash across central London we finally arrived in Cambridge, to be met at the station by Tom (who used to ring with us but then decided Cambridge was better so moved there). We were taken to the first of many pubs to start socialising before an open practice at St. Bene’t’s church (allegedly the oldest in Cambridge!). It was brilliant to see the Bristol ringers again (which I’m going to get lynched for, because apparently Bristol smell) and to catch up with them before heading to ring.

Open practice at St. Bene’t’s was a great way to kick off the weekend, with everything from rounds and call changes to Cambridge Minor being rung. It was my first experience of half-muffled bells – I thought they sounded lovely.

We moved seamlessly on to the second pub for food and merriment – you’ll be pleased to know at this point that Exeter’s reputation was upheld by both Master and Secretary, unlike some of the London contingency..!

Lodging in the church hall that night, we found a comfy corner to kip in, sandwiched between Southampton and Bristol (ooh-er). After a somewhat disturbed night (London!) and three hours sleep, Steph and I blearily walked around Cambridge, admiring the city and trying to find a cup of coffee. The 8-bell competition was scheduled to start at StAG at 9am, so we moseyed on over that way to listen to the ringing. Some of it was very good (Cambridge – who went on to win it) and some was… questionable (London – I wonder why..!). We had tea and coffee in Christ’s College which was very enjoyable, and then headed to Great St. Mary’s for open ringing.

GSM has 12 bells, which was a tad scary, but they went well and sounded splendiferous. After an hour there we met up with another ex-Exeter ringer, Hazel, and as she and Tom went to the pub, Steph and I headed to St. Edward’s for some more ringing. These bells were… tinny, and pretty ghastly to be honest. Neither Steph nor I stayed long, we decided after ringing once that the pub was the next stop. It was then we heard that the Exeter-themed scratch band had been pulled first in the draw and that we were ringing at St. Bene’t’s at half past two. This meant a speedy lunch and hot-footing it back to the church for our spot.

This was the first competition I had ever rung in, and even though as a scratch band we weren’t eligible to win, I was nervous. Tom had decided we should ring Exeter College Little Bob Minor, and I was not too hopeful about it. We had our practice time and I was still dubious about ringing it, but with some coaxing agreed. We rang it, got through it and I was fairly pleased with the results. Maybe it was the adrenaline at having rung something new and not having messed up completely; maybe it was the lack of sleep… I don’t know. The scratch band is pictured right – as you can see, we coerced poor, unsuspecting ringers to join us and we’re forever grateful for it.

We didn’t come last in the competition – a miracle.

Saturday night was the ceilidh, which was an excellent amount of fun. I’m not a dancer, but even I was persuaded to get up and have a go. The lack of ventilation, the delirium of not having much sleep and the quantities of alcohol meant that I had a very meaningful conversation with some ringers from Bath about a new concept we’ve formulated: ceilidh ringing dances. The idea is based on having rows of ringers representing bells and then dancing a method. We’re convinced it has potential, even if the reason for coming up with it was just because I wanted to shout ‘Go Grandsire!’

Sleep was much more forthcoming that night and I was away in minutes. Waking up the next morning, Steph and I made our way to St. Bene’t’s for Sunday service ringing, and then quickly on to GSM for more service ringing. We were able to observe the Remembrance Day procession going in to GSM and the two-minutes silence held throughout Cambridge, which was a very moving experience.

Having mistakenly booked our tickets home for a rather late train, Steph and I then spent the rest of the afternoon window shopping, walking around Cambridge, listening to a quarter, and finally doing some last ringing at GSM in the evening.

We made it home safe, tired and happy (and having found Paddington Bear at London Paddington Station) and will certainly be going to SUA again next year!

By Daisy Atkin (Exeter)