Quarter Peal Weekend - 26th-27th April 2008

When Peter Jasper was elected as Master of the University of London Society in May 2007, one key pledge in his manifesto was to organise a quarter peal weekend to complement the annual peal weekend which has been held for many years. Unlike some of the other commitments made at that time, and indeed by many newly-elected Masters over the years, this promise actually came to fruition before Peter's term of office had expired.

It was not without doubt, though, as despite the date having been booked for several months, it was only in the week leading up to the event that we got the first details of what was in store. Some say that organizing things at the last minute minimizes the risk of people dropping out, but even with just two or three days to go various members were doing their best to upset the limited arrangements that had been made, and even on the Saturday night changes were being made to the following day’s arrangements. Nevertheless, when the time came, each attempt had the right number of people turning up at the right tower, more or less at the right time, and having learnt the right methods.

Of the 14 attempts over the weekend, 13 were successful, with methods ranging from Plain Bob Doubles to 8-Spliced Surprise Major. Even the Cambridge Surprise Royal was successful although it highlighted one or two areas that needed to be addressed if we were to avoid complete humiliation at the Tewkesbury Shield the following weekend. Among the achievements, special congratulations are due to Guy Atchison who rang his first quarter peal, and also to Lian von Wantoch and Clara Westlake who rang their first quarters on tower bells and handbells respectively. The one quarter that "got out" was Grandsire Triples at St Mary's Islington where the weight of responsibility on the organiser's shoulders proved too much to allow all the calls to be put in at the right place. Such pressure was also evident at Walworth where the Master chose an unusual combination of multi-extent blocks for a quarter of Plain Bob Doubles, but who are we to stand in the way of innovation?

Our thanks go to Peter for organising the weekend and to Andy and Nick for the quarters for which they were responsible. We look forward to this event establishing itself in the UL's calendar in the years to come.

Mike Trimm

Quarter Peals rung

Shoreditch, London E1. 26 Apr, 1282 Cambridge Surprise Royal: Nicholas J Hartley 1, Nicholas W Jones 2, Clare E F Dyer 3, Peter M Jasper 4, Rupert H J Littlewood 5, Jon Waters 6, Quentin S A Jackson 7, Katherine L Town 8, Andrew P F Bradford 9, Michael J Trimm (C) 10. Rung in memory of Humphrey Lyttleton.

Spitalfields, London E1. 26 Apr, 1279 Spliced Surprise Major (Standard 8): Lucy M Bricheno 1, Michael J Trimm (C) 2, Clare E F Dyer 3, Jennifer A Holden 4, Nicholas J Hartley 5, Andrew P F Bradford 6, Quentin S A Jackson 7, Katherine L Town 8. First of 8-spliced and first blows of London: 3.

Shoreditch, London E1. 26 Apr, 1293 Stedman Triples: Jacqueline L Bale 1, Rhiannon M Meredith 2, Andrew P F Bradford 3, Jennifer A Holden 4, Garry S Barr 5, Jon Waters 6, Michael J Trimm (C) 7, Guy W Atchison 8. First quarter peal: 8.

Bow, London E3 (St Mary, Bow Road). 26 Apr, 1280 Bristol Surprise Major: Rupert H J Littlewood 1, Lucy M Bricheno 2, Peter M Jasper 3, Clare E F Dyer 4, Nicholas W Jones 5, Nicholas J Hartley 6, Katherine L Town 7, Quentin S A Jackson (C) 8.

Pimlico, London SW1 (St Saviour). 26 Apr, 1282 Lincolnshire Surprise Major: Garry S Barr 1, Jacqueline L Bale 2, Michael J Trimm (C) 3, Jennifer A Holden 4, Nicholas J Hartley 5, Jon Waters 6, Katherine L Town 7, Quentin S A Jackson 8.

Walworth, London SE17. 26 Apr, 1420 Plain Bob Doubles: Clare E F Dyer 1, Peter M Jasper (C) 2, Lucy M Bricheno 3, Nicholas W Jones 4, Rhiannon M Meredith 5, Lian von Wantoch 6. First quarter peal on tower bells: 6.

Wimbledon, London SW20 (6 Ranmore Court, Worple Road). 27 Apr, 1260 Plain Bob Minor: Clara P Westlake 1-2, Lucy M Bricheno 3-4, Nicholas W Jones (C) 5-6. First quarter in hand: 1-2. First quarter on this set of handbells and believed to be the first quarter at this address.

Wimbledon, London SW20 (6 Ranmore Court, Worple Road). 27 Apr, 1260 Plain Bob Minor: Lian von Wantoch 1-2, Lucy M Bricheno 3-4, Nicholas W Jones (C) 5-6.

Holborn, London WC2 (St Giles in the Fields). 27 Apr, 1344 London Surprise Major: Rupert H J Littlewood 1, Clare E F Dyer 2, Peter M Jasper 3, Jennifer A Holden 4, Katherine L Town (C) 5, Quentin S A Jackson 6, Andrew P F Bradford 7, Michael J Trimm 8. First in method: 2. With the Society's best wishes to Alan Frost for a speedy recovery.

Aldgate, London EC3. 27 Apr, 1250 Yorkshire Surprise Major: Garry S Barr 1, Lucy M Bricheno 2, Clara P Westlake 3, Nicholas J Hartley 4, Katherine L Town 5, Rupert H J Littlewood 6, Andrew P F Bradford (C) 7, Michael J Trimm 8.

Battersea, London SW11. 27 Apr, 1260 Plain Bob Triples: Jennifer A Holden 1, Clare E F Dyer 2, Jacqueline L Bale 3, Josephine K Crimp 4, Nicholas W Jones (C) 5, Peter M Jasper 6, Quentin S A Jackson 7, Jon Waters 8. 25th quarter together: 2&7 and 6&7. Rung as a get well compliment to Sean Langton.

Chelsea, London SW3 (All Saints, Old Church). 27 Apr, 1250 Cambridge Surprise Major: Lucy M Bricheno 1, Rhiannon M Meredith 2, Clara P Westlake 3, Rupert H J Littlewood 4, Jon Waters 5, Katherine L Town 6, Michael J Trimm 7, Nicholas J Hartley (C) 8.

Smithfield, London EC1. 27 Apr, 1260 Stedman Doubles: Jacqueline L Bale 1, Quentin S A Jackson (C) 2, Clare E F Dyer 3, Peter M Jasper 4, Garry S Barr 5.