7th June at Saltby

The 2003 Ridgman Trophy Competition, held at Saltby on Saturday 7th June, was hosted by last year's victors, the Leicester Diocesan Guild. The test piece was again Stedman Caters, 303 changes, and the first team, representing the Bedfordshire Association, were all present and correct at the appointed hour, so the ringing got off to a prompt start, although not before the judges were given the opportunity to try the bells. These are a tuneful light 10, rung from the ground floor and proved to be a worthy setting for the competition.

Early competitors found a counter attraction in progress in the form of a vintage car rally, which saw a constant procession of venerable (and immaculate) motor vehicles arriving at the crossroads at which the church stands. The natural tendency of ringers to give free directions, solicited or no, was amply demonstrated to those car drivers unfortunate enough to display any hesitancy as to which route to take at the church. Just like ringing really!!

All six competing bands gave a very creditable performance, and in their opening remarks the two judges, the Revd Brian Harris and Neil Donovan, expressed the view that the standard set by all the bands was very high and the competition had been a very close one. Strangely, the time taken to ring the test touch had decreased band by band, starting at 11 min 46 sec for the first team to 10 min 40 sec for the last team, the Cambridge University Guild, who were adjudged the winners, with the Leicester Guild runners-up.