Moving Out - The Search for a New Tower.

The big day finally arrived; I was moving out, not just up the road but to another city – Leeds. The car was packed with all of my essential junk. Dad, Mum and Philip were to follow later with the stuff that wouldn’t fit in my car. I set off on my first big step in being a grown up, driving into the sun up the M1 (singing along to ‘kak’ music on my CD). I arrived at the house and was met by two of the house mates, and was shown the basics like how to operate the alarm. However I am convinced their teaching was a fluke as I appear to be the only one who knows how to turn it on and off. Despite the landlords assurances of the housemates help in moving in I was left alone to lug my junk up to the house. That’s two flights of stairs since it is a large Victorian terrace that rises above the road, with a steep staircase to the front door. By the end of it I felt like I was acting out a Jane Fondar film I forget the name of, thank goodness my room isn’t on the second floor. My family eventually arrived with my man and imaginative packing to fit him in. The car was apparently re-packed 3 times in all to fit everyone in. Mum and I sorted the kitchen out while Dad hung out of my sash window to clean the outside with Philip holding on to his feet (once the window had eventually been forced open). Finally everything was done, Mum, Dad and Philip left and I was left on my own, in the big wide world.

The next big step for me was to find a tower to ring at. I’d already started my fact finding mission a few weeks previously asking the likes of Malcolm for their recommendations. I was warned off the red light district areas, and pointed out some names to look for. My practical task started the following week at Ossett on the Sunday morning. I arrived at the church in plenty of time (I misread the times in the report), I wandered around the grounds then sat on a wall waiting for anyone who looked like ringers. I figured they’d be easy to spot as in my experience most wear shorts and it was a beautiful morning. A car pulled up the driveway and an elderly gentleman got out and a boy of about 11, I watched them a minute (no shorts) then I saw the proof I needed – a copy of the ringing world was clutched in the man’s hand, I made my move. The bells were a nice ring of 12, we rang the front 7 for Bob minor (with cover). The tower was friendly and a few names were asked over. One man knew Handsworth was out of action as he had been to Derby the week before and had seen the clock parts on a shelf. Ossett was nice but a little impractical unless I’m off to see my man. Verdict 7/10.

I then went to Far Headingly on a practice night (once I had found it – sign posts in Leeds aren’t very useful, they tend to disappear at the next junction you get to). I introduced myself, there was a ringer named Noel Taylor who introduced himself, originally from Ranmoor, and was taught by John Gilbert!! Could I ring Bob Doubles? Of course I can, I chose the second, then I noticed the rope, it had two fluffy sections. "They’re Yorkshire Tail Ends, haven’t you seen them before?" "No" was my reply as I studied the rope, preparing to ring. I pulled off, and rang like I did when I was 12 scared to release my fingers from the tail end to catch at hand, by the end of it I was ringing fairly normally but my left thumb was aching for the rest of the evening. I rang some more Plain Bob and a plain course of Stedman. Verdict 6/10 – lost points for the tail ends. The next outing was to the other tower at Headingly, found with ease as I had to pass it to get to Far Headingly. I arrived at the church to find it was shut, I hadn’t checked to see if ringing was actually on. I went home via Armley – I followed the right A road but in the wrong direction.

My next venture was Sunday morning at Chapel Allerton. I had difficulty in finding it, the A-Z didn’t help much as there is just a cross to denote churches, no names, and this church was hidden away from the main road, you can’t even see a tower above the road. However I discovered a few nice looking pubs to try out and took note – most round here look very scary unless you go in with a couple of rotwillers. The tower was very friendly, it felt like ‘home’ I was asked to call the changers, I did so unfortunately it didn’t start too well. I did forewarn them that I called down and not up (a typical Handsworth ringer), we got back to rounds and started again, this time I called out every bell and felt a little tongue tied. The team here is largely made up of learners and are aiming for Bob Doubles. Verdict 8/10 but will lose more points for not being able to teach me more. I’ve been ringing for 12 years now and am only just learning beyond Plain Bob, I desperately want to be able to ring touches of Steadman, Kent and Cambridge, be able to call more than just changes and touches of Bob doubles or minor. I don’t hold this against anyone but you can only learn as much as your regular tower and/or visitors are capable of. My search continues, St Peters is next in line to try out, along with Headingly (again), yet Chapel Allerton is the closest. Once I’ve found a tower hopefully I’ll be able to come back and ring something ‘complicated’ with you all at a meeting very soon. I may have moved to Leeds but my home tower is still Handsworth.