1 Nov
2011
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The blog is working, but nothing else is. Posterous seems to have screwed up (again) so until I've had time to unravel the problem enjoy the twitter feed and blog posts!
The Webmaster
20 Oct
2011
Central Council response to uninformed @martincreed Olympics ringing project
The Martin Creed Project, also known as Work No. 1197, or All The Bells, and SGA Productions.
SGA Productions are contacting many ringing organisations to ask them to become involved in their scheme to have all the bells in the country ringing for three minutes as fast and as loudly as possible at 8 am on Friday 27 July to mark the opening day of the Olympics. This is part of the Cultural Olympiad and appears to be officially backed and funded.
The Central Council has been involved in some very detailed discussions with the organisers, during which we tried to persuade them to have the ringing at a different time rather than 8 am, or to leave ringers free to choose the best time for them and for their local area on that day. These discussions were not successful as too much had already been irrevocably decided before we were invited to become involved, although it was agreed that ringing for longer than three minutes would be acceptable. It may help you to know that the Council’s position is as follows:
Whilst the Council cannot support the Creed project in its proposed form, we would encourage ringing for the Olympics as local circumstance and resources permit. If this can be linked to particular activities like the Torch relay or other local Olympic events then valuable publicity for ringing may be achieved.
The Central Council has been involved in some very detailed discussions with the organisers, during which we tried to persuade them to have the ringing at a different time rather than 8 am, or to leave ringers free to choose the best time for them and for their local area on that day. These discussions were not successful as too much had already been irrevocably decided before we were invited to become involved, although it was agreed that ringing for longer than three minutes would be acceptable. It may help you to know that the Council’s position is as follows:
- We are very aware of this project and have been involved in extensive but ultimately unsuccessful discussions with the organisers to try to enable their objectives to be more aligned with ringers’ views and practices.
- We are not able to work closely with this project as we believe it is misconceived and we were invited to become involved in its design too late to be able to help make it more workable for ringers.
- We think 8 am is not the right time for ringing in very many towers and for very many ringers.
- We do not believe ringing for three minutes nor ringing as fast as possible is really suitable for church bell ringers.
- We have been very involved with the New Music 20X12 project for some time now and this is the main focus of our Olympic work, although we are also encouraging as much Olympic-related ringing as possible.
Whilst the Council cannot support the Creed project in its proposed form, we would encourage ringing for the Olympics as local circumstance and resources permit. If this can be linked to particular activities like the Torch relay or other local Olympic events then valuable publicity for ringing may be achieved.
sincerely
Mary Bone (on behalf of Kate Flavell, President of the Central Council)
Mary Bone (on behalf of Kate Flavell, President of the Central Council)
St. Peter's's Ringing Information
We ring from 19.45-21.15 on Mondays (except Bank Hols) and from 10.00-11.00 on Sundays. Check our Twitter feed below for our ringing status. You can also find us on Facebook.
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