The Association holds two striking competitions each year. A six-bell competition is usually held in June, with an eight-bell event
usually held in October. The dates have changed over the years.
Competition Rules
Six Bell Contest
The competition is open to any Sunday service band within the Archdeaconry of
Stoke-on-Trent.
The venue(s) will be decided each year by the committee.
A tower may enter more than one team. No person may ring in more than one team.
Each team may include one visitor.
The order of ringing will be decided before the competition by any method the committee
decides and a representative of each team will be notified.
The test piece will consist of 120 or 240 changes of method ringing (Minor or Doubles)
or alternatively 4 or 8 minutes of call changes. The length of the test piece will be decided
according to the number of teams entering. If the shorter test piece is used, each team
will have 15 minutes to complete both practice and test piece; if the longer test piece is
used each team will have 20 minutes to complete both practice and test piece.
If call changes are rung every bell except the tenor must be called to lead and no bell shall
be called to move more than one place at a time.
The signal to the judge(s) to begin marking the test piece is the ringing of the treble bell
for two whole pulls. The rounds before and after the test piece will be marked. Failure to
stand will not be penalised.
Any team failing to complete the test piece at the first attempt (for other than mechanical
reasons) shall be eliminated from the competition.
The winning team will be presented with the Anderson Trophy. The Archdeacon Borrett
Cup will be awarded by the committee for merit. Both trophies are to be retained for one
year and then returned to the Honorary Secretary. "
The decision of the judge(s) is final.
Eight Bell Contest
Rules 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 11 are the same as for the six-bell competition.
Each team may include one or two visitors.
The test piece will consist of at least 224 changes of method ringing (Triples or Major) or
8 minutes of call changes, all changes being marked. Each team will have 20 minutes to
complete both practice and test pieces.
These rules have been varied to suit the circumstances of each year's competition. The main variation is the
inclusion of joint teams where there are insufficient teams available under the rules listed. Such variations are informal
and do not set a precedent for future contests.
The winning team's name is taken from the relevant trophy.
The earliest details for the six bell contest are for 1973, and
1979 for the eight bell contest. Our thanks go to Tim Hine for
recording these details for publication here.
Data for six bell contests held since 1984, and eight bell
contests since 1985, is taken from back issues of the Association
Newsletter. This includes locations, team ranking orders,
individual scores, judge's details, etc. Our thanks go to Lee
Cooke who patiently reviewed the newsletter archives for this
information.
From 2005 onwards details will be recorded as the results are
announced.
Various single items of data have been obtained from relevant
people such as team members, judges and Association officers.
There are a number of omissions for various years. Does anyone
know any of the missing details? If so, please e-mail
corrections and new information to
.
All contributions will be gratefully received.
