Ring for the King was a great slogan and resulted in an amazing number of recruits in the Farnham District. They were slotted into appropriate towers, duly taught, and most managed to Ring for the King. Of course, as was expected, they have stayed and continued to learn and most are now ringing for Sunday service and general tower practices. So how to help them go out of their own towers and learn about the wider ringing community? So the Meet and Greet idea was born, to be held at Yorktown, organised by Clare Le Marie and Nigel Smith.

For this session in September, 21 of the newer ringers came, plus 14 experienced ringers. All were given name badges and the ringers were split into two groups. One to ring the tower bells, under the guidance of the Training Officer, Nigel Smith, and ART teacher Hazel Metcalfe, the other group had a chance to look over a model bell, books and magazines, chat to some of the District Officers and try their hand at ringing handbells. This was guided by John Couperthwaite and new district master Oliver Hall so that rounds and call changes were soon sounding out. At half time the groups changed places.

There was a short summary of the work of the district officers, Guild subscriptions and the BRF (bell restoration fund). There was a continuous supply of cakes, scones and biscuits washed down by tea or coffee. There were also many conversations, and mixing of ringers from the different towers, as they all got to know each other. Our thanks to Yorktown for the use of their bells, and the provision of refreshments.

Clare Le Marie, Farnham District Secretary