Dinner Weekend 2010 - Thame, 12th-14th February

And so it was, after much planning., the weekend arrived for the Welsh Colleges Society to descend on Long Crendon., a village near Thame in Oxfordshire for our Annual Dinner weekend.

The Welsh Colleges Society is made up of students and past students of Welsh Universities (with a few hangers on!).

Accommodation was in the form of Chez Mundy, Chez Stonham, Chez Travelodge and, for the youngsters (and Malcolm), Long Crendon Church House.

The weekend kicked off with a quarter of Cambridge Minor at Brill and a handbell quarter of Plan Bob Major (shame about the peal), before regrouping at the second HQ of the weekend, the 8 Bells public house.

This excellent pub had got in extra beer especially for us as the 25 or so of the society that met that night, ate and drank until………well late into the night.

Saturday was the main day with four towers being visited and a peal being rung at Bledlow. The 8 bells at Great Milton were a fine ring but certain members of the society were upset at being turned down for coffee at the adjacent coffee shop, Raymond Blanc's flagship restaurant - Le Manoir aux Quatre Saisons. Coffee is only for residents apparently (and certainly not for students in jeans and T shirts) - just as well really as the student loan may have doubled had they been served.

At lunchtime 49 met for lunch at the Old Fisherman in Shabbington before going on to ring on the 8 at Thame in the afternoon.

An uneventful AGM followed with most posts being easily filled although the enviable role of catering officer took a bit of pursuasion!

A quick trip back to the 8 bells followed before getting changed for the evening events.

Our annual dinner took place at the Spreadeagle Hotel in Thame where 72 of the society were treated to an excellent 3 course dinner- which threatened to be disrupted by the fire alarm but a quick fanning of the sensor in the kitchen seemed to sort the problem. There was no evidence of any incineration when our food arrived!

After a display of advanced handbell ringing we were treated to three excellent speeches. After Sue Rainsbury entertained us with the Romance Officer speech, our guest speaker, Nigel Herriot, talked about the importance of University Ringing Societies to the future sustainability of our exercise. At one point I did wonder if Nigel realised where he was as there were a fair few references to the Oxford Ringing Society but we will forgive him for this, in an otherwise excellent speech!

Our own master, Paul Parker, then took us back to events/past antics of society members over the years - all diligently recorded in our activities books. Hearing some of these past antics makes it look as though the society is tame these days by comparison. Have the "new" youngsters lost their sense of adventure?!

Following dinner, we were treated to a barn dance, of which two of the band were ringers themselves, and many danced into the early hours whilst others used the time to catch up with old friends.

Sunday morning came round a little too early for many, but out of their sleeping bags the society emerged, to ring at the 5 at Nether Winchendon and the splendid 10 at Long Crendon.

After various coffees and cleaning of the hall, we all regrouped again at the 8 Bells for a splendid Sunday lunch served by Helen and a last chance to sample the excellent beer before most made tracks back to their various parts of the country, leaving only the local members of the society in the pub until darkness fell!

Many thanks to everybody who took part in the weekend, especially those who put in the hard work to organise it. Everybody had a great time from students up to the semi retired (and Malcolm). We now look forward to the next meeting in Sussex at Easter.

- Chris Mundy

Brill, Buckinghamshire, All Saints. Friday, 12 February 2010 in 45 Mins (11.1.15). 1320 Cambridge Surprise Minor. Paul R Parker 1, Niamh Hickey 2, J Robert Jervis 3, Christopher M Mundy 4, Malcolm Murphy (C) 5, Robert E Hardy 6. First of Surprise - 2

Long Crendon, Bucks. 13 Chearsley Road. Friday, 12 February 2010 in 35mins (15 in C). 1344 Plain Bob Major. David A Jones 1-2, Iain D Scott 3-4, Matthew J Tosh 5-6, Timothy M Payne (C) 7-8.

Bledlow, Bucks, Holy Trinity
Saturday, 13 February 2010 in 2hr 54min (12cwt)
5088 Yorkshire S Major
Composed by: Donald Morrison (no 1947)
1 Ross E Hartley
2 Daniel P Knight
3 David A Jones
4 Iain D Scott
5 Robert E Hardy
6 James M Stonham
7 Stephen W Penney
8 Timothy M Payne (C)