Let the Bells Ring Out!

Deputy Lord Mayor's Blog 29

On Saturday evening I attended one of the most interesting dinners during my time as Lord Mayor or Deputy Lord Mayor. This was the annual Henry Johnson Commemoration Dinner of the St Martin's Guild of Church Bell Ringers.

The Guild is a voluntary association of bell-ringers in the Birmingham diocese with the objectives of maintaining ringing for church services; practising, encouraging and advancing the art of change-ringing; and providing a fund to support belfry restoration and improvement projects within its area. Henry Johnson was a renowned bell ringer born in the early 19th century.

Church bell ringing is a quintessentially English tradition and it was good to see that this historic heritage is being actively carried forward by such committed and energetic a body as Birmingham's own Guild. It is no wonder that Birmingham is so widely regarded as a centre of excellence.

During the evening there was a beautiful performance of hand bell ringing and a good opportunity for me to learn more about the practice (which is known as 'The Exercise' - no-one using the term campanology).

Some of those present had rung a fantastic number of changes - one person at my table had rung over 1700 sets of 5,040 changes (all possible orderings of 7 bells) and this was by no means a record! Others were well known 'Tower Grabbers' trying to ring at as many bell towers as possible. Some had travelled widely and had rung at Christchurch Cathedral to tower of which was destroyed in the recent earthquake. St Martin's was the first set of church bells to be rung live on the radio.

If you are young(ish) co-ordinated and a bit musical you would be very welcome to be trained up. For more information you can email Simon Linford at simonhippo@hotmail.com Bell ringing has something of a family tradition and there is also a children's section. The St Martin's Guild website can be found at
 http://smgcbr.heralded.org.uk

Formula Student!

Deputy Lord Mayor’s Blog 28
Recently Vivienne and I had a most absorbing and inspiring evening with engineering students at Aston University. These very bright and enthusiastic young people were involved in two projects, Formula Student and the Shell Eco Challenge.
During my year as Lord Mayor I'd promoted engineering as a course of study and had provided some modest funding to our three universities to this end including sponsorship of Formula Student where the students design and build their own racing car. It is a superb exercise not only in hands-on mechanical engineering but also in teamwork, organisation and industrial and other sponsorship. The Formula Student races take place during the summer at both national and European levels. In the Eco Challenge the task is to construct a car that does maximum mileage from one litre of fuel.
I wanted to play my part in emphasizing the immense value of these projects and of mechanical and automotive engineering in general. These are fields the study and practice of which are so important to the future of the city - and indeed the country.
Our local and national prosperity was founded on engineering and manufacture and I believe that we must return to a position where a full and proper role is played by engineering in our economy to ensure our future economic wellbeing.
You cannot have an economy of our size just based on services and shopping - and of course there is no such thing as a post industrial society. Thus there is a major role to be played by proper universities - those which include a study of the discipline of engineering - as all three in Birmingham do.

Prior to an excellent presentation by the students there was a chance to look at, discuss and, if you are trim enough, sit in the cars. This ruled me out of course but Vivienne fitted snugly into the Aston Formula Student car. An exhilarating experience as you can see!

The Civic Dimension

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It is a varied and interesting experience being one of the City Council’s ‘Civics’. As Deputy Lord Mayor I still get to cover quite a wide range of events including charities, schools, citizenships and welcoming visitors to Birmingham.
In Birmingham the practice is that you become Deputy LM the year after being Lord Mayor, so doing some of the rounds again brings me into contact with many people that I had the privilege of meeting during my own mayoral year.
I say ‘privilege’ and mean it as it struck myself and Vivienne early on that there are so many people making quiet contributions to the life of the city – often unsung and for a number of people not wishing to be sung.
It was also very clear that both people and organisations value the civic presence completely free of a political dimension and with no agenda to progress other than saying ‘thank you for all that you are doing’. I was pleased to have been able to introduce the Lord Mayor’s Award to this end.
I believe that it is very important in these challenging times that we retain, in fitting measure, the civic dimension of the multifarious activities and traditions of our great city.

Charity Choral Evening

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Each year the Lord Mayor of Birmingham raises money for charitable causes, frequently by arranging special events. One in hand for this year is the renowned Treorchy Male Voice Choir who will be performing in the superb venue of the Town Hall. Full details of the charity concert are shown below. Enjoy some great singing and support worthwhile causes at the same time!