Merry ringing for a lord mayor
Leslie Taylor

It is normal for the ringers to receive ringing visitors, and we have a deserved reputation for the welcome we give to any ringer from the world-wide confraternity. However, we have never before been visited by a Lord Mayor wishing to ring the bells.

We did, once, have a stern message delivered from a Lord Mayor of Dublin, but that was some time ago - in 1688. He sent soldiers to express his opinion that the bells had not been rung 'merrily enough' for birth of the Prince of Wales. Archbishop William King, after the war was over, reported vividly that the officers of the cathedral charged with this fault denied it, while adding that if it were true, it was the ringers' fault, not theirs. Happily they were hauled away and put in the stocks, and not the ringers. It was the Lord Mayor of Westminster who came calling this time (Sunday, May 14). Councilor Tim Joiner, whose long list of achievement includes the ability to ring bells, asked could he ring on 16 with us; and so he did, with his traveling chain of office tucked into his jacket.

On the morning in question we ranged over the ringing humour spectrum from not merrily enough (a foul-up in Plain Bob Major at the start) through bright and beautiful (highly successful Grandsire Caters) and on to exuberant joy with the 16 in well-struck rounds. The Lord Mayor was delighted, as were we. At lunch with us in The Silk Road Café (at the Chester Beatty Library) he described the role of Lord Mayor in the city within the city of London. The Westminster civic entity dates from 1540. It grew in importance under Queen Elizabeth I, and in 1966 Queen Elizabeth II raised its mayor to the status of Lord Mayor. So, from the ringers of Christ Church- no bad feelings towards Lord Mayors of anywhere, despite little misunderstandings in the past.

THE SOCIETY OF RINGERS
In our Society of Ringers (existing since 1670) the most important office is that of Ringing Master. It is, naturally, elective, and I am happy to report that Gary McGuire has been chosen to take over from me. Gary was trained to ring here, at Christ Church. He is Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at NUI, Maynooth. I am certain that change-ringing here will continue to improve, and I want to thank those ringers whose reliability made my task over many years easier than it might have been.