Congratulations to the Fen Tigers on surviving a really busy day in Birmingham on 5th July 2025 and performing really well in the two competitions. We did fantastically to enter the 6 bell Methods competition as well as the 6 bell Advanced Call Changes competition - it's the first time we've entered the Methods competition since Fen Tigers was reformed after Covid.

Here you can see a slightly scary picture of the Methods band - I think Louise had a funny filter on her camera!

We rang at Walsall (12) starting at 9.30 after which we had to split up for our competition towers - Erdington for the Call Changes band (lovely, but heavy) and Edgbaston for the Methods band. After that, much relief and into the centre of Birmingham to enjoy ourselves at St Paul's in the Jewellry Quarter (10) plus minirings followed by St Martin in the Bullring (16!) plus handbells. We then sprinted to the railway station to get out to Solihull (12) for the most relaxed ringing of the day, then back to St Martin's for results.

Each band came about half way up the results table in each competition which is a really great achievement, and the result of a great deal of practice and learning, all of which has led to real advances in the abilities of all the young people involved. Every adult involved with the teams will vouch for how much improvement has taken place over the last few months. Many thanks to the parents for transporting the kids around everywhere, and to Thomas for more or less training the Methods band and making them conduct! It all helps with confidence and concentration, which is essential in a striking competition. The judges said of the Methods band: 

'We enjoyed listening to your ringing - it sounded confident, with a good structure. Faults seemed to occur most frequently when the larger bells were ringing around the little bells - generally they were rung slightly wide, however the ringing always managed to settle quickly again. We think allowing the bells to roll along more (a slightly faster speed) would make this easier for you next year. Overall a good piece of ringing, well done!'

During the day, as well as the competition towers, we rang at a ring of 10, two rings of 12 and one ring of 16, which is way beyond our normal ringing comfort zone! All of the ringers were able to ring respectably without prompting or help on 12. And at one of the 12 bell towers we rang as a complete band, just us! We would never have been able to do this last year so this is a real measure of just how far the Young Ringers have progressed in competence and confidence, and of how much having a focus like this competition helps.