The 2013 Annual General Meeting was held on Saturday 16th November in the City of London. It was a bright but cool day.
At 11am a band gathered at Christ Church Spitalfields. A quarter peal of Stedman Triples was planned to mark the Tercentenary of Fabians Stedman’s Death. However after 4 false starts it was clear this was not to be.
We were very grateful to Geraldine Forster for arranging the towers but this year had been even more of a problem than usual. We started the afternoon at St Vedas, Foster Lane. St Vedas has an illustrious history being partly destroyed in the great fire, restored in 1602, reconstructed in the years up to 1701 and it was restored after the blitz. The six bells cast in 1960 are widely regarded as being the finest sounding six in London.
Next for the afternoon was St Botolph, Aldgate. There was a commitment in the church so Geraldine kindly arranged tea here whilst we waited. The present building was finished in 1744 and restored following a fire in 1965. The bells were heavy and the 7th unpredictable and were quite a challenge for us.
The last tower was St Dunstan in the West, Fleet Street. In 2012 a ring of 10 new bells had been dedicated. This was a new tower for many members present. Geraldine had donated the 3rd bell here so it was especially nice to have the opportunity to ring here.
Dinner was held at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Fleet Street this being one of London’s oldest pub. There has been a pub here since 1538 and it was rebuilt in 1667. Thirty three of us sat to a very good meal here. The business meeting was closed at 9.10 in the customary manner with hand bell ringing.