[Clapper and Ringing World write-up 20005]
The Washington Three-Tower Tour

It started with Ed Donnen and Paula Fleming. They thought it would be fun to ring three quarter peals in one day, one at each of Washington’s local towers. They mentioned this idea to me one night before practice. I said, “Count me in,” to which Paula replied, “But we want you to organize it, too.” 

As many readers will already know, there are two rings of ten in Washington, D.C., one at the National Cathedral and one at the Old Post Office Tower. Until last October, the nearest place for extramural ringing was New Castle, Delaware, some 100 miles distant. Other choices were (and, of course, remain) the two towers in Philadelphia and the one in Princess Anne, Maryland, both about 135 miles away. Since October, however, the eight bells at Calvary United Methodist Church in Frederick, Maryland, have been available, less than an hour’s drive north of Washington. Washington ringers helped train the nascent band at Frederick, and rang the dedication peal there. We have been fortunate to be welcomed back regularly to ring at Calvary, and are privileged to regard it as our new local tower.

I readily agreed to organize this little adventure (particularly in consideration of how often I benefit from the Fleming /Donnen after-practice conversation and ride-home service). First off, a few goals: To have a fun. To strike well and ring beautifully. To set ourselves up for success. To acquire an agreeable band. The last goal proved easy, as the Washington ringers are a generally adventurous and typically eccentric lot. Settling on a date--a Sunday in late April--also turned out to be providentially easy, both for the ringers and the towers. 

We wanted the same band should ring all three quarters. We toyed with pulling together ten ringers, which would have allowed us to ring caters or royal in Washington, but it would also have required two people to sit out in Frederick. (We won’t even contemplate the possibility that we could have engaged in some unorthodox Dorothy L. Sayers-like rope swapping to fit ten ringers in….) Having two folks sit out did not seem entirely fair. In addition, our striking on eight is frequently much better than our striking on ten, so we decided that “ringing beautifully” would be better served by sticking to eight at all three towers.

On the appointed day, the band assembled in the morning at the Old Post Office. To get our minds warmed up and marshal our strength, I had suggested Plain Bob Triples as the opening method, to be rung on the light 8. Meredith Morris agreed to conduct. All went well, resulting in a credible and well-struck quarter. So as not to jinx the day’s remaining attempts, we entered Ed Donnen’s equivocal footnote in the OPOT book: “Rung to begin a day of uncertain significance.”

Next stop: the National Cathedral. The Fleming /Donnen bus made a brief but important stop on the way to pick up our first hanger-on of the day. Jen, Alex Taft’s girlfriend, was to accompany the happy band to Frederick, as well as sit patiently through our attempt at the Cathedral. She was kind enough to bring with her a supply of fresh baked goods to supplement our pre-arranged noontime noshing. 

We arrived at the Cathedral about noon and waited in the ringing chamber for the 11 o’clock service to end, munching on the assorted baked goods. The verger’s phone call came, and we took our ropes and launched into Stedman Triples. We picked Stedman in consideration of the Sunday service, and for the same reason we rang this time on the stentorian heavy eight (32 cwt tenor). Another considerable factor in our choice of Stedman was the presence of Eddie Martin in the band. A true and inspired cognoscente of odd-bell methods, Eddie regularly blesses and challenges the Washington ringers with beautiful compositions of Grandsire, Stedman, and Erin. It was only natural that we should ask him to conduct our attempt here. The composition, of course, was excellent, and the ringing began beautifully. Meredith Morris later commented, “It rang itself.” After about 15 minutes, however, nerves or distraction or a surfeit of baked goods set in, and the Stedman fell apart. We began again, and the execution this second time, although credible, was not quite so excellent as previously. We stayed our course, and the attempt was ultimately successful. With great relief, and, encouraged by our progress, we made bold to dedicate the quarter “for Sunday Service and to continue a day of increasing significance.”

We finished our time at the Cathedral with lunch. Ed’s locally renowned “maxaroni” (that sensible kissing cousin of baked ziti) was on hand in abundance. During our lunch break, our second hanger-on arrived. At my invitation, my boyfriend Matt joined us for the free ride to Frederick, where he could explore the beautiful town while we rang our hearts out. Full of maxaroni, we drove the pleasant hour to Calvary Church. We timed our arrival so we could join Joche Wilmot and the other Frederick ringers, under the tutelage of Bill Kollar, in their regular Sunday practice. Call changes and plain hunt having been achieved to everyone’s satisfaction, the itinerant band staked out their places and began quarter attempt no. 3. Grandsire Triples was the method this time, and--as was only meet and right--Eddie Martin was again the conductor.

The Grandsire was nothing short of flawless. Magical, even. It flew along, with hardly any hesitations or method mistakes, and no crash-ups. When it came round and we stood, Ann Martin declared enthusiastically, “I think that’s the most beautifully struck Grandsire I’ve ever rung in!” Or something to that effect. It might have been, “That may be the most beautiful ringing I’ve ever heard!” We were all so pleased with ourselves that none can now remember her exact words. But we all certainly felt as Ann did.

Having accomplished what we set out to do, we signed our names in Frederick’s book above the happy footnote, “Rung to complete a day of significance: first band to ring quarters in one day at each of the Washington regional towers (Old Post Office; National Cathedral; & Calvary United Methodist, Frederick).”

As all ringing days should, ours ended at the pub. Joined by Jen and Matt, the band repaired to the Frederick ringers’ accustomed comestibles concessionaire, Brewer’s Alley, a microbrewery located in the town’s former city hall. After a very pleasant meal, and fortified with a glass or two of whatever, we headed back home, tired from the day’s effort, but thoroughly satisfied with the results. 

As Ann put it the next day (and this quote I have in writing), “An annual event, perhaps?”

--Michael Harrison