As I relinquish the post as Master of Sussex County Association this coming Saturday this will be my last Master’s Musings.

I have intimated before that the past two years have been somewhat of a roller coaster ride.  The idea of the Vision was very exciting and the team, ably led by Anne Franklin worked well together and after each meeting we all went home with homework.  At the presentation evenings there was a lot of discussion, some very pro, some very helpful constructive criticism and a few completely anti.  The Team met after these meetings, took into account the comments and The Vision was published.  The second remit was to revise the Rules.  The Team looked at going through the old rules and bringing them up to date, both the content and language.  For those of you who are familiar with “track changes” the old rules were very colourful!  Therefore, it was agreed to start from scratch.  These rules were presented to the Annual General Meeting in May 2014 and largely accepted but with some requests for tweaking.  Jane Wilkinson had her arm bent and kindly agreed to lead a new Team.  This she did in her usual efficient way and then in September, just eighteen months after the birth of The Vision, the new rules were adopted.

It is good to see that there are pockets of ringers who have taken the Vision ahead and are now working in groups.  Obviously it will take time for hubs to form but a good start has been made.

Unfortunately, due to health problems, including being unable to drive and ring for a period, I found myself unable to visit as many towers as I would have liked but did manage to visit all Districts at least three times, including a public transport experience into the Western District.  Thank you all for the welcome you gave me.

Alan and I would like to thank all of you who have sent messages, rung and spoken to me of your thoughts and prayers during this time of Alan’s illness.   His progress was good immediately after his operation but things have gone downhill since then including, at the present time, a bout of jaundice which is necessitating further tests and scans.  Again, thank you for your support.

As you may imagine, our time has taken up  originally with regular daily visits to the local surgery but now reduced to twice weekly interspersed with visits to London for hospital visits and with our bells at Hailsham out of action due to refurbishment work I have managed very little ringing.

It is with mixed feelings that I decided not to stand for another year but, as things have turned out, I feel that I was being guided to take that decision.

I should like to take this opportunity to all of those who have supported me throughout my Mastership.  Without you the role would have been even more difficult.

I wish you all the best and carry on enjoying your ringing.

Christine Baldock