Judged by Hawkear and committee judges.

Chief hawkear judge: Raymond Helliwell

Assistant hawkear judges: Ben Kellett, Jack Bendrey

CHESTER CATHEDRAL – NORTH WEST 12-BELL STRIKING COMPETITION

The winners of this first North West competition were decided by application of Hawkear. This software has been used extensively by the National 12-bell Competition for several years but never at Chester.

The installation of the hardware and testing was carried out in 2016, and it was considered sufficiently reliable to notify the bands that the results would be determined entirely on the output from the Rod Model analysis. Despite this, the competition was really organised to raise awareness and enthusiasm for 12-bell ringing, so representatives from each band were asked to judge the ringing. This, for several, was the first time they had had the opportunity to sit outside quietly and listen critically to 12-bell ringing. Their results were amalgamated to provide a back-up in case of technical failure of recording the test pieces. In the event, the technology performed perfectly.

Hawkear and the human judges agreed on the top two teams, though there was a difference of opinion for the remaining four. Both Hawkear and judges’ results were presented to the teams, but, as planned, the Hawkear output was the decider and the results are above.

In terms of the event itself, I am sure there were many who should be thanked, but without the extensive advice from Ian McCallion and Dave Richards, Hawkear installation and operation would have been impossible. Now it remains in position to help improve our ringing on a routine basis at Chester.