News

HRGB Rally at Areley Kings

Sporting new polo shirts at Areley Kings

Saturday 23rd March 2024

It was an early start for 8 members of the Alton Handbell ringers team as we headed down to Worcestershire to attend the Areley Kings rally, armed with the Haythorne bells, chimes and our packed lunches.
There was an excellent turnout of just over 50 ringers, but we all managed to squeeze into a modern, warm and well lit hall (an important feature after our candle lit performance at Christmas!)
All the ringing sessions were ably led by Jason, who was encouraging throughout and proved to be an excellent conductor, equal to the usual high standard provided by our own conductor, Wendy, who was able to join in the ringing for once.
We started by working on “Bring him home”, a piece adapted for hand bells from Les Mis, which was quite a challenging piece, or so we thought until we had a go at English Country Garden and then the high speed rate of Variations on Strawberry Fair, with numerous key, timing and speed changes. 
However, throughout the day, we did improve, although at 1pm when we were asked if we were happy to continue practising until 1.15 as per the schedule, there was a resounding call for an early lunch!
Interspersed throughout the day were team pieces from Areley Kings, Wellington, Oranges and Lemons, Harvington, Knighton, Burghill & Tillington, Tintinnabulis and ourselves. We performed My Heart Will Go On from Titanic and Chime Lullaby, both of which went quite well, if not perfectly.
We finished by performing all three mass pieces, which definitely sounded much improved from attempt number one in the morning. 
We were provided with more tea and huge quantities of cake by the ever hospitable Areley Kings hosts and left in lovely afternoon sunshine to head home.
This was only my second rally, but it was hugely enjoyable and so encouraging to see the wide range of ages (from 11 to 80s) sharing time and music together on equal terms, the future of hand bell ringing looks bright.

Hilary Dowson

 

St Peter's, Ellastone Christmas Concert

Ellastone Church

Friday 15th December

We were made very welcome at St Peter's Church, Ellastone for a Christmas concert. Thankfully the power stayed on and we had light for the whole concert, unlike in Alton Village Hall. We played a selection of non-Christmas and Christmas music finishing with We Wish You A Merry Christmas with the audience singing along. 

 

Hollington Carol Service

Hollington

Sunday 10th December

We were pleased to be asked to ring a small group during the Carol Service at Hollington and we played a few carols including an arrangement of Carol of the Bells for 12 bells. We finished by accompanying the singing of We Wish You A Merry Christmas and the service was followed by some excellent refreshements.

Annual Alton Christmas Concert

Alton Village Hall in a power cut

Saturday 9th December

Well, what an 'interesting' evening! Our annual concert in Alton Village Hall was all ready, the bells were out, the Cheadle U3A Ukulele group was ready, the audience was gathering and we were told the power was about to go off. Sure enough, just as we were about to start we were plunged into darkness. Fortunately we have lights on our music stands, we had some lights on the tables and the emergency exit lights gave enough light so we were able to carry on and played a selection of non-Christmas pieces.

Thankfully the lights came on for a while in the middle of the evening so we were able to hear about the work of Dougie Mac Hospice, draw the raffle and have the results of the quiz.

The power went off again in the second half and we played a selection of Christmas pieces, including Carol of the Bells which suited being played in semi-darkness. When one of the light batteries went flat it led to an interesting variation to We Wish You A Merry Christmas but the team managed the circumstances very well. The evening ended with a sing-along to Christmas songs lead by the Ukulele group and we are very grateful to them for joining us.

 

Denstone Christmas Fair

Denstone Christmas

Saturday 2nd December.

We received a warm welcome at All Saints Church, Denstone for their Christmas Fair, our first ringing of the Christmas season. We rang a selection of carols and other Christmas music, including our recent addition of 'Carol of the Bells'.