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. 

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.

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.

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'. 

14th November 2023

Our last event before focusing on Christmas was a full team performance for Woodcroft WI in St Luke's church, Leek. We played nine pieces on 3 octaves including some original compositions for handbells as well as arrangements of well known tunes. When we played Shepherd's Hey, with the bells all malleted, there were a couple of Morris Dancers in the audience who were tempted to join in. Perhaps the church aisle was a bit small for dancing.

We also played three pieces on 12 bells from our 'Last Night of the Proms' section to show the range of music available to handbell ringers.

They were a very enthusiastic and welcoming audience and we enjoyed a cup of tea and biscuits afterwards when there were quite a few questions about handbells and handbell ringing.