Thursday 10th November 2022

On Thursday November 10^th we visited Denstone Farm Shop for the first of our Christmas visits this year. What a lovely evening.

The shop was decorated ready for the Christmas season, and had obviously attracted many customers. We played for two sessions in the restaurant, with everyone obviously enjoying all of the traditional tunes and carols. Some of the small children had great fun playing the sleigh bells as accompaniment to “Jingle Bells”

We enjoyed delicious refreshments (Turkey baps and mulled wine) during the interval, and were thanked enthusiastically by the owners, staff and customers as we left.

We hope that we brought a little extra Christmas spirit at the beginning of this special season. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening.

Lynne Harris

November 1^st 2022

Demonstration and Teaching Session

Alton Handbell Ringers had been contacted by a Staff member at St Georges Hospital to see if we could provide some tuition for them to ring their own bells.  As they had no real knowledge of ringing as a team, but wanted to make use of their bells for staff and patients. they contacted us, after seeing our website, to ask for help.

Seven handbell ringers duly went to St George's and were warmly welcomed and escorted to to one of the wards. We decided to ring their selection of bells.

Wendy gave a short talk about the method of ringing, reading the number method of ringing, how to hold the bells, letting them ring out and damping the bells. Several questions were asked and answered which was rewarding for both parties.

We then played two tunes for them, 'Aura Lee' and 'Good King Wenceslas'.

Now came the time for the bells to be distributed, one each, around the room to staff and patients.  Most were keen to take part. Each of our members looked after one or two people giving instruction as to how to hold the bell and how to make it ring. 

Led by Wendy everyone took part in playing the scale from top to bottom a few times and then from bottom to top. A few chords were played to illustrate the different sounds when several bells are played at the same time.

Now came the time to try some actual tunes. We had taken music for a simple version of 'Bobby Shaftoe', this was well played albeit at a slow pace. A second simple piece 'He's Got The Whole World in His Hands' was also played with the same success. Much enjoyment was had by all. A sense of achievement filled the room.

The session was concluded with us playing 'Mary's Boy Child'

Our attendance was much appreciated and it was a rewarding occasion for all concerned.

Another session is planned in the near future when perhaps we will all be able to play together. Closer to Christmas, December 7^th, we will play Carols and Christmas tunes around some of the wards.

Peter Walker

On Saturday 15th October, fifteen members of Alton Handbell Ringers attended the HRGB joint East Midlands / West Midland rally in Kenilworth. There were about half a dozen teams from across the joint regions and there must have been in the region of a hundred ringers.

This was my first rally as a handbell ringer, so I had no idea of what to expect, but the day went well. We had a massed piece conducted by our own Wendy to start with and then had individual performances from the various groups present, ranging from three people ringing 12 bells between them (four in hand) to our performance as we were the biggest group there. There were some very skilled ringers and all groups produced entertaining pieces.

After a lunch break for our “picnic” (with provided tea, coffee, biscuits and cake throughout the day), we returned to a similar format for the afternoon. Our rendition of Highland Cathedral was a bit grander than the version played in the morning session by a smaller group. I think I prefer ours - it is a fun piece to play, especially when I get my part right.

All in all, an enjoyable day out, although it was a long day due to the distance (and road works).

Friday 2nd September

24th August 2022

I arrived slightly apprehensive as to what lay ahead in the next 3 hours as Sandra Winter is a well known arranger of Handbell music and was invited to, hopefully,  help us to improve our overall performance and give constructive criticism to make our concert performances more enjoyable, both for us as performers and also the audience. Wendy had chosen 4 pieces of music for us to concentrate on for the afternoon.

Firstly we played Meditation on Blaenwern with Wendy conducting. Sandra conducted next and taking small sections of the music in turn, she asked us to listen to each other and to our own bells so that we played at the correct timing and volume so as to improve the overall performance.

Our next piece was Shepherds Hey which is a piece played entirely using mallets to strike the bells. This is quite a fun piece to ring but does tend to get faster as we play it, so Wendy has trouble reining us in or decides to go with us. Sandra suggested we hold our mallets closer to the bells in order to keep better time and also to click mallets together more quietly which really made a difference to the overall effect.

Third on the agenda was You Raise Me Up. This is a beautiful piece of music and Sandra suggested several things to improve the overall performance particularly holding the bells out to let the sound resonate. When we play this piece well it really makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up!

The last piece of the afternoon is quite a new piece for us called Highland Cathedral. We all enjoy playing this piece of music which involves several techniques, singing bells, chimes and mallets as well as lots of bell changes. We played this really well.

This afternoon was completed by tea and cakes, and I hope everyone, like me, enjoyed the experience and gained from Sandra's expertise.

Josie Bettany