Setting out for a performance is like a military
manoeuvre! As not all of us have our own transport we need to sort out who is
giving who a lift and who is transporting what piece of equipment. There is
always the panic that if not everything is in writing we might forget something
– or someone!

If we have two performances on consecutive days
then we have the advantage of being able to leave things in cars over-night
(don’t worry the valuable bells are only left in a car if it is in a locked
garage) as long as the same people are taking part in both performances.

With the busy Christmas season coming up with do
have occasions like these but we also had one at the end of October. On the
Friday night we took part in a concert with three other ‘turns’ to raise money
for the Steeton Christmas lights (one of our ringers lives in the village) and
on the Saturday we took part in the Regional Autumn Rally at Brighouse. The
first event was a great success – we had enough ringers to perform on the three
octaves and all our practising a couple of days before was well worth it.

The second event did not go so well – we only had
five and a half ringers (our esteemed leader Jane now works on Saturday
mornings so could not join us until lunchtime). We did however found three
other lost souls who were happy to join us. However we could still only ring
the two octaves and had of course never rung as a group before. Still it made
for some inter group harmony and gave all of us the chance to perform that we
would not otherwise have been able to do.

Our next performance was at a Carers Resource Group
monthly meeting in Steeton where the chance to ‘have a go’ was greatly
appreciated. Now it is on to our Christmas Season when, as well as All Saints
Carol Service, we aim to perform at a nursing home, a U3A group, a WI meeting,
a Ramblers’ Christmas party and Crossflatts School Fair. Maybe we will see you
at one of these – if not here is wishing you a Very Merry Christmas!