It is a sad fact that many groups of handbell ringers are
becoming short of members either on odd occasions or even every day for
practices. In our own case we have lost of number of members over the last year
or so due to death, illness, moving home or family problems.

We now have enough ringers for the full 3 Octave set if ALL
our ringers turn up. So with this in mind we are practicing more 2 octave music
and have been trying 12 bell music. In addition a group of our ringers attended
a workshop in March to learn how to ring 4 in hand (4 bells at one time). All
these give us more options but sometimes even these are not enough.

We rang for a partially sighted group in Ilkley in April
and as this was in the middle of the working day we could not raise enough of
our own ringers. However we were kindly joined by two experienced ringers from
North Leeds who attended our practice one day and performed with us the next
day. Clair and Diane from our band were then able to return the favour by
practising and performing with the same band, Treble 8, at the regional rally
in Grassington in May. Not only does it help on the day but it also gives us
more ideas to share and pass on. With this in mind we hope to arrange more
small rallies within the region to encourage future co-operation.

On 3nd June 6 of us (using the new 12 bell music) rang at
the first of the town council markets in Bingley. We have always from past
experience said that we would not ring outside but we were promised a gazebo
and an amplifier so we decided to give it another chance. The day actually went well and the gazebo
kept the bells dry even if our feet were literally standing in a stream running
across the market place following over 12 hours of heavy rain! We are now
looking at purchasing our own amplifiers and have offered to perform at another
of these markets.

It just goes to prove that we should not stand still, but
should be open to new ideas!

Don’t forget anyone who is interested is welcome to visit
one of our Monday or Wednesday evening rehearsals in the vestry to see what
handbell ringing is all about.