Bingley Handbells News

The
handbells which we discovered in the tower and raised money to restore were
black and heavily tarnished mainly by smoke as they had been stored adjacent
the chimney which ran up the side of the tower.

Once
they had been restored they looked like entirely different being bright and
shiny.

We
make every effort to keep them like this and you will notice that we usually
play wearing gloves so the bells do not get unnecessarily tarnished by contact
with our hands. However, even so, they do need a regular clean.

This
week, in anticipation of them being on display at the regional rally, we have
arranged an evening session of cleaning the bells. A small amount of polish,
clean clothes and lots of elbow grease will be needed, but it will be a case of
many hands make light work and hopefully they will be back to their best very
shortly.

After
the hectic Christmas period the lives of Bingley Handbell Ringers are quiet in
the run up to the regional Spring rally and a series of other events over the
summer.

We
are pleased to report that our new recruits are continuing to progress and it
has been wonderful to be able to play all 3 octaves at the majority of our
practices. Just before Christmas our numbers had dwindled so that even if
everyone was there that was not possible.

We
are looking forward to 2019 with renewed optimism. Don’t forget that if you
want to book us in for a performance, particularly at Christmas, please think
ahead and give us plenty of notice.

In
the meantime the children of Trinity All Saints are going from strength to
strength. The majority of the ringers who started last school year have stayed
and have been joined by others from year 5. Jane and Kathy took two teams to
the Skipton Music Festival and once again they returned home with a trophy.

We
just hope that the older children will continue to ring when they move to
secondary school and we are trying to think of the best way to ensure this.

Despite
our increased numbers we still welcome new recruits so, if you want to give
handbell ringing a try, please come down to the vestry at 7pm on a Wednesday to
meet us. We have decided that the new system of having all our practices on a
Wednesdays instead of alternating them with Mondays has had an overall positive
effect and the attendance is better.

All our new and recent recruits are
progressing well and our increased numbers means we can ring all 3 octaves at each
practice even if not all of us are there. In fact most weeks our musical
director Clair is able to be just that rather than having to ring as well.

The new system of practising on Wednesdays
each week seems to be going well and will continue for the foreseeable future
although we have added a couple of new features:

Firstly Andy has printed us all personalised
mugs with the Bingley Handbell Logo so there is no confusion and secondly Clair
has prepared a number of exercises to play at the beginning of our sessions to assist
our timing and technique before we start playing pieces.

We are beginning to receive booking enquiries
for this year so if you are interested in booking us for a performance or Roger
for a talk please don’t delay too long.

From time to time one of our members is asked to give a talk, to groups, about bell ringing. Although the talk is mainly about church bell ringing he takes along some of the handbells to give people a chance to Have a Go. Here is Roger showing some of the Eldwick and District Countrywomen’s Association how its done:

January is traditionally a quiet
month for the handbell ringers after all the excitement of our Christmas
performances.

We allow ourselves a short break
and then meet together for a post Christmas meal. This year we returned to Galo’s
and a very enjoyable evening was had by those who attended. It also gave new
members an opportunity to mix away from the frantic rehearsals.

Practices started again in
earnest on 16 January and we welcomed two new recruits, Colin and Janet, in
addition to Andy, Diane and Geoff who had joined late in 2018.

Claire, our esteemed musical
director, has devised some exercises for the beginnings of practices to help us
all with our technique and timing. These proved very successful as well as fun.

We do not have any events planned
until May and are confident that by then we will be able to ring all three
octaves again on a regular basis.

After much discussion we are now
running a trial of practising just on Wednesdays which should produce a better
turn out. These will continue to be in the vestry except for when there are
services such as on Ash Wednesday and in Holy Week when we will move into
Church House.

Despite our improving numbers we
still welcome new members at any time.

As always we were busy over the Christmas Period.

We began with a visit to Gilstead Ladies in their impressive new
venue at the café attached to the new Fern House on Fernbank Drive. Space was a
bit short there but they made us very welcome and even provided a supper after
our performance.

We returned to Shipley Musical Union at the Anchorage. This
is always a group where there is plenty of room for us to perform and the
sing-a-long part of our performance goes so well with their strong voices!
However the Achorage is closing down now so they are also looking for a new
venue.

In fact it was a season of returns. As you will also have seen we returned to the Western branch tower bell ringers carol service and to a Mason’s event at Hoyle Court, Baildon.

We were very busy over the Christmas period and had to turn
away a number of late enquiries. The message for 2019 is “Book Early!”

After a well deserved post Christmas break we returned to
ringing on 16th January 2019 with a number of new and recent
recruits which makes us optimistic for the future. Until Easter we are trialing
practicing each week on Wednesdays at 7pm in the vestry although we may move to
Church House during Lent if there are any services at this time.

Solna Burnham
07884233382

Having performed before for the Masons (some time ago) it was great to be invited back again despite the late start and finish! A packed room left little room for our tables but with a little bit of maneuvering we managed to fit in. After playing some of our popular Christmas pieces (Jingle Bells, Walking in the Air, Frosty the Snowman etc) we gave those who wanted an opportunity to join us in ringing Good King Wenceslas. To every bodies amusement a few folk joined in and coped admirably as they learnt a new skill …. sadly we suspect none took up our offer to join us!

By special invitation we rang this year at the Carol Service for the Western Branch of the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers that was held at Drighlington Church. With cold wet and icy conditions limiting numbers who attended the warm welcome we received was much appreciated.