This year is the third year the Dronfield Handbell Ringers had been asked to play at the Twilight Tours around Christmas decorations of Chatsworth House.

Once again we were to play in the cold and dark Sculpture Gallery at the end of the tour.  Maybe one day we will manage to play where the choirs sing - in the Painted Hall, at the start of the tour!  And presumably a lot warmer.

At least we know what to expect.  Partially lighted music; cold feet; continuous ringing for two hours;  camera flashes in your face - even movie lights in your face - which give those spots in your vision which always align with the notes you need to ring.  But we enjoy it never the less.

We opted to perform on the first of the Thursday / Friday evenings, November 24th and 25th.  We were also asked to do a similar performance on the previous Friday, for a private tour.  At least this year proved to be a lot warmer than last year.  The other three pairs of evenings were to be taken by Ashover, Old Brampton and Plague O’Bells.

The theme of the decoration was ‘Deck the Hall’ and the various displays represented carols.  We learned that the Sculpture Gallery was to be ‘Torches’.  We had hoped that would mean plenty of light, nut no, just the same dimly light area with flood light positioned to shine in our eyes.  We did enter into the spirit of the occasion by arranging the eponymous carol to play for the guests.

Perhaps late November is a little early for Christmas, but events like this make a wonderful practice session. We certainly know our carols and Christmas music very well after three sessions so we are now well prepared for the performances nearer to festive day.

And we hope to be asked next year!  The statues will soon be able to sing along with us.

We were pleased to have Deepcar Brass Band with us again. They have enjoyed themselves so much the last two years we had to ask them back once more. We were confident they could live up to the expectations they have set and we were not disappointed.

The Choir we planned to have this year let us down at the last minute so we are really pleased and grateful that Jean Jenkins and Sandra Warr could be persuaded to step into the breach and entertain us with their song selection.. The audience also played a big part in the concert, singing along with gusto to get Christmas off to a great start!

The concert starts in the afternoon with getting the hall ready which involves putting out all the audience and band chairs, as well as setting up the handbells and items needed in the kitchen; dealing  with  refreshments  and   clearing up after -

afterwards.  There is also the front of house team dealing with the vital tickets on the door, raffles and CD's.  Certain items we have to play every year which require band and audience participation - ‘Christmas Bells are Ringing’ is the 'warm-up' with just swaying.  If the audience are really good you can have each row going in opposite directions. ‘Schneewalz’ is a challenge of fitness - swaying left, right, forwards and back, stand up, sit down - several choruses - over the years we have trained the audience and even the band are practised now. The concert finishes with a combined Handbells and Band rendition of' Jingle Bells'.

Despite various setbacks, our training team is coming along well and they took part in the Carol Concert.  We could, however, really do with a few more recruits.  If there are any readers who are keen to give it a try please contact Hazel.

Beverley Town’s year was quieter than usual as we took some time out to train up new ringers and one of our ringers had a couple of operations which meant she couldn’t ring.  However, we did still manage to take part in a few events.

Our first event of the year took place on 6 March and involved a trip down to the Town Hall in Loughborough.  We were taking part in the recording of a promotional DVD for HRGB.  We were told we would be ringing two pieces twice each – the first time for distant shots and the second time for close-ups but we weren’t to worry about the close-ups as they would probably be done from some distance away using a zoom.  I seem to remember the camera being about two feet from my hands on a couple of occasions.  All I can remember of ringing ‘Thunder and Lightening Polka’ is thinking ‘Go away!  Please, go away!’ as the camera focussed on my hands for the first page.  I think this was one of the most nerve-wracking performances I’ve done for a long time.

Saturday 21 May saw the Regional Spring Rally and AGM in Grassington.  The ‘Friday Night’ team rang in the final session as well as joining in with the massed ringing throughout the day.  Several other teams from around the Region also attended and the event was its usual success.  Also as usual, several team members stayed in the village for the weekend to socialise with members from other teams and generally to relax after a busy day.

On 29 June six members of the team took part in a production of ‘Noyes’ Fludde’ at Hull City Hall as part of a concert by Woldgate College.  This was a new experience for the team as, whilst many of them had heard performances of this piece, no one had ever rung in it before.

Throughout the summer there had been an exhibition at the Treasure House in Beverley organised by the Beverley and District Ringing Society called ‘Bells Ring Out!’.  It was mainly about tower bell ringing but there was also a small section on handbell ringing and on 3 September there was a mobile bell tower and handbell ringing workshop at the Treasure House.  The bell tower enabled members of the public to have a go at tower bell ringing and the workshop was a ‘walk-in’ session for anyone wanting to have a go at handbell ringing.  Quite a few people showed an interest with one couple even ringing for the whole session, working their way through every bell and every piece of music.

On 10 September it was Heritage Day and Holy Trinity Church, Hull, opened the tower for members of the public to view the ringing chamber and take photos from the roof.  The bellringers also played and had a couple of ‘come and ring’ sessions where anyone who wanted to could ring the bells.  Again, quite a few people came and had a go.

Saturday 8 October saw the team travelling to Ashover in Derbyshire for the Autumn Rally.  There weren’t many other teams there but those that were enjoyed a slightly different format from the usual rally ringing with a ‘read and ring’ session during the afternoon.

The Christmas season saw the smaller team ringing on four occasions – the switching on of the Christmas lights at the Green Dragon Pub in Beverley; a craft fair at St Mary’s Church, Beverley, in aid of Cystic Fybrosis; a Christmas Tree Festival at All Saints’ Church, Market Weighton, and in Tesco Superrmarket in Beverley.

Some of Beverley Town also helped out Market Weighton Handbell Ringers who were suffering from a shortage of ringers.  They rang at the Methodist Church on Princes Avenue, Hull; a Mince Pie and Carols Evening at All Saints’ Church, Market Weighton; a retirement complex in Market Weighton and a charity event at the Star Inn in Sancton in aid of Cash for Kids.

We also managed to produce our Christmas CD after many years of trying.  Unfortunately, it came out too late to do anything with it this year but hopefully there will be many opportunities in the new year for the public to buy it.

After a year with not many public performances it is hoped that 2012 will see Beverley Town back in the public eye and as busy as they have been in the past.  At the moment they are likely to be performing at the Regional Rallies in Grassington in May and Keighley in September and there is the possibility of performing in a concert at the International Symposium in Liverpool in August.

‘Photograph by kind permission of David Ryley

Community Champion Tesco Beverley’

'CHRISTMAS IS COMING'

was the name of an event in our church, Holy Trinity Millhouses, where we were asked to play to the onlookers at other stalls in the church. This is an unusual photograph in that it was taken from the pulpit in the church and so is able to include practically all the team in action.

'MAGICAL CHRISTMAS'

was the name of an event in the Sheffield Botanical Gardens which were all lit up with Christmas motifs and there were stalls, rides and attractions such as us! We couldn't raise a full team so the three of us went playing four in hand and we collected for the Childrens' Society.

'RINGING IN THE RAIN'

is my title for this photograph. We played at a Victorian Market at Kelham Island Industrial Museum in Sheffield. We were under a gazebo which was hardly big enough and the rain poured unrelentingly. We managed to keep the bells and music dry but the ringers got cold and soaked. We are invited again next year!