Llandudno GatheRing 2024
Llandudno GatheRing -
Saturday 13th July 2024
The Llandudno GatheRing was a celebration of all the nations of the British Isles with music from England, Scotland, Ireland and of course Wales.
We began with a techniques workshop where Kate Worthington kindly took us through some of the special effects we might find on Handbell Music. The gyro was particularly effective on a large group of bells. The martellato technique proved difficult for teams without foam on the table. Fortunately,Norbury Handbell Ringers had some space on the table for others to have a go.
Marple URC Handbell Ringers kicked off the team ringing with Welsh Hymn tune, Hyfrodol. We were then treated to “The Celebrated Chop Waltz” or Chopsticks by Llandudno Handbell Ringers followed by The Floral Dance from England played by Kinder Ringers.
The Floral Dance was composed by Katie Moss, a 30-year-old British singer and composer in1911. A student at the Royal School of Music in London, she was inspired by her visit to Cornwall where she took part in the age-old traditional Fury or Flora Dance in the village of Helston.
The Craig-Y-Don Community Centre had a lovely outside picnic area.
However we were warned about opportunistic low flying Seagulls in the area as we were eating our lunch by the croquet lawn.
After lunch it was interesting to see the pieces of music brought along by other teams, some hand-written and some in collections published by the HRGB.
The Read and Ring session lead by Irene and borrowed from the National Rally, introduced us to various music notations and ways of marking up music.
In the second half, Marple played the Scottish Tune “Ye Banks and Braes”. Llandudno, a relatively new team, accounted well for themselves with an Irish/Scottish Tune “The Barren Rocks of Aden” made popular by Andy Williams on the White Heather Club TV show. In Scotland, it is played a s a Pipe March. In Ireland, they play is as a fiddle polka.Aden, near the entrance to the Red Sea, was noted for its barren and desolate volcanic rocks, and was annexed to British India in 1839. In 1967, it became what is now Yemen.
While on station in Aden with a detachment of the 78th Seaforth Highlanders Regiment, Pipe Major Alexander Mackellar rearranged and named the tune.
To complete the team ringing, Kinder Ringers then played “Over the Rainbow” from the film The Wizard of Oz.
Teams were invited to consider another weekend by the seaside in Autumn, more details to follow.
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News snippets
Obituaries
On 7th June Linda (Regional Chair) and Anne (Treasurer) attended the service, held at West Kirby, to celebrate the life of David Cleave, a former committee member and Chairman of the NW Region. His many talents were highlighted during the tributes from his family. He was founder and leader of Chandale Ringers, some of whom were also there, and revived many stories and memories of the years that the team regularly attended regional gatherings. David was also an Honorary Life Member of the region, although failing health had prevented him from supporting events when the team had disbanded. We will always remember his contribution and be thankful for everything he did in our region and the handbell world.
It is with great sadness that we heard of the death of Norma Parke on 6th June 2024.
She belonged to several teams in Cumbria and was always so enthusiastic about ringing.
Until recently she was part of the NW committee and would do anything she could to help and support our events.
NBO concert review
Northern Bell Orchestra Concert, Chester 2024
On a beautiful day in June the NBO made a welcome return to the region when they performed a summer concert in All Saints Church, Chester, supported by Bronze Carillon. The large audience were promised a variety of music which would demonstrate the versatility of the handbell as a musical instrument, and this is exactly what they got. Under the overall direction of Kate Sawallisch the conducting duties were shared between herself, Robert Pettener and Rona Gager.
The programme began with an original work by Josh Bauder called Exultate. This was followed by an arrangement of the contemporary choral piece, “All is Well”, a song recorded by Michael Crawford amongst others. From the pop world we had Katy Perry’s very successful “Firework” from 2010 and then “Africa”, first released in 1982 by the American rock band, Toto. It had reached number 3 in the UK charts. This piece was enhanced by the steady beat played on a genuine African drum. The first half concluded with a beautiful Malcolm Wilson arrangement of “Mountains of Mourne”, accompanied by cello, flute and violin.
After the interval came the exciting group that is Bronze Carillon, with over 3 octaves of bells. They began as a quartet playing Bach’s “Praeludium No 1 in C Major. Then came “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” played by 3 ringers, followed by the duet performing “Yankee Doodle”. Watching the speed and accuracy involved in swapping bells between the ringers was truly amazing. The trio then played the more calming “Greensleeves”, before finishing with the quartet ringing the frenetic “Pick a Winner”. Wow!
Whilst the table layouts were being reset Kate encouraged the audience to try some hands and feet coordination exercises before the NBO returned to begin with Handel’s Passacaille. The rousing Sousa march “El Capitan” followed and had us tapping our feet once more. Next came a piece by Michael Coe which had been composed for the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Noone is sure which of the tunes for “Nearer My God to Thee” was actually played at the time so a combination of three was put together for this arrangement. The concert ended with “Toccata on King’s Weston” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, the arrangement making good use of the chimes to complement the bells. The 30 ringers with over 130 bells and chimes had certainly achieved their aim of showcasing what can be done with our special musical instrument.
Autumn Rally 2024
Ding Dong Merrily in Morecombe -
Saturday 2nd November 2024
The War Memorial Hall, Church Street,
Morecambe, LA4 5QD
All members of HRGB are warmly invited to join us for this event, which will have a Christmas theme to help you prepare for all those December bookings. Our normal rule is that all those taking part must be current HRGB Members, but if you have non-members and wish to bring them along to sample our North West events, please contact Irene Merson beforehand – details below and on the Booking Form.
Doors will open at 10.15 am for an 11.00 am start, and we aim to finish by 3.30 pm to keep return journeys in daylight as much as possible. Drinks and light refreshments will be available but you will need to bring a packed lunch, and don’t forget your cup.
We are very pleased to announce that this event will include a session with Bronze Carillon, just for us! If you’ve seen this team before, you’ll know how special that will be – and if you haven’t, you’re in for a real treat! We will also have two Christmas pieces for massed ringing, the music for which will be sent out in advance, plus a Read and Ring and individual team ringing. In addition, Beth will give a presentation on how to run a Have A Go session, with a pack to take away, and Kate will run a quiz.
We hope that you will join in with this early opportunity to get into the Christmas spirit – it will be a chance to check that your Christmas jumpers, silly hats, festive decorations etc are in good working order.
NBO open day
Northern Bell Orchestra Open Day
Saturday 20th July 2024 - 10am to 4pm
Ashover Village Hall - S45 0BA
The Northern Bell Orchestra would like to invite you to ring with us as we start
rehearsing music for next season. We’ll be beginners together. There will be a couple
of Level 2 (easy-ish), mostly Level 3 and possibly 1 rhythmically challenging piece. You
can come for as long or as little as you want; an hour or two, a half day or a whole day.
It’s free but we’d appreciate it if you could let us know whether you are planning to
come and when so we can arrange for you to have music. We have a limited supply of
music stands so do let us know if you need one. You will need to bring your own 3 ring
folder. We ring from staff notation only. You can also come just to listen.
We rehearse from 10am-4pm, with 2 tea breaks (we have an amazing baker/ringer
who provides great biscuits and/or cake) and a 30 minute lunch break (bring your own).
To let us know of your interest or if you have any questions, please contact
Rona Gager on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 07963 091121 or
Kate Sawallisch on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 07578 388620
2023 Sale Autumn ClusteRing
Wheels on the Bus or tyres on the car
- Sale 2023
The Autumn Clustering at Sale Moor Methodists Church Hall was a very enjoyable day.
It started in rain and ended in sun and the teams and significant others from near and far enjoyed learning and listening to some new and familiar music.
“The Wheels on The Bus”, an arrangement of the well-known children’s tune by Sandra Winter was more challenging than anticipated.
It included singing, sshshing and lots of dynamics. It also provided plenty of opportunity for sound effects and improvisation by Josie.
Having arrived with a flat tyre on her car, our conductor visited a nearby tyre garage who saved the day like Angels from the Realms of Glory.
We reprised “Finlandia”, arranged by Malcolm Wilson in memory of Derek Jackson.
Marple rang Meadow Brook and Catherine’s Capers, Norbury rang Grandfathers Clock and Rule Brittania with the help of sub, Irene and Kinder rang Carillon and Marigold.
The Maghull duo rang the more contemporary, Shake it off and Firework.
Brenda enjoyed going round meeting the teams with her raffle ticket books. The funds raised help to cover the cost of putting on the rally.
2023 NorthWest Autumn ClusteRing
Northwest HRGB Autumn ClusteRing
Sale Moor Methodist Church, 299 Northenden Road,
Sale
M33 2PP
Saturday 14th October 2023
10.30am to 4pm
MASSED RINGING MUSIC: The pieces will be:
- Reflection on Finlandia – Malcolm Wilson’s arrangement. NW members should already have copies of this – if not please contact Irene Merson.
- Angels From the Realms of Glory arranged by Ryan Price – This is available free, only to HRGB members, through HRGB Sales. If you can’t download it, contact Irene.
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The Wheels On The Bus – Sandra Winter’s arrangement. Will be sent by email.
We assume that teams will play 2 individual items, duration up to 4 minutes each. You are reminded of the need to comply with copyright legislation - all teams will be required to sign a declaration on the day.
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Please bring one raffle prize per team and remember your packed lunch and mug
Noah's Flood Manchester International Festival 2023
KINDER IN NOYE’S FLUDDE
Ringers from Kinder have played the handbell part for Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde on three separate occasions, but the recent involvement of our trio in a big-scale production in Manchester turned out to be quite different.
As part of the Manchester International Festival it was a co-production between Manchester Collective and Slung Low, a community -based theatre company from Leeds. In keeping with Britten’s original stipulation only Noah, his wife and the voice of God (in this case Lemn Sissay, the poet, broadcaster and former Chancellor of Manchester University) were professional performers. Most of the orchestral instrumentalists were young students from the Royal Northern College of Music, HalléYouth Ensembles, Olympias Music foundation and the Opera North Youth Company. To say we felt a little out of our depth was putting it mildly. We were the oldest taking part by a good 30 years! However, we were made to feel really welcome by everyone involved.
Our first run-through had been in the rehearsal rooms used by the HalléOrchestra. A week later we were amazed on arrival at the second venue by the vastness of the warehouse space, next to Piccadilly Station, where the production was to take place. We were shown the way through dozens of illuminated music stands, stepped over miles of cables and carefully avoided all the microphones before we could take our places. There were sound checks for all the instruments before the final rehearsal, complete with the 180 children from Leeds who were to be the animals entering the Ark.
After a break for lunch it was time to entertain the sell-out audience. All went well and ended to rapturous applause. Having previously said that we would not undertake this venture again we found that working with the renowned, and very patient but exacting conductor, Nic Chalmers, had taught us a lot and the whole experience was so well organised that, this time, we really did enjoy it.
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Huddersfield University HRGB Archives
HRGB ARCHIVE EXHIBITION
As already publicised, the HRGB archives, so carefully collated by Alan Hartley, now have a permanent home at Heritage Quay, the archive centre of Huddersfield University. A special Open Day was held on 8th July for everyone to view a selection of the exhibits. There was also the opportunity to try out ringing and to watch a mini-concert given by Clifton Handbell Ringers.
Clifton played a very varied programme of pieces from their repertoire, ranging from calming to lively, old favourites to newer ones. These included English Country Gardens, Pineapple Rag, Winter, Pachelbel’s Canon in D, Teddy Bears Picnic and the exciting Dueling Banjos from the film “Deliverance”, amongst others. They must have really impressed any non-ringing visitors with their 140+ bells and expertise.
Alan Hartley followed this by guiding everyone round the exhibition with explanations of what was on show. Not only was it a history of HRGB but also included other handbell memorabilia. Being able to see the famous Belle Vue Trophy was especially interesting.
There was then the chance, particularly for non-ringers, although others joined in, to “have a go” on Beverley Town’s 12-bell set, led by John Atkinson with his easy- to- read music. Each team had two rehearsals which then produced a very recognisable final “concert performance”.
The free exhibition is open until 5th August and is well worth a trip over the border to Yorkshire for anyone interested in bells and bellringing history.
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