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Committee Meeting Minutes
Minutes WM Region Committee 6 January 2024
News Articles
St Bartholomew’s HR, Areley Kings – spring rally 23rd March 2024
59 ringers, representing 11 teams, joined together at Areley Kings village hall in Worcestershire. The massed ringing pieces were Country Gardens arranged by Robin Benton, Variations on Strawberry Fair arranged by A Ryan Price and Bring him home from Les Misérables arranged by Rick Holdsworth. They were all led by Jason Walker.
Team ringing by eight teams was interspersed between the massed ringing workshops, before a final performance of the massed pieces was performed at the end of the day. Sadly, no room to invite an audience.
There was time throughout the day to catch up with friends and make new ones and the day finished with tea and cake before setting off for home in the sunshine.
Sue Crowther
National Residential Ringing Week 31 July to 5th August
Over 80 handbell players from all over the country gathered in Sheffield for NRRW. The last time the event took place was in 2019. There were several ‘first timers’ as well as old friends. A team of youngsters from Hong Kong Handbell Academy also attended with their Artistic Director, Emily Li, who was one of the guest conductors. She was joined by Nick Hanson, a handbell teacher and composer from the USA and Kate Sawallisch, who is the musical director of the Northern Bell Orchestra. The music was a good mixture of levels of difficulty and styles. We even had to sing part of a sea shanty. Everyone chose a rhythm to percuss with mallets on the table before we knew we had to sing. Percussing one rhythm and singing another is not easy! The conductors expertly guided us through their pieces and I think everyone felt a sense of achievement after the concert. We certainly leaned a great deal and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Roll on 2025!
Jenny Barraclough, August 2023
Further Congratulations!
‘Megan has gained her mp Crescendo certificate and Hannah her mf. St Bartholomew’s HR are super proud of them both.’
Susan Crowther June 2023
Congratulations
The youngest ringer at St Bartholomew HR, Areley Kings, has achieved her first certificate in the HRGB Crescendo scheme. Well done Megan!
St Bartholomew HR, Areley Kings, are proud of Hannah who has achieved her second HRGB Crescendo certificate
Susan Crowther May 2023
East Midland and West Midland Rally 15 October 2022
A joint affair
We were delighted to welcome handbell players from as far as the wilds of Herefordshire and deepest Lincolnshire to our Regional Rally this October. In fact, the event was almost a rerun of last years joint rally with the South West Region. Stanwick Handbell Ringers from the East Midlands Region, along with visitors from Lincoln joined nearly 60 attendees, including teams from Burghill and Tillington, Areley Kings, Harvington, Alton and Coventry for a mixture of traditional rally ringing and massed ringing. In fact, for Mayflower Handbell Ringers, from Coventry, it was their first rally and they acquitted themselves admirably.
Massed ringing included Kathy Moklebust’s arrangement of Twas in the moon of wintertime and Robin Benton’s arrangement of Faure’s Berceuse, from his Dolly Suite.
This was a great opportunity to meet up, play bells and enjoy the day.
Richard Hartnell
Return to Ringing
Joint West Midland and South West Region Rally, 16 October 2021
It was a lovely sunny day as we made our way from Areley Kings onto the M5 – always preferable to be travelling on a motorway in good weather.
We thought we had packed everything we needed but no, we had a slight delay when leaving, to collect the chimes and the large foam. It just shows how out of practise we had become when packing for rallies.
Unloading and setting up was fine until a team member realised that she’d forgotten her massed ringing music! We were extremely grateful to Rowena Shipley for sharing her copies.
The hall was a good size, giving plenty of space between each group. There were familiar faces and new ones to say ‘Hello’ and chat to.
Wendy Walters began with some practise on volume and how her conducting would control it. She then led us through Jason Walker’s arrangement of How can I keep from ringing (singing) with the lovely singing bells at the start. Then we looked at Sandra Winter’s arrangement of Carol of Bells. A simple arrangement of a beautiful piece of music which put our dynamics to the test.
Sadly, Robin Benton was unable to be with us (contact with Covid) but Richard Hartnell stepped in and directed Robin’s arrangements of Nimrod, always a joy to perform, and Peter, go ring dem bells – a completely new piece for us which had a few tricky incidentals to play but also gave the chimes a chance to shine.
We didn’t feel prepared enough to ring on our own on this occasion, but it was lovely listening to other teams and a soloist ringer.
Just before lockdown we had purchased five new bells from Whitechapel Bells to complete our two octaves, so we were very pleased to be bringing them for their first outing.
It felt so good to be ringing together again and enjoying the time to concentrate on music making. Many thanks to Rowena et al for organising the day. There’s enough to organise ordinarily but having to accommodate a pandemic too was no mean feat.
Needless to say, we’ll be writing a list of what we need to take next time. Just need to make sure we read it!
Sue Crowther, St Bartholomew’s HR, Areley Kings
Halesowen Handbell Ringers are seeking a conductor
24 August 2021
Following the death of our founder member and conductor, Mike Lashford, Halesowen Handbell Ringers are seeking a conductor for the main team.
We have five octaves of Whitechapel bells, for eleven players. We play off the table using a letter notation. There are sixteen adult ringing members in the society, so there is some interchange of players as some are not regularly available to play. We also have a few children of members who are eager to learn. Our members have varying levels of experience of playing handbells. Our range of music is easy listening and light classical.
At present we meet on Sunday evenings between 7 and 9 pm.
If interested, please contact Denise Andrews (mail@maldene.plus.com) or Corrie Paxton (corriepx@talktalk.net)
Check out HRGB Virtual Events
15 May 2021 Webinar: Making Music Virtually or In-person with School Age Children
10 July 2021 Webinar: Dynamic Variation
19 June 2021 National Virtual Massed Ringing
19 July 2021 Webinar: Bells in Education
Techniques Tune-up Virtual HRGB Workshop with Aiden Fozard
17 April 2021
Who would believe so many different sounds can be created with a bell! Aidan stated he thought the bell has more techniques and variations to it than any other instrument and I would agree after joining this training.
Aidan kept the pace going throughout the two hours. I only needed to jot down information specific to our team’s needs as he would send his notes out to all attendees. He demonstrated over 40 techniques and described the symbol used to denote it on the score. Aidan also demonstrated where not to strike a bell or chime to avoid damage. Using a virtual platform meant 100 people could easily attend, everyone being able to see Aidan’s demonstration close to and hear the different sounds clearly.
Virtual training, and not having the bells to hand, made some techniques like Travelling and Weaving more difficult to follow but I have been made aware of the techniques and can look to practising them at a future date. A weak wifi signal is also a problem sometimes.
Being able to use the chat feature enabled questions from the floor, when they came into our heads, without stopping the presentation. A very useful tool.
Aidan also helped us to think about how we hold and use the bells, so we don’t put strain on joints.
He also made several points connected to how a team looks when performing. We can sometimes forget the audience watch, as well as listen to, a hand bell choir.
An informative workshop. Not long to wait now and we can try some of these techniques for real!
Sue Crowther
St Bartholomew’s Handbell Ringers, Areley Kings
Words of wisdom from Lloyd Larson
11 April 2021
Our leader of the West Midland Bell Ensemble, Richard Hartnell, arranged a Zoom meeting for us all with an American arranger and composer, Lloyd Larsen. This was quite a coup for the group.
We play several of the arrangements and compositions by Lloyd Larsen, and his works have become quite a part of our repertoire.
Lloyd chatted to us all as if he was in the room. He told us that he was an active musical member of his church and he really enjoyed playing handbells.
He had a free and relaxed way of talking and I ( and several others that I have contacted) enjoyed listening to him as he spoke about his musical life and ministry.
It would be a pleasure to meet him in person and perhaps even ring with him!
Wendy Hartwright
For Sale
Obituaries
Mike Lashford April 2021
Mike Lashford, who has died after a long illness, was one of four tower bell ringers at St John the Baptist church in Halesowen who formed Halesowen Handbell Ringers in 1974. They used a set of bells cast in the mid nineteenth century by William Blews and Sons of Birmingham, which were kept in the church tower. The four were taught by Mollie Tromans, another tower bell ringer who was part of a family team, the Black Country Handbell Ringers. Initially they learned to play four-in-hand, and used staff notation written on cards.
After a while, the team decided to play off the table, and having got to know Gnosall and Kingsbury Handbell Ringers, adopted Gnosall’s method of letter notation for the music, so enabling non-musicians to play. During the 1970s and 80s the team grew in numbers, with Mike as musical director: besides the main team, there was also a youth team, a children’s team and a team of adult learners. The decision was made to purchase our own Whitechapel bells, and we now have five octaves plus some duplicates. Mike was a keen bass ringer, and loved having the bottom octave in our music. Mike also transcribed much of the team’s repertoire into the letter notation.
Mike as conductor was very wholehearted. Practices included time for working on a piece where a player was “just a thou’ out”. We have vivid memories of a concert at an old people’s day centre where our start had been delayed: Mike carried on conducting despite the arrival of the Ring ‘n’ Ride and the departure of some of the audience. At our last pre-COVID concerts, at the Black Country Living Museum’s traditional Christmas evenings, he entertained the team and the audience with a repertoire of appalling jokes.
Mike had other skills that were very useful to the team. He was a coach driver in his spare time, and he and Clive Williams often drove the team to events such as the National Rallies at Guildford and York, where the team was playing in the evening concerts. Mike also produced a trailer that for many years was used to transport the team’s equipment to concerts. His handcraft skills included being able to do minor repairs to the bells. He was an accountant by profession, so regularly produced our accounts for us. However, many a HRGB West Midland region treasurer must have dreaded his appearance at regional AGMs, as he was known to ask questions about the accounts.
Mike remembered vividly the first HRGB regional rally the team attended, at Randwick, Gloucestershire. The team arrived late and had to set up their paste table covered in an old curtain in the middle of the room. He served on the committee of the West Midland region of HRGB, and was chair between 1988 and1990. When John Morgan was unable through ill health to complete the organisation of the 1990 National Rally at Wolverhampton, Mike stepped in to finish the job.
Mike was a keen tower bell ringer for over 60 years and was very proud that by ringing for the queen’s Diamond Jubilee he was following in the steps of his great, great uncle who was one of the band ringing for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. In recent months he was very sad that his illness meant that he no longer had the breath to climb the tower to ring.
Mike was a committed and loyal member of our team. However, no tribute to Mike can be made without also acknowledging the contribution of his wife Margaret, a non-ringer, who for many years hosted practices in their living room and later, their garage, served refreshments at practices and concerts, and provided Mike with endless flasks of tea and packed lunches. Mike would have been unable to do what he did without her support.
Corrie Paxton
Meryl Jennings January 2021
Meryl died peacefully on January 17 th 2021 in our local Hospice, in Hereford, following deterioration over the last 2 years from Motor Neurone Disease. She was diagnosed in February 2019 but was always incredibly stoical and determined to continue with her many interests and with her music. Meryl played the clarinet and belonged to several bands over the years but she was also a member of several handbell groups, both in Herefordshire and West Midlands and handbell ringing became quite an obsession with her.
Merryl began learning the art of handbell ringing under the patient guidance of Janet Watson about 14 years ago. She was a very active member of The Monday Ringers not only playing with them but also rewriting music from staff notation into numbers. Her musical skill and enthusiasm led her to become a member of the West Midlands Bell Ensemble travelling long distances to rehearse and take part in concerts. She was at one time a committee member of West Midlands HRGB and ran the Handbell sales table attending many Rallies and meetings with the “shop”.
During the last few years she was a highly regarded and much loved member of Burghill and Tillington Handbell Ringers and was rapidly becoming proficient at 4 in hand ringing when she was diagnosed with MND. Despite this she continued to ring for a further 12 months and would have done more if Covid had not stopped us all from ringing. The last public appearance she made with our group was at the WMHRGB AGM last March.
Merryl also had a deep faith and in the past had been part of an Anglican Lay Ministry team being very active in church and village life. She was always full of hope and optimism and never complained about the dreadful disease which had afflicted her.
Our 4 in hand group, Tintinnabulis, were privileged to be asked to play “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” at Merryl’s funeral. She had chosen this piece especially as it was the music played at her wedding.
She will be greatly missed not only for her musical and handbell skills but also as a warm, kind and generous person.
Liz Donovan “Tintinnabulis” and “Burghill and Tillington Handbell Ringers”