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North East Region Newsletter
February 2001 Issue 44
LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Dear Friends,
A Happy New Year to you all! I hope you all had a good one and
are
managing to cope with the long dark days after Christmas. Soon
be
spring! The Beverley Town Handbell Ringers had a good
Christmas
season with several concerts and fund-raising ‘ring-ins’ at
Morrison’s to
raise much needed funds. Our old trailer has, after some 18
years, given
up the ghost and the purchase of a new walk-in box trailer has
depleted
our finances hugely - no chance of the MD buying more bells
yet!
In December, four of our band visited Peterborough to be part of
the
final event organised in support of the ChildLine appeal - a
concert with
handbell ringers and international percussionist, Evelyn
Glennie. Whilst
I know it was quite a way to go, those of you who couldn’t
manage the
journey missed an evening which was very special. Special, not
only
because our Region was admirably represented on the concert
platform
by our friends from Ecclesfield, but also because such an event
had the
patronage of Esther Rantzen and the support of Evelyn Glennie
who
performed with the handbell ringers. Such support from
well-known
celebrities can do nothing but good in ensuring that our Society
reaches
the status in the musical world it rightly deserves. As I have
said before,
I believe the ChildLine initiative has proved to be one of the
most
significant projects ever undertaken by HRGB and members of
the
North East Region can be justly proud of their contribution.
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The ChildLine Appeal will enable a significant donation to be
made to
the William Hartley Memorial Fund. Talking of funds, the Society
is
seeking a new National Treasurer. At the last AGM, Simon
Rennie
stood down after many years in the post. The roles and
responsibilities
of Treasurer have changed significantly since Simon took up post
and he
now feels it is time to hand over to a new face! The Society has
yet to
resolve the filling of the vacant post and NEC Regional
Representatives
have been contacted to ask whether they know of suitable members
who
could undertake the duties. If you think you could spare the
time and
have the commitment to support HRGB in this important and
interesting
post, please let me know.
You will receive with this edition of ‘In-Touch’ a letter which
gives
details of the work that is being done to develop the North East
Region
Web Site. All Regions are currently setting up similar sites and
if you
have access to the WEB you may like to visit the HRGB site to
see what
is currently available. It is expected that our site will be
launched in the
spring of this year.
A little nearer home is the Committee’s decision to try and
establish the
Regional Forum. If you refer to back editions of ‘In-Touch’ you
will be
able to remind yourselves of the concept of the Regional
Forum.
However, you will receive further details and proposed dates in
due
course.
On a more practical note, the end of March sees a mini rally
that is to be
organised by the Holy Trinity Handbell Ringers from Sheffield.
Teams
will receive details soon and I hope for a good response.
You will also receive details of the Spring Rally - yes,
Grassington
comes round again. Arrangements are in hand for this most
popular
event. As usual, demand for places is expected to be high so you
are
reminded that an early response is advisable to avoid
disappointment.
Beverley Town members have already checked their
accommodation
requirements at the Forresters Arms and I look forward to
meeting you
in May!
Until then....
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My very best wishes to you all
JOHN ATKINSON
NORTH EAST REGION CHAIRMAN
SECRETARIAL NEWS
Regional Rallies and Events
Mini Rally - Sheffield - 31 March 2001
Plans for this mini rally hosted by Holy Trinity Sheffield
Handbell
Ringers are well in hand. Invitations have already been sent out
together
with details of timings and massed ringing music. If you are
interested
in coming along please make contact as soon as possible to
reserve your
place. Further details are available from Mrs Margaret Ibbetson,
74
Pringle Road, Sheffield, S7 2LL, or myself.
Spring Rally and AGM - Grassington - 12 May 2001
Invitations are enclosed with this newsletter. The rally will
follow a
similar format to last year and include an afternoon
master-class when
you can sit back and enjoy listening to a team performing. There
will be
plenty of opportunity to ask questions and maybe glean a few new
ideas.
For those who prefer to carry on ringing, there will be an ad
hoc session
in the Main Hall.
Autumn Rally (+ possible Barn Dance) - Beverley - 13 October
2001
The hall is booked for the rally. If you would like to come to
the barn
dance in the evening please let any Committee Member know, as
soon
as possible, so that the viability can be ascertained.
Ring for ChildLine
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The appeal has been a great success. A big thank you to all
those who
contributed! The concert at Peterborough Cathedral just
before
Christmas was wonderful with a fantastic mixture of bells and
Evelyn
Glennie’s very spectacular individual performance on percussion.
The
Region was well represented by Ecclesfield Handbell Ringers
who
played to their usual high standard.
If you still have any collecting pots or similar items from
ChildLine
please do not forget to return them!
Annual Subscriptions
Many of you will have received your member renewal reminder
for
payment of national HRGB annual subscriptions rather belatedly.
For
some reason (possibly a problem with the Post Office in
Doncaster)
many of the North East Region letters were not delivered. This
has now
been rectified. If you have not yet responded please do so as
soon as
possible. If you have not yet received your renewal reminder
please
contact Margaret Reed, Membership Secretary, on 0114 236
2286.
JOAN ENGLER
REGIONAL SECRETARY
CLOSING DATE FOR THE NEXT ISSUE
30 APRIL 2001
ST MARY’S HANDBELL RINGERS,
SCARBOROUGH
Saturday 9 December saw four cars full of ringers, boxes of
bells and
foam mattresses speeding down the M1 heading towards the
South
Yorkshire village of Elsecar where there is a Heritage Centre
which is
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quite large and includes a power house, beam engine,
Victorian
classroom, living history museum, one-mile long steam
railway,
Building 21 which hosts events, exhibitions, performances
and
conferences and weekend walks are also organised.
On the day of our visit it was their Christmas Fayre, held in
Building 21,
and we were amongst several groups of artists providing
entertainment.
We gave half-hour concerts, 12.00 noon to 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm
to
2.00 pm. The first one was from our main programmed (several
items
we played are on our tape, ‘Over The Waves’) and the second
concert
was most of our Christmas programme.
Other entertainers included village choirs, brass bands,
Victorian dancers
and a magician. We played to appreciative audiences but, because
the
large building was very full of stalls and customers, the noise
level
tended to drown out the sounds of the bells, even when we were
given a
microphone for the second concert. Most of the sound seemed
to
disappear into the rafters far above our heads.
After all the bells, etc, had been packed away into the cars
again, some
of us had rides on the steam train. The locomotive ‘Earl
Fitzwilliam’
was actually being driven by one of our members, David Muffitt,
who
had soon changed from his ringing uniform into his engineman’s
garb.
Santa Claus was also on board. Four of us were lucky enough to
have a
ride on the footplate which was most enjoyable and, after the
last train
had returned, some of our members stayed on for a party on one
of the
coaches put on for the volunteers on the line.
So, all in all, a most enjoyable and different day out for us,
most of us
arriving home around 9.00 pm feeling quite exhausted but in a
happy
frame of mind.
Our many thanks go to Dave for organising the day for us.
EDWIN KING
ST MARY’S HANDBELL RINGERS, SCARBOROUGH
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RING FOR CHILDLINE AT
PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL
On 22 December four members of Beverley Town Handbell Ringers
set
off for Peterborough looking forward to a special concert
arranged by
HRGB as the finale for a major fundraising campaign for
ChildLine.
We arrived in Peterborough about teatime, parked the car and
then went
to find a spot of tea in the precinct near the Cathedral.
Suitably
replenished we strolled across to the Cathedral to choose our
seats. We
were welcomed inside the main door by the Winterbourne
Ringers
playing a seasonal collection of carols, thus setting the mood
for the rest
of the evening. The stage was set with tables bearing rows and
rows of
shiny bells and an impressive display of percussion instruments
for
Evelyn Glennie.
Looking through the programme and my brief notes after the
event, I
find it difficult to pick out any item that deserved greater
applause than
another. The concert was most definitely a resounding success.
Evelyn
Glennie and her pianist, Philip Smith, were superb. The handbell
teams
selected to play alongside were also to be congratulated on
their
performance at this very prestigious event. The target of £30000
was
achieved due to much hard work by all the regions and a cheque
was
duly presented to Esther Rantzen.
There is not enough room here to enlarge upon individual items
because
I am sure many more of you will want to write to ‘In Touch’
about such
a special event. Of course, we will all have memories of certain
pieces
and these are mine. I loved the ‘Little Prayer’, composed by
Evelyn
Glennie herself, and the dramatic ‘Darkness Into Light’ must
have had
everyone on the edge of their seats to see and hear the
fantastic sound
effects produced by Evelyn. As for the teams taking part, they
all did
well to combat the nerves and produce some lovely music but the
young
ringers from Clyst Vale really made an impact on me with
their
delightful rendition of ‘Winter Wonderland’, ‘Rudolph the
Red-Nosed
Reindeer’ and ‘Jingle Bells’.
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Now, I look forward to reading other members’ accounts of
this
memorable event.
ELIZABETH COLES
BEVERLEY TOWN HANDBELL RINGERS
NEWS FROM ST EDMUND’S HANDBELL
RINGERS
We are sorry not to be able to join you all at the rallies. We
did feel
guilty when it was suggested that teams should remain to the end
of the
rallies and we had always had to leave early due to our two
dogs. This
last year our four-legged commitment has doubled and we have
taken on
two more dogs from aged friends who were no longer able to
manage
them. So that is why we are missing from rallies.
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We are still busy ringing, particularly in the run up to
Christmas. Since
1993 when the Save the Children Fund asked handbell ringers to
support
their Christmas Carol Appeal we have, each Christmas, rang for
their
Appeal. This Christmas has been the most successful, raising
£735.40
for the Fund. Most of this was raised by two of us ringing in
the local
pubs. Since 1993 we have raised over £3500.00.
Best wishes to all the members in 2001.
MURIEL AND PAT CALLIS
ST EDMUND’S HANDBELL RINGERS
BEVERLEY TOWN HANDBELL
RINGERS - 2000
Beverley Town have had a run of mixed fortunes during the last
18
months or so, mainly due to recruitment problems. However, we
believe
we have turned the corner and are gathering strength to go out
this New
Year 2001 with a full team giving the busy round of concerts we
always
did.
In the early part of last year we were pleased to welcome Kath
and Val
into the team. They are ready-made ringers from St. Mary’s team,
which
is now disbanded, so our tenor line-up is now complete again.
Their
debut was at the North East Region rally held as usual at
Grassington. It
was good to appear at a rally in full strength again. The rally
was a great
success - two master-classes were held in the Octagon Room for
the first
time and the weather was kind.
On a rather chilly day in July we gave a concert at a garden
party for the
St. Mary’s church tower bellringers. The splendid buffet
provided by
the hosts certainly compensated for the disappointing
weather.
Baildon were the host team for the North East Region autumn
rally.
Beverley Town did a master-class with the aid of two good
ringing
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friends from Ecclesfield. Both the rally and the master-class
were
enjoyed by all.
Our next outing as a full team was in December for two
Christmas
concerts. First to Grimsby, where we were guests of the Grimsby
and
Cleethorpes Ladies Choir. What a lovely choir this was, too!
They were
helping raise funds for Diabetes UK and a cheque was presented
to a
representative during the evening. Our second concert was at
Lindum
House, a nursing home in Beverley, where we also rang a few
carols on
the smaller 12-bell set before the main concert.
Also in December we were out and about the region entertaining
the
public with our carols on the aforesaid 12 bells, which are
always well
received.
Finally, I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year.
ELIZABETH COLES
BEVERLEY TOWN HANDBELL RINGERS
BAILDONGERS 2000
The year 2000 saw us hosting a rally for the first time and, as
we were
concerned that we should ‘get it right’, we were grateful for
the support
given to us from Joan Engler and John Atkinson. We are pleased
that so
many of you commented on the merits of the Methodist Link Centre
in
Baildon, although it was a pity that it wasn’t large enough
to
accommodate all the groups who had applied.
Our large group, the Baildongers, has increased in size to 11
players and,
apart from the Autumn Rally, we gave concerts at Oxenhope Church
and
Baildon Moravian Church.
Our Quartet has had a very busy year. The highlight early in the
year
was taking part in the performances of ‘Noah’s Flood’ at Leeds
Civic
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Theatre that we reported in an earlier edition of ‘In Touch’.
Our summer
highlight was undoubtedly the invitation from the National Trust
to be
one of 12 musical and choral groups performing at the Annual
Music
Day at Fountains Abbey. We learnt how difficult it is to play
handbells
outside. One of the two concerts we gave was in the Cloisters,
an
experience we will all remember for a very long time. The
Quartet have
given many lunchtime and evening concerts throughout the year
to
Women’s Lunchtime, Townswomen’s Guilds and Women’s Institute
groups, mostly in the Bradford and Leeds area but also further
afield - to
Harrogate and Goole, for example. We have also given public
concerts
at churches in Matlock and Ashbourne in Derbyshire and Hughenden
in
Buckinghamshire where the money raised has gone to Church
funds.
We called the concert at Hughenden ‘Coming Home’ as Keith and
I
were returning to the church where we were married and our
original
eight bells were returning to the village where Keith’s father,
who was
the Captain of the Tower, had used them at home to practice
change
ringing. The Quartet has continued to give workshops/concerts,
mainly
in primary and junior schools.
The year ended with the usual hectic programme of Christmas
concerts.
The Quartet were also asked to play Carols in the foyer of the
Bradford
Alhambra Theatre on three evenings as theatre-goers arrived to
see the
Bradford Catholic Players’ production of ‘Scrooge’. Playing in
the
hustle and bustle of a theatre foyer is not easy but it
certainly helped to
raise the profile of handbell ringing - and we collected
£200!
We started the year with the aim of raising £1000 for ChildLine
and our
evenings at the Alhambra enabled us to well exceed this target
for we
have recently confirmed with ChildLine a total of £1270 raised
by our
groups.
We hope that the year 2001 will be just as enjoyable and
successful.
JULIE BIGGS
BAILDONGERS
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NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that the
Annual General Meeting
of the
North East Region
of the
Handbell Ringers of Great Britain
will be held on
Saturday 12 May 2001
at 12.00 noon at the
Town Hall, Grassington
(Minutes of the previous AGM appeared in the February 2000 issue
of
‘In Touch’)
OTLEY BELLS’ HECTIC CHRISTMAS
Our season started off very early this year, in early November,
with a
concert at the Stoke Club in Ilkley.
This was quickly followed by many other concerts in Leeds,
Guiseley
and Ilkley.
We did our usual Supermarket Dash and raised some serious money
for
St Gemma’s Hospice and Otley, Aireborough and District
Domestic
Violence Group.
Three workshops at Harewood House for their craft fair were very
busy
and this year they are going to give us our own ‘stall’ so we
can
entertain and let people ‘have a go’. We find the bells and
chimes
particularly fascinate children.
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Our last concert was on Christmas Eve in Ilkley.
Our most enjoyable outing was taking the children into town
on
Victorian Fair Day dressed in Victorian costume. We had a large
crowd
to listen to us and, as the weather was atrocious in the
morning, we took
the chimes and played in a passageway to the shopping precinct.
They
played wonderfully and have really put a lot of hard work
and
commitment into their music. They got rapturous applause and
loads of
photos were taken, to the extent that we were only just back for
school
dinners!
The adult team now has ten members, all very musical and full
of
enthusiasm and commitment.
We have a very busy year ahead of us with bookings already for
next
Christmas and a new school to go into after half term.
CAROLE CHARNLEY
OTLEY BELL AND CHIME ORCHESTRA
GIFT AID SCHEME
Along with your membership renewal you should have received
details
of the revised Gift Aid Scheme which allows for a simplified
method of
recovery of income tax from the Inland Revenue. Full details of
the
Scheme and a declaration form for each adult member were
enclosed
with the renewal notice. Using the current membership rate of
£8.00,
the Society can benefit from an additional £2.26 by recovering
this
amount of tax from the Inland Revenue. Please help HRGB to
take
advantage of this new scheme by completing the Gift Aid
Declaration.
This only needs to be done once and is a lifetime declaration
for as long
as you continue to pay either Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax.
If you
can answer ‘Yes’ to Question 1 AND any part of Question 2 then
HRGB
can recover tax on your membership fee.
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1 Will you have paid at least £2.26 in Income Tax or Capital
Gains Tax in the current tax year (6 April 2000 - 5 April
2001)?
2 Do you pay your HRGB membership fees (currently £8.00 adult
rate) directly to HRGB?
OR
Have you paid your HRGB membership fee to your team
correspondence, treasurer or other authorised person who has
paid the team subscription?
OR
Do you pay a subscription to your team from which your HRGB
membership is taken?
If you pay tax at the higher rate you can claim further tax
relief in your
Self-Assessment Tax Return.
JOAN ENGLER
REGIONAL SECRETARY
CHEVIN HANDBELL RINGERS
A happy New Year everyone. Who would believe that the build-up
for
the year 2000 has come and gone? For us as a team it was busy
and
exciting. The first part of the year saw us working hard and
raising
funds to purchase our own bells. We sold quizzes, went to car
boot
sales, table top sales, summer fairs and shows, concerts, etc,
and by July
we knew we had sufficient funds to place as a deposit to
purchase our
own bells.
October came and so did the bells, a beautiful three-octave set
of
Malmark - now we were in business. Our calendar was already
quite
full and we knew the months leading up to Christmas were going
to be
busy. To set the bells ringing we did our own concert and
invited people
who had helped us along the way to come and so not only would we
be
able to thank them but also they could see what we had
purchased. We
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were also able to present these people with a gift as a token of
our
appreciation for all their help. As well as ringing ourselves we
invited
the junior team to ring and this they really enjoyed.
This led us into preparing the Christmas programme. The first
event
was 25 November when we opened a Christmas Fair for St
Chad’s
Church in Bradford, after which we were able to look around the
fair and
come home with a lovely big bunch of bananas which cost us all
of 50p
(a real bargain).
Next we travelled in the opposite direction, to Addingham
Wednesday
Club, where we had a lovely evening and a lovely audience.
This should have been followed by the train trip and ringing all
the way
to Edinburgh but unfortunately, due to the problems with British
Rail, it
was cancelled and we rang at a social event organised for the
evening
instead.
We then did the Trefoil Guild where we had a lovely supper and
were
given a gift of a little box of Thorntons chocolates - this was
a lovely
idea.
Morrison’s at Guiseley was next. They wanted us to do their
Senior
Citizens’ evening. Well, we were there but we’re not quite sure
where
the senior citizens were (probably in bed).
If you’re thinking of your old age and of having residential
care in your
old age then you want to go to Straven House in Ilkley. This
was
beautiful. We arrived to find the residents in the day room all
dressed
for the occasion having had their sherry and in top form. One
lady, who
will be 102 years old in February, sang all the Christmas Carols
and
songs while we rang. We gave them the belleplates or tambourines
and
sleigh bells and what a wonderful noise we all had together. I’m
not
sure who was the most exhausted at the end. It all ended with
more
sherry, mince pies and tea or coffee.
The Victoria Fair Day was another extremely busy day. First of
all I had
my graduation and was awarded my degree at Bradford University,
then
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it was home quickly, change and down to the HBC Bank where we
were
ringing. This included photographs with the town mayor and
also
ringing for her. Plenty of sherry, coffee and mince pies here
(oh, and I
forgot, the chocolate coins). After finishing here it was
preparation for
the evening. We not only had our own craft stall but we had been
asked
to ring around the town. There is always a lovely atmosphere and
it
seems to draw the people in. Having struggled to keep our music
from
blowing away, we exhausted the Carols and went back to ‘Help
The
Aged’ frozen stiff, tired and hungry, but before they fed and
watered us
we had to play for our supper but they did warm us up with some
lovely
warm mulled wine.
The next day saw us at Booth’s in Ilkley - what a beautiful
store - and
we rang beside the Christmas tree next to Father Christmas’s
grotto.
I couldn’t go through all the events we did but our programme
continued
for the next two weeks. We did ladies’ fellowships, guilds,
nursing
homes and supermarkets. Many of these events were used in our
fund-
raising for ChildLine.
The junior team played in their own school assembly before going
out to
the Wharfedale Hospital where they played in three wards and
have
already been asked to come back this year. They also went to
Shipley
Hospital and entertained the patients with bells and
instruments. Sarah
played ‘Silent Night’ on the flute and Naomi played ‘Away In
A
Manger’ on the clarinet. Then they played a duet of ‘Deck The
Halls’.
There were plenty of tambourines, sleigh bells, maracas and
triangles
here so we really made it enjoyable for the patients. The best
part for the
juniors was having the afternoon off school.
Our final event was Safeways of Otley on 23 December and, I
can
assure you, by this time I was exhausted and was very happy to
let the
bells have a rest for Christmas. We have already done a concert
this
year for the German Society and are now preparing for Sheffield.
You
know what they say - there is no rest for the wicked.
GEORGINA LANSDELL
CHEVIN HANDBELL RINGERS
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The views and opinions expressed in letters, reports and
articles in this
Newsletter are those of the writers and are not necessarily
shared by the
HRGB Executive Committee, North East Region Committee or the
Editors.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Saturday 31 March 2001 - Mini Rally - Holy Trinity Church,
Sheffield
Friday 20 – Sunday 22 April 2001 – National Rally,
Nottingham
Saturday 12 May 2001 - Spring Rally & AGM - Grassington
Saturday 13 October 2001 - Autumn Rally - Beverley (+ possible
Barn
Dance)
Saturday 12 October 2002 – Autumn Rally - Otley
If you have an event for inclusion in this section, please send
the details
to the Editors.
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JUNIOR JAPES THE SECTION FOR JUNIOR MEMBERS
OTLEY ST JOSEPH’S BELLS AND CHIMES
Michael and Carole Charnley founded the Otley St Joseph’s Bells
and
Chimes in April 2000.
This school team, like our other junior teams, is split into two
groups.
The 5 to 7 year olds meet Wednesdays from 12.00 noon to 1.00
pm
when we have 15 tiny ringers who play the handchimes from
numbers
on a central board and at present enjoy Sandra Winter’s
‘Beginners
Please’ book. The older group of 7 to 11 year olds meets after
school on
Fridays from 3.15 pm to 4.00 pm and consists of 12 ringers who
ring the
Malmark handbells from music, at present ‘Clapper Classics’
which is
an excellent book of two-octave music.
The after-school group has given two performances this
Christmas, first
at Otley Victorian Fayre and also at the Our Lady and All
Saints
Catholic Church in Otley where, on both occasions, they rang
Christmas
Carols but changed from handbells to handchimes for these
two
concerts.
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They are looking forward to taking an active part in HRGB.
MICHAEL AND CAROLE CHARNLEY
OTLEY ST JOSEPHS’ BELLS AND CHIMES
In the next edition of ‘Junior Japes’ - Profiles of members of
the Otley
Bell and Chime Orchestra.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this issue. It is
always
nice to hear what other people do during the year and
particularly at
Christmas.
Before the next issue there will be the mini rally at Sheffield
and the
National Rally at Nottingham. If you attend either of these
events please
write and tell us about it. (I’ll probably be at Sheffield in my
capacity as
Sales Manager but don’t leave it to me to write a report -
Claire.)
All items for the next edition should be sent to: Andrew &
Claire Ford,
Editors, ‘In Touch’, 11 Green Lane, Tickton, BEVERLEY,
East Yorkshire, HU17 9RH, or you can email us at
[email protected] or fax your article to (01964)
543260. The
last date for receipt of articles is 30 April 2001. Don’t
forget, if you are
sending us a photograph out of a newspaper or magazine, we need
to
know the name and address of the newspaper or magazine as well
as the
date of publication.
We look forward to hearing from you all soon.
Claire and Andrew
mailto:[email protected]
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MUSIC FROM THE DRONFIELD COLLECTION
Play the classics on your bells.
For catalogue of over 50, 2 and 2+ octave concert
arrangements,
send SAE to:
The Dronfield Collection,
Vic Cox,
36 Elwood Road,
Bradway,
SHEFFIELD.
S17 4RH
Kall Kwik Printing
Many thanks on behalf of the North East Region go to Kall Kwik
of Hull who have printed and sponsored this edition of ‘IN
TOUCH’
PRINTING - FULL COLOUR PRINTING PHOTOCOPYING - COLOUR COPYING -
PLAN COPYING
DESIGN - ARTWORK
The Woollen Warehouse, South Church Side, HULL Telephone 01482
586487/8 Facsimile 01482 586488
HANDBELL RINGERS OF GREAT BRITAIN Reg Charity No:- 298945