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People often ask what we do apart from concerts. Several times a year we play in local or national events. Some are open to the public:
The main public event of the year is the Handbell Festival Service at Guildford Cathedral. It's held in October or November each year. About twenty handbell teams from around the area all play in unison - including some with fifteen-pound bass bells and handchimes as tall as their players! It's a spectacular sight and sound, and well worth seeing. 2011's is on the 22nd of October.
There are many rallies held at sites around the region, from Berkshire to Kent. Most of them are for HRGB members only, but a few are for the public too - check the South-East region website for details.
Just after Easter each year HRGB holds a National Rally for its members. The different regions host it in different years, providing lots of activities over a weekend. There's also a concert (usually on the Saturday night) in which several teams perform a selection of pieces, for which the public can buy tickets. This is a great way of seeing different styles of ringing and music, and meeting ringers.
Here are the venues of recent National Rallies. HRGB have photo galleries from some of the rallies - click the year to see the gallery.
| 2007 | University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield |
| 2008 | University of Chester |
| 2009 | Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester |
| 2010 | Leicester University |
| 2011 (15th-17th April) | Royal Holloway, University of London (Egham) |
| 2012 (30th March - 1st April) | York University |
We occasionally hold open evenings, when people can see us rehearse, talk to us about the bells and ringing, and try ringing for themselves if they want to! Most of these evenings go on as part of Thatcham's Festival of the Arts and Leisure in October. See Thatcham Town Council's website for more details.
BARFIELD ON LOCAL RADIO
The team decided to embark on a recruiting drive, so I approached our local Radio Berkshire who then asked me to be by the phone at 8am the next day, so I started to write down a list of comments about our team which could attract new members. 8am became 9am and suddenly I was on air with the handbell CD playing in the background and after explaining how I first joined the handbell team and how many bells we ring, I was quickly cut short followed by a contact number.
All my comments were in vain, or so I thought, until I received a call from Radio Berks the next day asking to come along to a ringing session! This filled me with some excitement mixed with apprehension as the date was the following Wednesday. Six days away! Plus a 7am start! How many ringers would I persuade to perform at such short notice? I needn’t have worried as 14 of us agreed to get up early and ring before going to work or doing other activities. I duly made some bacon butties and refreshments for those who may have missed breakfast and drove from Reading at 6.30 am, almost convincing myself that it was worth getting up early on a bright sunny day, but how long would that intention last?
The Radio Car was at the church before us and Maggie Philbin and Colin were keen to meet us and hear the bells. After the initial introduction on air and chats to myself and our conductor Bill Butler, Maggie commented on her report back to the studio that we were all wearing white gloves and so followed a “Midsomer Murder” sideline to guess which of the ringers was the murderer! This all coincided with the news that the lead on the church roof had been stolen the night before, thus adding to the intrigue! Maggie talked to quite a few of the team members and had a go at ringing herself, which she found fascinating as she struggled to watch the music, concentrate and ring at the same time! (I am sure we have all been there!)
During the few short breaks, we sustained ourselves with the tea and bacon butties. Towards the end of the programme, the finger of suspicion for the “murderer” was pointed at Rosemary, the “middle C lady,” which caused much amusement. After talking to the bass ringers, Maggie thanked us all for a thoroughly enjoyable session, after which we packed up and went to work or went home and the time was still only 9.20am! What a wonderful way to start the day and encourage new ringers.
Carol Wheeler

Photographs by Dianne Rogers: Maggie trying to work out how to hold the microphone and play a bass bell at the same time, and the tenors and basses wondering where all the bacon's gone...