CROSSWAYS may not have a church but since 1985 the sound of bells has floated through the air. The village handbell team has become well known throughout the area and not just at Christmas.

  • ON NEW Years Day 2000 the bells pealed in the millennium on the proposed site for the new church. Hopefully the next time they play on that spot it will be slightly better heated !
  • ON SATURDAY, 12 April the group played host to its neighbours; the Lady St Mary Handbell Ringers. This was an opportunity to get together, play new pieces and learn new ways of ringing.
  • THE two teams have regularly attended events together and performed at concerts throughout the South West of England. It was lovely to see the younger players from Wareham getting on so well with the slightly more mature Crossways team.
  • EACH team brought its own party pieces' with them to play to each other. They had also brought the same music and enjoyed playing together. The beauty of this is that if one team misses a note there is a chance the other might put it in !
  • LADY St Mary has a set of tower bells and Crossways ringers were able to learn something about the noble art of change ringing. It is a very mathematical thing to do and there was much laughter as they tried to pass bells between themselves while keeping the changes going.
  • TEAM leader Jenny Elmes explained how some of the Wareham ringers were expecting babies in the near future. That doesn't seem to interfere with the ringing schedule and all were charmed by the youngest member of the team in the room who was less than one month old.
  • NOT to be outdone the Crossways ringers were able to tell their friends about their own happy event due in July. The order has recently been placed to ship a further octave of bells from America to add to the current set. The team started with just 15 bells in 1985 and the latest purchase will bring them up to 48.
  • HANDBELL ringing is as much a social event as a musical one and everyone enjoyed tucking into a positive feast which had been provided by the ringers from Crossways, They were also able to watch a video made of both teams playing at an event held at Wareham last year.
  • BOTH Teams are looking forward to a very special event to be held on Saturday, 13 December in St Mary's Church, Dorchester. The Handbell Ringers of Great Britain are to hold their annual Christmas Festival and the church should be packed with teams both large and small.
  • ALL proceeds are going to be donated to the British Heart Foundation and more details will follow about this during the course of the year but a good idea to ring the date on your calendar now.
  • IF YOU are interested in booking a handbell team for a function to give it a different feature then please contact me and I will pass your details on.
  • THINKING ahead of warm summer Sunday afternoons I have been given a couple of dates for an event under the National Gardens Scheme'. The public are welcome at 38 Binghams Road on Sunday, 11 May and Sunday, June 8. The gardens are designed in the Japanese manner and regularly feature in local publications.
  • Admission costs £3 with proceeds going to caring and cancer charities with a contribution also going to the new church fund for Crossways.