BARNARD Castle Choral Society is looking to boost numbers ahead of its first concert since lockdown.
The society had almost 70 members before Covid-19 began but numbers have waned as some people are still reluctant to come out.
Run by Barnard Castle School as part of its charity status, membership is free to anyone. The group meets every Thursday evening during term time.
The school’s head of music, Richard Dawson, said: “It has certainly been a big thing for the school. When I started in 2019 there were about 30 members and we built that up to between 60 and 70 until Covid hit.”
The society ran online which Mr Dawson says was a good way to keep in contact still practice but “it wasn’t ideal musically” .
Practices returned this January. Mr Dawson added: “Numbers were down because people were still nervous about coming out. We had our first rehearsal [for this term] last week and we were back up to 45, with some people still away.
“We had quite a few new people at our last rehearsal. It was absolutely great to be back. The sound was great – it sounded like a lot of energy and buzz in the room. It was great to see people’s smiles back.
“We are trying to encourage more people to come along. We focus on classical, but the repertoire is not fixed in stone. It is a nice little group and it is completely free. I would love it to be 100.”
Members are aged from the teens to those in retirement.
Mr Dawson said: “We are really keen to get more young people, especially those who have not done this kind of music before. It is the type of music sung at the Queen’s funeral in Westminster Abbey. Maybe they heard that and thought they would like to give it a go.”
The society usually has a concert at the end of each term and the next is planned for Saturday, November 26, at St Mary’s Church, at 7pm.
This year the society is also putting on a singing event on December 6, where anyone who comes along will practice Handel’s Messiah during the day with a performance in the evening.
Anyone interested in joining the society can contact Mr Dawson by email rjd@
barneyschool.org.uk.
Alternatively, they can turn up at Barnard Castle Prep School’s Atkinson Hall on Thursdays at 7pm during term time.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
