Christmas Carols and Party 2022
Sunday, 11 December 2022 18:00
until Sunday, 11 December 2022 20:00
Our Christmas Party will be on Sunday 11th December from 6.00pm to 8.00pm.
Please bring and share Christmas food and we will provide wine and soft drinks for a donation. There will be carol singing around the piano with lots of well-known tunes so that everyone can join in. Everyone is welcome and please bring your families and friends who are with you on the day.
If you are new to the area you are especially welcome.
BSRA Committee
Photographs by Ella Blankstone
Christmas Readings by Angela Lanyon
Angela Lanyon's Christmas Readings
Grannie's Mistletoe
Long ago, so long ago
I remember mistletoe,
We cut it from the apple bough -
Things are very different now.
In the supermarket aisle
I pick it up and quietly smile,
For I remember long ago
And cutting Grannie's mistletoe.
Long ago, so long ago
The shadows black upon the snow,
The stars at midnight crisp and clear -
Things are very different here.
In the streets the gaudy light
Gleams from windows all the night -
But I remember long ago
When we cut Grannie's mistletoe.
© Angela Lanyon June 1997
Rudolph
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Rudolph's on his way,
Bumping in a hired van
Instead of with a sleigh,
Rangifer Tanandus
Is his proper name,
Very photogenic
Any luckily quite tame.
From the Scottish Highlands
To a Tesco close to you,
He brings the Christmas spirit
And `Season's Greetings' too.
In summer he's in Cairngorm
And on a blasted heath,
But he's keen on being cuddled
And has no nasty teeth.
He has his days of glory
When the night are long and cold
His head is brushed, his coat is washed,
His antlers painted gold,
He's taken on a journey
To cities full of cars,
With noise and smells and flashing lights
Instead of silent stars.
So if you see a reindeer
In a supermarket aisle -
Don't think that he's indifferent
If he doesn't catch your smile -
He's looking on the busy scene
With inoffensive eye -
But one ear's back - just listening
For sleigh bells in the sky.
Tribute to The Queen
The sky was blue, the leaves were green
Only the drummers’ beat
The coffin passed the silent crowd
To the sound of marching feet,
A single bell. A distance gun,
The city sounds were stilled,
A little lady lies in state
Her duties now fulfilled.
Panto Poem 2022
The English have a native art
That really is unique,
They’re gearing up to practice it
Even as I speak,
Foreigners never get it,
They can’t work out the plot.
Look out! He’s right behind you
O yes he is, Oh no, he’s not
The plots are really thread bare
The jokes are often thin
You know where we are going,
Yes, It’s pantolaland we’re in.
The feisty hero is a girl
With legs up to her ears
When it comes to gender crosses
Panto’s ahead by years.
Hefty chaps with muscled arms
Play nurses, cooks and mums
Outrageous hats, and padded bras
And brightly knickered bums.
A kitchen scene with custard pies.
A hunted house. The village green
The valiant hero gains his sword
In a transformation scene.
Hiss the villain, Cheer the cat,
Help the comic, Kill King Rat,
Join with others in a chorus
The words are on a board before us
The baddies enter from the left
The Goodies from the right
You must keep with tradition
Or disaster on the night.
The roots of pantomime go deep
Into a distant past
Of shamans dancing round the fire
It times when spells were cast,
The magic may seem tawdry
We know how effects are made
But Happy Ever After
Is a shield when we’re afraid.
The outcome is predictable
The goodies always win,
A refuge from reality
It’s pantoland we’re in
I wonder if, in twenty years
Panto will be going still?
I know, let’s ask the audience -
Oh, no it won’t, OH YES IT WILL!
All © Angela Lanyon 2022
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