It was standing room only at St Mary Magdalene’s, Altofts when the Altofts and Normanton Brass Band played a rousing sing-along through the ages ending with songs from the war to mark the centenary of the First World War.
In fact, churchwarden, Mary Vickers said they could have sold the tickets twice over for the brass band concert and traditional supper which was organised with the former Bishop of Wakefield’s gift of £100 to create a community event as part of his 10th anniversary as diocesan bishop and the national Hope 2014 initiative.
This is her report:
“We had a fantastic team of helpers from St. Mary Magdalene's who worked liked Trojans to get everything ready in time – from shopping, peeling potatoes, preparing all the food, clearing the hall and bringing in the chairs, fixing the microphones.
“The band was brilliant. Ian the conductor was one of the stars of the show. He entertained us whilst the band got their breath back with lots of jokes, which had everyone in stitches.
“The music started in the present era and went through the 70's,60's and so on until it reached the war time periods. Everyone sung their hearts out.
“At the interval, I had told them that an air raid had been forecast and everyone had to queue in an orderly fashion to the shelter (the small room) where we had laid out the food.
“There was enough corned beef hash to feed the 5,000, and a table piled high with savouries, plus two large tables full of home baking - in keeping with the period – though we ignored ration books!
“My favourite moment of the night was seeing Bill aged 91 sitting at the front in his wheelchair. He loved every minute of it and joined in all the war songs.
“It was a memorable night, everyone wanted to know when we were having another concert. What was truly fantastic was the warmth, the enjoyment and the pleasure that everyone seemed to get. We raised a lot of money for Church plus a generous donation for the local branch of the Royal British Legion. The audience came from all over the place, all the churches in our Churches Together
Group were well represented, and because of the publicity – which we used the £100 donation for – we could have sold the tickets twice over.
“The memories of it will be with me for a very long time, but sadly I don't think I can face another bowl of corned beef hash,” she said.