At the Movies

Groby Sings has two exciting pieces of news to report this month. Firstly, tickets are on sale NOW for our concerts on:

SATURDAY 24th JUNE 7.00pm and SUNDAY 25th JUNE 3.00pm

VENUE: Brookvale Groby Learning Campus, Ratby Road, Groby LE6 0FP (known locally as BGLC or Groby College)

TICKETS - only £5 – can be bought at THE GROBY CLUB (during normal opening hours), GROBY LIBRARY (Wednesdays and Saturdays only 10.00am-12.00pm) and via CHOIR MEMBERS.

COME ALONG to a concert and support your Community Choir as our second piece of great news is that we’ve had this message from Hannah Meredith, Communities Editor, BBC Radio Leicester: ‘Groby Sings has been shortlisted as a FINALIST in the Community Group category for BBC Radio Leicester’s Make a Difference Awards 2023.

‘It's an award that goes to a group of people who have helped to genuinely change the lives of others within the community. We had hundreds of nominations across the eight award categories, so you should be incredibly proud of yourselves that we got to hear about your dedication and effort which is obviously highly valued by many.

‘The judges had to shortlist four finalists for each Make a Difference category and it is just wonderful news that you are one of those finalists for the Community Group award.’ There is to be an awards ceremony on Sunday, 3rd September, when the overall winner will be announced. Radio Leicester is planning to record some audio and video clips of the finalists to play in the lead up to the event so listen to our local radio and keep an eye on the Radio Leicester website for glimpses of Groby Singers sharing their passion for singing and socialising. Meanwhile, we have many singers who are not from Groby and we welcome anyone from anywhere who’d like to sing with us on Wednesdays, term time only, at The Groby Club, Leicester Road, Groby, Leicester LE6 0DJ, which has ramps and disabled facilities. Adult singers: 1.30-3.00pm or 7.30-9.00pm, Youth & Children’s Choir (7 years and over): 3.40-4.40pm.

All sessions include a refreshment break. Pre-school children are welcome in the afternoon in the care of their adult with a crèche area available. Groby Sings is a dementia-friendly choir and people with memory problems and their friends and carers are especially welcome to join us.

Enquiries via our website www.grobysings.org

Groby Sings is a Registered Charity no. 1180490

I know a chap who compiles crosswords and just turned 100. He was sent an anagram from the King.

THE

YEAR was 1971. Ted a twenty one year old Signalman.

Goring Station is still there now, but not the signal box. Goring is on the line between Brighton and Portsmouth on the south coast.

In 1971, this road was protected from the railway by wooden gates, which were closed when a train approached. The gates were worked from the adjacent signal box. Today, the signal box and wooden crossing gates crossing is protected by lifting barriers and red flashing lights, all of which are controlled from the Lancing Signalling Centre over five miles away.

One cold winter’s night in January 1971, Ted was on duty. He’d been working since ten o’clock the previous evening. The clock in the signal box showed the time at half past one. All was quiet. The last passenger train had gone and the station was locked up and in darkness. The road over the crossing was bare of traffic. It had been forty minutes since the last road vehicle had passed over the line.

All of a sudden, there came the sound of someone banging on the signal box door.

Ted walked over to the door, which was locked. Ted always kept the door locked at night. Tonight was no exception and this visitor was one of the reasons why he locked the signal box door at night.

‘Are yer goin’ to let me in?’ the old man shouted from outside.

Ted shook his head.

‘There isn’t much time left!’ shouted the old man. ‘It’ll be coming through soon and yer need to close these gates!’

Ted looked at the old man, wondering what he was on about.

‘Close the gates! Time’s running out!’ The old man repeated his call.

Slowly, he turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open.

‘About time!’ shouted the scruffy old man. You must get these gates round

‘But why do I need to close the gates?’ asked Ted.

‘There will be a train soon!’ exclaimed the visitor. ‘This is no ordinary train it is the Ghost Train.”

Ted thought he had better play along, The crossing gates were closed across the road, and were now open for any Ghost Train that wanted to come through.

Time passed ‘Maybe the Ghost Train isn’t coming tonight,’ Ted suggested.

‘Here she comes!’ he shouted.

All of a sudden, Ted heard a steam engine’s shrill whistle. Ted stood still, unable to move. The sudden noise had frozen him to the spot. The old man shouted again and all of a sudden, there appeared what looked like a steam-hauled express train, hurtling along the track at full speed towards them.

Ted was transfixed to the spot. This could not be happening.

The huge beast of the steam engine raced past the signal box, followed by its train of coaches with their lights burning brightly. The train must have ignored all the danger signals and wasn’t taking any notice of them.

Ted stood, stunned, as the smoke from the train cleared. He looked around to the old man, only to find that he was nowhere to be seen.

Ted was finally able to move, and he staggered to the signal box door. He tried to open it to see if the old man had gone outside to watch the train go by.