And then it was the end of the year – finishing off in the style of recent years with the BB Xmas meal followed by the St. Thomas Day dance out. For the second year in a row, the Xmas meal was at The Bull at Barkham, where once again we took over the top part of the restaurant area for a jolly evening including the dispersal of Secret Santa presents when Paul’s back was turned. Some very fine efforts this year, including the zip line toy racing cars which some of the older boys took to with far too much enthusiasm. The evening also featured a presentation to Will B, off to Australia with Sarah for a year, of a calendar featuring lots of pictures of him in action over the 4 years he has been with us – mainly, it must be said, dressed up in a number of extraordinary costumes as is the nature of life in BB. A couple of days later on 22nd Dec we were in Wokingham Market Place for our St. Thomas Day dance out. As seemed to happen an awful lot during 2012, we managed to avoid the rain during our dancing despite heavy showers both before and after. The day featured the largest number of current BB dancers ever assembled – 16, though not everyone was dancing – however we were able to have 2 sets for many dances despite the space being somewhat confined this year. The day was also notable for 3 things – one good, one poignant, and one diabolical. The good things was seeing David make his debut for us, and very competently he performed too. The poignant one was the last appearance with us for a while of Will B, including a very fine ‘Nutting Girl’ solo jig, performed with his usual elegance and style. And the diabolical thing was 2 sets making a complete hash of ‘Cocky Jockey Sticks’, proving beyond all doubt that the dance should never be attempted without a walk through round the corner first. Still, it was Christmas ….
