[The listening experience describes the Woodhouse Carr Methodist Church Choir’s annual Christmas Eve Carol Singing Expedition. “The Carr” closed in May 1960 when it and another Methodist church were merged]

Many of the good folk on our Carol list invited us to sing for them year after year, and among them were some well known Leeds people [including] Mr. Alcock (managing director of Hunslet Engine Co.) […] We especially enjoyed singing at Mr. Alcock’s home—“The Woodlands”. This was a lovely house with a very large hall beautifully decorated with rare plants in flower. Two lovely staircases (one on the right and one on the left) led to the upper rooms […] We all assembled in the large hall. There were always many guests, and many of them sat on the staircase steps to listen to our singing.

The atmosphere of this lovely household was ideal for carol singing, and we always gave of our very best. We not only sang carols, but many request items were asked of us from the guests such as “When Evening Twilight”, “Sweet and Low”, “Cwm Rhondda”etc. and of course many of the well known carols from the Methodist Hymn Book. We spent more time and sang more carols at Mr. Alcock’s home than anywhere else—it was always the “Star Turn” of the evening.