|
From 30
July to 4 August the choir undertook its first tour
since the early 1990s. A week’s singing in
St Davids Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, was enjoyed by all
participants of the trip.
We met on Monday morning, rather bleary eyed, in the
Parish Centre car park at 7.00am and set about making
sure we had all the luggage and participants loaded
safely onto the minibus. A long journey followed and we
arrived in St Davids, which is some 270 miles from
Northampton, in time to get ready to sing our first
service in the Cathedral. The choir quickly adjusted to
the acoustics of a new building and to singing with a
different organ. Evensong, featuring music by Stanford
and Howells and the famous ‘shopping list’ Psalm 136,
was clearly enjoyed by all who were there to listen.
After a quick journey to the
St Davids Youth Hostel,
which was our accommodation for the week, we had our
first meal together, acclimatised and unpacked.
On Tuesday morning we awoke to heavy rain. A day’s
activities in St Davids city centre were planned and
these followed our early morning rehearsal in the
Cathedral Song Room. We enjoyed a tour of the Cathedral
with a very entertaining guide, learning more about the
building as well as various bits of historical context
about who St David was. After lunch many of us visited
the ruins of the St Davids Bishop’s Palace, which must
have been an amazing sight before it was destroyed.
Later in the afternoon we whiled away our time with some
pottery painting, some very imaginative designs being
thought out and executed. Two special bits of pottery
were painted to mark Jonathan’s birthday that day. All
too soon it was time for Evensong again and we made our
way to the Cathedral for some Batten and Walton with
Callum Alger and Jonathan Starmer both playing the organ
for parts of the service. Another wonderful evening meal
followed and a chance to visit the beach at Whitesands
Bay – with some taking the plunge into the very cold
sea!
Wednesday dawned with yet more rain, even some which
seemed to come in sideways! There was to be no service
to sing on Wednesday but the weather meant a hastily
revised timetable for the day’s activities. Mr Moore
allowed everyone to have a lie-in, which met with
popular approval(!). A decision was taken to go bowling
in Milford Haven and the choristers piled onto the bus
to depart, with some of the adults joining them. Others
of the adults enjoyed other pursuits during the day with
Sue Robertson even taking up body boarding! Following
bowling and some lunch we travelled to Tenby for a look
around the town and to do some shopping. We arrived back
at the Youth Hostel to be greeted by two more than
welcome sights: blazing sunshine and a Barbecue which
had been laid on for us by Fr Nicholas and Helen. We had
dinner al fresco and sang to Sue who had brought a cake
to celebrate her birthday. Early bedtimes followed for
all in preparation for a busy day on Thursday.
Thursday started with rain for a change. We travelled
early to the Cathedral to rehearse and then onwards to
Haverfordwest where we prepared for a lunchtime concert
in the Parish Church. The choir gave an excellent
performance of works for throughout the church year as
well as turning their hand to some secular works and a
piece by local composer William Mathias. All was most
enthusiastically met by an audience of over 60 people
and we were provided with tea and sandwiches to thank
us. A look outside confirmed that the sun was shining
and so the only option seemed to head straight for the
beach at Whitesands. Sandcastle construction and a game
of football were in full swing before it was time to
return to the Youth Hostel to change and get ready for
Evensong. The congregation at Evensong that day included
some ‘groupies’ who had enjoyed the concert in
Haverfordwest as well as many others who had heard our
singing earlier in the week at the Cathedral – numbers
were growing! An exciting mix of Dyson and Howells
rounded off our busiest day of singing, with Emily
Freeman excelling with her solo in the Magnificat. A
quiet evening at the Youth Hostel was needed by all.
On Friday we awoke to rain. Following the morning
rehearsal, we were pleased to learn that the boat trip
planned for that afternoon had not been cancelled.
Unfortunately, by the time Mr Moore had walked to the
booking office to pay, it had! A tense wait followed
with boarding times being pushed backward by an hour
every hour. Eventually the all clear was given as the
weather had abated slightly and we travelled down to St
Justinians to board the boat for our trip around the
islands just off the mainland. Sadly our trip was
cancelled again just as we disembarked from the minibus
so we went back to the Youth Hostel to relax and get
ready for our last service of the week. A large
congregation greeted the procession as we entered the
Quire ready to sing Sumsion and Mathias’ exciting anthem
Let the people praise thee, O God. The Canon in
residence thanked us for our singing during the week and
described the choir as being ‘of Cathedral standard’.
The choir’s singing was certainly top rate at Evensong
that day and all felt justly proud of the efforts made.
After the service it was time for the obligatory photos
of the choir. The occasion marked the last time the
choir would sing together with that membership and we
bade farewell to Jenny and Ciara Crosby who have left
the choir and who travelled back to Northampton
following that service.
After a brilliant roast dinner on Friday a number of
presentations were made. Jonathan was given his birthday
pottery and we thanked all who had worked so hard to
make the week a success both musically and
organisationally. After that it was time to start
packing up and finding owners for the stray socks in the
younger boys’ dormitory.
On Saturday morning we arose to dry weather! After
breakfast final room checks were made and the luggage
loaded onto the bus for the journey home. Final
farewells were said to other choir leavers and we
departed for the long journey back to Northampton. The
bus was due to arrive back at the Parish Centre at
6.00pm, but Mr Moore had to apologise to parents for
being late after the traffic lights at the White
Elephant were on red and the bus pulled into the car
park at 6.01pm.
It’s safe to say that the trip had been a success. Choir
trips are important for the group that go on them but
also for the church being represented. It’s certain that
we have taken the name of St Matthew’s Church to
pastures new and through our music making have thrilled
many who may not have heard of the church, its choir, or
its proud history before. We look forward to our trip to
Portsmouth in August 2013 to do just that again.
Please find below a selection of photos.
|
