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We met at
the Parish Centre on the morning of Tuesday 6 August,
for the journey south. The choristers’ luggage was
loaded onto the roof rack of the minibus, with precision
packing exercised by Jonathan and Tom, and we were ready
for the off. With strict instructions for lunch not to
be consumed before we reached our stop we journeyed
towards Salisbury, the first destination for our time
together. We were greeted by David Halls, Director of
Music at the Cathedral and enjoyed our lunch under the
shadow of the magnificent 750 year old building. After
lunch we had a guided tour of the Cathedral with all its
amazing treasures, including one of the few original
copies of the Magna Carta. Then
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it was
time to get back on the bus for the final leg of our
journey to Fareham, where our accommodation for the week
was at West Hill Park School. After unpacking and a
fantastic evening meal, we had a quick rehearsal and a
game of rounders before it was time for the choristers
to start heading to bed and the adults to enjoy locating
the nearest local hostelry.
Wednesday
morning dawned and we started to get into what would
become a normal morning routine of breakfast followed by
rehearsals. Mr Moore had programmed lots of free time
for games and other activities during the week and the
rest of the morning was spent enjoying the extensive
grounds of the school. After another slap-up lunch, the
choristers and some of the adults were booked in for two
games of bowling in Fareham, with many showing their
fiercely competitive side! We then set out to walk to Ss
Peter and Paul Church, Fareham, to rehearse for that
evening’s concert. The people of the church made us feel
very welcome and there was a huge banner erected outside
the building to advertise the concert. After rehearsing
we had our tea and then it was time for the concert. We
performed Rejoice in the Lamb for the first time,
alongside lots of other music from our repertoire and
the large audience was delighted with our offering. We
also managed to sell some of our new CDs for the first
time! After the concert it was back to the ranch for
drinks and then bed.
The choristers had no singing to do on Thursday, but Mr
Moore still made them rehearse in the morning! The whole
group travelled to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard for a
look around the amazing HMS Victory and HMS Warrior,
with certain people playing tour guide to others. After
lunch, we visited the brand new Mary Rose exhibition and
could have stayed looking around for hours had it not
been for the fact that we were booked in to ascend
Portsmouth’s famous Spinnaker Tower. After taking in the
amazing views of the skyline, and the amazing views
through the glass floor(!), the group was split in two
with the choristers having an evening of Fish & Chips on
the seafront and games and the adults singing Evensong
at St James’ Church, Milton followed by an evening’s
hospitality courtesy of our old friend Fr Paul.
Friday was hot and after the morning rehearsal we
visited the Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson, just outside
Fareham. The views over Portsmouth were spectacular, but
so was the display of guns and artefacts on offer. After
nearly losing some choristers in the sprawling tunnels
inside the old fort we were treated to a gun-firing with
three weapons on display. The replica Tudor cannon was
exceptionally loud! After lunch at the school it was
time to travel into Portsmouth once again to prepare for
our next evening concert at Holy Spirit Church, Southsea.
The amazing acoustic of the huge building was unlike
anything we had experienced singing in before, but
another cracking performance of music from across the
centuries to an appreciative audience followed.
On Saturday we looked forward to singing the weekend
services at Portsmouth Cathedral and it was soon time to
pack up all the robes and music ready to go. The
choristers were let loose on the huge shopping centre at
Gun Wharf Quays, with the boys enjoying a longed-for
boat trip with Mr Moore Snr. After our packed lunch in
the sun we walked up to the Cathedral for a guided tour
of a most interesting building which seems to have been
destroyed various times over the centuries before
finally being completed in the 1990s. After getting used
to the sizeable acoustic of the building we sang
Evensong with music by Statham, Sanders and Ives. For
dinner the adults took themselves off for curry and the
choristers visited Pizza Hut. The rest of the evening
was spent packing up, as Sunday was to be a busy and
tiring final day.
There was some rain in the air on Sunday morning but
this didn’t dampen our spirits as we journeyed to the
Cathedral ready for the Eucharist. The choir enjoyed
getting stuck in to Darke in E and Byrd’s sublime Ave
verum and a large and appreciative congregation,
including the Cathedral Director of Music, were
impressed by the sound. Back at the school after lunch
we made various presentations to the various people that
had undertaken important tasks and jobs during the week,
most particularly Linda Moore and Jane Roberts for all
their catering and Tom Moore for his excellent organ
playing and safe driving of the minibus. Our final
service of the week was Evensong, including Stanford’s
Canticles in C and one more performance of Rejoice in
the Lamb. The choir’s singing was quite exceptional
and it was the perfect way to end our trip. We were
delighted to see that so many of the St Matthew’s
congregation had made the journey to Portsmouth to
support us.
We arrived back on the Parish Centre car park at 11.15
pm ready for a well-earned break from singing. The
beginning of the new academic year is now upon us, and
I’m sure that the week spent together on tour this year
will strengthen the choir as a team, both musically and
socially. A great time was had by all. Roll on Carlisle
in 2014…!
Please find below a selection of photos.
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