European Tour to Holland, Belgium and Germany, 26th July - 2nd August 2016

GMVC with Thomas Spencer 2017

The reception we received from the two concert venues, Walthamstow and Hoddesdon could not have been better. Andrew and Geoff were delighted that we had made their churches the centre of this year’s tour.

A flight on the “London Eye” gave a bird’s eye view of Horse Guards and the Trooping of the Colour Ceremony.

Oxford, on our return, was a lovely city to visit with a tour on the open top bus a must.

It was amazing to find so many of our party seated outside the loo in a major store during the afternoon, so many in fact that we could have formed a small choir to entertain the passing public!!

The second coach developed a fault with the alarm on the door closer which was a constant beep beep beep. Added to this the air conditioning first thought we were in the Arctic and decided we needed warming up to 25 centigrade.

Then the Sahara and plummeted to frigid depths. It was thought the alarm was playing in 4/4 time and after over an hour of constant noise we all joined in the chorus. Having this rhythm imprinted on our subconscious by now anything other than this timing proved difficult to sing, hence the false start to the second concert.

Hope you all enjoyed yourselves and that the committee arranged everything to your liking.

WHAT CAN WE SAY?

contributed by Sheila Richardson, our celebrated Poet Laureate!!!

What can we say to thank you?

For a fantastic weekend,

It was truly wonderful,

We wished it would never end!

When arranging outings,

The Gresley Male Voice Choir are the best,

Our London weekend was excellent,

As are all the rest.

Friday saw us travelling down,

Two coaches on their way,

To a Premier Inn near Walthamstow,

Which is where we all would stay

After settling in our rooms,

A visit to Waltham Abbey,

Where we had a guided tour,

Which was anything but shabby !

(Well what else rhymes with Abbey?)

The weather was glorious,

We were truly blessed,

After a scrumptious meal,

We changed and dressed

For a concert at St. Peter's in the Forest,

The singing was a pleasure,

It really was fantastic,

One which we will treasure.

What an experience,

When on the London Eye,

We saw the Trooping of the Colour,

From way up in the sky!

Next a boat trip along the Thames,

Why stop? I hear you say,

'Cos of a forty one gun salute,

From three cannons along the way.

To mark the official birthday

Of her Majesty the Queen,

Seeing the fly past and Red Arrows,

Wonderful! The closest we had been!

Another happy evening spent

With the Gresley Male Voice Choir,

At Andrew's Methodist Church at Hoddesdon,

What more could our hearts desire?

Next day, travelling home,

Through Oxford we would go,

The only way to see Oxford,

Is on an open top bus you know.

The weather again was glorious,

Those dreaming spires looked even better,

We had no need for coats,

No! Not even a sweater!

So thank you Clive, Geoff,and Bryan,

And all the rest of the team,

For making our weekend,

Another wonderful dream!

The singing was majestic,

The company was great,So for our next excursion,

We simply cannot wait!

Dedicated to Gresley Male Voice Choir - June 2009