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Chester Cathedral - April 2009
Open University Chapel Choir members gathered in Chester on 16th April for the start of their Spring weekend, when we were to rehearse and sing four services in Chester Cathedral. We were based at the Westminster Hotel, near the station, where the food was excellent and the staff most helpful and obliging (even opening up a closed lounge and lighting a fire so that two groups of us could play ‘Take Two’ away from the noise of the jazz concert taking place in the other lounge bar!). From the hotel most people found they were able to walk easily to and from the Cathedral along the canal towpath in around fifteen minutes, although a free bus link was also available.
Unlike our last visit to Chester, a few years ago, the weather was kind to us this time, improving as the weekend progressed. (No, it doesn’t always rain in the North West – in fact, the gardens are crying out for some rain at the moment!). In glorious sunshine, more energetic members were able to explore the city walls, the Roman Gardens, Grosvenor Park and the Groves along by the River Dee in the extended lunch breaks between rehearsals or services, whilst others relaxed in the secluded peace of the Cloister Garden or Cathedral grounds or dined in the Refectory and studied the intricate iconography of the Creation Window.
We were fortunate to be able to avail ourselves of the excellent facilities in the recently-completed Song School for our rehearsals once again and the Head Verger kindly provided us with a hanging rail for our new choir robes (now adorned with OUCC badges, made for us by a friend of Sheila’s), so that they could be left there the whole weekend. We were warmly welcomed by members of the Chapter at each of the services (Saturday Evensong, Sunday morning Cathedral Eucharist and BCP Eucharist and Sunday Evensong), when the Eastertide music was combined with that for the festival of St Anselm. Although Haydn’s ‘Insanae et Vanae Curae’ (a.k.a. Insane and Vain Curates) turned out to be a little long for its place in the Eucharist Service, the music was generally well-received and members were appreciative of the hard work of both David Knight, Musical Director, and Richard King, our organist.
Norwich Cathedral - August 2009
Members of the Open University Chapel Choir recently spent the weekend in Norwich, staying at the well-appointed Dunston Hall Hotel, just south of the city. Although this meant a fifteen-minute drive to the Cathedral each day for rehearsals/services, we were able to operate a car-sharing scheme which made full use of the limited number of Cathedral parking spaces available to us. The lure of the hotel’s leisure pool attracted many of us on arrival, whilst some of the non-singing partners were able to take advantage of its golf course.
Our rehearsals took place in a temporary song school, a former chapel, under rather cramped conditions, as the new song school is not due to open for a month or two. A full day’s rehearsal on Friday was followed by rehearsal then Evensong on Saturday, when the chamber organ was used to accompany the Gibbons’ Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis and anthem. Then came Sunday morning Eucharist, held in the nave, which commenced with a procession through the cloisters and ended with coffee/tea served after the service when we had the opportunity to chat to members of the congregation and clergy and were pleased to see two FCS/OUCC members, Frances and Mary, who had been able to attend. Sunday afternoon Evensong, back in the quire, concluded the weekend.
As well as the contemporary-style Cathedral Refectory, numerous eateries in the locality catered for our midday breaks, when some members also found time to stroll alongside the River Wensum, visit the old part of Norwich around Elm Hill or sought out the nearby shopping centres. Once again we were very lucky with the weather, which was warm and sunny (while some other parts of the country suffered torrential rain!).
Several of us had travelled in excess of two hundred miles for the weekend and, as a result, around one-third of the party stayed on at the hotel, following Sunday Evensong, for an extra night (in some cases, two) before returning home or extending their holiday elsewhere.
Again our thanks to David and Richard for their indefatigable work conducting and accompanying, which produced creditable results given the limited rehearsal time at our disposal.
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