Tour Reports 2013

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Manchester, St Anns - April 2013

“Manchester? - you’ll need an umbrella” said a friend. I dutifully carried one around all weekend, but it wasn’t needed. In fact, although still cold, the Manchester weather did its best to make the OUCC welcome, as did so much else in the city.  Pam (and Nick) had prepared for each of us a ‘welcome pack’ of local items, and a quiz to test our knowledge of Lancastrian words and famous people. The Rector and people of St Ann’s church said how delighted they were that we couldn’t go to the Cathedral, and we seemed to be given the treat of an extended sermon at both Sunday services. The hotel, which was in easy walking distance, provided us with excellent rooms and food throughout our stay, with the only low points being the saga of Colin’s shirt (don’t ask), and the rehearsal room which was a little warm for singing and had the acoustic qualities of a wet flannel. Once inside the church, though, the high building echoed to our joyful sounds and we were able once more to stay in tune.

Richard King taught us to ‘keep our aerials up’ and told us what to do with our diaphragms, and it must have worked as we had favourable comments about the quality our singing.  Organist Tony Philpot did a splendid job too, and soloists Pam and Mandy tackled Haydn’s Benedictus expertly with minimal rehearsal time.  In all we had a very enjoyable weekend, and thanks are due not only to the committee members who organised it, but also to local contact David Ricketts for being an essential link in the chain.

Bill Butler 

Guildford Cathedral - August 2013

Mid-August 2013 saw OUCC members from as far afield as Cumbria and Kent, Northumbria and Cornwall and many points in between, converge on Guildford for their summer tour.  Our base was the Holiday Inn, conveniently located just off the A3 and close to the Cathedral, where we were well looked after during the weekend with comfortable bedrooms, helpful staff and a dining room all to ourselves in the evenings, enabling the dissemination of essential information as well as a more convivial dining experience on four large, round tables.  We were also able to use a room in the hotel for a short first evening’s rehearsal, to ‘break us in gently’ to the work of the weekend, whilst, prior to that, some of us had located the swimming pool, jacuzzi and steam room for a little relaxation following their journey.

Unable to use the Song School at the Cathedral for rehearsal on the Friday, we were fortunate in being able to practise at Holy Trinity Church in Guildford High Street, reached either by car,  by bus or, for the more energetic, on foot (forty minutes’ walk).  As the Cathedral was located outside the centre, this gave us the opportunity to see a little of the town during our breaks, including the castle and its lovely gardens, the shops, riverside walk, various interesting buildings and so on.  We concluded that first day by singing Evensong in Holy Trinity before returning to the hotel.

On Saturday and Sunday we were in the Cathedral both to rehearse in the Cathedral Song School, in the crypt, and to sing the weekend services.  Guildford Cathedral is a relatively modern construction, the foundation stone laid in 1936 and consecrated by the Bishop of Guildford in 1961, thus celebrating its 50th anniversary only recently in 2011.  Situated at the top of a hill, it is an imposing, monumental structure in plain brick, embellished with etched glass doors at the west end.

Inside there is an impression of light and space, with light-coloured walls, plain columns and light wood furniture.  However, we were unable to use the quire as the ceiling needed some repair work due to falling plaster and so we had to sing both Evensongs as well as the Sunday morning Eucharist in the Nave.

Whilst most of the music was well known to a lot of us, the anthems and the psalm chants were not, and proved a little challenging, either due to language (Mendelssohn’s Verleih uns Frieden), timing (Bairstow’s Though I Speak with the Tongues of Men) or unexpected pointing (psalms).  We soon learned how music director, John Naylor, liked things done and tried very hard to get it right.

A fairly early Eucharist on the Sunday morning, followed by a late Evensong meant that members had a few hours of free time in which to savour the delights of the local surroundings – some taking the opportunity to visit stately homes and gardens, others enjoying a relaxing Sunday lunch or even returning to the hotel for a rest (rest? what’s that?).  All too soon we concluded our weekend in a very positive fashion at the end of Sunday Evensong and we said our goodbyes to Guildford Cathedral and to each other (apart from those staying an extra night in the hotel before embarking on their journey home).  Some good weather, an excellent hotel location and singing venues, good music and, most particularly, the companionship of good friends made for a very enjoyable few days.

We are very grateful to John Naylor for his infinite patience, good humour and expertise which brought out the best in choir members.  We also thank William Nicholson, our organist for the weekend, for all his efforts and patience, especially when we had to repeat sections again and again before getting it right!  The organisation of the weekend went very smoothly (and I know a lot of preparatory work was done behind the scenes - well done to Ester and team and Sandra for looking after and bringing all the robes) and the tour was thoroughly enjoyed by all (despite a couple of unplanned early departures and two unscheduled visits to the local hospital … but the less said about that, the better!).

Sheila Whitta

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