Tour Reports 2023

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Blackburn Cathedral - February 2023 

This was our third visit to the lovely Blackburn Cathedral, a beautiful building and an amazing place to sing. For those of us from further south, there is always a degree of nervousness about venturing to ‘the north’ in mid-February.  Our last visit three years ago, just before lockdown, took place when large parts of the country were under water following severe storms. 

This time however, it was not the weather causing difficulties, but potential rail strikes. Thankfully though the rail unions were kind to us, with most of us managing to arrive for the late afternoon rehearsal on Friday.  It is always good to meet our friends again but important though that is, we are really all there for the music. John’s choice of music, as always, was a good mix of the very familiar, the fairly familiar and the new which gives us all a challenge but along with John’s patience and encouragement, also enough confidence to know that when rehearsal time has come to an end, we should be able to give a good performance.

Blackburn has many points in its favour (no, I don’t work for the tourist board).  The train station and the Premier Inn are really close to the cathedral, the hotel has a free car park, the staff at both the hotel and the cathedral are very helpful and friendly and the temperature was comfortable in both the cathedral and the song school…a treat indeed having frozen in Edinburgh last April and melted in Ripon four months later!  One slight downside are the uneven stairs down to the song school…no problem at all for agile young choristers I’m sure, but a bit more of a challenge for some members of the OUCC.

We sampled the delights of a number of different eating establishments including The Royal Oak at Riley Green, The Postal Order (aka Wetherspoons), the Turtle Bay and I am sure there were others worthy of a mention, that I am not aware of. The restaurant in the hotel also did a very good evening meal for those not wishing to venture any further.

As always, the time passed quickly and we were saying our goodbyes with, I am sure, every one of us feeling uplifted after our weekend of renewed friendships, the opportunity to sing beautiful music together in a lovely place and of course Will’s performance of the Toccata from Boellmann’s Suite Gothique with Shelagh frantically page turning…absolute magic.

As always, a huge thank you from all of us to Ester and the team, to John and to Will for making it all happen.

Sarah Weller 

Bristol Cathedral - April 2023

Well I am now settled back home and reflecting upon our choir tour to Bristol. The weather wasn’t always kind to us but the Premier Inn where we were staying was only about a 15 to 20 minute relatively pleasant walk from the cathedral. It was quicker to walk than to drive; there are many one-way systems and even with a satnav it was a much longer journey by car!

We were able to have our first rehearsal on the Thursday afternoon as most singers had arrived by then. The cathedral song school was a little cramped but we managed to get a first idea of how we sounded together.

The tour was busy as we needed quite a lot of practice to reach a suitable standard with the various pieces, both new and not so new. It illustrates how vital it is that we do our homework beforehand and don’t rely simply on sight reading. The plainsong responses and psalm were an interesting addition and I particularly loved the Robert White piece which was new to us. I had some of those moments that I’m sure we all experience, when I felt elated to be there singing such beautiful music.

At this point I should like to add that the hotel staff and the restaurant staff did their best for us. We were allocated the quietest rooms possible in a city centre hotel where suddenly on Friday and Saturday evenings it seemed that half of Bristol packed themselves into the cafes, bars and restaurants surrounding the hotel! Thanks must go to Ester for her patience and efforts negotiating the arrangements for us.

I think we all worked hard and although we did have to fit in with the mealtimes on the restaurant’s busiest evenings, we enjoyed time seeing our friends again and catching up with their ‘other lives’ which they return to after the inevitable ‘goodbyes’ at the end of the tour.

Of course the weekend wouldn’t have happened without all the hard work put in by John, by Ester and the admin team. Needless to say, Will’s playing was of the highest standard, both on the cathedral’s main organ and on the chamber instrument (what a lovely service that was).  We are fortunate as a choir to have such fine leadership.

Laura Bianchini

Hexham Abbey - August 2023 

So, what didn’t change at all?

  * Pam brought cake.

  * John was firm but kind.

  * Willow was brilliant.

  * It was John’s ‘best tour yet’.

What did change?

  * Pam took the robes.  Is that a good swap for cake?

  * Hardly anyone was late to a rehearsal.

  * The drop in the average age as we welcomed Sophie.  Please come again.

  * I didn’t leave anything behind.

I have no wish to suggest a league table of tours, but it was certainly a good one. Hexham Abbey was an interesting building, not only in its architecture and fascinating history, but also in its placing of the exit door, where it took me until Saturday to be confident of finding my way out.  The Abbey clergy and staff were consistently friendly and complimentary, seeming genuinely pleased to have us there.

It was good to have the usual mix of familiar and new music and to be part of a choir where everyone was really striving to be at their best.  I particularly enjoyed the challenges of the Stainer and of Andrew’s Communion Service, which I had thought I knew!  The Gjeilo is a huge favourite of mine, and clearly also of John’s; we have sung it five times since 2017.  Please don’t stop choosing it John.

I cannot comment on the accommodation as I experienced the joy of sharing a large and well-appointed mobile home with friends.  Suffice to say I heard no complaints and there was plenty of good cheer at the start of rehearsal each morning.  If the standard of food and service that I experienced at the Italian restaurant on Thursday was maintained for the following evenings, their staff team is to be congratulated.

Finally, and of greatest importance, there are our thanks to John, Willow and Ester, for which I cannot find adequate words.  We are so very grateful to you all; you each put in a huge amount of work to allow the rest of us to enjoy such smooth-running wonderful tours.  We are very privileged.

Here’s to 2024.

Anne Peppit 

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