We went to Bruges, this year, for our annual concert tour. We had a party of 64, made up of 37 choristers, wives, partners, and friends and left Swansea on Thursday 26th September and travelled to Dover, where we stayed overnight. On the way we had lunch in the ‘Sally Pussey Inn’ just outside Royal Wootton Bassett, which has become a regular venue for us to eat. In the evening we gave a concert at SS Peter and Paul, Charlton-in-Dover RC Church in aid of the Kent Air Ambulance. The church was a fine building in which to sing and we had a great reception following our performance, which ended with ‘An American Trilogy’ and enabled us to use the fine organ. The concert raised £350 . It is hoped that we can return one day to sing again.
The next day we boarded the ferry to Calais and made our way to Bruges. We booked into the Park Hotel and settled into our rooms. In the early evening we went on a canal cruise, which was paid for by the Ladies committee. This was very enjoyable and enabled us to see some well known landmarks from different sides. The rest of the evening was free for everyone to relax and enjoy the local hostelriesOn Saturday we had an early start and took the coach to Ypres. We had pre-booked a visit to the Flanders Fields Museum, which proved to be a very moving experience. We also saw the Menin Gate, and it is sad to see so many names, etched into it’s walls, of soldiers who gave their lives during the first world war. Later in the day we visited Tyne Cot cemetery, and again, to see the lines of grave stones, so many unnamed, was a stark reminder of the terrible loss of life. We returned to the hotel and changed for our concert which was held at the OLV church in De Panne, about an hour’s drive from Bruges. This was another fine building with a fabulous acoustic and organ. The church was nearly full and, again, we gave another fine performance. We were treated to a glass of wine during the interval, but, unfortunately, had to return to Bruges straight after the concert, as our bus driver was short of hours! This was a pity, as we had a tremendous ovation following our singing, with the audience standing and shouting for more. During the concert we sang ‘There Is No Death’, as our tribute to the men and women, who lost their life during the ‘great war’.
We had a free morning on Sunday and met up in the early afternoon to give our final concert, which was held at St Salvator’s Cathedral at 3pm. This was the largest of 12 churches in Bruges and was another fine building. It wasn’t the easiest of places to sing, as the sound disappeared to all parts, but the echoes filled the church for a long time after each line. However, again, we had a tremendous ovation at the end of our concert, which was richly deserved for the fantastic effort that all the boys had put in during the weekend. Thanks must go to Nick, Rhian and Steve for all their hard work throughout the weekend. We had the rest of the day to relax and everyone met up at the hotel to spend a great evening together to enjoy a good ‘afterglow’ and joke telling session!
On Monday, we left just after midday to return to Calais for the ferry back to Dover and arrived in Swansea about 10pm. A thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all and we must thank Rayburn tours for organising the trip and also Joanne, for looking after us so well during the tour. Also thanks to Alan, our secretary, for all the work he did liaising with Rayburn from our side.
