This was a quiet month for the choir, but it helped us prepare some music for our Christmas concerts. However, we had a social evening, to raise funds for the choir, in the form of a quiz night which was held at the Commercial Inn, Killay. Once again, Nova and Gareth did us proud with their hospitality and a very pleasant evening was had by all. Thanks to the Ladies Committee for organising the event and also to Gareth for acting as quizmaster.

We are pleased to see that we have been included in a brochure entitled ‘Royal Wootton Bassett – An Exhibition of Appreciation Gifts’. This has been produced in association with the town being granted royal patronage by the Queen, in recognition of its role in military funeral repatriations since 2007. We have stopped in the town for the last 2 years on our way to Disneyland Paris to lay a wreath at the cenotaph, and this year we presented our choir plaque to the mayor, Mrs Mary Champion.

It was with sadness that we reported that Percy Bowling passed away on Boxing Day.

Percy was with the Gwalia Singers for 30 years. He retired from the choir just a couple of months before losing his battle with cancer at the age of 87.