April 29th - Tour Day 8 - Exeter

Today was our last Day in Exeter. And it was the day Jocelyne left, many of us were not able to say goodbye (she left in the morning). So Jocelyne if you are reading this - Goodbye, we all miss you!

This is Jocelyne on the evening before she left on her way down from the church tower:



We had one performance today at a local school - St. Luke's in Exeter. Here is a picture of the choir
practicing for the performance:



We had some time in the afternoon and so we went to a beach at Budleigh, Salterton.
On the Beach at Budleigh, Salterton:

Brenda (and Karen) were laughing so hard at this moment that Brenda almost didn't catch this on Camera!



Some singers enjoying the beach walk!

April 28th, 2009 – Tour Day 7 - Exeter

Today we doubled the number of performances we’ve done. We did an afternoon recital at Exeter Cathedral – this was fantastic!
Performance in Exeter Cathedral:



Practicing at Broadclyst Church:




Then in the evening we did a concert at Broadclyst Church. A highlight for some of the choir was walking up the spiral stairs at the church and seeing the stunning view from the top of the tower.

April 27th, 2009 – Tour Day 6 – Exeter

It was raining this morning when we woke up. For the most part, the weather has been beautiful – sunny with blue skies! So I guess we were due for a rainy day. We visited two places today; Buckfast Abbey and a little town called Widicombe on the moors. (See photos below)

The Chambers Singers were given permission to sing in the Abbey and this was a very memorable experience.

From Stephanie Jean-Paul:
My favourite part of the trip so far has been meeting the locals. We’ve been making great friends along the way, and having interesting conversations. A few girls and I on tour had our first official tea party in a real manor!!

Some of the students (and Brenda), were housed at a Christian retreat centre in Torquay. It was luxurious and they even had a swimming pool! Here are a few pictures from it:





Widicombe on the Moor:



Buckfast Abbey:



Henry and Jocelyne in the Gardens at Buckfast Abbey:

April 26, 2009 Tour Day 5 – Torquay.

After a quick breakfast at the Youth Hostel, we went to the sung Eucharist at Salisbury Cathedral. For me, as an Anglican, it was heavenly. The choir sang beautifully and each part of the liturgy was perfectly done.

After the service a few of us had “Cream Tea,” where we had tea and scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. This was great, and as a tea drinker, I really enjoy the tea here in England!

At 12:30 we met at the bus and enjoyed a lunch organized by Chris Banman with many students and staff helping (See picture). And when all was cleaned-up we headed to Torquay for another concert. It was a longish drive and we only arrived at St. Matthias Church at 4:00. After a short rehearsal, and supper provided by the church, we performed our second concert of the tour.

From Ja’red K Miller:
Cream Tea and Scones with strawberry Jam…YUMMY!

Ja'red having cream tea:




Feeding 40 people on a budget can be difficult. Chris Banman has this figured out:



Practicing at St. Matthias Church - Torquay:

April 25, 2009 Tour Day 4 – Salisbury

Today was a travel day with some sightseeing. We arrived in Salisbury and then spent some time at the Salisbury Market and Cathedral. It was wonderful. Brenda and I spent at least an hour in the Cathedral where we were both mesmorized by the new baptismal font. It was huge and a baptism could be a full immersion! The font was dedicated in 2008, and yet it fit into the cathedral nicey and the way the water sat in the font reflected the roof, windows and the light. Both Brenda and I took many pictures of this font. (See below).



We also discovered a “Choirsters bumping stone” where each boy chorister gets his head bumped when he is accepted into the choir (the girls have a Bible bumped on the their head)! We found this to be quite an interesting tradition and wondered if we should start a similar tradition at Providence!



After a few hours in Salisbury we met back at the bus and made our way to Stonehenge. We spent an hour looking at the rocks from many different angles and learning the ancient history of this spot.



We stayed at a Youth Hostel this night and Dr. Schellenberg, with some home made us a wonderful spaghetti supper. It was yummy!

From Stephanie Andrews:
We found that in Canada things aren’t as well preserved as here in England. We were walking around the Salisbury Cathedral and we found a tombstone, the name of the person was unknown but the date was 1107-1129. It made me feel small in the huge expanse of history that we have. Thinking about how small we are in history made me think about how small we are to God, which made me feel both insignificant and significant at the same time.

A picture from the Youth Hostel:

April 24, 2009 Tour Day 3 – Brighton

This was our first concert day. We left from our London Hostel at around 10:30am. After what seemed like hours of traffic through London, we finally had a short view of the rolling countryside, before we arrived in Brighton. We had a few hours and so we explored the pier on the Ocean and ate lunch by the Ocean.



The concert went quite well, although we all were a little rusty, but it was the first concert. This was also our first day being billeted, and it was wonderful to get to know some residents from Brighton. Here are a few stories:

From Jocelyne Schellenberg:
We met a host who brought their neighbour to the concert. The Neighbour was determined to come to the concert, even though she has limited mobility, because during World War II she was engaged to a Canadian Soldier. Then the soldier died at Dieppe. She recovered from this loss and married an English Sailor, but always holds Canada and Canadians dear to her heart.

Itinerary

I thought some of you may want to know our schedule, so here it is:

Apr. 22 & 23 – London
Friday, April 24 – All Saints Church in Patcham (Brighton)
Concert/Service – 7:30

Saturday, April 25 – Cholderton Youth Hostel
Visit Salisbury and Stonhenge

Sunday, April 26 – St. Matthias Church – Torquay
Evening Service – 6:30

Monday April 27 – On the Moors – Exeter

Tuesday April 28 – Exeter Cathedral
Recital 1:15-2:00
Broadclyst Church
Concert 7:30pm

Wednesday April 29 – St. Luke’s Church of England (Exeter)
Recital 1:45-2:15

Thursday April 30 – Oxford (Day off)

Friday May 1 – All Saints Church – Huthwaite
Concert 7:30pm

Saturday May 2 – Ayr Baptist Church – Avr, Scotland
Concert 7:30pm

Sunday May 3 – Participate in morning service then to:
Tayport Parish Church
Concert 6:30pm

Monday May 4 – St. Andrew’s – Day off

Tuesday May 5 – Peterhead Baptist Church
(during day spend time at Dunnottar Castle)
Concert 7:00pm

Wednesday May 6 – Edinburgh – Time off

Thursday May 7 – York

Friday May 8 – Cambridge

Saturday May 9 – Cambridge
Informal Recital “Round” Church 2:30
St. Andrew’s Church Oakington
Concert 7:30

Sunday May 10 – Tour complete.

If you need to reach any of us (in an emergency) we can be reached through the coach company:
Lakeside Coaches Ltd
Tel: 01691 622761