2011 Tour - Daily Diary and Schedule

Daily Diary from the IOM Provided by our Head Chorister - April 2011
Friday 15th April  It was pleasant crossing yesterday with no major bumps or sickness, which satisfied all! After arriving at our luxury hotel we went on an orientation tour around Douglas Head as ever and got a feeling of our new surroundings! A plate full of food and an extremely short service with NO sermon at St. Thomas' finished off the day - Fantastic!
Saturday 16 April  Today after a practice for the concert at All Saints, the senior boys visited the Old House of Keys. We debated a range of matters from taxes to the European Union. The most humorous was that of deciding whether women should have the right to vote. As you can probably imagine the answer was a unanimous 'no'. Meanwhile the junior school boys visited Molly Quirks Glenn. They walked the paths, covered themselves in mud and returned via the Manx Electric Railway. Finally to finish off tonight we had a very successful concert after which the collection plate was full to the brim - very satisfying!
Sunday 17th April  The day started with a Palm Sunday service at St. Thomas' which went very well. We then moved on to a Sunday roast at our hotel with the largest Yorkshire Puddings ever! The afternoon brought sunshine, kites, stomp rockets, football and ice creams at Laxey beach before going to St. Pauls in Ramsey for the famous 'Ramsey Tea'. We then had a great service with the first performance of 'Greenwood in C' Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, which went fantastically well. The journey back to the hotel was via the mountain road and we stopped to look at some great views of the north tip of the island, Scotland and the sunset.
Monday 18th April The men left for home today and the boys started their long practices. We managed to fly through music and get an hour of free time to go into town and play football on the beach. Then in the afternoon a small number of boys visited and walked up South Barule with Mr Catterall and Mr Scott-Thomas to the ruins at the top. The rest of the party went to the National Sports Centre for swimming where we splashed for a couple of hours before having a practice at Kirk Braddan Church. Evening meal (more food!) followed and we finished off with an excellent service (JC's words) at Kirk Braddan even though tiredness was starting to kick in.
Tuesday 19th April Today was Mrs Stockdale's birthday. We had such a good practice this morning, that Mr. Catterall allowed us to roam free for an extra fifteen minutes. In the afternoon we went on the beach at Peel and as well as rugby, football and sandcastles there was a competition for which boys could fire the Stomp Rocket the furthest. The junior winner was Will B and the senior winner was
John S. The weather was fantastic so much so that some boys visited the extremely cold sea.
Finally to finish off the day we had a wonderful service at St Peters, Onchan (J.C. Managed to find it this year!). The most humorous part of this service was when Sir pretended to be an aeroplane during the sermon.
Wedesday 20th April Things are on the up even more today, Mr. Catterall let us have an extra fifteen minutes free time yet again. This afternoon the senior boys visited the Venture Centre where they did some shooting, archery and completed the assault course. I can tell you for sure it was very energetic! Meanwhile the junior boys visited Mooragh Park where the canoed, kayaked and sailed. Fortunately no boy fell in the water. They then moved on to the beach where they dug a hole big enough for a boy to get into as well as creating the usual sand sculptures. Then to finish off the week's singing we had our final service at St. Thomas' Church in Douglas.

It has been a fantastic week with some great laughs and some great music. I am sure all the boys have enjoyed themselves; I certainly have!

Venues and times of the Services and Concerts
Friday 15th April              8.00 pm                     Evensong St Thomas ’ Douglas
Saturday 16th April        7.45 pm                     Concert All Saints Douglas
Sunday 17th April         11.00 am                     Morning Service St Thomas’ Douglas     
                                            6.30 pm                      Evensong  St Paul Ramsey
Monday 18th April          8.00 pm                      Evensong Kirk Braddan
Tuesday 19th April        8.00 pm                       Evensong  St Peter Onchan
Wednesday 20th April  8.00 pm                       Evensong  St Thomas’ Douglas
Please note:
Friday - Sunday will be Boys and Men.
Monday - Wednesday, Boys only.    

The full colour Souvenir Booklet, containing photographs and information about the tour, will be available for sale shortly after the choir return ( price and date of publication to follow).
Because of the peculiar pattern of the School Holidays this year, our Choristers will be singing on the Island during Holy Week, returning to Broughton in time for the Good Friday and Easter Day Services.

2010 Tour
Despite having to endure a force nine gale on the crossing, the boys thoroughly enjoyed their stay at the Hydro Hotel in the Isle of Man for the annual Holiday Course.
The week makes tremendous demands on our Choristers, with afternoons spent testing personal skills on the Assault Course at the Venture Centre or doing battle on the lake at Ramsey on hastily built rafts; with sessions in the pool at the National Sports Centre with its phenomenal slides and whirlpools; or with football on the beach or walks along coastal paths high above the Irish Sea.
... and on top of this, they have to do a bit of singing!
It was indeed a week full of fun, full of wonderful music and full of Christian fellowship as you can see from the pictures above.