The pandemic had put paid to our plans for an ECS tour abroad in 2020 and this was our first venture organising a tour since then. We decided a venue in the UK was our safest bet to begin within terms of travel – after all a direct line train journey to Weymouth from Waterloo – what could possibly go wrong?
Well these bedraggled travellers could tell you…
We were aware there had been signalling problems along the line but had been reassured everything would be fixed – however, the train ground to a halt at Wool and everyone had to get out. Now Wool (15 miles from Weymouth) is a pretty village – but there was nothing there – no replacement rail buses , hardly any taxis and the station was closed, so no toilets, food or staff to explain what was happening. There was some light on the horizon though -as later trains disgorged more passengers, other members of the tour came to join us! Gradually people managed to find the very few available taxis and the last three intrepid travellers, having been stranded at Wool for up to three hours, eventually arrived at the Best Western Rembrandt hotel at 5.00pm after Sue Q’s husband drove to Wool to pick them up!
We were all ready for the welcome drink at 5.30.pm and then had time to settle into our rooms before setting off to explore the restaurants and bars in Weymouth – 21 of us ended up at a restaurant on the picturesque harbour, eventually joined by our accompanist Andrew who sensibly had got off the train at Wareham and ordered a taxi from there to Weymouth.
The following day dawned cloudy and overcast with a Metweather warning of thunderstorms in place. Max joined us having driven from London early that morning and we set of for Abbotsbury, a beautiful village close to the Chesil beach. Our coach driver Ian was excellent ; very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. Some of us went to the Swannery and enjoyed seeing thousands of swans with their cygnets, other went to the sub-tropical gardens and others remained in the village, exploring the antique shops, cafés and bars. The rain had held off and we set off for Bridport where the threatened storms finally made their appearance – and how! The rain was torrential – so what else could we do but find a pub and have lunch!
By 3.15pm it was time to brave the rain and head back to the coach which took us on to Eype, the venue for our concert. The church, which is now an arts centre, is a beautiful building, again in the middle of nowhere and with an organ that the churchwarden had described as fit only for use as firewood! However, Andrew soon got the hang of it! We did wonder whether we would have an audience but in fact a friend of Clodagh’s who lives in Eype had done some amazing work with publicity and the church was nearly full.
We had a rehearsal with Max, whom we hadn’t seen for several weeks as he is currently on paternity leave and after tea and cake, we were ready for the concert. The vicar gave a speech, welcoming us and we started off with Vivaldi’s Gloria which the audience seemed to enjoy. William Sterling introduced most of the pieces giving us some helpful and often humorous information on the composer and the context of the pieces. The programme was a varied mix – it included well known classics such as Faurés Cantique de Jean Racine, the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Verdi’s Nabucco, Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring and Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus. We also sang some madrigals and folk songs and comic works such as The Goslings and ‘Il est bel et bon’ – which was a bit of a challenge – but we all finished together!
The audience were really appreciative and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the programme.
Then came one of the biggest challenges of the weekend – trying to get people away from the bar and back down the country lanes to where the coach was waiting.
We managed not to leave anyone behind and enjoyed a scenic trip along the Jurassic coast back to Weymouth. Once in Weymouth, Clodagh leapt out of the coach and hot -footed it to the fish and chip shop to pick up an order. The hotel had given us the use of a function room to have the fish and chips which were very much appreciated. It was a lovely way to end an eventful day chatting to people about what they had most enjoyed . After that we adjourned to the bar for the rest of the evening – and well into the night for some of us !
By the following morning the weather had improved and having said good bye to Max and Andrew, who both had to get back for commitments at their various churches, people enjoyed free time. Many of us had a gentle stroll along the seafront or used the spa and swimming pool facilities at the hotel. We met at Oliveto restaurant which directly overlooks the beach and enjoyed a three course Italian meal. Rod gave a lovely speech thanking those of us on the tour committee , Sue Mack, Clodagh Woodall, Carole Homan and Sue Quirk and presented each of us with some very nice wine – and a stick of Weymouth rock!
Fortunately the train travel back to London was much smoother and those people who drove had reasonably straightforward journeys.
Overall, it was a very successful tour which everyone seemed to enjoy. The last word goes to Max who e-mailed me the next day and said ‘Where are we going next year!”
Blog written by Sue Quirk (ECS Chair, 2025)
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