South Tour Summer 2024
Wednesday 10th July - Wiveton Church, Holt
Day 1 South Tour Blog from Matthew: The South Tour team departed in a leisurely manner from Cambridge at 2pm, aiming for the beautiful climes of Wiveton in North Norfolk. Our route included the scenic Elveden Forest and the less scenic BP service station in Swaffham (as Mike had forgotten to check his tyre pressures). We arrived in our concert venue, the beautiful church in Wiveton, in high spirits. After a brief rehearsal, we were provided with hearty portions of lasagna and strawberries and clotted cream, which left us feeling very well-fed before the concert. Our concert, the opening night of the Five Churches Festival, was a sell-out and the audience particularly enjoyed their chance to participate in Minnie the Moocher as our Assistant Musical Director, Matt, went roaming through the audience. We also managed to catch the last half hour of the England game sat outside the pub, but we sincerely hope our raucous celebrations don't affect our forthcoming performances. After retiring to our homestays, some of our members residing in the beautiful Bayfield Hall even enjoyed a game of snooker before bed. We look forward to travelling down to Kent for our next concert!
Thursday 11th July - St Peter's Church, Ightham
South Tour Blog Day 2 from William: Well rested and amply breakfasted, our merry band of songsters convened and set off for Ightham, our next destination. Arrival was delayed, however, by a stop to view one of our number's collection of puppies. The hearts of even our most hardened members were made tender at the sight of Mango the puppy and her siblings. Sadly, time waits for no one, not even someone with a puppy in their arms. We said our goodbyes, whispered sweet promises of return in the ears of our newfound companions, and departed. In search of emotional comfort, we decided to patronise an establishment offering American-style fast food in a service station. This decision, however, was not picked up by the group in the car behind, who had been too busy arguing amongst themselves to pay attention to the communications coming over the reasonably-priced walkie-talkies. Having filled ourselves and our shopping bags, we pressed on, through the Essex Borders, across the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and into the Garden of England. Pleasant views and jollity abounded as we entered the little village of Ightham, early, as it somehow happened. Having been led in rehearsal by our musical director, we were taken to our beautiful host houses and fed wonderfully. On stage, we were kindly received by the residents of Ightam and its environs, and it seemed that an enjoyable time was had by all, not least us. It remained for us to be generously supplied in the local pub before arriving back at our host houses, weary but more than content. We settled into our comfortable beds and dreamt sweet dreams.
Friday 12th July - St Mary's Church, Bethersden
Hello again! Jack here, picking up our tale post-concert in Ightham.
Following a long stint in the local watering hole, the group retired to homestays for a well deserved rest. So restful, in fact, that Mr Todes could not even be awoken by the smell of bacon! Reconvening, we took in the stunning vistas surrounding Ightham Mote, before pub grub came calling to our ravenous King’s Men: pizza, burgers and a fruity tart for Mr Blake were the order of the day. Messrs Todes and Supramaniam had important admin to complete, though the latter remains to convince the group how table tennis constitutes administration… he didn’t help his case by losing the trusty KM football over the orchard wall.
We arrived in Bethersden in good spirits, ready for our third concert of the tour. The King’s Men have visited St Margaret’s, Bethersden since 1989, so we were thrilled to further our longstanding relationship. Our set was incredibly well received by a Bethersden audience as warm as ever: Mr Chan’s Beatles and Beach Boys tribute solos were especially enjoyed. On a personal level, it was an emotional end to the concert, performing Mr Greally’s arrangement of ‘The Parting Glass’. Last night’s concert marked my final engagement with The King’s Men, so this was a particularly poignant way to mark the end of a magical four years. We were delighted to be hosted at The George pub post-concert - the ales flowed, pub songs rang out, and the King’s Men enjoyed thanking their audience for such a rapturous reception.
“So fill to me the parting glass/Good night, and joy be with you all”. It’s been such a privilege to be a part of this group. But, for my colleagues, the tour continues! Stay tuned for their adventures in Beaulieu and beyond.
Saturday 13th July - Beaulieu Abbey, Beaulieu
Hello there, Mike here to tell the tales of South Tour Day 4!
Our journey from Bethersden to Beaulieu was another long one on our tour. To help break up our 3h30min car journey down the beautiful south coast, driving past the coastline and the amazing Lancing College and Chapel, we stopped for Lunch in Arundel. Although we didn’t have heaps of time, we were able to look inside the Catholic Cathedral and around Arundel. It being the place where our countertenor-extraordinaire William grew up, we thought we must visit the place which sculpted the development of a fantastic young man.
After enjoying William’s recommendation of the Arundel speciality dish, the bagel, for lunch, we picked up a new member of our group, Toby (Welcome!), officially starting in September, and pressed on to Beaulieu Abbey. Coming into Beaulieu, our drive took us through the beautiful New Forest, where we saw wild Horses and Foals. After a short rehearsal to help catch Toby up to speed with our concert repertoire, we explored the beautiful ruins of the old Abbey and enjoyed some specially made KM chocolate cake!
Our concert was extremely generously sponsored by Careys Manor and SenSpa, who even more generously fed us an absolutely splendid meal and put us all up in their hotel rooms. After dinner, we got chatting to a newly wed couple in the bar, and sang them Matt Supramaniam’s arrangement of Hide and Seek! We will certainly be very well rested for our onward travels and concert in Great Bedwyn tomorrow!
Sunday 14th July - St Mary's Church, Great Bedwyn
Hello all… Toby here, very excited to write my very first KM tour blog! After a comfortable night in our hotel outside Beaulieu, we rose bright and early to make the most of the swimming pool, steam room, and hot tub. My goggles were passed around to ensure everyone had a chance to crown themselves champion of the underwater-swimming-as-far-as-you-can competition. After concluding nothing, other than that it certainly wasn’t William, we decided to move on, and were treated to a delicious breakfast. We then packed our bags to head to our next concert destination, Great Bedwyn.
For today’s lunch stop we chose Salisbury, where we visited the cathedral (tickets are £1 less if you book online “in advance”, even if you are standing directly in front of the ticket desk) where we equally amazed by the architecture, the Magna Carta, and the absolutely enormous organ pipes. Max made a remarkably successful visit to a local charity shop, becoming a suit, a pair of shoes and a pair of trousers richer.
Lunch in Nando’s preceded the final stint of our journey to Great Bedwyn, where, upon arrival, we were greeted by very friendly hosts. After a short rehearsal (primarily for my benefit) of the music in set list no. 1, dinner was served - a delicious homemade fish pie. The subsequent concert was a great success, and we head swiftly back to our host’s wonderful converted chapel(!), where they had kindly set up facilities for watching of some sporting event that seemed to happen yesterday. Perhaps the less said about that, the better… After a delightfully comfortable evening with even more delightful company, we settled down for the night, in good spirits heading into our final day of tour!
Monday 15th July - St Mary's Church, Balcombe
The final day of South Tour, from Max Todes: Our final tour day began with breakfast in a gorgeous converted Methodist chapel where we had been fortunate enough to stay the night. Equipped with a snooker table, stained glass windows, and an all important TV with enough alcohol to drown our sorrows! We set off just after 10:30, allowing plenty of time to arrive at our next stop in Balcombe, and even had time to stop off in one of Britain’s best pubs, the Running Horses Inn. After a slap up lunch, and a rather complicated set of orders that saw the waitress have to serve Mr Supramaniam his main, starter then dessert, we headed across the road to investigate St Michael’s church. On discovering that its organ was unlocked, a common cause of delay on these trips, various members of the group set about demonstrating how loudly they could play it, whilst other members demonstrated how far across the road the could sit. We arrived in Balcombe for our final rehearsal and concert, taking the opportunity to really get down to the nitty gritty, establishing at long last that Mike ought to ‘just sing everything a bit sharper!’ After a successful concert we retired to Balcombe House, a residence that we were informed was only the third largest in the area, but was still suitable allowing for a capacious bedroom each.