It
really is difficult to describe the remainder of the evening at this point
because it was truly full of great warmth, camaraderie, incident and joy.
On a personal note, I should mention that for the first time I met Jerry
Judge and Bill Hartland. I re-acquainted myself with old friends from
my days at Excellent serving under the then director of music, Chris "Boots"
Taylor and the inimitable Drum Major "Matt" Dillon. Tom Tucker
(solo clart & energetic dance band enthusiast) Derek Usher, Nigel
"Nick" Davies (who knows how much money he still owes), Wally
Spencer, Peter Pendlebury and Barry Radford, our esteemed co-organizer
of this reunion not forgetting past reunions and I know the future. 2003
should be even more a success due to the 100yrs of music in Royal Naval
bands and then to become amalgamated into The Royal Marines. Many more
names and faces of course and somewhere in this report I shall attempt
to record more.
Bearing in mind that I had arrived much earlier that day from the USA and my drive from London's Heathrow to Portsmouth, I was tiring more rapidly than I would otherwise expect. At some point, and I am told that it was whilst waiting for a taxi to return us to the home club, Tony and I sat in a reception area close by the area where the main event was taking place and fell asleep. I am told that it was a little difficult to wake me up but I was only catnapping. Those of you who were there will take my last sentence with the proverbial pinch o' salt. Not surprising, I don't recollect the trip from there to the Home Club but suffice it say that I got a good nights sleep after a snoring competition with the Hon. Anthony Oliver, one of the best people I have ever been blessed to know. I owe you Tone! Following morning we somewhat sluggishly struggled to get up and dressed for breakfast. It's always a nostalgic experience when you line up next to the cafeteria awaiting your turn to get your toast, coffee or tea and orange juice (the watered down variety) and the only thing missing was the clatter of "eating irons" and the good old tin mug but no, this is more passive and sedate and certainly more pleasing a setting. After collecting those essentials we entered the dining room to take our seats. Eventually a waitress came to our table to ask what our preference was for a full English breakfast. A short while later it arrived. Sausages, eggs, tomatos, beans, bacon and fried bread. Truly a well needed re-stocking of the nourishment that I had used up the past 24 hours or so. Sufficiently fed, we then returned to our room to don the chosen attire for church parade, or Cathedral parade to be accurate.
A
cool and blustery morning but sparing us any rain until later that day,
we approached the cathedral and I wish to share with you something that
I find uncanny and in a way, inexcusable the thought, but causing a truly
remarkable chain of events. We jokingly decided to toss a coin and decided
that "heads" would mean we all attend the service or "tails"
would mean we attend the service in the pub across the street. Each of
us tossed a one pound coin and each one turned up "heads"! Endorsement
of how important it IS for us all to be there as a family and fondly recall
old times whilst paying homage to those who had given their lives through
two world wars and during recent troubled modern times with unnecessary
waste of innocent lives.
We chose to sit in a location that allowed us
to see the full orchestra, choir and fanfare trumpets. As a discerning
musician and chorister myself with a very eclectic taste, I have to
say that besides the whole chain of events during the weekend, the choice
of music by orchestra and choir was appropriate and professionally executed.
We took our seats during the beautiful "Adagio for Strings &
Organ" by Albinoni. Following that was "Elegy from A Downland
Suite" by John Ireland then followed by the poignant and effective
"Quiet City" by Aaron Copland. The soloists - BdCpl Hart RM
and BdCpl Friend RM performed this difficult work with great empathy.
The end item prior to the service is a huge favorite of mine "The
Lark Ascending" by Ralph Vaughan Williams. All of this music created
an ambience conducive to an atmosphere of nostalgia, peace and reflective
quietude. This also has many challenges throughout the piece but great
praise is rightfully awarded to Musn McKinnon for a truly excellent
performance. |
