Stories from beamish 2024 PHMVC Annual Trip
Another Pye Hill Choir tour has come to an end and must rate as one of the best. Two wonderful concerts in Beamish Museum and visits taken to Ripon, Durham, Gateshead, Whitley Bay and Tynemouth. On a personal note, it was great to catch up with old shipmate Gary Brooking and his good lady Jacquie.
Special thanks must go to The Holiday Inn at Washington for the exceptional service offered by all their staff during our stay, I would highly recommend this hotel.
Well done to all the organisers and to Dave Gee for his excellent entertainment package on both outward and homeward journeys. Looking forward to next year already.
Dave Braithwait 8 May 2024
Hi
We had a fantastic time at the Holiday Inn Washington and all the staff from the manager down could not have been more helpful.
John Pritchard - Chairman - Pye Hill and District MVC - 8 May 2024
Beamish Trip – May 2024 Having never been to the Beamish Museum we jumped at the opportunity when John Pritchard asked if Nicky and I would like to go with them on tour to the North East to see them in concert. The decision to go was an easy one. The trip on the Friday was quite long and tiring with stop offs at Ripon and Durham, where we had sun! (Unfortunately this was the last time we saw the sun.) It didn’t stop the choir having a good sing song on the first evening. Saturday was another reasonably long day with 3 stops, The Glasshouse at Gateshead, Whitley Bay and Tynemouth, again followed by singing in the evening. On Sunday the choir gave 2 excellent concerts at the small church which were certainly well appreciated by a large number of people who came in to listen. In the evening another session of singing. Considering we didn’t know very many of our fellow travellers we found them to be very friendly and good company. There was lots of banter on the bus together with laughter mainly at each other. One or two lost items, i.e. song lyrics, keys etc. and an incident with a mobility scooter provided us with much amusement. (Sorry John) Our compliments to the organisers with the choice of hotel, which was excellent and well positioned and the coach company who not only provided a brilliant coach but an equally brilliant driver, Graham, Nothing was too much trouble for him. Hotel staff were very attentive and courteous. Super trip and well done Pye Hill and District Male voice choir. You did Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire proud. Nicky and Tore.
Dear Rebecca, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and all of the staff and supporters at Beamish Museum for the hospitality and support received on Sunday 5 May 2024 when we provided two concerts.We were very pleased with the number of visitors who attended both concerts and delighted by the comments received from visitors, which also included choristers from other choirs across the country.
Our only sadness was that in providing two concerts on the one day, we had limited time to enjoy Beamish as visitors, although we did our best to make most of the time available.
We deliberately provided two varied concerts to fit into the theme and time setting of the museum with a varied range of songs and soloists and this seemed to work well, including the odd opportunity for the audience to sing along. This was down to the hard work of our Musical Director and the support of the choir.
We always wish to learn from feedback received and I would be grateful to hear of any comments from staff and visitors which may be helpful with our relationship with your museum going forward.
Kind regards and best wishes, Malcolm Hill,
Concert Secretary & Publicity Officer, Pye Hill & District Male Voice Choir Est: 1903
Good Afternoon ladies and gentlemen. First of all can I start by sending our collective best wishes to Barbara R for a speedy recovery and we will bear her in our thoughts and prayers.
Well, after such a fantastic weekend, where do I start? I suppose the best place to start is with our timely pick ups from Somercotes and Bagthorpe and I would like to thank the gentlemen of the Choir who helped us 'less able' to load our luggage on the coach. We had an excellent journey up to Washington with 2 interesting breaks at Ripon and Durham. From the moment we arrived at Holiday Inn and received such a warm welcome, I knew that our stay was going to be a good one. Our day out at Whitley Bay and Tynemouth was also very enjoyable.
The gem of our weekend were the 2 concerts at the Miners' Chapel at Beamish where we gave 2 excellent concerts.
I hope you all enjoyed the weekend and to keep the Spring Bank Holiday weekend for next year free. Hopefully we shall have more new members in the Choir and if you tell your friends what a good time you had and how friendly everyone was, hopefully we can fill the coach which will help to make next year's holiday even cheaper!
Kind regards, JP - Sent from my iPhone
The coach &driver, on board entertainment, the hotel, the list is endless but I have to say the outstanding relationship between everyone takes the highest accolade. It is a pleasure to be with each and every one of you and… we look forward to the next trip. 🥂 🎼
Angela Eminson - Sent from my iPhone
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I hope you all enjoyed what I thought was an excellent trip to Beamish. I thought we gave a good concert in the morning but we excelled ourselves in the afternoon. Having had compliments from members of various male voice choirs, the one that springs to mind was from a member of Ribble Valley MVC from Lancashire. Pye Hill & District MVC certainly left its mark on Beamish. Unfortunately your Chairman left a mark of an entirely different nature!! 🗑 Attached a couple of songs from the programme, more to follow if others don't post. Well done one and all! 🎶 🎵 JP
Pye Hill Choir at Beamish May 2024 by Barbara Pritchard (soprano)
When Pye Hill went to Beamish For their annual May Day fling
They knew they'd have a good time And many a hearty sing.
They set out Friday morning Cars parked on David's land.
Saw Ripon and then Durham – Their cathedrals are so grand.
The hotel it was perfect, We rated it 5 star –
Great food, fine staff, clean bedrooms,
And discounts at the bar!
Our driver was so helpful, Took us to Whitley Bay,
We then went on to Tynemouth, Turned out a lovely day.
At Tynemouth Inn while drinking, Men singing good and proud,
But management thought “that's enough”, Turned THEIR music up loud!
On Sunday it was Beamish, The miners' chapel full
To hear the sounds of Pye Hill They really sung so well.
(The Chairman hired a scooter But caused a mighty din –
Forgot to take his hand off And crashed into a bin!)
So all in all our weekend Was one tremendous hit,
With singing, laughter, friendship, We enjoyed every bit. . . . . . . . .
roll on next year!
(Thankyou Barbara – Ed.)
I want to say how much I enjoyed our musical weekend away.
The members of the choir made us so welcome and all the music was great.
Nothing like this gets done without a great deal of work by the organisers so a big thank you to them for providing a thoroughly enjoyable few days.
I look forward to attending more concerts in the future
Brenda Paul
The annual May bank holiday is a given for our long standing choir of friends, family, acquaintances and each and every one of us make the most of our time away, wherever we are.
As far as this year’s visit goes, from a personal point of view, it is way, way up there.
To be honest, I didn’t think it possible to achieve, even with our determined organisers, MH, JP and Musical Director plugging away at it from Malcolm’s desire to once again sing at the Beamish Museum.
However, their hard work and determination plus tour site excursions came together brilliantly. Hats off to you gentlemen.
The friendship and togetherness of the choir shines and never more so than from our two performances in the Miners Chapel where I’d go as far as to say, the best we could sound and was obvious from the applause and great remarks we received from our audience.
The whole planning and leisurely activities of this trip, kept everyone in a relaxed, calm and ‘determined to give our best’ attitude is what contributed to those performances.
It was a little sad at the end of our trip that Barbara fell ill and plans changed slightly, but it just shows how friendly and supportive our choir is to all that the decision to leave straight away for home was a no brainier.
And to add how relieved everyone was upon hearing that Barbara’s condition wasn’t serious and swiftly put to rights.
So onwards and upwards Pye Hill choir with many more happy events to come.
Well done all.
DGee
