The Phyllis Chapman Weekend 2009
Photo's can be found on our Chapman gallery page
What a great weekend! An invitation to visit Bath again!.
Last year we visited the church at Newton St. Loe for their Sunday service and this year we received an invite from “Wendy” on behalf of the church to visit them again. So Friday 10 th July saw about 32 wending our way to the surrounding area.
The weekend was very easy going with the options to take part in doing “things” with others or doing “your own thing”. The main object was to meet up in the evenings for a great time together.
On Friday night 10 th July most of us met for a pub meal at Saltford Marina where we made a good inroad into a lovely carvery. Wendy had reserved places for us and she joined us with Rosemary & David from their church.
Saturday saw 14 of us under the guidance of Wendy (in 4 cars) setting off in convoy to visit Wells Cathedral where Wendy had arranged for a guide to show us around. It was very busy as a large choir were sorting out seating arrangements for an evening concert. We heard an organiser's voice booming over the mic as it was explained to the choir that no water was allowed to be drunk! What? We can appreciate the cathedral not wanting spilt drinks and food dropped all around but to ban water! Those of us who were members of St. Martin's choir decided we would not volunteer! There was to be a wedding in the afternoon and some guests were staying in the same b & b as us.
Wells Cathedral is very beautiful with a most fascinating clock. It shows the days of the year, hours, minutes and phases of the moon. Up on a shelf a model was clicking its heels to chime the bells and using a stick in its hand to clang the hour bell. Above the clock were jousting knights on horseback.
We had lunch in the cloister restaurant – where we watched the rain fall heavily. Fortunately it had stopped when we went outside to have a wander around the market and shops before meeting up again at 2pm. We had lost one of our convoy going to Wells but we hoped to picked them up on the way out – no such luck – fortunately we had mobile phone contact and we met again in a village on the way to Cheddar Gorge . We didn't stop – it was very busy and the only parking spaces were at the top which meant a bit of a trek back uphill to the cars. Instead we settled for a nice drive stopping at a small house / garden centre where they served cream teas – donations were asked for a local hospice – they were a bit surprised when Pat asked if they could accommodate 14!
In the evening everyone met up with some of the locals in the village hall and we heard from those who had gone cycling to Devizes or just wandered about. Fish & Chips were on the menu (Spring roll vegetarian option) and skittles. The bar opened at 8pm and we spent a very happy evening. Chris & Duncan entertained us with some music and Peter played the organ. Very relaxing! We presented Wendy with an orchid, chocs and a card as a thank you for her very hard work.
Sunday saw us at church for the 11.15am service – again our musicians played for a couple of hymns. A short service at the end of which we presented Charlotte with an ipod docking station and a card. Cups of teas or coffees and we were off for a bbq at the home of Joan. Richard (their Rector ) assisted by Wendy had already started the bbq and we were met with a lovely aroma of beefburgers and hotdogs. We were joined by quite a few of the congregation and sat out on the lawn in glorious sunshine. Seconds were soon munched followed by ice-cream or “Eton Mess” which we knew from our Pageant of Puddings!
More cups of tea / coffee and it was time to go home.
We felt truly welcome at Newton St. Loe and the Christian Fellowship showed by these lovely people was fantastic.
Our thanks go to Nev for the overall organisation, Robin for the display maps, Tony for booking the camp-site, and our musicians for their entertainment.
A really great weekend!