Huntingdonshire Music School Association - Travel

For the last few summers we’ve organised trips at the beginning of the summer holidays. These are always lively and consist of a mixture of performance, sight-seeing and plain old social relaxation. To date we’ve been to Wertheim (Germany)/Paris [2006], Kirchheim (Austria) [2007] and this summer we travelled to the Isle of Man [2008].

The planning is now well under way for the 2009 trip to Norfolk and is open to anyone at the school. Not everyone who goes on these trips plays - they tend to be very much family affairs. As Norfolk is relatively close to home it will enable some to join us for a short time and return home. This hasn’t been possible for the longer trips overseas and as a result some folks have missed out.

The likely locations are:-

• Forum (Norwich library)
• St Stephen"s Church, Norwich
• Aylsham Church - joint performance with The Ipswich & Norwich Brass Band
• Mannington Hall & Gardens

Well - what a tour! As usual (for these summer tours) it was a hectic combination of sight-seeing, rehearsals, performance and the occasional late night relaxation. Indeed - and again as ever - the weather was brilliant. This was a bit of a worry after the previous tours to France/Germany and Austria which were very hot and sunny. We needn’t have worried as the weather was organised to perfection.

After a very early start at stupid o’clock in the morning (traditional) we sailed from Liverpool on the Seacat ferry. Like a mill pond - don’t know what all the fuss was about. Luckily for those of us with large instruments the hotel was a short walk from the ferry terminal in Douglas and we had Jem and his ‘burger van’ to ferry kit around.

In brief the itinery was:-

• Thurs 24th July. Rehearse. Outing to the Calf of Man and Craig. Performance at the Ballerkermeen High School together with the Isle of Man Wind Orchestra and Manx Saxophone Ensemble
• Friday 25th July. Trip to Peel. BBQ on beach. Rehearse. Concert in Peel Cathedral with the
• Saturday 26th July. Southern Agricultural Show near Castletown. Brass band and Swing Band perform. Return to Douglas on steam train. Take Manx Electric Railway to Laxey. Visit wheel / Snaefell on mountain railway. Farewell meal.
• Sunday 27th July. Performance at Villa Marina Gardens in Douglas. Ferry back ‘across’ and thence back home.

We all had a great time and made many new friends whilst over there. This was only possible with a lot of hard work, both here at home and also those in the Isle of Man - not just ex-HUMS-pats like Jem (& family) but also the Manx Sax Ensemble and luminaries like Paul Dunderdale and the Isle of Man Arts Council, Ballerkermeen High School and many, many more.

These trips are now very much part of the annual calendar for the music school and are organised by HUMSA for the benefit of everyone. They are very social affairs and good opportunities to get to know others who you may know by sight across the school or even orchestra or band but never have the time to speak to (yes, it is really that busy on Saturday mornings!).

Next year (2009) we’re off to Norfolk.

Huntingdonshire Regional College - Home of the Music School

The Music School is based within the Huntingdonshire Regional College. Whilst the picture might have been taken in the bleakest part of winter we can assure you that the welcome will be warm!

Physically - How to Find Us

The Huntingdonshire Music School meets within the Huntingdon Regional College, the address of which is:-

California Road,
Huntingdon,Cambs.
PE29 1BL

Phone: 01480 379220
Fax: 01480 379127

Music office opening hours: Tuesdays - Fridays 10:30 - 16:00

The music school can be reached via

Click on this link to display a map showing where the Regional College is located..

Transport - Rail

Huntingdon is on the main line east coast rail link between London King’s Cross to Edinburgh. Trains are operated by West Anglia Great Northern (WAGN) and a live arrival/deparature board is online.

Transport - Bus

Stagecoach in Huntingdonshire operate along 2 routes, numbers 55 or 65/66 which stop close to Huntingdonshire Regional College or route 30 which stops around the corner in Ambury Road - see the Stagecoach stops in Huntingdon

Keep in Touch with Us

If you’d like to be kept in touch with events, the odd bit of news (very odd!) and opportunities to come and see performances, please use the form below. We’ll add you to our e-mail list. We don’t share e-mail addresses or any of the other information submitted with any other organisation - they are purely to allow us to let you know about what we’re doing and to help us identify your potential interests.

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