Well, Well, Wells

So last night we arrived at the Swan Inn in Wells, which is so close to the Cathedral that a decent Aussie fielder could lob a ball over the little courtyard and onto the lawns in front. The Lay Clerks had piled onto the bus straight from Evensong, but the trebles had all had dinner. Anna had secured a booking for 9:00pm at a really lovely little Italian place, the back door of which opens onto the Cathedral lawns. It was absolutely lovely. So we  booked again for lunch today, this time in the room with the Cathedral view.

Wells Cathedral

The Song School in Wells was superb. We want one
(Eleni is standing on a stool especially created for smaller trebles)

The Cathedral at Wells has undergone a significant building program in the last 15 years, and in the last two years has completed a new Education Centre and Music area. It is just beautiful and so comfortable and functional for their needs. We were lucky to be able to rehearse there as well as to robe.

Today we sang three services. Typical Sunday for Cathedral Choirs but something new for us. We sang Darke in F  mass setting, and the motet was Mathias A Babe is Born. At Mattins we sang Stanford Te Deum and Jubilate in B flat and another Mathias anthem, Laetentur Caeli, along with Hunt responses. Continuing the Mathias Fest we sang his Canticles at Evensong along with What Cheer by Walton. This was our best performance of this piece, going a lot faster, and singing it in 2 instead of 4. Hunt responses rounded out the service nicely. Of course we sang the psalms set for each of the three services.

This morning's Mattins was delayed while they dealt with a fire alarm, which is starting to be a feature of this tour. 

The Cathedral staff at Wells are some of the nicest people. Just lovely and welcoming to us and to our tag-alongs. The Dean took us on a tour himself for a little over an hour after Evensong. It was so generous of him to do this after such a long day himself. The Cathedral is very lovely, and nice and warm too. I'll just add a couple more photos here...

Looking down the Song School

The Dean of Wells, The Very Rev'd John Clarke

The Dean's Tour of Wells Cathedral

Scissor Arches

Well's Louis meets our Sampson

Sampson our Mascot met up with Louis, the Wells Cathedral Cat. I was amused to hear that it is someone’s job to ensure that he is put out at night, for fear of setting off the alarms with his movement. This followed our meeting with Wolfie the Cathedral Cat from Salisbury yesterday. I forgot to put his pic in the Salisbury post, so will add here. 

Wolfie in the Salisbury Cathedral Shop

Lovely to catch up with Liz Wilson and her fiancé Joel, Ali Wood and Julian Cooling.  Thanks for coming to Evensong (and Mattins, Julian and Ali). A drink with this crew was followed by a really lovely dinner. We had taken over the entire restaurant except for a single table for 2, where two women who are regular visitors to the hotel were to dine. One of them, Jackie (sp?) had a birthday, so at Mark the Manager’s request we sang her a rousing Happy Birthday. Then followed it with Waltzing Matilda. One of the ladies had been at Mattins this morning, but they both loved their personal concert.

While I have more I could say and more photos I could show, I really need to sleep now, as we have an early start, off to Winchester.

From our hotel

Night night. Cxxx